Name: Teach Them Diligently (Branson)
Start: 2025-05-15T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-17T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Branson, MO

Tagged: duanted, fun kids things, illustrated, literature, picture book

This topic has 11 replies, 11 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 8 months ago by LauraNthree.

Viewing 12 posts - 1 through 12 (of 12 total)

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August 14, 2012 at 1:17 am
LauraNthree
Participant
Let me just say that I LOVE the ideas and philosophy behind CM methods. It incorporates so much of what I want to impart to my children and how I want to do it.
However, I’m concerned that it will just not “fly” with my 6yo DS who attended kindergarten in public school last year. He is used to colorful children’s stories, church songs/regular children’s songs, crafts with glue sticks and construction paper, etc. How do I make the transition to singing hymns, reading stories with no pictures, doing handicrafts and the like? I would love for him to embrace this but I am thinking I will meet resistance and that is not the way I want to start off. We already had an incident where he excitedly opened a package of homeschool supplies only to be disappointed that it was “only books” and announced he did not want to do homeschool at all if we were just going to read boring books. (it was the days go by series) I have a feeling that if things don’t go right…I will be hearing all year about how wonderful kindergarten was and how he wants to go back to public school! I already did a post asking for interesting read-alouds because I was worried he would start balking at some of the “girly” titles in the literature modules. Ugh. He really is a bright kid and I know he would eagerly soak up the things in this curriculum if it is approached the right way. But he tends to be “all or nothing” and I’m just nervous now that we are three weeks away from starting.
Any suggestions?
August 14, 2012 at 1:32 am
Kristen
Participant
I still sing hymns and other songs with my kids. Fun folk and kids songs. And they still do finger paints and play dough and coloring and craft things too. It’s not all “just books”! (although I wouldn’t mind). 🙂 if I was in your situation I would take my kiddos to the library and let them pick out a few books to bring home and then when it was time to read I would either read one of his and one of mine, or one of his this time and one of mine next time. And by ‘one of mine’, it might just be one chapter depending on the book. I still do that with my DS4. And before you know it he will be asking you to read more of it.
Good luck and Gods Blessings.
August 14, 2012 at 1:37 am
momto2blessings
Participant
Maybe let him do play dough, draw, Legos, etc. while you read and tell him that as you get older in school you have to sit at your desk and aren’t able to do those things? I always like to remind my kids that if they were in school, they’d have to go to bed earlier, get up earlier, do more hours of school, homework, etc. And when we’re out doing something fun when kids are in school I remind them of our blessing:) Hope the transition is smooth and he can understand that Kindergarten is play, but it doesn’t stay that way! Gina
August 14, 2012 at 1:45 am
4myboys
Participant
Relax. CM does not mean you can’t read stories with great pictures (he’s 6 after all!) or colour, cut and paste and make crafts and all the rest. You should make sure your schedule has lots of variety and opportunity for creative outlet, but try to steer towards purposeful crafts or beautiful lapbooks. There are tons of free templates online that you can make together on just about any topic you wish, if you are so inclined (my boys are NOT the cut and paste type). You might let him draw a picture about the story you are reading while you read. You can listen to an audio book and draw together. Colouring pages about a Bible, history or science topic can help you to help him focus instead of just sitting beside you grumbling. Try to do many of your lessons outside when the weather allows. Gather pinecones or pebbles for manipulatives for a math lesson under a tree. Got a sandy beach nearby or even a sand box? Use a stick to write letters or words or do math problems in the wet sand. Even boys like to dress up, they just would rather be pirates or superheros or cowboys or aliens. Give him a costume or prop and encourage him to act out a scene it what you read together. Boys tend to be especially busy and need to move around a lot. Make that work for you by thinking outside the box a bit. Don’t spend your whole school day sitting on the couch reading or at the table writing. Try to include a fun picture book in your day, too.
Don’t be afraid of “girly titles” at this age. My boys loved Anne of Green Gables and The Secret Garden as a read aloud. We might even read Little Women this year as a read aloud. You may need to do a bit of pre-reading-advertizement by mentioning a few of the more exciting points throughout the book.
August 14, 2012 at 2:00 am
Rachel White
Participant
I only have a moment but I wanted to just reassure you that it’s not reading stories with no pictures, but that the books are not majority pictures and those that exist aren’t really pictures or cartoonlike drawings, but illustrations. Illustrations that are life-like, yet fills the imagination with beauty. Your child will learn to have pictures in his own mind to enliven the text because the text is full of wonderfully descriptive words.
6 years old is not too old to change the direction that was begun in gov’t. school; you can most cedrtainly positiviely affect a change in his tastes within a short period of time.
August 14, 2012 at 2:09 am
sheraz
Participant
Why can’t he make a few popsicle and construction paper crafts? Why can’t you sing kids songs and church songs? Why can’t you read books with pictures? Why can’t he celebrate being young? That is why CM is a philosophy and a method, not a set in stone “you will fail your child if he is not reading Plutarch when he is eight” curriculum. You’ll get there. For what it is worth:
Start with a few fun things like that to help him transition and K will be a pleasant memory. He will adjust faster then you will. =) My kiddos did. Sometimes I still feel a pang of “what ifs” about things like that from PS, but my kids don’t. They will talk about the memories, but when I ask they overwhelming want to stay home.
There are plenty of ways to incorporate the interesting, hands-on approach in a CM education. I tend to agree with CM on the pointless projects that have no purpose, but you can use them as a transition to a more handicraft type thing. Let him make a few of those paper and stick projects to decorate the house. Pretty soon both of you will understand what you both want and need in that direction. Based on my experience, that sort of need disappears when “real” life is abundant in our homeschools. Crafts have a purpose – he can learn a skill, share it with someone, and it can met a real need emotionally for some people.
Read lots of picture stories too. He is still pretty little, and can enjoy the best of both worlds.
I let my kids color sometimes while we listen to stories. They seem to focus better – for example, I printed out Alice in Wonderland pictures for my littles to color while we read it aloud. Making playdough characters of stories we read work too.
Find coloring pictures or other pictures of the people, creatures, or places you are reading about and let him create something with them. He can color, make collages of the people or places in history, let him color the timeline or BOC figures, make a bug collection of his nature study pictures, etc.
Have him draw his narration while you read the story or chapter. I found when we first started learning how to do narrations that they learned and remembered more this way. Using a variety of colored pencils helped make it fun.
Go on lots of nature study trips and walks during PS hours. If you happen to drive by the school mention that if he were there, he’d be at a desk instead of singing kids songs on his way to a really cool field trip. lol
Plan several unusual places for field trips that are new to him.
We sing all kinds of music. CM just thought that they should be exposed to and learn to appreciate quality, beauty, and enriching things – including hymns. As long as you are exposing him to those things that support those ideals on a regular basis and aren’t overdoing the mindless, un-inspiring things, it won’t hurt him. We love to sing silly things around here – and we love our classical music now, too. =)
There is a time and a place for everything. Allowing some of these things will ease him into your higher goals without alienating his interest, making your entire life happier.

August 14, 2012 at 2:26 am
Tristan
Participant
Something to consider is implementing one new thing at a time. SCM has a wonderful series of blog posts about transitioning to the CM method here: http://simplycharlottemason.com/series/making-the-transition-to-cm/
What does your son really like from kindergarten? Can you find a way to incorporate pieces of it? For example, there are many colorful children’s stories set in history time periods, there are even more beautiful and informative nonfiction picture filled books about animals, space, science topics, and real things that are wonderful to use. If you are going to read a short chapter about a squirrel (Maybe Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin or something from a nature reader) then grab a nonfiction book from the library with photographs of squirrels or tell him that after the story his mission is to go outside and see if he can quietly watch for a squirrel or any other creature for 10 minutes. Then if he doesn’t see a squirrel extend the mission to the rest of the week, having him tell you the first time he spots one.
Handicrafts could begin with his glue/construction paper loving crafts having a purpose – cards for someone sick or far away, or even to brighten the mailman’s day, a gift for an upcoming birthday, etc. Or let him dive into a ‘boy-friendly’ handicraft like carving bits of wood, soap, etc. You can even begin with carving clay that bakes and hardens (Sculpey is the brand I know).
Oooo, one last thing, for picture study seek out art that is ‘boy-themed’. How about Monet, who is famous for things like bridges over water-lilies, but also did a series on TRAINS! We loved this painting (Arrival of the Normandy Train): http://www.the-athenaeum.org/art/full.php?ID=3210 and there is a great picture book to go along called Claude Monet: The Painter Who Stopped the Trains.
Hopefully that helps give you ideas! It CAN be done and he will learn to love it. I have seven children and FIVE of those are boys. CM works wonderfully well.
August 14, 2012 at 4:42 am
Christine Kaiser
Participant
Most has been answered from posters above. About hymns, my DS 6 and DD 7 attend the children’s choir in church. It is a great and fun way for them to learn traditional and modern hymns with friends. At home we just sing the songs they learned in choir during the day, while coloring, cooking, just randomly. With the handicrafts and arts, honestly I think most times we Moms dread the change to creative art more then our kids ;). Like others said before, you do not need to burn all the coloring books and foam stickers, I still keep them around for keeping the little fingers busy one in a while. But I also have to say, the more my children got offered creative arts and crafts, the less they desire ” mindless” ones. They learn really fast that creating your own, may it be a drawing or clay model, is so much more rewarding!
Blessings Christine
August 14, 2012 at 1:23 pm
SueinMN
Participant
I am all for making school interesting with great books, field trips, art projects and interaction with other homeschool children. But it seems to me that part of your problem is that you are afraid that you will not please your child and he will complain or be unhappy. I may not be assessing the problem correctly because I can only read a small paragraph that you have written but I think you have the cart before the horse. The parent is supposed to be in charge and not the child. It is the parent’s job to decide what is best for the child and the child’s job to please the parent. I suggest that you begin a Bible study on this subject to help him develop thankfulness, obedience and other better heart attitudes and thought patterns. This is the most important thing you will teach him all year. Sure you can have fun but helping him to develop a thankful and obedient heart attitude will have eternal results.
August 14, 2012 at 1:41 pm
suzukimom
Participant
Just wanted to add that you may hear all about how wonderful k was for a bit, but that goes away. My son went to a preschool for a year and a bit. To him, that was school – playing with cool toys etc. He also only remembered the year he loved it, not the bit of the next year that he hated before we pulled him out. Add in tv shows glorifying school ( to prepare kids to go) and people asking him how he was liking k etc…. Well, it made him confused, and missing it.
I would point out benefits. We would go play in the school playground, and he would see how short the recess was. I’d casually mention the kids sitting in desks at school. It also helped, around grade 2, when my grandson (the same age) started not liking school, and would verify the sitting at desks etc. now the grandson is jealous.
It will pass.
August 14, 2012 at 4:02 pm
cnp
Participant
Sterling Illustrated Classics has some great children’s literature beautifully illustrated by Robert Ingpen. Additionally, these stories are unabridged. Titles include “Wind in the Willows,” “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” “Tom Sawyer,” “Treasure Island,” “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” “The Secret Garden” and “Peter Pan and Wendy,” plus “The Jungle Book” is scheduled to come out in October. Sterling has many other books illustrated by others, but my children and I love Ingpen’s rich classic illustrations.
August 15, 2012 at 11:04 am
LauraNthree
Participant
Thank you all for sharing your thoughts and ideas- I will definitely be implementing many of them! I know I did come off sounding like I was just worried about pleasing him. Really though it’s more about wanting him to develop a love of learning and to be interested in what I am teaching him rather than having it crammed down this throat. Of course I can “make” him and have rules about no complaining, etc. I would like to have a positive transition to homeschooling though and to the CM method….rather than just saying “This is what we are doing so live with it”.
So I will be trying many of the tactics/books you all suggested. Thank you again. 🙂