August 19, 2018

How to Use a Preschool Morning Binder (PLUS all you need to get started!)

August 19, 2018/ Erin Cox

I have a tenacious 3 year old who wants to do a LOT of school. He loves to learn and do things just like the big kids. I love to encourage his desire to learn, so I created a "morning binder" for him after being inspired by Yoga Pants and Pearls when I ran across her on Pinterest. You can check out her take on morning binder here.

I initially downloaded her cute little printable but my OCD jumped in and reminded me that it didn't match the rest of the materials that I had created to complement The Gentle + Classical Preschool (<--- Click that for a FREE Preschool Curriculum)... So I had to make my own, while also using a few resources I'd already created to assemble a full Morning Binder for my little one. So here's what's in our Preschool Morning Binder (also, it's not a binder but I'll chat about that too).

5 Steps to an excellent, beautiful Preschool Morning Binder:

June 26, 2018

When Your Homeschooled Child Can't Read Yet

June 26, 2018/ Erin Cox

If you're reading this, you are probably in the midst of teaching one of your little ones to read OR you have that endeavor looming ahead of you in the near future... amiright? The singular biggest fear of every single homeschool mom I've ever spoken to is failing to teach her child to read well... and especially failing to teach them "on time".

In most of our minds, we envision that our homeschooled child would be reading well in advance of their public school counterparts (or at least at the same time). Simultaneously, in our little hearts, one reason we homeschool is to give our children the time and space to grow and develop on their own timeline. Sometimes these desires and expectations clash and can create monster homeschool mom anxiety. I know many mamas who have quit homeschooling (or never even began) because they were overwhelmed at the idea of failing in this important task.

I want to share some actual evidence with you today that helped put me at ease when my own homeschool student just wasn't progressing like I felt she "should."

March 25, 2018

107 Books to Read Before Age 7 (FREE Printable List!)

March 25, 2018/ Erin Cox

Wow! Have you looked lately for books for your little ones and been completely overwhelmed? There are SO many- and how can we know they are good books that are of high literary quality and don't counter with our beliefs and family culture until we've bought them? My sweet friend Hayley and I wanted to combine forces and share a powerful list of 107 books that we feel like every child should have read to them (or read) before age 7.

Many lists like this include a majority of chapter books or books for children with longer attention span. We have many of those, but rest assured that this collection also includes shorter picture books with gorgeous, engaging illustrations and fewer words per page.

March 22, 2018

28 Ways to Keep Your Toddler Busy {FREE Printable List!}

March 22, 2018/ Erin Cox

Our littles ones can stay soooooo busy... right underfoot... all day long. Or even worse, when they disappear for a moment and get super quiet! Oh no! Rarely does that end up a good thing (sharpie vs the wall, anyone?)

Through parenting four kiddos, I've found that the best way to keep a toddler busy without pulling your hair out is to integrate them INTO your day. Sometimes, we tend to default to building our day, our schedule, our home environment around the child. This bring everything down to their level. Sometimes, it has the unintended consequence of bringing US (and our behavior) down to their level too. EEEK!

March 12, 2018

Easter Preschool Unit Study, Flashcards, AND Banner Bundle!

March 12, 2018/ Erin Cox

Every day I fail. Every day I say the wrong thing, behave selfishly, act pridefully, think only of myself, drop a few four letter words, and get sinfully angry. Some days I do all of those things, and other days, I manage to squeak by with just a few, but regardless- I am a hefty sinner. As Paul says in Romans 7:15: I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.

Man. He gets me.

It is the overwhelming awareness of my own desperate need for a savior that digs the importance of the celebration of Easter deep into my soul. As Mamas, it's our job to begin at the earliest age possible digging the truth about Christ and our desperate need for him down deep into their souls.

I wanted to provide some tools to do just that.

February 24, 2018

Why I Created The Gentle + Classical Preschool Curriculum

February 24, 2018/ Erin Cox

I love Classical Education. From the first moment I lay my hands upon the book The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise, I was hooked. I learned as much as I could and fully believe in the proven power of our natural learning in the sequential order of the Grammar, Dialectic (aka Logic), and Rhetoric stages. Even as adults, in our daily lives, as we are introduced to new things, we logically follow these steps. {Click here to read a great metaphor to understand this process a little better.}

This 3 step process applies to all aspects of life and branches of knowledge. Having a teen and tween whom we've used this process with throughout their education, I can see the profound fruits.

February 23, 2018

Metaphor for the 3 Phases of Learning {Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric}

February 23, 2018/ Erin Cox

I love Classical Education. From the first moment I lay my hands upon the book The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer and Jessie Wise, I was hooked. I learned as much as I could and fully believe in the proven power of our natural learning in the sequential order of the Grammar, Dialectic, and Rhetoric stages. Even as adults, in our daily lives, as we are introduced to new things, we logically follow these steps.

Consider this: If you aren't into cars and so forth, imagine someone wanted to explain to you how an engine worked. He would logically begin by naming all of the parts. It will be hard for you to understand what he's telling you if you don't know which part is the alternator, which part is the carburetor, and which part is the transmission, right? So this process of learning the names (or the terminology) puts you into the grammar stage of this process...

February 08, 2018

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Math-U-See {Even through High School!}

February 08, 2018/ Hayley Croft

I’m so excited to share this review with you! This is the ONE curriculum that I have never once been tempted to stop using! I tend to get my head turned by shiny, new homeschool curriculum. It’s so much fun to try new things, and there are always new products coming out that I can’t wait to check out. But not when it comes to math.

When I first started homeschooling, one of my mentors gave me some great advice. I was sharing with her how I worried that I wouldn’t be able to give my kids a strong math education because I had struggled so much with math in school. Her advice was to find a program that had a good reputation, that suited my teaching style, and that my kids didn’t hate, and then stick with it all the way through. Her reasoning was that the best way to avoid gaps in math knowledge is to use one program from beginning to end...

February 02, 2018

How to Homeschool Preschool {with no regrets!}

February 02, 2018/ Erin Cox

There's nothing as delightful (and challenging!) as educating our little ones at home. Some of us homeschool preschool and intend to be "long haul" homeschoolers. Others may plan to send their child to school later, but want to make the most of their days with their sweet babes. As a Mama of 4 with 2 toddlers underfoot, I've had some experience in preschool and "toddler school". I've made many mistakes, but I've also learned some valuable lessons that help me approach educating my two little ones with a "no regrets" mentality.

Here are 5 tips to approach those early years that you won't regret!