I found the best book recently,
It's called Teaching Your Children Joy
It's a little old school, but sometimes the best things have withstood the test of time!
It is intended for toddler and preschool age kids about the world around them.
The idea is that children have an innate sense of curiosity about their world, and if we as parents and caregivers can foster that, then it will help them be life long learners.
We started with with the Joy of the Earth.
So fun!
Each chapter is filled, I mean JAM PACKED with ideas about teaching children each "Joy".
We headed out to a nature study area nearby and I let my kids have free reign. They looked at leaves, trees, snails, flowers, everything really.
I added little comments about what I knew, and I asked them questions to help them discover more.
Things like, "I can see where that snail has been walking, can you tell where he's been?" Or "I can see how old that tree was before they cut it down, can you?"
I know it sounds really simplistic, but it was great for me to let them guide their own learning. They soaked it up and were so happy.
The book suggests to focus on one joy for an entire month, that way you can really do a lot of activities, and not get overwhelmed at the same time.
We also had a fun time making bug habitats. We made sure the rolly polys had enough food and shade
It is intended for toddler and preschool age kids about the world around them.
The idea is that children have an innate sense of curiosity about their world, and if we as parents and caregivers can foster that, then it will help them be life long learners.
So fun!
Each chapter is filled, I mean JAM PACKED with ideas about teaching children each "Joy".
We headed out to a nature study area nearby and I let my kids have free reign. They looked at leaves, trees, snails, flowers, everything really.
I added little comments about what I knew, and I asked them questions to help them discover more.
Things like, "I can see where that snail has been walking, can you tell where he's been?" Or "I can see how old that tree was before they cut it down, can you?"
I know it sounds really simplistic, but it was great for me to let them guide their own learning. They soaked it up and were so happy.
The book suggests to focus on one joy for an entire month, that way you can really do a lot of activities, and not get overwhelmed at the same time.
We also had a fun time making bug habitats. We made sure the rolly polys had enough food and shade
Another fun thing we did was to play in the garden. I let them pick and eat as many strawberries as they wanted (within reason;)
We are excited for some of the other joys like joy of the body (aka playing a lot!), joy of the imagination.
So much joy! I can't wait!
what a great idea....I should follow in your footsteps with this joy thing! Sounds like it'd be great for the kids and for me. Thanks for sharing...as always, you're inspirational!
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