Learning to Learn

I am often times asked how it is that I "school" such young children.  I get this frowning, skeptical look that implies that I must be some harsh over-achieving Mom, torturing my children with hours of lessons and drills.  This is drastically far from the truth, and I want to share what homeschooling means at this stage in our family.
It seems to be a common misconception that learning doesn't truly begin until the age of 5 yrs., with anything done before that being merely "preparatory" work to get the child ready for school.  Similarly, education is thought to end after highschool or college, once "formal" education is over with.

I passionately disagree.

To me, life is learning.  We are learning from the second we are conceived until the second we die.  Even then, honestly, I believe eternity in Heaven will be one glorious playground of revelation and learning!

Schooling my infants/toddlers/preschoolers does not mean that I am drilling data into their heads, but instead that I am attempting to open the world up to them, bit-by-bit, as they show me they are ready.  "School" in our house is not a dreaded place of tests and homework; rather it is a treat and regarded as a game that everyone wants to participate in.  Education is not a set list of things that must be learned by this age or that; but, on the contrary, is an exploration and experiment in life as we encounter it.

I am not forcing my children to learn information. 

I am encouraging them to learn how to learn!

If you ask me, I'd say we have been schooling basically since we found out I was pregnant with Abby. However, we recently put in place a more structured, planned routine in addition to our usual endeavors. Are there worksheets? Yes.  Are there craft projects?  Yes.  Will there be tests when they get older?  Yes.  But these are just extra projects to supplement the real learning that has been going on.  The true learning takes place in my lap or their Daddy's as we devour book after book, in their hands as they dig through the dirt and grass and rocks in our backyard; in our minds as we have ongoing conversations about everything we are discovering about God's created universe; in our hearts as we get our daily sustenance from His Word and spend time together in prayer.

Yes, they know their 123's and ABC's, but those are secondary requirements in my responsibility to teach them.  My highest priorities are that they are learning to love and respect God, to love and respect others, to love and respect themselves, and to love and respect learning.  If I can teach them these four things, everything else will just fall into place!

So please do not get the idea that my children are being dragged into the classroom each day by a demanding mother who requires more of them than they can handle.  If you could only see how they drag ME into the classroom -- whether it be the school room or backyard or the pages of a book -- begging me to teach them even on the days when I have a million other things that I think I should be doing instead. 

School is fun, and we plan on keeping it that way -- not just as preschoolers, but throughout our entire lives!

Mommy Has Reading Nook Envy!

This Sunday my husband and I spent the kids' naptime working on the school/toy room.  We really wanted to get it cleaned out and organized before Christmas so that we could make room for the new books, school supplies, and any rogue toys we get (we've requested no toys this year, but we know we will undoubtedly come home with a few here and there)! 

One of my favorite parts of the room is the reading nook we made.  I don't know if you've caught on, but....I like to read.  Shocking revelation, huh!?  ;o)  Ever since I was young I would try and find isolated, cozy places to read.  Whether it was under my covers with a flashlight after my Dad had said "lights out," or tucked into a feather coat up in a tree during the winter, I have always looked for special reading "nooks."  Now, as a mother of little readers, I have desperately been wanting to create just such a nook for our kids.  We don't have any oversized window sills or stairs with cubbies underneath, so we had to make do with what space we have available to us.  I got some white throw pillows and a fun circle pillow with matching blanket on clearance at Wal-Mart, as well as a cheap (but really soft!) bath mat, re-stickable dry erase wall dots on clearance at Office Max, and two plastic shelves from IKEA.  Here's how it turned out:

MOMMY IS JEALOUS!  I want a reading nook!  My husband plans on building our next (and permanent) home with his own two hands, and knows that a reading nook for Mommy ranks right up there with a big laundry room and spacious kitchen!

This is what I caught later in the day (as you can see, the book they are reading, One Magical Day, is one of our favorites and has been "loved on" a little bit.  Mommy needs to repair it!):

All toys in the house are now successfully corralled into the toy/school room! The only exceptions are that Corbin has all of his horse collection in the boys' room, Abby has some of her favorite dolls and stuffed animals on her bed, and Daniel has a tub of infant/toddler toys and board books in the living room.  Let me give you a quick tour of the rest our little one room school house!

This is the toy shelf, holding the toys that survived "The Great Toy Purge - 2009":

Here is the school table, right underneath the window so we always have plenty of light:

This is our music corner.  Underneath the piano is a basket holding all of our other instruments (echo microphones, cymbals, rhythm sticks, recorders, drum, rain stick, etc.):

Here you can see our easel with supplies underneath, a section of the chalkboard donated by a friend of ours, and our foam building blocks:

Lastly, we have our school shelf and stuffed animals.  On top of the bookshelf is our CD player for our music time, our books for the day, and a memory verse.  The top shelf holds extra curricula and supplements.  The middle shelf is for art supplies, Play-doh, and flashcards.  And the bottom shelf now holds our library books and math manipulatives:

And now you've seen the Straight Paths Christian School's layout!  We've decided not to paint or redo any carpets in here (or anywhere in the house, for that matter), because -- frankly -- what's the point when you have this many infants/toddlers/preschoolers running around?!  It's fun, functional, and organized -- that's all we need!

I will leave you with one last sweet image of Corbin and Abby reading together, just because it makes Mommy so happy!

"So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray, Go throw your TV set away, And in its place you can install, A lovely bookshelf on the wall."

~Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory~

LIbrary Card Upgrade

Our library has a limit of 15 items per card, which is entirely inadequate for as many books as we read.  All of the kids are still too young to get cards, so one Saturday we took Daddy to the library and he got a card, as well.  After his first trial check-out of 5 books, we now have a total family limit of 30 books! YAY!  Although, I must say that 29 books and three toddlers was a lot to wrangle into the car for this prego Momma -- but it is worth it!

We returned everything that we had (with a few last reads of Sam & the Tigers last night to say "Goodbye!"), and here is what we brought home this morning:

FOR THE KIDS:

• Rosie's Walk, by Pat Hutchins
• The Carrot Seed, by Ruth Krauss & illustrated by Crockett Johnson
• The Ugly Duckling, by Hans Christian Andersen, retold by Stephen Mitchell & paintings by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher
• The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg
• Lentil, by Robert McCloskey
• Ira Sleeps Over, by Bernard Waber
• The Ugly Duckling, by Hans Christian Anderson, translated from the Danish by Anthea Bell & pictures by Robert Ingpen
• Olivia, by Ian Falconer
• An Amish Christmas, by Richard Ammon & illustrated by Pamela Patrick
• The Snowman Storybook, by Raymond Briggs
• Newbery Girls: Selections from Fifteen Newbery Award-Winning Books Chosen Especially for Girls, compiled by Heather Dietz
• Ox-Cart Man, by Donald Hall & pictures by Barbara Cooney
• Bread and Jam for Frances, by Russell Hoban & pictures by Lillian Hoban
• Tikki Tikki Tembo, retold by Arlene Mosel & illustrated by Blair Lent
• George and Martha, by James Marshall
• Frog and Toad Together, by Arnold Lobel
• Chester the Worldly Pig, by Bill Peet
• Katie and the Sunflowers, by James Mayhew
• The Story About Ping, by Marjorie Flack & Kurt Wiese
• Jeremy: The Tale of an Honest Bunny, by Jan Karon
• Winnie the Pooh and Some Bees, by A.A. Milne & with decorations by Ernest H. Shepard

FOR MOM:

• Caroline Feller Bauer's New Handbook for Storytellers: With Stories, Poems, Magic, and More, illustrated by Lynn Gates Bredeson
• Parenting by The Book: Biblical Wisdom for Raising Your Children, by John Rosemond
• The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home, by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise
• Dr. Monessori's Own Handbook:  A Short Guide to Her Ideas and Materials, by Maria Montessori
• The Tale Spinner:  Folktales, Themes, and Activities, by Linda K. Garrity
• The Way We Talk Now:  Commentaries on Language and Culture, by Geoffrey Nunberg
• Speaking Freely:  A Guided Tour of American English from Plymouth Rock to Silicon Valley, by Stuart Berg Flexner & Anne H. Soukhanov
• The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes:  Exploring Over 500 Rhymes, Songs, and Riddles, edited by Iona and Peter Opie

I know we'll be able to easily breeze through the kids' books before they are due, but my head is spinning just looking at my stack!  I have to make sure not to slack on housework because of the temptation of so many good books to delve into!  Renewing will have to be my friend :o)

A Runaway Mommy

I remember clearly the time when I didn't think Corbin would ever talk.  Whereas Abby started saying words at 6 months and was talking in sentences by a year, Corbin barely uttered any words until he was two years old.  I recall having dreams before he talked about hearing him speak -- and waking up to think, "that day will never come!"

Well, the day came...and that's the end of that!  The boy will not close his mouth!  While still not as "wordy" as Abby, he is definitely right on track -- if not advanced -- for his sex and age.  What did I do before I got to hear his thoughts directly from his sweet little mouth all day??  Such a joy for him to be able to share himself in that way now!

I whole-heartedly believe that how much we read has been a great contributing factor in his surge of speech lately.  The kids have been incorporating phrases and words from the books we read into their daily conversations more and more frequently, and to hear Corbin doing this, especially after going so long without hearing a peep from him, makes my heart swell! 

The other night I was putting him to bed and was sitting in the rocking chair in his room praying while he was trying to calm down and doze off.  He would periodically roll over and check to make sure that I hadn't left him.  Then, out of the blue, he turned to me and said, "Mommy, you run away from me I will FLY after you, 'cause you my Mommy!"  While we had to return Runaway Bunny awhile ago, I immediately recognized the phrasing he was borrowing from it.  I said, "Oh yeah?  What if I climb a mountain to get away from you?"  He grinned and said, "I climb up high and come get you, 'cause you my Mommy!"  We did this back and forth for a couple of minutes before I told him that it was time to go to sleep.  It was fun for us to be able to play that game together, having both shared in the tale of the the little runaway bunny and his mommy. 

Both Corbin and Abby have been absolutely obsessed with Sam and the Tigers by Julius Lester over the last couple of weeks.  Randomly one of them will say, "Sam, I'm going to eat you up," to which the other will respond, "Uh uh...I don't like that idea.  Take my red coat instead!"  They go back and forth acting out Sam's encounter with the tigers, using new words they have picked up such as "indeed", "fine", and "declared".  Daddy and I will chime in, too, and act out the different scenes.  I am seeing how these books are introducing new words that I never would have thought to intentionally teach my toddlers and preschoolers, and they are using them in creative and correct ways!  Chalk it up as one more benefit to reading aloud on a daily basis!!

Tomorrow is library day, so I'm sure I'll be checking back in with a list of our loot!  Happy reading!

Lists, Lists, Everywhere!

One thing that I could not live without as I walk along this path of reading with my children is suggestions from others.  Whether a list made by another like-minded mommy of her family's reading conquests, a list made by the American Library Association of award winning books, or just word-of-mouth about great children's literature, I would be completely overwhelmed without these nudges in the right direction!  There is so much literature out there that you can feel as if you are drowning when you just jump in on your own.  Suggested reading lists have not only helped keep me from being overtaken by the waves of choices, but also build my confidence in selecting books outside of the suggested as I learn what it is that makes a great book for our family. 

Yet again, let me recommend grabbing some literature review compilation books, such as Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt or The Children's Literature Lovers Book of Lists by Joanne Sullivan.  Books such as these can just live in your library bag and go with you on every trip, offering last minute ideas in a bind.  I have started using my books like these as check lists, marking off books as we go and making it a goal to read them all!

In addition to books about books, the internet has a nearly endless supply of lists about books for the reading parent to print out.  One website that I recently found by The Parker Family has a list of these lists (I think all book lovers must love lists as much as I do!).  Simply Charlotte Mason (a great site for much more than just their book recommendations!) has suggested reading for Charlotte Mason education at different ages.  I've also stumbled upon  many schools -- public, private, homeschool, and charter -- that publish their recommended reading lists online.  For example, I printed out a list from Cornerstone Christian Academy in Arizona for more ideas.  There really is no end to the information at your fingertips on the web!

Lastly, ask around!  Ask family members, ask friends, ask preschool teachers, ask librarians; quiz everyone you encounter with children the same age as yours to find out what they have read or are reading with their family or students.  You will be surprised by some of the gems you can find this way!

One quick warning while I am thinking about it:  read all books on your own before you read them to your children.  While all surely are good-intentioned, not all book suggestions will be coming from those who have the same goals and values as you do.  Look at the source of the recommendation to see if it is a Christian or secular resource, and the proceed with caution either way.  There have been several times where I made the mistake of not reading a book on my own before reading it aloud to my kids, and had to stop right in the middle of a book!  Spare your kids the frustration and confusion -- make sure that what you begin reading to them is something that you are going to want to finish!

Lastly, as we talked about earlier with journaling, make your own lists!  Keep track of the books that you and your family have enjoyed -- not only to share with others, but to remember when you want to go back and reread some of your favorites.  When it comes to reading, lists are your friends!

“It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations--something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own.”

Katherine Patterson

Love Lines

In Honey for a Child's Heart, author Hunt talks about a bond that is developed in families that read together.  She says, "Reading aloud as a family has bound us together, as sharing an adventure always does.  We know the same people.  We have gone through emotional crises together as we felt anger, sadness, fear, gladness, and tenderness in the world of the book we were reading.  Something happens to us that is better experienced than described -- a kind of enlarging of heart -- when we encounter passages full of grand language and noble thoughts" (pg. 75). 

She goes on to explain how when families read together they begin to form their own special language to communicate with each other.  "Much of our secret family idioms come from the books we have read together.  I say 'secret' because a specialness surrounds it.  You need to have shared the book to know what the phrase means, and when we use it, it's communication of the heart."

I've been thinking about these two ideas -- of shared adventure and "secret" languages -- ever since I read those paragraphs several weeks ago.  Although my children are still very young, I feel I have already seen the proof that what Hunt speaks of is true; not only with my children, but as I look back over my own childhood.

While my siblings and I all have a love for reading individually, we rarely read together, especially as we got older.  We also had different tastes in literature, so very few of the stories that we read on our own time were shared amongst all of us.  However, we did watch a ton of Disney movies together!  To this day, because we shared those "adventures" found in the plots of the movies, we are constantly spouting out obscure Disney quotes to express our thoughts or feelings -- or just make a joke -- in different situations.  "Quick, what's that from?" is an oft heard question when we all get together.  We have, in essence, developed our own secret language from the random lines of movies that we watched together, and we have a blast with it!  Who wouldn't enjoy having a secret code?

I do not regret one minute of those shared experiences with my siblings and treasure the summer days we spent outside re-enacting Disney's Aladdin with all of my cousins.  Yet as I look forward and seek to foster a lasting bond between my own children, I realize that movies just won't do it for our family.  Already my children bore with television and would rather spend their time reading books.  They get this from their Mommy, and it pleases me to no end!  Even my husband -- a self-proclaimed TV addict -- has switched off the television to join the children and me as we spend our days digging deep into the riches on the pages before us.  We are sharing the adventures as a family, and growing closer because of them!

Even with a home of only infants, toddlers, and preschoolers about, we are already seeing those "secret idioms" that Hunt spoke of take life in the language of our family.  Lines to express love are the most commonly repeated, as little ones grasp to put words to the all-consuming love they have for the family that is their whole world right now. 

"I love you to the moon and back," is one my daughter loves to say, a variation on the closing line from Sam McBratney's Guess How Much I Love You. 

Another Sam McBratney book, You're All My Favorites, has helped the children express their love for each other and their parents with the word "best".  For example, I am Corbin's "best Mommy ever!", and Daniel is Abby's "best Daniel". 

Both my daughter and older son repeat "I love you forever and ever and always," from You Are Special, Little One, by Nancy Tafuri.  I believe this book is also the reason Corbin has started using "forever and ever" as his dramatic expression of choice (for example, "I be sad forever and ever!" to convey his disappointment, or "I protect you forever and ever" to explain how he wants to defend his siblings, etc.).

When someone does something amazing or silly or funny, someone might say "they should put you in the zoo because of the things that you can do!", from Robert Lopshire's Put Me in the Zoo.  

After reading Madeline (approximately eighty-five billion times), Corbin started dramatically waving his hand and saying "pooh, pooh!", meaning "that doesn't scare me" or "that is no big deal!".  And Abby, the one who couldn't get enough of Madeline, would quote the entire first half of the book from memory at random times throughout the day.

I could go on and on, listing the sayings that are developing in our family because of the books that we read together!  There is something comforting knowing that we can express our emotions or thoughts in these ways, and those we love will just "get it".  Isn't that what we all want, little or big?  To feel like someone just gets us and to feel accepted for who we are and what we think and feel?  It's not just a fun game to have this language develop between the members of our family, but it seems to be functioning as a magnet to pull us in closer; to bind our hearts and minds to one another, as little ones learn to put new words to their growing awareness of their individual thoughts and emotions, and big ones learn to open the doors of the world in a safe way. We are speaking lines of love that only we can fully understand, and we are building bonds that will -- I pray -- stand the tests of time and trials!

"The pleasure of all reading is doubled when one lives with another who shares the same books.”

Katherine Mansfield (1888 - 1923)