i love watching my boys explore & be creative. mommies & daddies (any adult for that matter) have A LOT to learn from little ones. it has taken me some time to figure out how important it is to let them do their own thing sometimes, especially at a young age. they don't need much structure. their minds are growing & taking in a lot during these early years & one of the big things they are learning is if they can be creative with the things the Lord has given us or if they have to "stay in a box". i always want our boys to be in awe & wonder of our Creator & this world He created... i think that starts with letting them explore it (with gentle guidance).
i am going through this devotions book with the boys in the mornings (we don't get to it every morning, i'm learning to have grace for myself ;)) & one of the lessons we just read was amazement at how creative God was when He made our world, all the creatures & man & woman. He took nothing & made everything! i want them to create & see the Lord in that.
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a few practical ideas:
*the idea of pulling a bunch of stuff out to let them "be creative" (when most of it ends up on the floor) can be a little overwhelming. so keep things in a place that is easy to get to & not a hassle to pull it out every time.
*i would like to start tentatively "planning" what we're going to do for the 3 days a week that we do creative play. that way i know what materials we'll need & how to be mentally prepared for any mess. ;)
*i think it helps them be more creative if you give them ideas of things to do as they play. i say often... "look jude, what if you try this?" & that usually leads him to another idea. but i don't push them to do what i'm suggesting.
*a few days ago we did an actual project & made shakers, with 2 plates & beans in the middle. i asked them if they wanted to color the plates first. jude & amos did, but sammy just wanted to dump beans in the plate & then back in the bucket of beans. so i just let him. :)
*keeping the area somewhat "organized" as they play will help them see what all they have to pick from, & help with an easier cleanup for mommy.
*jude is 3 1/2 & we won't be doing any formal education with him till either kindergarden or 1st grade. we just don't want to push him to start sitting & making him learn a bunch of stuff when he'd rather just play. & he's only 3 1/2... all kids his age want to do is play anyways. :) so we let him play & use his imagination & while he does that we talk about letters & their sounds. we point out letters in books we're reading & say, "B, b..b, BOY". from that exercise & this dvd he knows almost all of his letter sounds & we haven't done any "sitting down" to learn them.
*we will be doing a mixture of charlotte mason & classical education. i'm reading this book on charlotte mason & this book on classical. both very good!
*i'm also reading this book which in more of an overall idea of helping your family be creative & explore. i'm only on chapter 1, but it's very good so far. :)
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just some thoughts. we're learning. i was home schooled all the way through (except kindergarden & 1st grade) & i loved it! the Lord will give us grace & direct us as their teachers.
al
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a few practical ideas:
*the idea of pulling a bunch of stuff out to let them "be creative" (when most of it ends up on the floor) can be a little overwhelming. so keep things in a place that is easy to get to & not a hassle to pull it out every time.
*i would like to start tentatively "planning" what we're going to do for the 3 days a week that we do creative play. that way i know what materials we'll need & how to be mentally prepared for any mess. ;)
*i think it helps them be more creative if you give them ideas of things to do as they play. i say often... "look jude, what if you try this?" & that usually leads him to another idea. but i don't push them to do what i'm suggesting.
*a few days ago we did an actual project & made shakers, with 2 plates & beans in the middle. i asked them if they wanted to color the plates first. jude & amos did, but sammy just wanted to dump beans in the plate & then back in the bucket of beans. so i just let him. :)
*keeping the area somewhat "organized" as they play will help them see what all they have to pick from, & help with an easier cleanup for mommy.
*jude is 3 1/2 & we won't be doing any formal education with him till either kindergarden or 1st grade. we just don't want to push him to start sitting & making him learn a bunch of stuff when he'd rather just play. & he's only 3 1/2... all kids his age want to do is play anyways. :) so we let him play & use his imagination & while he does that we talk about letters & their sounds. we point out letters in books we're reading & say, "B, b..b, BOY". from that exercise & this dvd he knows almost all of his letter sounds & we haven't done any "sitting down" to learn them.
*we will be doing a mixture of charlotte mason & classical education. i'm reading this book on charlotte mason & this book on classical. both very good!
*i'm also reading this book which in more of an overall idea of helping your family be creative & explore. i'm only on chapter 1, but it's very good so far. :)
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just some thoughts. we're learning. i was home schooled all the way through (except kindergarden & 1st grade) & i loved it! the Lord will give us grace & direct us as their teachers.
al
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