Much has changed since the original walk through our day so I think it is time for a rehash. We will start off this series with a nutshell look at our day as planned for this year.
This is how we are planning to do things:
7:30-9:30 - get up, dressed, bedroom chores, hang out washing and have breakfast
9:30-lunch time - 15 minute clean up time after breakfast, "table time" where we do our Bible study and any work we can do together like Latin, art activities etc. Then we have independent activities and chair time (this is where Erin does copywork, math-u-see etc. and I spend 10-15 minutes with each child snuggled on the couch reading stories, helping them memorise, working on phonics with my pre-reader and working through our language program. The kids also play in their rooms, outside or find some other way to express their individual creativity and learn independently i.e. make a complete mess. This time is usually peppered with cleaning up toilet training accidents, putting babies to bed or to the breast and general life stuff. By the end of the morning everyone is usually engaged in activities of their own choice. Like hovering over a sibling saying "Look, I'm not touching you!". We are so edjamacational in this house.
lunch time - after lunch is made we sing a hymn and have lunch and I read aloud whatever other reading we are working on (Monday - history (Story Of The World), Tuesday - science(first term this year books about space exploration and astronomy), Wednesday - poetry, Thursday - (first term this year astronomy), Friday - River Cottage Family Cookbook)
after lunch we have another 15 minute clean up, I read a chapter of our "for fun" read aloud and everyone goes down for a 30 minute rest (Erin usually works on a yarn craft like french knitting or long stitch or reads, the boys and Anna just read)
after rest time we MAY do a little more stuff depending on how I feel and what is in the planning file (plaster fresco, for example, may be best done while the little ones are still asleep!), but for the most part this is when we do a bit of cleaning up and housework, get tea under way and I deal with any other projects I want to get done like perhaps a bit of sewing while the kids get turfed outside or in the bath or watch terribly educational things on TV (YouTube is an excellent resource and so are pages like this: http://pbskids.org/d...show/index.html and lets be honest, Bob the Builder is brilliant and Vegetales rock.)
We usually eat somewhere between 6:30 and 7:30 then everyone has their teeth brushed etc. and the boys get into bed while the rest of us sit on the floor and we have our family devotions. Then the girls shoot off to bed and there you have it, our day in a nutshell
Showing posts with label A Walk Through Our Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A Walk Through Our Day. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Monday, September 13, 2010
Schooling with Baby
One of the first questions people asked when they found out we were expecting was "so, will Princess Doc go to school now?"
Answer: NO! Look what she would miss out on!
And honestly, don't people know how busy you are with a newborn? Why would I want to spend time cutting lunches, hauling everyone off to drop her at school, rushing in for school events and assemblies, getting in on the P&F action, picking her up from school - not to mention any extracurricular activities...I am just to BUSY gazing at this...
But seriously folks, schooling with baby on board does give an added dimension to our homeschool. These are some ways we adapted.
We took June off. One of the benefits of homeschooling is you can plan your school holidays whenever you like so we started ours a few weeks before Laughing Boy made an appearance and didn't plan to go back until the month after. It means that we haven't had any other "short" breaks through the year and we will go right through until December now, but it suited us.
We make to-do lists. I have bought a financial year diary for Princess Doc. Each night I write her a short To-Do list and a little love note. She really likes this and it means that if she reaches a point where she needs help and I am busy, she can just move on to the next thing and we will get back to it later. I have also found that with a baby + toddlers, our days are rarely liner anymore. Having a list of goals I can refer to means that things don't get missed out just because we don't get to them at our "usual" time of day. I also add things that aren't strictly "school work" like cleaning rooms, outside chores, special games or activities etc. The line between "school" and "life" is very blurred in our home. This does have the added benefit of Princess Doc knowing when she is done for the day and her time has become her own.
Laughing Boy is by our side most of the time. If we are reading books, he is too. If we are cooking in the kitchen, so is he! This has always been the way with babies in our home, but is even more so with this one. He quite often sleeps in his rocker, in the Ergo or on a blanket. The bassinet is on wheels and is relocated through the house as needed.
Life skills take a larger part in our schooling at the moment. I have scrapped part of our plans for a cooking/writing project. Princess Doc (who adores cooking) is in the process of writing a cook book full of simple recipes she has learned to cook. Nearly every morning she is cooking the family porridge. In doing this she has learned about ratios as we adjusted the recipe to suit our family size and appetite, measurement, kitchen hygiene and many other things. Creating the cook book has included perfecting her writing skills, created a deeper understanding of the "procedure" text type (recipes, directions etc.) and a few spelling words that are very useful. This project dovetails with our current life situation very well and is a practical way to combine school and life.
Time and school is more flexible. We start school work for the week on Sunday most weeks. This way if we need to go into town for the day or if we just have a rotten day, we don't have to play "catch up" later. We always take Saturday "off" as Sabbath. School may start before breakfast, or may not start until after lunch. It may be finished by mid morning or we may be doing a few bits and pieces after the other kids are in bed. We go for the less stress option that day. When we have more children doing more structured schooling, this will not be as easy to do, but now it works perfectly. A wise woman once said "Do what works while it works. When it stops working, do something else" I think she was on to something there!
The keys to babies and schooling in our home have proven to be: FLEXIBILITY, love, FLEXIBILITY, cuddles, FLEXIBILITY, cutting ourselves some slack and a little more FLEXIBILITY!
And really, it's so worth it!
I've submitted this post to Works For Me Wednesday. Go check out the other useful links and take a look at the new project they have going at:
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The next step...
in a journey through our day.
What do you do after you finish morning tea and scripture reading?
Unless it is pouring with rain we go outside and the kids frolic while I hang washing and do gardening etc.
Princess Doc and Farm Boy on a winter's day
Why?
I know, I know. It doesn't SOUND very school-ish does it? But I consider this one of the most vital parts of our homeschool.
I COULD schedule a day full of activities and challenges, but then we would miss out on all that this time offers us including:
Spontaneous learning where a child will rush in for a hand book to find the name of a strange bird.
Developing the ability to select and organise ones OWN activities. Believe it or not deciding between riding a bike or bouncing on the trampoline involves a complex set of skills. Children who are hyper-scheduled miss out on these skills.
Supporting the natural growth and development of the body and brain. I was involved for a time with remedial therapies which supported children with learning disabilities and hyperactivity disorders etc. Many of the physical activities that we had these children do to get their bodies and brains working together and nural networks forming correctly were EXACTLY WHAT MY KIDS DO IF I LEAVE THEM ALONE! Jumping, running, crawling, wrestling, jumping jacks and more. Kids will do them if given space an opportunity. Kids who DON'T do these things are at risk of their bodies and possibly even their brains not working properly.
Conducting independent investigations. Wow! Sounds good doesn't it? Let me give you an example:
Farm Boy: Mum, look, there is a trail of slime behind this snail.
Mama Bear: Yep, cool.
Farm Boy: Hehe, now it is on my finger. It is wet Mum!
Mama Bear: Really?
Farm Boy: Yeah. Look, when it dries it goes shiny!
Mama Bear: You don't say?!
Farm Boy: Yep, look, they are all over here. I'm going snail hunting Mum!
That folks, is biology 101 independent investigation #245 in progress.
We conduct experiments. Sounds like we need white coats and crazy hair dos doesn't it? Not really! Princess Doc planted some bulbs in her garden with the hypothesis that if she planted and cared for them, flowers will bloom. She checks her garden and cares for it regularly. The bulbs are growing and very soon I suspect her hypothesis will be proven completely correct! White coats and crazy hair dos completely optional.
We work on our social skills. Yes, with only us at home. One trike + two little boys who want to ride it = a ripe opportunity to learn how to win friends and influence people! Conflict management 101 right in our own back yard.
We exercise our skills of observation and attention to detail. For example, today Princess Doc informed me that she found an aphid on her finger. She saw it and IDENTIFIED it all on her own. A very proud moment.
We have fun and we like it.
Tool Man doing his Ewok impression
How?!
So where is my scope and sequence?
Don't have one!
Every now and then there will be a funky challenge on a blog a catch up with or we will have an idea of what we want to do. Other times I will have need-to-do items with the garden etc and the kids will join me. Quite often the kids disappear into the yard somewhere, together or separately, and tell me about it later. So long as the basic rules of safety and kindness are followed, I'm happy!
Farm Boy proudly displaying his collection of.....dirt
If you are wanting a few ideas to keep you occupied while the kids are playing, these are ten sites to help inspire you, in no particular order!:
The Magnifying Glass
The Snail's Trail
Elsa Mora
By Sun and Candlelight
Crafty Crow
Snap Shots
Crafty Mama
Journey Into Unschooling
Herbal RootsZine
The Handbook of Nature Study
If you are priveledged enough to live in the wonderful land of Oz and would like to learn a little more about your immediate surroundings, try these sites:
Birds in Backyards
The Gould League
ABC Science: Scribbly Gum
Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife (if you are unfortunate enough NOT to live in Tasmania, check out the parks and wildlife site for your state. You will find it full of all sorts of info)
Images of Australian Fauna and Flora
What about you? How do work "unstructured activity" time and/or nature study into the day? Why do you think it's important? What, do your kids tend to choose to do/enjoy doing during these times?
Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!
Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.
The girls bonding
What do you do after you finish morning tea and scripture reading?
Unless it is pouring with rain we go outside and the kids frolic while I hang washing and do gardening etc.
Princess Doc and Farm Boy on a winter's day
Why?
I know, I know. It doesn't SOUND very school-ish does it? But I consider this one of the most vital parts of our homeschool.
I COULD schedule a day full of activities and challenges, but then we would miss out on all that this time offers us including:
Spontaneous learning where a child will rush in for a hand book to find the name of a strange bird.
Developing the ability to select and organise ones OWN activities. Believe it or not deciding between riding a bike or bouncing on the trampoline involves a complex set of skills. Children who are hyper-scheduled miss out on these skills.
Supporting the natural growth and development of the body and brain. I was involved for a time with remedial therapies which supported children with learning disabilities and hyperactivity disorders etc. Many of the physical activities that we had these children do to get their bodies and brains working together and nural networks forming correctly were EXACTLY WHAT MY KIDS DO IF I LEAVE THEM ALONE! Jumping, running, crawling, wrestling, jumping jacks and more. Kids will do them if given space an opportunity. Kids who DON'T do these things are at risk of their bodies and possibly even their brains not working properly.
Conducting independent investigations. Wow! Sounds good doesn't it? Let me give you an example:
Farm Boy: Mum, look, there is a trail of slime behind this snail.
Mama Bear: Yep, cool.
Farm Boy: Hehe, now it is on my finger. It is wet Mum!
Mama Bear: Really?
Farm Boy: Yeah. Look, when it dries it goes shiny!
Mama Bear: You don't say?!
Farm Boy: Yep, look, they are all over here. I'm going snail hunting Mum!
That folks, is biology 101 independent investigation #245 in progress.
We conduct experiments. Sounds like we need white coats and crazy hair dos doesn't it? Not really! Princess Doc planted some bulbs in her garden with the hypothesis that if she planted and cared for them, flowers will bloom. She checks her garden and cares for it regularly. The bulbs are growing and very soon I suspect her hypothesis will be proven completely correct! White coats and crazy hair dos completely optional.
We work on our social skills. Yes, with only us at home. One trike + two little boys who want to ride it = a ripe opportunity to learn how to win friends and influence people! Conflict management 101 right in our own back yard.
We exercise our skills of observation and attention to detail. For example, today Princess Doc informed me that she found an aphid on her finger. She saw it and IDENTIFIED it all on her own. A very proud moment.
We have fun and we like it.
Tool Man doing his Ewok impression
How?!
So where is my scope and sequence?
Don't have one!
Every now and then there will be a funky challenge on a blog a catch up with or we will have an idea of what we want to do. Other times I will have need-to-do items with the garden etc and the kids will join me. Quite often the kids disappear into the yard somewhere, together or separately, and tell me about it later. So long as the basic rules of safety and kindness are followed, I'm happy!
Farm Boy proudly displaying his collection of.....dirt
If you are wanting a few ideas to keep you occupied while the kids are playing, these are ten sites to help inspire you, in no particular order!:
The Magnifying Glass
The Snail's Trail
Elsa Mora
By Sun and Candlelight
Crafty Crow
Snap Shots
Crafty Mama
Journey Into Unschooling
Herbal RootsZine
The Handbook of Nature Study
If you are priveledged enough to live in the wonderful land of Oz and would like to learn a little more about your immediate surroundings, try these sites:
Birds in Backyards
The Gould League
ABC Science: Scribbly Gum
Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife (if you are unfortunate enough NOT to live in Tasmania, check out the parks and wildlife site for your state. You will find it full of all sorts of info)
Images of Australian Fauna and Flora
What about you? How do work "unstructured activity" time and/or nature study into the day? Why do you think it's important? What, do your kids tend to choose to do/enjoy doing during these times?
Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!
Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.
The girls bonding
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Proverbs
in a journey through our day.
What do you do after you finish learning time?
Usually, we have some fruit and a drink for morning tea and read the chapter of proverbs that corrosponds to the date.
Why?
I find a bit of fruit and something to drink mid morning goes a long way to keeping little ones hydrated and less cranky!
Proverbs is a "how to" book for living life and has a handy 31 chapters that matches up with the dates quite nicely.
You'd be amazed the conversation that starts when reading proverbs with little ones.
You'd be amazed how much MUMMY learns about life from reading proverbs!
I want to establish and maintain a habit of opening the Bible every day for myself and for each member of the family.
Reading the Bible together means we come accross all sorts of words and concepts that need discussing and learning. We don't try and learn EVERYTHING each chapter has to offer every day, we just take a great big mouthful and chew on the Word together. If that isn't learning, I don't know what is!
How?!
We grab some fruit from the kitchen and the older ones set the table while I make up a jug of drink. We eat, drink and read - discuss sometimes - then pack up. All up, the most time this usually takes is 20 minutes.
Sometimes a particular proverb will be especially applicable ("an honest answer is like a kiss on the lips" was a catch phrase in our house for a while!) so we may discuss it, other times we will just read through with me explaining words or phrases they may not understand.
What about you? How do you feel about reading scripture as a family? Why do you feel that way? What, time of day do you read scripture as a family?
Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!
Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.
What do you do after you finish learning time?
Usually, we have some fruit and a drink for morning tea and read the chapter of proverbs that corrosponds to the date.
Why?
I find a bit of fruit and something to drink mid morning goes a long way to keeping little ones hydrated and less cranky!
Proverbs is a "how to" book for living life and has a handy 31 chapters that matches up with the dates quite nicely.
You'd be amazed the conversation that starts when reading proverbs with little ones.
You'd be amazed how much MUMMY learns about life from reading proverbs!
I want to establish and maintain a habit of opening the Bible every day for myself and for each member of the family.
Reading the Bible together means we come accross all sorts of words and concepts that need discussing and learning. We don't try and learn EVERYTHING each chapter has to offer every day, we just take a great big mouthful and chew on the Word together. If that isn't learning, I don't know what is!
How?!
We grab some fruit from the kitchen and the older ones set the table while I make up a jug of drink. We eat, drink and read - discuss sometimes - then pack up. All up, the most time this usually takes is 20 minutes.
Sometimes a particular proverb will be especially applicable ("an honest answer is like a kiss on the lips" was a catch phrase in our house for a while!) so we may discuss it, other times we will just read through with me explaining words or phrases they may not understand.
What about you? How do you feel about reading scripture as a family? Why do you feel that way? What, time of day do you read scripture as a family?
Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!
Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Learning time
in a journey through our day.
What do you do after you finish praying?
We have our "learning time". We use this time to directly talk about things that I feel are beneficial to memorise or at least become familiar with.
Why?
Young children can memorise things quickly and easily so it makes sense to me to take advantage of this stage to lay a foundation for later learning.
This time encourages me to have direct conversation with the kids about different topics which helps build our relationship.
It's fun and we like it!
How?!
After prayer, we all pile back onto the couch and I get my display folder. The front of the folder is filled with song lyrics for songs and prayers but there are five sheets of paper in the back of the book, one sheet for each week day. Each day has something related to the Bible and something related to general knowledge on it.
Monday - we have a verse and the numbers to ten in Spanish
Tuesday - we have a psalm or part of a psalm
Wednesday - we have a proverb and a poem
Thursday - we have the Ten Commandments and the days of the week/months of the year
Friday - we have the names of the first five books of the Bible and the states and territories of Australia.
I will go into more detail about why I have chosen these things next week.
I read the scripture or Bible based item first then we discuss it and read it again with the children repeating after me OR with me leaving out words for them to fill in.
We then follow the same procedure with the second item on the list, I read through, we discuss, they repeat after me.
We stay with the same items for a maximum of three months before we change them. The focus isn't necessarily memorising, although they do tend to memorise what we are talking about. The focus is more getting a taste for the items and an understanding of what they mean and how their lives can be touched by them.
What about you? How do you feel about children memorising things? Why do you feel that way? What, do you plan to/did you do at different stages of your children's lives to help them learn scripture and facts?
Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!
Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.
What do you do after you finish praying?
We have our "learning time". We use this time to directly talk about things that I feel are beneficial to memorise or at least become familiar with.
Why?
Young children can memorise things quickly and easily so it makes sense to me to take advantage of this stage to lay a foundation for later learning.
This time encourages me to have direct conversation with the kids about different topics which helps build our relationship.
It's fun and we like it!
How?!
After prayer, we all pile back onto the couch and I get my display folder. The front of the folder is filled with song lyrics for songs and prayers but there are five sheets of paper in the back of the book, one sheet for each week day. Each day has something related to the Bible and something related to general knowledge on it.
Monday - we have a verse and the numbers to ten in Spanish
Tuesday - we have a psalm or part of a psalm
Wednesday - we have a proverb and a poem
Thursday - we have the Ten Commandments and the days of the week/months of the year
Friday - we have the names of the first five books of the Bible and the states and territories of Australia.
I will go into more detail about why I have chosen these things next week.
I read the scripture or Bible based item first then we discuss it and read it again with the children repeating after me OR with me leaving out words for them to fill in.
We then follow the same procedure with the second item on the list, I read through, we discuss, they repeat after me.
We stay with the same items for a maximum of three months before we change them. The focus isn't necessarily memorising, although they do tend to memorise what we are talking about. The focus is more getting a taste for the items and an understanding of what they mean and how their lives can be touched by them.
What about you? How do you feel about children memorising things? Why do you feel that way? What, do you plan to/did you do at different stages of your children's lives to help them learn scripture and facts?
Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!
Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
The second step...
in a journey through our day.
What do you do after you finish singing?
We pray.
Why?
Prayer connects us with God and establishes a two way conversation through the day.
We are establishing a pattern of prayer in our children's lives for them to continue into adulthood. While it is their choice to continue the pattern or not, it is easier to continue the pattern than to have to establish one from scratch.
It reminds me to check in with Him if I haven't already done so in the morning. It especially reminds me to pray FOR my children.
I can model prayer for the children, showing them that I need to take my self to the foot of the cross, ask for forgiveness and strength and direction.
Listening to my children pray gives me insight into where they are at emotionally and spiritually and helps me tap into their inner workings.
Spending time being quiet each day, even if only a few minutes, can help teach children self-calming techniques. A habit of daily quiet time has been linked to numerous health benefits.
Explicit teaching of an attitude of reverence and worship on a daily basis makes going to Church and other places where this attitude is required (i.e.weddings) a whole lot more fun for all of us! It also helps teach a respect for those around them.
Having this time when I expect them to follow direct instruction (i.e. kneel down, bow heads, close eyes etc.) tends to set a bit of a pattern of obedience for the day. A pattern that MAY be interrupted later in the day of course, but a pattern none the less!
How?!
We already prepared ourselves at the end of our singing time by singing "I have knees that bend by my chair..." and "Into My Heart". I will often, but not always, take time between these two songs to review my expectations during prayer times. This is done in a fun, light hearted manner. For example, I will play a game show host and ask them in my special "game show host" voice what we need to do with our hands, eyes, feet etc. during prayer time. Or I may ask one of the older ones to demonstrate to Anna or Christopher what they need to do during prayer times. They love to show off their knowledge and establishing CLEARLY that they know what they should do and I know that THEY know that I know what they should be doing means that stepping outside of these guidelines can be dealt with as defiance in the manner that our family deals with defiance. We don't make a big deal with this, and most of the time it is quite fun. I take the stance that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
*note*: we do pray at other times when not using our "prayer stance" and we talk often about how God can hear us any time, anywhere. We do talk about how when we pray together, it is good manners NOT to distract other people and how keeping an attitude of prayer can help us to concentrate.
When we have finished singing, the children will pray one at a time. Their prayers vary from "Dear Jesus, thank you for the whole world. Amen" to long and complex prayers that can go on for a while! Christopher usually repeats his prayers after me but is getting to the stage where he adds his own bits too. I finish our prayer session by praying for each of us and Daddy and anything else that has been on my heart (being mindful of little knees!) and then we say the Lord's Prayer together.
Next year I would like to start using some resources I collected from Preschool Sunday School Central
What about you? How you work prayer into your children's day? Why do you do things that way? What, if any, resources do you use to teach your children about prayer?
Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!
Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.
What do you do after you finish singing?
We pray.
Why?
Prayer connects us with God and establishes a two way conversation through the day.
We are establishing a pattern of prayer in our children's lives for them to continue into adulthood. While it is their choice to continue the pattern or not, it is easier to continue the pattern than to have to establish one from scratch.
It reminds me to check in with Him if I haven't already done so in the morning. It especially reminds me to pray FOR my children.
I can model prayer for the children, showing them that I need to take my self to the foot of the cross, ask for forgiveness and strength and direction.
Listening to my children pray gives me insight into where they are at emotionally and spiritually and helps me tap into their inner workings.
Spending time being quiet each day, even if only a few minutes, can help teach children self-calming techniques. A habit of daily quiet time has been linked to numerous health benefits.
Explicit teaching of an attitude of reverence and worship on a daily basis makes going to Church and other places where this attitude is required (i.e.weddings) a whole lot more fun for all of us! It also helps teach a respect for those around them.
Having this time when I expect them to follow direct instruction (i.e. kneel down, bow heads, close eyes etc.) tends to set a bit of a pattern of obedience for the day. A pattern that MAY be interrupted later in the day of course, but a pattern none the less!
How?!
We already prepared ourselves at the end of our singing time by singing "I have knees that bend by my chair..." and "Into My Heart". I will often, but not always, take time between these two songs to review my expectations during prayer times. This is done in a fun, light hearted manner. For example, I will play a game show host and ask them in my special "game show host" voice what we need to do with our hands, eyes, feet etc. during prayer time. Or I may ask one of the older ones to demonstrate to Anna or Christopher what they need to do during prayer times. They love to show off their knowledge and establishing CLEARLY that they know what they should do and I know that THEY know that I know what they should be doing means that stepping outside of these guidelines can be dealt with as defiance in the manner that our family deals with defiance. We don't make a big deal with this, and most of the time it is quite fun. I take the stance that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!
*note*: we do pray at other times when not using our "prayer stance" and we talk often about how God can hear us any time, anywhere. We do talk about how when we pray together, it is good manners NOT to distract other people and how keeping an attitude of prayer can help us to concentrate.
When we have finished singing, the children will pray one at a time. Their prayers vary from "Dear Jesus, thank you for the whole world. Amen" to long and complex prayers that can go on for a while! Christopher usually repeats his prayers after me but is getting to the stage where he adds his own bits too. I finish our prayer session by praying for each of us and Daddy and anything else that has been on my heart (being mindful of little knees!) and then we say the Lord's Prayer together.
Next year I would like to start using some resources I collected from Preschool Sunday School Central
What about you? How you work prayer into your children's day? Why do you do things that way? What, if any, resources do you use to teach your children about prayer?
Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!
Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
A walk through our day
I want to walk you through our day What! Why? How? style!
What do you do to start each day?
We sing! We start each day with family worship and the first part of that is always singing.
Why?
Lots of reasons!
First and foremost we do this to worship God and get our hearts and heads right with Him.
To write Eternal Truths on their hearts. While we sing various praise songs, scripture songs and hymns they are learning about God and how we relate to Him. God thinks songs are so important, He dedicated at least one book to them in the Bible!
We also sing together because it is hard to stay mad with someone you are singing with (scientific fact I'm sure!). Whatever scuffles have occurred as we started our day can be let go as we hit the "reset" button. If there have been no scuffles to smooth over, it still draws us closer together.
Lung capacity, blood oxygenation and heart rate are all improved by SINGING. This aids in improving concentration levels and productivity. True story!
Singing is wonderful speech therapy. While we haven't had any issues with speech difficulties (unless you count teaching how to keep quiet!) in this house, singing does serve to improve the kid's grasp of the physical actions of speech. They are exercising their speech muscles and controlling their breathing, clearly forming words and having a go at sounds that they may usually avoid in their normal speech.
Singing uses both the Left and Right brain, exercising it completely and creating neural pathways that will be used for language, math and all those other "academic" ventures. The link between math and music has been clearly made by scientists and it is pretty obvious when you think of all the patterns etc. we find in music.
How?!
We take it in turns to choose one song each, starting with the oldest child - youngest child then finishing with Mum. My choice is usually our Hymn of the Week. I randomly select a hymn that I know that I'd like to teach the kids (some weeks are more random than others, sometimes there is a hymn that fits in beautifully with another aspect of our life or schooling, other times it is just luck of the draw).
We always finish with two songs to prepare us for prayer.
The first is "I Have Hands" which ends with:
I have knees that bend by my chair,
I have knees that bend by my chair,
I have hands that fold in prayer,
when I talk to Jesus
Then in our "prayer stance" we sing Into My Heart
If I were to give ten tips for family worship with preschoolers and toddlers they would be:
1. Use the KISSS principle – Keep it Short and Simple, Sweetheart! One song and a prayer done well has far more impact than a twenty minute session which leaves everyone in tears – including Mum!
2. Keep things predictable. Have worship at a fairly predictable time. After breakfast works for us, everyone is awake and fed and linking it to a feed time means we don’t forget. We don’t forget to eat very often in this house! Also if little ones know what to expect, they will be more likely to cooperate.
3. Have REALISTIC expectations. You are not going to have the Von Trapp family singing harmony in your lounge room. Expect there to be disasterous days. Expect to be singing solo for the first year or two of worship (I did!). Expect to have to teach your children how to behave during worship. Then you are less likely to be disappointed!
4. Realise that teaching and training your children is in and of itself an act of worship. It is hard to feel worshipful when you have to stop “Jesus Loves Me” ten times to administer correction, but correcting and teaching your children IS an act of worship.
5. Stick with it. If you are having worship as a part of the rhythm of your home, it is because it is important to you. Focus on the long term, the ETERNAL, benefits of family worship. It makes it easier to start family worship yet again when it resulted in tears the previous five times.
6. Personalise it to suit your family. At the moment, we have one song each, our pre-prayers songs, family prayer and The Lord’s Prayer. Totally different to what we did last year and I dare say it will change again next year. Do what works, and if it doesn’t work, change it.
7. Have clear expectations. Before worship starts, tell the kids what you want them to do with their hands, feet, eyes, mouth etc. during singing time. Eventually, get THEM to tell YOU and their other siblings what the expectations are (firstborns especially love this in my experience!) then when those things are NOT done, it is clear defiance and it can be dealt with in the way your family deals with defiance. There will be no space for argument or compromise and kids respond to clear boundaries.
8. Include them in choosing songs. This gives a feeling of ownership. At the moment I could quite cheerfully NEVER sing “The Wise Man Built His House Upon A Rock” OR “Whose the King of the Jungle” but we sing them every day because the boys love them.
9. Don’t expect to see fruit straight away. My kids still go mute during worship, then the other week while he was wandering around the back yard Farm Boy belts out “How Great Thou Art” at the top of his lungs. It gets written on their hearts, even if you can’t see it.
10. Make A Joyful Noise! Find a reason to laugh during worship. “I have fingers that tickle, tickle, tickle” is a verse of our pre-prayer song and it always makes us laugh. You can take a moment to tell the kids one reason you are thankful for them, one thing that makes them special. Whatever it is, make worship a pleasure, not a chore!
What about you? How you start your schooling day? Why do you do things that way? What, specifically, do you do?
Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!
Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.
What do you do to start each day?
We sing! We start each day with family worship and the first part of that is always singing.
Why?
Lots of reasons!
First and foremost we do this to worship God and get our hearts and heads right with Him.
To write Eternal Truths on their hearts. While we sing various praise songs, scripture songs and hymns they are learning about God and how we relate to Him. God thinks songs are so important, He dedicated at least one book to them in the Bible!
We also sing together because it is hard to stay mad with someone you are singing with (scientific fact I'm sure!). Whatever scuffles have occurred as we started our day can be let go as we hit the "reset" button. If there have been no scuffles to smooth over, it still draws us closer together.
Lung capacity, blood oxygenation and heart rate are all improved by SINGING. This aids in improving concentration levels and productivity. True story!
Singing is wonderful speech therapy. While we haven't had any issues with speech difficulties (unless you count teaching how to keep quiet!) in this house, singing does serve to improve the kid's grasp of the physical actions of speech. They are exercising their speech muscles and controlling their breathing, clearly forming words and having a go at sounds that they may usually avoid in their normal speech.
Singing uses both the Left and Right brain, exercising it completely and creating neural pathways that will be used for language, math and all those other "academic" ventures. The link between math and music has been clearly made by scientists and it is pretty obvious when you think of all the patterns etc. we find in music.
How?!
We take it in turns to choose one song each, starting with the oldest child - youngest child then finishing with Mum. My choice is usually our Hymn of the Week. I randomly select a hymn that I know that I'd like to teach the kids (some weeks are more random than others, sometimes there is a hymn that fits in beautifully with another aspect of our life or schooling, other times it is just luck of the draw).
We always finish with two songs to prepare us for prayer.
The first is "I Have Hands" which ends with:
I have knees that bend by my chair,
I have knees that bend by my chair,
I have hands that fold in prayer,
when I talk to Jesus
Then in our "prayer stance" we sing Into My Heart
If I were to give ten tips for family worship with preschoolers and toddlers they would be:
1. Use the KISSS principle – Keep it Short and Simple, Sweetheart! One song and a prayer done well has far more impact than a twenty minute session which leaves everyone in tears – including Mum!
2. Keep things predictable. Have worship at a fairly predictable time. After breakfast works for us, everyone is awake and fed and linking it to a feed time means we don’t forget. We don’t forget to eat very often in this house! Also if little ones know what to expect, they will be more likely to cooperate.
3. Have REALISTIC expectations. You are not going to have the Von Trapp family singing harmony in your lounge room. Expect there to be disasterous days. Expect to be singing solo for the first year or two of worship (I did!). Expect to have to teach your children how to behave during worship. Then you are less likely to be disappointed!
4. Realise that teaching and training your children is in and of itself an act of worship. It is hard to feel worshipful when you have to stop “Jesus Loves Me” ten times to administer correction, but correcting and teaching your children IS an act of worship.
5. Stick with it. If you are having worship as a part of the rhythm of your home, it is because it is important to you. Focus on the long term, the ETERNAL, benefits of family worship. It makes it easier to start family worship yet again when it resulted in tears the previous five times.
6. Personalise it to suit your family. At the moment, we have one song each, our pre-prayers songs, family prayer and The Lord’s Prayer. Totally different to what we did last year and I dare say it will change again next year. Do what works, and if it doesn’t work, change it.
7. Have clear expectations. Before worship starts, tell the kids what you want them to do with their hands, feet, eyes, mouth etc. during singing time. Eventually, get THEM to tell YOU and their other siblings what the expectations are (firstborns especially love this in my experience!) then when those things are NOT done, it is clear defiance and it can be dealt with in the way your family deals with defiance. There will be no space for argument or compromise and kids respond to clear boundaries.
8. Include them in choosing songs. This gives a feeling of ownership. At the moment I could quite cheerfully NEVER sing “The Wise Man Built His House Upon A Rock” OR “Whose the King of the Jungle” but we sing them every day because the boys love them.
9. Don’t expect to see fruit straight away. My kids still go mute during worship, then the other week while he was wandering around the back yard Farm Boy belts out “How Great Thou Art” at the top of his lungs. It gets written on their hearts, even if you can’t see it.
10. Make A Joyful Noise! Find a reason to laugh during worship. “I have fingers that tickle, tickle, tickle” is a verse of our pre-prayer song and it always makes us laugh. You can take a moment to tell the kids one reason you are thankful for them, one thing that makes them special. Whatever it is, make worship a pleasure, not a chore!
What about you? How you start your schooling day? Why do you do things that way? What, specifically, do you do?
Leave a comment or blog about it and link back in the comments!
Come back next week for the next step in our walk through our day.
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