I know I’m not the only mom who feels this way. Who looks at her children, and feels like time is slipping through her fingers. Who feels desperate to make these precious years count – the years where her whole family is still snug in the nest – yet finds herself in a daily struggle…
[sc name=”Habit Training Workshop”] In a previous post, I set out my plans for incorporating habit training into our home. The mission was simple: have my kids get dressed before breakfast, setting us up for a day with more opportunities, less rushing, and generally more fun. I also promised to post updates to give real-life…
Habit training, thus far in my Charlotte Mason journey, has felt like a bit of a unicorn. It’s concept is beautiful (setting patterns into motion that lead to ‘smooth and easy days’ ahead? Yes, please!), but actually managing to do it… that has been beyond me. I’ve been reviewing Charlotte Mason’s motto recently: Education is…
When it comes to homeschooling, I’m only just starting out in the game. While it’s been on my radar since my oldest child was a baby, he’s not even five yet, and while we have a ‘morning time’ most days, it’s just a drop in the ocean of experience to years of teaching a curriculum…
In previous posts, I’ve covered both why we are doing preschool at home this year, and how we are keeping it in line with Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy. Now I’d like share the five books I have in our preschool basket. Each of these books is appropriate for my nearly four-year-old. Some are just a…
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 unstructured time, outdoor play, reading stories and poems, listening…
When N was much younger, a friend asked how was getting on. This happens to be one of my favorite topics, and I quickly started describing how he was hitting different toys with a mallet – obviously figuring out the different noises they make through a rigorous set of baby experiments. My friend commented, ‘Oh, he’s…
Crayons. Finger paints. Glitter. Cotton balls. Glue sticks. All things that come to mind when you think about art for young children. Pinterest is teeming with ways to involve children in creating pieces of art. While I’m not a big fan of coloring-inside-the-lines, everyone-copies-teacher sort of projects, giving the children opportunities to learn techniques and…
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 cleaned? What do we do then? There is a lot of emphasis lately on doing enriching things with…
Last spring I went for a hike in the Lake District. Towards the end of the hike I stopped to take a few photos and watch some ducks on a river that ran near the trail. As I lingered, I heard a mother call out to her son, ‘Be careful!’. I turned to look and saw…