Cultivating Childhood

The children should have the joy of living in far lands, in other persons, in other times--a delightful double existence; and this joy they will find, for the most part, in their story books. (Charlotte Mason - Home Education p. 153) We will be beginning our version of Pre-K in the fall, and one of the things that I'm excited about is reading through A Treasury of Children's Literature .  The pictures are lovely, and the stories are timeless.  Of course, at age 4.5, Buddy is not yet ready for narration, but I'd love for him to really enjoy the stories.  So, for our form of narration, we will be acting out our stories every week.  The boys love to do this.  They've already performed The Three Little Pigs , but they've also recently enjoyed their lion masks that they made at church to perform the story of Daniel and the Lion's Den. It really is amazing how much they remember if they "narrate" the story.  Daniel and the Lion's

Every once in a while, I get asked how our preschool is going at home.  I'm not usually sure how to answer that.  We've come a long way from me making up lesson plans each week or even trying to do a little "school" each day.  Part of this is just trying to enjoy the little years with my kids.  Part of it was that it was just too much for mom and kids.  Instead, I now look for the teachable moments in our day.  Things like explaining why it is polite to sit still while eating or not to talk with your mouth full.  Like why it is important to wash your hands after using the bathroom.  Or how to help clean the toilet or " mop " the floor.  Or how to zip a zipper.  Or why it is important to be nice to people and think of them more highly than yourself.  Or why we should pray for the redemption of "bad people". Academics?  Well, there are definitely things we are learning in that regard too, but I don't really plan for them so much anymore.  Some