Is it nearly spring?

Home education is not complicated really. It is just what many other educationally oriented families do in between school, turned into a lifestyle.
Take for example this Sunday evening. Ia has taken a book from the shelf and has been reading it to herself. I observe this and see that she is taking steps towards independence in her reading. I mentally note this as a record of her progress, and consider it as part of the always learning pattern of home education. My school-going neice, who is the same age as Ia, may well have taken a similar book from the shelf this evening too, and read it to herself. Maybe my sister would take this as evidence of progress made at school.
My niece also enjoys arts and craft, just like Ia. Maybe today she also made a model from a cardboard tube, based on a picture in a library book, or something similar. For me that is evidence of learning, maybe for my sister it is a leisure activity.
Also this evening U decided to copy down some numbers displayed on the screen during a computer game she was playing. She hasn't tried to do that before, I was surprised at how well they came out! If she had been going to nursery I might have assumed that she had been writing them there, but I know that this isn't the case. I praised her for her efforts, and made a mental note that next time a suitable opportunity for trying out writing comes up I will remind her of how well she wrote those numbers, and encourage her through that. U is still not yet four, so I have not yet formally organised anything for her. She just learns informally, in her own way, as many other three year olds surely do.
The boys have been very busy this weekend with various sports activities.
And the feeling of spring is creeping into the day! Yesterday I was out in the garden for the first time in months. I also got the feeling for doing some spring cleaning, but then I came down with a cold and felt too tired to bother. Maybe next time the sun comes out!