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Very young children….what do I do?
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Hi! My name is Whitney and I’m brand new, not only to this site, but to the whole idea of Charlotte Mason. I’ve got two young babes, DS almost 4 and DD almost 2. I know I want to homeschool them and I’m very intrigued by what I’m learning so far about the CM method but I don’t really have a clue as to how to start or what to do or if I should be doing anything in particular at this stage in the game. Help! LOL And I have a huge worry………I have a hard time getting my kids to do things they don’t want to do (nothing new there, right?) for example, I’d love to read more to them but unless they are in the mood it’s not happening. DS especially seems to have lost interest in my reading to him. I’m just concerned I won’t be able to get them to sit long enough and pay attention as needed. My DS is very strong-willed, opinionated, and can be difficult to discipline and that makes me worry about trying to homeschool to begin with! I’d love some opinions, ideas, or thoughts! Thanks so much!
~Whitney
Whitney,
Charlotte Mason has a “Formidable List of Attainments for a Six Year Old” that gives great input on what to do with little ones. If you google that, you will find some sites with the list. Ambleside Online has the list, as well as one mother’s ideas on how she implements these things.
As for not wanting to be read to, try VERY short sections. Aesop’s Fables are great for read-alouds at this age, as they are short, and the child can often tell you the moral of the story (sometimes they aren’t ready to do this until they are closer to 6). Or what about the Carl books (about the dog Carl). They don’t have words, so your son could “read” them to you.
If he really is not into reading at this point, just let him play with his legos (or whatever) while you sit in the room and read. Often, if you are just reading (and don’t tell him to listen) kids will just listen since they are nearby and stories really ARE interesting 🙂 Put it down right before the best part, he might tell you not to stop!
Don’t worry about it too much at age 4. CM does not recommend any formal schooling until age 6. He should be observing his world (ants, trees, clouds, rain), not worrying too much about books. He wiil have PLENTY of time for books later:)
(Link removed. Please see Moderator’s note below.)
Hi, Whitney, and welcome! Have you seen our Early Years Guide? It might give you some suggestions for what you could do during the preschool years.
One of the most important priorities is to start forming good habits now. They will make your future homeschooling years SO much easier if you lay that foundation now.
One thing that really helped me was when I discovered how Charlotte viewed “strong-willed” children; she taught that they were really weak-willed. It’s a fascinating concept and something that changed my mind-set for the better. Rather than try to explain it all here, I’ll just point you to a post I wrote about it on our sister site, Intentional Parents. If you scroll down to the Q&A section, you’ll see the explanation there.
Moderator’s Note: I’m sorry, but we had to remove the link you provided, whozahnfirst. Ambleside Online has stated that you must have permission before linking to them, and then you can link only to their home page. We must honor their wishes, so I have reluctantly removed the link from your post.
Whitney,
I also thought of the Laying Down the Rails book offered here at SCM. I’m working through it and I think it’s very helpful to focus on one habit at a time and work towards that end. It will definitely help those areas of character that need shoring up! (In *ourselves* as well! 😉 ) And check out the “Making the Transition” section. That is helping me–forming the “rails”, so to speak, of my putting more discipline into our homeschool (I’ve had major interruptions and we just had to go on survival mode for awhile). I think it works “both ways”, however–meaning if you’re coming from more “traditional”, it still can provide guideposts to keeping on track but not being overwhelmed “doing it all” from the start. That really overwhelmed me with Ambleside, although there are certainly nuggets there. I LOVE the SIMPLE part of this website! 😀 (A BIG thank you to Sonya! {{hugs!}})
HTH!
Trisch
Thank you all soooo much for the information! I really take the responsibility of homeschooling my children seriously and I want to make the best decisions possible concerning their education. I am liking what I’m finding out so far about CM, but there is so much more to learn! I’ve checked out everything you all suggested and it’s been so interesting and helpful. I’m sure I’ll have more questions though! LOL
I’d love to get Laying Down the Rails……..I think it would be a BIG help around here!
Thanks again! =)
~Whitney
Hi Whitney,
About the times of reading, set aside specific times every day for different readings. That way it becomes an expectation, not something that is “taking” away form their play time. Abruptness is rough at that age and causes great angst! Also, be sure to give them a 5-10 min. heads up that reading time (or snuggle time, what ever you call it) is coming and to get ready. I used to use a timer and said when the timer went off, certain things happened: readng time, cleaning time, etc… always preceded with one 5 min. warning.
I wanted to mention some great books that were helpful to me in the parenting world. Any of John Rosemond. esp. Making the Terrible twos terrific, A Family of Value and Parent Power.
Also, Hints on Child Training is a classic. For the Children’s Sake and For the Family’s Sake. A Charlotte MAson Companion was very inspirational, informational and not overwhelming when my son was three. Also, Boundaries with Kids is a good one to go back to frequently when boundaries begin to get washed away with the wearyness life can present at times in a close, familiar environment. Vision Forum has good books, recordings and play stuff.
When reading a book about HS, it helped me to gather resources by writing down every recommended mention in the book by that author. One thing you can begin is using audio books in your home. Recordings of the the Winnie the Pooh series, When we were very Young and Now we are six poem collections. The Frog and Toad series on audio. George Sarris’s dramatizations of Scripture and definitely Jim Weiss. E.B. White on audio, too. All sorts of non-twaddle recordings of classic children’s stories are available. Librivox has free books, and the library was helpful for us as well. Check out book-list books at the library and write the titles down at home for the age span you have (and a little above when listening on audio). If you need to know which books I’m talking about, just ask.
Doorposts company has very helpful tools for training children.
You’re right to be aware of how your training and discipline(or not) of your children directly affects the success of the peace in your home and the learning heart of your child. Hs’ing doesn’t start when your children stay home while others go to a gov.t building. It starts as babies, knowing that you have been given a responsibilty for the children given to you and training them to recognize that you are the authority given to them by G-d to raise them and that their responsibilty is to obey you and your husband. Besides, if my children don’t obey and trust me, someone they can see, how can I expect them to obey and trust a G-d they can’t see? Recognition of your authority, training them in right living (going against their natural selves!), and developing good habits are the foundation for a learning rich, productive environment and life.
What I always think about is that I am the example to my son of how he should honor and respect his future wife. I want her to thank me for training up a good man for her.
Sorry for being so long-winded (hope I wasn’t preachy!). I’m passionate for HS, boys and their mommas! Hope some of this helps.
Affectionately,
Rachel
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