My Little Robins

Loving and Learning in the Nest

Stocking Your Christmas Morning Basket

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I love celebrating the Christmas season with my children! Advent is not something we paid much attention to growing up, besides watching the wreath fill up with light at church every Sunday. Maybe it's a trend, but if so, it's a very good one. Advent. which means "the arrival of a notable person, thing, or event"  helps us anticipate the coming of our savior, both 2000 years ago, and in the future. 

I am not sure our advent resources will be relegated only to morning time, but I do know that I want the morning time feel during this season- all of us sitting around the table together, learning and reading about Jesus. Other lessons will be scaled back to make way for celebrating the coming king. I've also included ideas for a Mom's basket, and an evening basket, which we've started doing with my husband after dinner. 

Each year, we've gathered a couple of new resources, giving us many to choose from. I've mentioned the age category that I think they're appropriate for, even though all of my children participate in what we do, whether it's meant for an older or younger audience.

I've used affiliate links to share items to help you stock your Advent Morning Basket. You can read more about affiliate links in my policies.

Advent Curricula

The Christmas Guide- A Peaceful Preschool Unit

We will use this year, with my middle child (4) in mind. I often gear our Christmas activities towards my older child, but this year, I think he will be so excited for this.  I love the read alouds that are included, and the fact that there are cards to help with recitation. As usual, activities that don't fit my vision for our Charlotte Mason homeschool will be left out, but there aren't many of those. 

A Gentle Advent

We've used this the past two years, and we adored it! It is such a sweet way to celebrate Christmas, and has beautiful videos to watch for guidance, a gorgeous printable Advent calendar that my children loved to flip open each day, copywork pages, and more. It can be adapted for children of different ages (we have omitted the copywork the past two years)  so a wide array of children can participate. 

Christmas Celebration Morning Time Plans

Pam Barnhill, the queen of morning time, offers free morning time plans on her website. These include living books, music study, and liturgy. We are tucking these away for another year when our kids are slightly older, but they look lovely! 

A Gentle Advent- Jesse Tree

The second version of A Gentle Advent includes readings to hold your own Jesse Tree. A Jesse Tree traces the arrival of Jesus all the way back through the Old Testament, with scripture and prophecy from long before his birth. There is an advent calendar, printable ornaments to put on the tree each day, and other ideas to celebrate advent. To me, this resource looks appropriate for children five and up, with some modifications for non-writers. 

Christmas Books and Devotionals

Great read-alouds are crucial to the morning basket! We read most of these every year. 

There Was No Snow on Christmas Eve

 We picked this book up at the library a few years ago, and I couldn't believe that I hadn't heard of it before. Pam Munoz Ryan is a talented author, and this book is no exception. I love that it more accurately portrays the first Christmas scene for young readers, rather than the snowy night, jingle-bell idea that has become the Christmas ideal. 

The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey

This is a longer book that we usually take several days to read. It is gorgeously illustrated, and beautifully tells the tale of heart-transformation during Christmas time. While younger children enjoy it, it would be most appreciated with children five and up. 

Advent Storybook

 There are two advent storybooks that I think are worth adding to a morning basket, although probably not in the same year! This one tells the story of Benjamin Bear, who is making a pilgrimage to see the Christ child. It is very sweet for young children, ages 0-6, with just one short story to read each day of advent. 

The Advent Storybook

 This advent storybook is somewhat more Christ-centered. It contains 25 stories about why Jesus came on Christmas. I ordered this book for my two younger children, but it hasn't arrived yet.

The Way to the Manger

We bought this devotional last Christmas, and it is so sweet! I love how there are questions and spaces to write responses, so you can see how each family member changes and grows from year to year. I do wish there was a little more depth to it, but for now, with very young children, it is great for our family. This is what we do for our "evening basket" after dinner. Usually, my husband reads it to them so he can also be involved with our advent celebration. 

The Christmas Story From the King James Bible

This is a beautifully illustrated account of the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke. It's in the language of the King James Bible, which is so lovely to listen to, and the pictures make it engaging and understandable for the littlest learners. 

Free Resources

Advent ABC's

 A daily scripture verse in alphabetical order that is fun for little ones!

Jesus Storybook Bible Reading Plan

Download a free reading plan that coordinates with the Jesus Storybook Bible. There are even printable ornaments so your children can add an ornament to the tree for each story. 

Focus on the Family Advent Devotions

This year's free devotions are intended for each Sunday of advent, but once you download your plans, you can acecss past year's devotions as well. 

The Book of Luke

There are 24 chapters in the book of Luke, which makes it a perfect, free advent resource. Read one chapter each day to have an entire account of Jesus's birth, life, death and resurrection. 

Handicrafts

Rooted Childhood Christmas Collection- If you've been hanging out here for very long, you know that my kids and I really enjoy Rooted Childhood. They just released a Christmas Collection, that will be a beautiful addition to our seasonal collections. I am planning on choosing one handicraft to work on each week of advent. As a warning, there is some Waldorf-inspired content in this collection, which I know some Christians avoid. 

Mom's Morning Basket

I love the idea of having a morning basket for mom, which I first heard of from Lara at Everyday Graces. Stocking up a morning basket for myself, which I can do before my kids wake up, is a great way to face the day restored, and to focus my own heart of Jesus's arrival, too. 

A Homespun Hallelujah

This course, which is part online, part printables, is such a refreshing way to prepare our hearts and homes for the season.  I loved the Bible journaling pages, and the tutorials for festive decorations, like an evergreen wreath. I'm looking forward to using this again this year. 

Case For Christmas Free Online Bible Study

 A few years ago, I read The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel, and really enjoyed it. Just weeks after finishing the book, my husband and I just happened to visit a church the day that Lee Strobel was the guest speaker. Now I'm a big fan!  I was excited to find this free advent resource this year, that I think I will use with my husband. 

Unwrapping the Names of Jesus

I just ordered this advent devotional, so I'm not sure what I think of it yet, but I can let you know ASAP 🙂 It has great reviews on Amazon. 

Charlotte Mason's Saviour of the World Poems

Volume One of Charlotte Mason's poetry collection, Saviour of the World, focuses on the holy infancy. What a refreshing read for mothers during the Advent season! You can find it for free thanks to the ladies of Ambleside Online. 






THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES: Outdoor Subscription Box for Kids

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Outdoor culture is important here in Colorado, and my husband and I want to raise our kids to be nature explorers and adventurers.  Adventure without knowledge is foolish, so we try to help our children develop a deep understanding of nature and survival skills.  We've sought out and tested different outdoor curricula to fit our outdoorsy needs, and recently discovered THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES, a monthly subscription box and nature curriculum that encourages a love for nature and teaches how to live in it responsibly.  

I 'm thankful for this opportunity to receive THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES for free, since they're a perfect fit for our family.  I received compensation for the time spent writing this post, but all opinions are my own. 

Outdoor Subscription Box

We aren't using a nature study curriculum this year, and I had been feeling like  I needed direction. I wanted my kids to not only learn about the natural world around them, but learn how to love it. THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES is a monthly subscription box for kids, perfect for outdoorsy families or those who want to be. Each month of this year-long subscription has a theme oriented around nature. We received two boxes:  the campfire box and the nature box. 

The boxes have 3-5 tools to help stock a nature survival backpack, as well as a guide packed with information and nature activities. The tools are not run-of-the-mill nature toys, they are high quality items that would be truly necessary to outdoor survival. A year-long subscription will ensure that your family is prepared for all elements of nature. 

The guide that came in the box is well-done and something we keep coming back to look at and use. It is broken into several sections: Learn It, Try It, and Live It. The learn it section has information to read about each month's topic. This is well-organized writing that tells about a certain nature topic, or warns about dangers you might encounter outside. The "try it" section has activities that get your children thinking. Some of the activities are nature handicrafts, and some are intended to get your child up close and observing nature. The "Live it" section is shorter, and teaches children how they can apply what they're learning in nature.

THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES

Nature Box Crafts and Activities

When we opened our nature box in our backyard, the kids and I were immediately inspired to head out on an adventure. I loved that THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES had the ability to make us crave more outdoor time! So, we packed up and headed to one of our favorite nature spots. 

 This box has a bite and sting kit, and other nature tools like a magnifying glass (actual glass, not plastic!) and LED tweezers. Thankfully, we didn't encounter any insects or venomous creatures or biting insects that day, but the kids had a lot of fun acting out a snake-bite situation, taking turns with the venom pump. This was a great way to get my kids prepared for an emergency situation: should it happen for real, they'll know what to do! 

It was so simple yet meaningful to make a braided nature bracelet!

Miss H and I worked on some of the outdoor activities in the curriculum guide. The guide is set up so that we can read a little, and then do a related activity. It feels like the perfect amount of reading versus activity. We read about trees, and then H searched out trees in the area and noticed their different qualities.  There was a little graphic organizer in the booklet for this activity that she thought was really fun to fill out! 

Miss H was a also excited to try a nature handicraft: making a braided bracelet from long strands of grass. She loves trying new crafts, and I love it when the supplies come directly from nature and not out craft cupboard. The activities in the guide are balanced between educational and skillful, a perfect combination to keep children learning and interested. 

Related: Making the Most Out of Outdoor Play During the Early Years

My two older kids, unboxing their THiNK OUTSiDE box.

Miss H, working on the tree chart in the nature curriculum guide. 

Campfire Box

The campfire box interested all of us, including my husband! The box came with materials for building a fire, like cotton for tinder and a fire striker. This all came in a little burlap bag for easy storage in the nature backpack. The guide has important fire safety information, which is crucial for young children to learn! We were also really excited about the fire extinguisher recipe in the guide. That will be something to keep handy on our next camping trip! 

We don't have a fire pit in our new backyard (yet!) but it didn't stop my children from making a pretend fire according to the directions in the laminated flip book that came with the box. They spread lava rocks for the base of the fire, gathered tinder, and set up sticks in a little teepee shape. 

THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES in Our Homeschool

With six "learn it" and "try it" sections in the nature box guide, we'll have more than enough to keep us learning and playing throughout the month. These days, we venture out somewhere rugged about once a week, so this curriculum is just the right amount for us. I plan to read the "learn it" section at home, and then bring our tools and the guide on our adventures. 

Even though my younger kids don't need a nature curriculum at this point, this has been completely accessible for them, too. E (4) enjoyed reading the sections in the guide, and A (2) loved playing with the tools. The imaginative play that results has been so heart-warming to watch!  I am thankful that THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES aren't geared towards a narrow age segment.

There are 12 themed boxes that will keep us exploring all year long. You can check out this worthwhile resource for homeschoolers here.  Use the code HOME10 for $10 off of your order through 2019. 

THiNK OUTSiDE BOXES: A nature oriented subscription box for the outdoorsy kid.

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The Key To Homeschooling For Christian Moms

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Humans like easy.

This is scientifically proven, and I believe it's why God created us to be creatures of habit: habits make things easy and take decision making away. 

For those same reasons, so many homeschool moms look for what will be easiest for them: the open-and-go curriculum, the habit-training advice, or the blog or business that can tell them just what to do. Whatever makes it easy. 

But, is it possible that in the quest for easy, we overlook our biggest Homeschooling Advocate: the Holy Spirit?

Habits for the Early Years: A Mother's Journal

Charlotte Mason's 20th Principle

Charlotte Mason's 20th principle is probably my favorite. She said: 

 "We allow no separation to grow up between the intellectual and 'spiritual' life of children, but teach them that the Divine Spirit has constant access to their spirits, and is their Continual Helper in all the interests, duties and joys of life."

For the Christian mom, this principle brings comfort and peace of mind. We no longer have to agonize over our decisions, over the books we choose to read with our children, and whether or not we are qualified to homeschool. 

Charlotte Mason believed so strongly in this principle, that she called it the "mothers' key" to education: 

"In the things of science, in the things of art, in the things of practical everyday life, his God doth instruct him and doth teach him, her God doth instruct her and doth teach her. Let this be the mother's key to the whole of the education of each boy and each girl; not of her children; the Divine Spirit does not work with nouns of multitude, but with each single child." School Education, page 273

But many of us stand with this key in hand, refusing to use it to unlock the door. We know that we can turn to the Holy Spirit for help, but instead we turn to social media, we hesitate, and we don't trust. 

What if all Christian homeschooling moms decided to tune out some of the loud voices shouting their dissent, and instead tuned into the Holy Spirit? 

Can you imagine the transformation we'd see in our own hearts and others? I've been thinking about this topic for years, and I truly believe that if we let the Holy Spirit guide out homeschools, we'd find peace in many areas. 

Charlotte Mason's First Principle: Children are Born Persons

1. Making Decisions

I try not to get too caught up in the question of what Charlotte Mason would have us do in certain situations. I don't agonize over decisions about what books we should read or at what age to include copywork. Instead, I pray about what the Holy Spirit would have me do. Sometimes, what I do is not directly in line with what Charlotte Mason would say, but in the end, I'm answering to God and not to Charlotte Mason. 

When I taught my daughter to read at the age of 5.5, I knew some people would disagree with my decision. But thankfully, it wasn't about them. It was about seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit and doing what I felt called to do. Teaching H to read slightly earlier than Charlotte Mason recommended ended up being a blessing to our entire family. My little girl was thrilled with her new knowledge, and  her little siblings loved having a new person in the home to read to them. 

Why My Kids are Out of Control

2. Feeling Qualified

Many of us don't feel qualified to homeschool our children, maybe academically or spiritually. But, if we hang onto this: "her God doth instruct her and teacher her" from the quote above, we can feel confidently qualified. As I said in a recent Thinking Love podcast episode, it isn't a matter of how qualified we are, but who qualifies us to homeschool. 

If we understand that the Holy Spirit is on our side, that the knowledge given by him is infinite and more complete than any college degree, then we can rest in our Qualifier. 

3. Learning and Teaching Hard Things

We all have areas that we've struggled with in the past. Math never clicked for me as a child, and I carried that unsettling, "I am a math failure" feeling through the first few years of my teaching career.  We can either let these feelings overwhelm us and outsource these subjects to other people, or we can hold the key in our hand, and use it to give us God-confidence, knowing that we can learn and grow just as our children do. 

Understanding that the Holy Spirit is the Divine Teacher also allows us to mess up. If we don't relate a subject perfectly, your child's understanding of it doesn't entirely rest on your efforts. The Divine Teacher can, and will, use you, books, other people, and your child's own mind to deepen their knowledge. 

20 Principles Study Guide

4. Getting Along

I will touch on this final area gently. It's no secret that there's tension in the homeschooling community. When someone makes a decision that's different than ours, sometimes our defenses go up. We sometimes feel that it diminishes our own decisions if someone else chooses another path. But why? 

 I love how Charlotte Mason said, in the passage above, that the Holy Spirit works with individuals, not with multiples, and this applies to mothers as well as children. If we believe that the Holy Spirit can guide different people in different directions, then there is no reason to view others' decisions in a negative light.

He is carving out a unique path for your homeschooling journey, and it is yours if you are willing to accept it.  



Your Secret Weapon for Forming Good Habits

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Chaos is often the leading lady in our home, as many mothers with very young children can most definitely relate to. But with chaos comes rattled nerves, tears (mostly mine), and a home atmosphere that is better prepared for battle than for learning. For the last year or so, I've been recognizing the importance of routine. This simple little thing, that children tend to crave, might be the key to habit training in our homes. 


The Chaos of the Past Year

When I sit down to tell you about the past year, my eyes can't hold back the tears. There was nothing tragic, and many could share their stories of far worse experiences. But almost everything that it contained was a struggle. There was the extremely explosive toddler, whom we realized had a Sensory Processing Disorder. The resulting therapy and work that we did with him drained us (me) to empty. There was the selling of our house, the buying of a new house, and the renovation that kicked us out of our home for five weeks (and is still going, ahem). And what I didn't prepare for was all the tears from little ones who were sad to have left their home, and didn't understand what was happening to their new one. 

Through all of these circumstances, a common theme kept arising: we needed a routine.

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My sensory guy desperately needed a routine so his little body could relax a bit and not feel the need to fight an overwhelming world. 

With the chaos of moving and renovating and moving again, I craved a routine of happy mornings with my children. 

Through blurry tears shed after losing the only home they'd ever known, my children needed a routine to show them that not so much had changed. 

And yet, I couldn't give it to them. Our days were unpredictable and chaotic and far from easy. But, in all that time, God was changing my heart. I was learning and preparing for the day when the gift of the mundane would walk back into our lives. I was planning out our routines. 

Related: The Complete Charlotte Mason Preschool Guide

The Secret Weapon For Forming Good Habits

Our habits require some kind of cue to set them in motion. The habit cue is why we accidentally turn off the lights when someone is firmly planted in the room- it's a habit to flip that switch when we walk out of that door! When our cues are completely shaken, then our habits crumble. I imagine that this is part of the reason why the last year was so challenging: we were without our routines, so all of those habits that we had worked so hard on had disintegrated into that thin Colorado air. 

Related: Toddler Schedule for a Charlotte Mason Home

Habits need routines.

If you have been struggling to help your children, and yourself, develop good habits, but there isn't consistency in your day, then you probably feel like you're shoveling during a snowstorm. Habits are entirely repetitive, and if we don't repeat those habit cues for good habits, then they will probably quickly morph into bad habits. 

When we follow routines in our day, the cues happen naturally. If everyone goes upstairs to clean their rooms after breakfast every day, there won't be so much of a fight. If the kids are used to playing independently outside for an hour while I work or rest, there won't be so much bickering. Establishing routines into our days when our kids are in their early years yields a high return of investment. 

Related: Family Habits Meeting

Establishing Routines

All the while that I wanted to establish routines, but couldn't, I spent time planning them out. The first thing that I knew we needed in order to have healthy routines and habits was more time at home together. We needed fewer activities because good habits are seldom formed in the rush to get shoes on and get into the car. 

After clearing our schedule a bit (and learning how to say "no" to some things, I thought about what our mornings should look like. What if everyone was really at peace, and if our home was filled with the sweet aroma of Jesus? I wrote a paragraph to describe it. This didn't factor in sensory meltdowns or teething toddlers, but I wanted to have a baseline of what I thought would be ideal. 

With my paragraph in hand, I thought about all of the habits that might need to happen in order to have a morning like this. If we were to all sit together at the table for breakfast and morning time,  we would need to work on our table manners. If the little boys were expected to play quietly during lessons, then we would need to work on the habit of being kind to each other. 

Finally, I wrote out a routine that would help support the habits I knew we needed help with. Instead of letting the kids graze throughout the morning and eat when they woke, we'd wait and eat breakfast together so I could get everyone to the table simultaneously for our morning time. Before beginning lessons, I'd play with my little boys and model how to be kind to each other. 

Habit Training Resources

Make sure to subscribe to My Little Robin's email list to get access to the subscriber library, It is full of great resources, including habit and routine planning worksheets. 

If you are figuring out what habit training looks like during the early years, be sure to check out Habits for the Early Years: A Mother's Journal.

 

A Charlotte Mason (Informal) Kindergarten

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 I don't have a Kindergartener this year, which you may or may not know depending on how long you've been reading this blog. I decided to wait to tell you about our Charlotte Mason Kindergarten year until after it was over to see how it went first. 

Thankfully, it was a success.

I chose to put together an informal Kindergarten for my daughter, using resources that I pieced together in order to give her a playful year that had a bit more structure than what we had been doing before. My husband requested that I had some sort of plan, and my little girl begged to go to Kindergarten with her peers. 

An informal kindergarten seemed like a good solution. You can read more about my thoughts on Charlotte Mason Kindergarten here.

A Flexible Kindergarten Year

Since my plan was to have a sweet, playful year together, I was very flexible. Some of the resources we used changed after we moved to a new area. Our math shifted a little after Miss H turned six, and we discovered some new resources that were a wonderful fit. If I hadn't been flexible and willing to change my original plan, then it wouldn't have been informal, I suppose.  When a resource stopped feeling playful, we moved on. When H requested more of a challenge, we moved on. 

Now that I can see the year in the rear-view mirror, I wanted to share the resources that we loved in case you are planning an informal Kindergarten year, too. 

I've used affiliate links to share what worked for us in our Charlotte Mason Kindergarten. 

Math

Miss H had been begging to do math for years. Since I didn't want to use a curriculum at first, I planned on using different math manipulatives to play with and learn from. Each week, I put different manipulatives into our basket. Some of these were: 

This was fun for a month or two, but soon she started craving even more. Thankfully, a wise mom recommended a book in the public domain for us:

The Arithmetic Primer by Frank Hall

This book was very helpful for developing Miss H's number sense. It is not a workbook, but focuses more on mental math. There were even some paper-folding exercises, that Miss H really enjoyed. 

By the time we had fully explored to number 10, I felt that Miss H was read to move on. By this time, she had already turned six, so I chose to buy the math curriculum that I wanted to use our first year-

Singapore Math 

Wouldn't you know that as much as I've tried to protect my girl from the monotony of workbooks, in order to give her a rich and meaningful education, she ended up LOVING workbooks? She enjoyed completing the math workbook so much! I shared a little about my reasons for choosing Singapore Math here.  

Reading

I started teaching Miss H to read last August, using the Reading Printable Packs in my shop. She really enjoyed the lessons, and had a good amount of words that she could decode when we were done. I then read simple, enjoyable books with her, like the Treadwell Readers and Frog and Toad, working on phonics patterns as the need arose. By her birthday in March, she was reading fluently. Note that you do NOT have to teach your 5-year-old how to read, but Miss H had been begging to learn for years. 

Before our year started, I bought a set of McGuffey readers online, but we didn't enjoy them. I may jump into the second volume with Miss H this year. 

Bible

For Bible, we continued reading our Egermeier's Bible Storybook that we started the year before. We also used Miss H's Awana's curriculum for scripture memory. 

We bought Leading Little Ones to God, but found it pretty dry and repetitive. I think if it had been written with more examples rather than as a lecture, it would have worked better for us. 

Morning Time

In March, we added The Homeschool Garden morning time plans. This was a great way to include all of the riches in our homeschool, as well as literature, scripture memory, and tea time. Honestly, if you are required by your state to teach Kindergarten, this would be a great option! It doesn't feel like a formal curriculum, but it covers much of what you would want/need to include in Kindergarten, except for reading  instruction and math.  We really enjoyed learning the hymns and folk songs. My three-year-old even participated, which of course made my heart sing! 

Handicrafts 

Rooted Childhood is another resource that could probably suffice for your entire Kindergarten year. Each month of Rooted Childhood includes seven handicrafts, three recipes, stories, songs, and finger rhymes. This is the perfect amount of activities to do during the early years, and it's a sweet way to do "school" without really doing school 🙂 You can read more about this resource here.

Nature Study

We used Exploring Nature With Children half time for our informal Kindergarten.  Instead of studying a new nature object each week, we began a new one every other week. We checked out books from the library, and read the poems included. Like the other resources mentioned, this one would be enough for an informal Kindergarten on its own. We're excited to start it again this year and study the items that we didn't do last year. 

What About a Formal Kindergarten?

If you choose to do a formal Kindergarten with your child, no judgment here! Maybe your child will turn six after your local enrollment cut-off, you are required to have a formal Kindergarten, or you just WANT to. A resource to consider is the Kindergarten curriculum from Rebecca at A Humble Place. I have not used this curriculum, but have a dear friend who enjoyed it. 

You have lots of options available should you choose to hold Kindergarten in your home.  However, this time is precious! Loosen your grip on the to-do list, and hold tight to your growing child. 


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