I’m hoping to collect a few of the little discovery experiences I witness my kids having, to publish here for those who want a better idea of how I see learning happening all the time. I just love watching their minds work and new understanding develop. It is happening constantly, but usually I can never [...]
Filed in: child development • family • home education | November 3, 2009
Judging by the [lack of] comments on my last post, and the emails I did receive, I’m guessing I did not convince you on the homeschooling thing?
Well, okay then, at least join me for a little parenting discussion.
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Here’s a quick example of how a bad parenting moment does NOT mean I’m totally ruining [...]
Filed in: child development • parenting • self-reflection | October 27, 2009
First, a sidenote about my last post. All the hitting that is going on, don’t worry, I’m not allowing our home to become a scary/harmful place to be. For one thing, she’s not actually doing it with an intention of causing pain so much as with a need for help/attention, and so even in the [...]
Filed in: child development • cuteness • parenting | September 9, 2009
I said to my mother-in-law the other day, “I think Jade has had a complete personality shift since Carrie was born.” Her response, while witnessing my once mild, accomodating, agreeable child running wildly around the room, emotions high-strung, and thrashing/swinging/hitting anyone in range if she got the least bit frustrated?
“Yes.”
Her conclusion is that Jade [...]
Filed in: child development • family • parenting | September 8, 2009
A discussion with Jade (3):
Me: Okay, let’s do that after your nap tomorrow.
Her: Nooooo, I want to do it before my nap.
Me: Okay, that sounds good, we’ll do it before your nap.
Her: Noooooo, I want to do it IN my nap.
Me, accepting futility : Okay, that sounds good.
Her, slightly perplexed but not about to give [...]
Filed in: child development • parenting | August 20, 2009
Jade, my 3-year-old: “I’m skinny.”
Me, wondering where the heck that came from: “Why’s that?”
Jade: “Because my dad’s name is Rumpelstiltskin.”
Right.
I seriously have no idea where she got “skinny” from. Or why she would use it to describe herself. And we read Rumpelstiltskin, like, three weeks ago and haven’t talked about it since. But next time [...]
Filed in: child development • website | August 14, 2009
I actually own The Case Against Competition but haven’t had a chance to read more than the first few pages of it, and even that was several years ago.
I don’t have any hard and fast opinions on competition, not having studied it much at all, but on the surface, I my views are pretty [...]
Filed in: child development • family • parenting | August 11, 2009
My six-year-old learned how to ride a bike today!
She can’t quite get started on her own yet, and she stops very gracefully by steering onto the grass and smoothly falling over, but this is mostly due to the fact that, even with the seat lowered all the way, she still barely scrapes the ground [...]
Filed in: child development • family • home education | August 4, 2009
The Quote: “We must be so careful in speaking to a child. What we say or don’t say, how we say it and when is so very, very important in shaping a child’s view of himself or herself. But it is even more important in shaping that child’s faith in us and their faith in [...]
Filed in: child development • parenting • spiritual | July 13, 2009
Sarah and Jade had been playing one of their elaborate, imaginative games–the kind that generally involves taking every toy, doll, and pillow they can find and creating an enormous mess . . . er . . . fort in the front room. The kind I supposedly outlawed once before.
Sarah was ready and willing to clean [...]
Filed in: child development • family • parenting | July 8, 2009