Loving and Learning in the Nest
We lament that children spend most of their time inside. We weep that their main form of occupation, and in some cases, interaction with others, comes from screens. We wonder what the world will look like when a whole generation has floated through their days, half-asleep, seemingly unaware of a sunset or insect. So what is to be done about it? We train children to see, to find joy and Read More
"I don't see how you're going to do it," my husband said to me, eyeing our 1000 Hours Outside tracking sheet. Not even the top row of hours was filled in, meaning that we had more than 950 hours to go for the year. My husband is a realist. He wasn't trying to discourage me, what he was saying was that I needed a plan. If I just tried to shoot from the hip and hope for the best, like I've been Read More
In March's Idea Nest, we'll explore the wind. Wind is something that is so magical for children, yet we often forget that we can study it because it's invisible. When Miss H was not quite four, we made paper kites and took them outside to fly them on a windy day. For Spring Tinkergarten two years ago, we made hand kites to explore the wind. It doesn't take anything elaborate to get your child Read More
I was in the camp of "you don't need a curriculum for your young child" until I had a young child who needed a curriculum. He didn't need instruction, but structure. We tried many options, and I realized that I wanted a different feeling in our home for the early years. Playful experiences. A life fed on ideas. Not a lesser amount of formal lessons. Nothing formal at Read More
Ever since writing my post about Charlotte Mason and kindergarten, I've been trying to get more familiar with Froebel's ideas. Friedrich Froebel lived in the late 18th century and early 19th century, and his principles on early education deemed him the affectionate title "the father of the Kindergarten." Unfortunately, Froebel did not have an outstanding way with words, as pointed out in an Read More
