Sometimes I get the feeling that as Christians, we often look for ‘practicality’ as a way to determine the merit of an event or activity. A good sermon provides relatable application points. A good conference leaves you with motivation to make specific changes in your life. A good house group or Bible study gives you…
Whenever I think of chains, as in prison chains, I remember a scene in Disney’s Robin Hood: Prince John has been arresting all the animals of the forest, and we see a few of them in their striped shirts and hats, walking along to the work camp, each with a cuff around an ankle, links…
I have been blessed with babies and toddlers who were excellent nappers. Having two children under the age of two was very intense, but even in the early days, their afternoon naps would usually overlap. When everyone was a bit older, they took three-hour afternoon naps – at the same time, in the same room….
After my first son was born, I noticed something changed at church: I could no longer pay attention to the sermon. While disappointing, it wasn’t particularly surprising. I had responsibility for a little, fragile human who, in some ways, seemed an awful lot like a ticking time bomb. I never knew when he would sound…
One of my big reasons for homeschooling is to keep my children as intrinsically motivated as possible in their learning, something I’ve personally struggled with over the years. Because of this, when I noticed The Self-Driven Child (affiliate link) mentioned (a few times!) in a blog I follow, and in my Amazon recommendations, it caught my…
As a young, single adult, my hope for my future was pretty clear: meet a charming man, get married, have kids, and stay at home to care for them. Inspired largely by my own mom, who stayed at home until my siblings and I were all at school, set a wonderful example for me, you…
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…
One year ago, I assumed I wouldn’t do any sort of a formal preschool with my kids. Charlotte Mason advocates starting formal lessons no earlier than age six. So why complicate things? I trusted the method, and the wisdom of many home educators who said, ‘Wait on formal academics’. How things change in a year,…
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. Additionally, in School Education (affiliate link) Miss Mason explains that there are several areas where parents really should practice masterly inactivity. I’d…
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 protect my kids from the ‘carrot and stick’ education that I had growing up…