My husband and I are naturally cautious. Being attentive parents, our childrens’ first years were filled with “be careful”, “no touch”, and “let me help you.” It’s no wonder, then, between genetics and parenting style, that we have cautious kids who deal with some larger anxieties than normal. What we’ve been learning along the way,…
Author: Heather
Globe trotting English teacher turned home schooler to three curious little people
Magnatile Maze
Last week, I came across a fantastic activity involving Magnatiles. The idea is to create a maze using magnetic tiles** and a cookie sheet, and then run a marble through the maze. While it’s a great idea, presenting this as a predetermined maze with a single goal misses out on the beauty of these open-ended…
Avoiding Arguments – One Conga Line at a Time
This week, some good research was reported on, showing a link between preschoolers swinging in unison and their later cooperation in other activities. The article also mentions how music has been shown to improve cooperation. In our home, when the bickering starts we’ve been making a concerted effort to find a shared group activity that…
Permission to Stop
Dear Mom, I’m giving you (and myself) permission to stop. To stop Potty training, and try again in a couple of months Dance classes, even though you (we) paid for the session already Reading a book that you or your child just isn’t connecting with In the middle of a math lesson, where you’re both…
It’s Not a Waste of Time
We have a problem in our culture. We prize being busy and productive over being present. We glorify worksheets, flashcards, and learning drills over time spent experiencing life with our little ones. When my oldest started reading at the age of 3, the question came over and over: how did I teach him? And they…
Moving beyond “Why?” to “What If?”
A few months ago, J and I were reading a book about inventors. It began with the sentence, “Thomas Edison’s favorite word was “why”.” I almost closed the book and returned it to the library. There’s no way that was Edison’s favorite question. “Why?” implies a concrete, right answer. Why is the sky blue? Why…
Wonderschooling 