3 Ways Mothers Can Help Their Children be Learners
You don’t need to be a certified teacher or homeschooling family, mothers can help their children be learners in a variety of ways. It starts at home, by example and with an open heart.
By Contributing Writer, Samantha
Over the last few weeks I have been doing a lot of reading on homeschooling. You would think with all the reading and looking at different styles/curriculum I’ve done, that I would have the next 15 years of my daughter’s education figured out. There is so much information out there!
Where does education start? And how can we as mothers, no matter if we homeschool, or send our little ones to private or public school, help our children to be great learners? To instill in them a love for learning?
As I have been doing much reading and research, the answer is simple.
We as mothers must be learners ourselves.
We must love learning.
All learning starts at home, not when we send them off to school or start officially homeschooling. It starts when they are infants.
Some of the great truths I have come away with from my research on homeschooling philosophies styles and curriculum choices is that it is going to start with me.
Honestly when I graduated college I just wanted to read easy enjoyable books. I really didn’t try to keep on learning. Not that I didn’t learn new things but I definitely wasn’t challenging myself and looking for ways to continue my education.
That has changed since becoming a mother!
3 Ways Mothers Can Help Their Children be Learners
Be A Learner Yourself
One of the most important ways that you will help your child to be a learner and enjoy learning is to be a learner yourself.
Education does not stop when you graduate from school. Learning should be a part of everyday life… a way of life.
I have been reading a lot about Charlotte Mason and one thing she thought was teachers teach from overflow. Really, what you fill yourself up with is what you will impart to your children by taking time to read and study yourself.
When we fill our mind with truth, goodness and beauty it will help us to be better mothers, to do our work better and to pass on new knowledge to our children.
Is there something you always wanted to know more about?
Nature? Cooking? Gardening? Crafting? You name it!
Why not set time a side to learn about it? Invite your kids to join you? Share what you are learning about with them!
Habit Training
I am still in the midst of reading more about habit training/character training from Charlotte Mason. This is really the heart of education! (Well I think so)
As a mother I *need* to teach my child good habits; Good character & Godly character.
Have you ever noticed that you don’t have to teach your child to disobey and to sin? I didn’t have to teach my daughter that when she is upset to roll around on the ground and cry. Or when she does something wrong to try to hide it.
You have to teach them what is good, pure and lovely… what good habits are!
If I want my child to be a learner and a good student, it is going to start with teaching them good habits and good character traits. And that doesn’t start when they enter kindergarten 🙂
One thing that I have fell in love with is Morning Time Baskets. I wanted to get into the habit of doing this now with my little one. My daughter is only 3 right now, but here are the habits we are working on.
We do our morning time basket time when my little one first gets up. We get drinks- juice for her and coffee for me, and grab our morning basket and sit on the couch.
Right now we really are just doing Bible Time. We work on memorizing a verse together, reading a devotional book, reading a bible story, singing bible songs and prayer.
After that we get dressed, make beds and have breakfast. These are the habits we have really been working on this last month…and not throwing fits too. 😉 I teach preschool/daycare out of my home so we finish our morning time basket during circle time.
Not only has this helped me get into a routine of teaching good habits to my daughter but it has also helped me to be a better mother to have a routine. This means when she gets up no matter what I am doing I stop to do more important things. I turn off the computer, I stop cleaning and I take time to teach my little one!
I don’t set her down to watch a show until I am done with what I want/need to do anymore when she first gets up. For me this has been a blessing! And in the short time that we have been doing this I have seen much growth in my daughter AND in myself!
Create The Right Atmosphere
The atmosphere is the environment and the culture we set in our homes.
We as mothers are not in need of creating the perfect learning environment for children but using the home environment to our advantage.
We as mothers set the atmosphere for our homes. It starts with us. What a great responsibility we have!
We have heard the saying that “it’s caught not taught” Whatever it is that your are trying to teach your children, they’re going to learn by your actions and by your habits in the environment you create for them.
Your ideas and rules of life are going to be taught to your children as they watch how you live. What is it that you want to teach them by your example? By the environment that you create in your home?
I’ve been challenged by this!
Do I show my daughter how to really live the Christ-filled, Christ-Centered life? Do I show her love, honesty, trust, truth, beauty everyday? Is she surrounded by it? Does she hear it? See it?
If I want my child to be a great learner then I have to create the right atmosphere is my home.
These are 3 ways that we can help our children to be learners.
I have made small changes over the last few weeks to become a better learner myself, create better habits in my home, and have looked for ways to create an environment that is Christ-filled, full of truth and beauty so that we can be life long learners.
Great post! You are so right about being intentional about the atmosphere we create – whether by our attitudes, our words, our clutter (or not), etc.