This series of thoughts on whole childhood began as a real time documentation of our learning process and reflections through our first year with Graham. I felt so overwhelmed from the beginning that I would fail him unintentionally by my simple lack of knowledge in how to nurture his proper development. I knew that I wanted to nurture the whole of him, equipping him with resources early on for connecting with his emotions and creativity and spirituality. I knew that I wanted to instill a love of learning and a heart of compassion. I knew that I wanted him to have an appreciation for nature and the physical world, as…
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Lamentations 2:22-23 | Memory Verse Collection
Our memory verse for November is found in Lamentations 2:22-23: “The faithful love of the Lord never ends. His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh every morning.” It seems appropriate that this month it would be a verse that focuses on abundance. That as we count our blessings, we would intentionally dwell in the abundance of God’s love and mercy. I find encouragement in the reminder of mercies anew each day because on the days that are hard and discouraging, it’s a welcome reminder of God’s ability to break the cycle of darkness and replace it with light. We carry around a lot of expectations…
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Color Play with Plastic Bottles
We’ve been on a color kick lately. And since I cleaned out the refrigerator in the garage today and found a collection of plastic bottles in need of recycling, I felt inspired to transform them into a set of colorful, rainbow bowling pins. I thought it would be a free, fun, new to us learning through play activity, where I could casually narrate our play and name the colors as we made them and knocked them down, etc. But things don’t always go as we plan. Graham very much enjoyed the process of making them and the magic of color theory basics. He enjoyed setting them up, however when I…
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8 Playlists for Children (That Are Equally Pleasant for Adults)
I’m frequently searching for ways to better practice presence in each moment. One of the most helpful tools for me has been intentionally creating ambience. Ambience is about completely enveloping. It’s about creating backdrops for desired experiences. The ambience I often strive to create is one of calm and beauty that allows me to recognize the sacredness of ordinary moments. Music can serve us by ushering us deeper into these moments. It’s all rather magical. And also useful for someone who struggles to get out of their own head. Now—I have some feelings surrounding music for children. I can appreciate a proper dose of nonsense for the fun of it,…
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John 1:16 | Memory Verse Collection
Since we desire to raise Graham as one who seeks hard after the good, the true, and the beautiful, I wanted to begin intentionally introducing him to truths that have enriched my own life. I find the memorization of scripture a helpful anchor to remember who we’re called and created to be. In my own life, I’ve been feeling prompted to be more intentional about extending grace. I’m grateful for the refreshing presence of a few friends in my life who embody grace for me, who inspire me to be the sort of person who is quick to assume the best of others, rather than the worst. Around them, it…
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Wooden Alphabet Blocks
I love using wood for learning materials because of their durability, their aesthetic, their versatility, but it can get costly very quickly. So I started making various learning materials out of these inexpensive tumbling blocks and have been so pleased with them. MATERIALS Jenga Blocks/Generic Wooden Tumbling Blocks Sheet of Adhesive Mailbox Letters INSTRUCTIONS Though it hardly seems necessary… Peel and stick. (If the sticker adhesive begins to fade I plan to seal these with a coat of Mod Podge, but so far they’ve held up just fine without it.) I began with just one sticker per block, but have since gone back and added a second letter to the…
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Free Alphabet Flashcards
Learning through play has become my preferred style of teaching for young ones and so at first the use of flashcards might seem a bit contrary. However, I don’t think that learning through play has to mean the exclusion of flashcards. There are plenty of ways incorporate flashcards to allow the learning to remain playful. During my time as a nanny and now as a mother, I was finding myself writing and rewriting letters on repeat for letter recognition activities, which don’t get me wrong, gets the job done just the same. But I was wearying from doing it over and over. In addition to that, I am always in…
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On the Importance of Creativity
Creativity tends to immediately stir up thoughts of arts and crafts, glitter and glue, paper and paints, but it’s really so much more than that. More than just a matter of fine arts, creativity is where the physical, spiritual, and cognitive realms all meet and mingle. It fuses together so many of our experiences as humans and awakens something in us that makes us feel alive. I was fortunate to grow up in a household where creativity of all sorts was encouraged: Music was appreciated and made. There was plenty of time and space for crafting, imaginative play, writing, baking, nature, etc. A few years back, I sat with my…
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A Color Study in Yellow
This month we explored the cheerful color yellow. Soft butter. Singing canaries. Sunshine. Daffodils. Cheery sunflowers. Caution. Happiness. Tart lemons. Dandelions. Taxis. Cheese. There is no ‘right’ way to do this. It’s play and discovery and celebration of the gift of color. But these are some resources that we enjoyed through the process. For us, the transition to studying a new color usually begins here, with the yellow discovery tray. YELLOW DISCOVERY TRAY I hang bunting made from paint chips, tape, and string. I gather up all of the predominantly yellow board books we own and place them on the bookshelf beside this tray which we then fill together via…
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Introduction to Color Studies
When Graham turned four months old, we began to explore color together. It had nothing to do with speeding up his ability to identify and sort specific colors. It was simply about him discovering colors one by one and delighting in all the wild and wonderful places we find them in the world. I have plans of returning to and cycling through these color studies for a few years as he grows, suiting the objectives at each time for whatever stage of development he happens to be in. But mostly, we’re discovering. We’re exploring. We’re playing. And it’s a joy. I wasn’t expecting to find such enjoyment in the rediscovery…
