learning and growing, naturally.
Parents are investing more and more time into their children's development, Alia Wong points out in the beginning of her recent article on The Atlantic: The American Obsession with Parenting. Wong points to several studies showing that this is quanti ...
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that N age-nearly-three asked me if we could make a rainbow. I saw this as a great opportunity to follow his interest and to expand his experience with rainbows. Today I want to share a few, simple activities we did together ...
I will be the first person to admit that I am a bit pooh-poohey about home preschool curricula. We know that young kids need to play. A lot. So, for the most part, I don't have any big plans as N. approaches the age of three. Lots of unstructure ...
Recently, I introduced Charlotte Mason's concept of masterly inactivity. Her thinking was that it is often best to 'let children alone' except in situations where we need to provide guidance and support, or to assert our authority. Additio ...
Imagine you are at the playground with your toddler. He makes his way to a ladder leading to a slide. After considering it, he climbs up one rung and stops. He looks at you, and starts to fuss: he seems unable, or at least unwilling, to finish climbing t ...
What do we do with our children? Obviously we have to meet their basic needs. Food, water, clean diapers, sleep, shelter. I'd throw 'secure relationships' into that list, too. But what about when they aren't eating, sleeping, or being cleane ...
I like to think that I have an arsenal of songs to sing with my kids. I pull them out when they are tired of being in the car, when we are waiting in line, any time where their patience is running thin and I want to keep the mood light. Of course, they ar ...
There have been a few times recently when I have not heard my toddler, N, when he is speaking to me. N is incredibly verbal lately, and like most 2.5 year olds, he babbles and repeats himself a lot, so on some level, I'm simply not expecting h ...
When N was on the way, I started researching home education. (Can you say 'planner'?) Blogs of home educating parents mesmerized me. I saw home education as an opportunity to have a flexible schedule, to live in any number of countries, and to ...
Hi, I'm Amy, and I have seen one too many pins on Pinterest with home-school curriculums for preschoolers that center on worksheets, complicated activities, and parent-directed teaching. Learning in the early years is near and dear to my heart. W ...