The hunt is over, The plastic eggs have been found. The candy is eaten, The egg pieces are on the ground… …and under the couch, and in the toy bins, and seemingly everywhere. You too? Then read on for what to do with all of those leftover plastic eggs! Grab a Sharpie and write a … More Letter Games with Leftover Easter Eggs
Joyful Toddlers & Preschoolers: Create a Life You and Your Child Both Love by Faith Collins was a great book and, after listening to the audiobook, I bought a hardcopy to keep on my shelf. It’s one of those I’m going to be rereading every couple of months because I want to be sure I’m implementing … More What We’re Reading: Joyful Toddlers & Preschoolers (Faith Collins)
At the end of February, a week after his due date, we welcomed little E into our family. The ensuing weeks were a blur of postpartum chaos, coupled with an impending move and an unplanned kitchen renovation due to some flooding. I couldn’t seem to find the time or will to write. If I had … More Welcome to the Wild & Free Gang!
If you start perusing the pages of any alternate schooling, freedom advocating, or unschooling text, you will likely see Peter Gray quoted somewhere. He’s a psychologist and researcher who studies education from an evolutionary biological perspective. In other words, how children learn naturally. His book, Free to Learn, began through his writings for Psychology Today … More What We’re Reading: Free to Learn (Peter Gray)
“Childhood isn’t naturally a race ; it’s a season of life.” Rachel Rainbolt, Sage Homeschooling (51) Rachel Rainbolt’s Sage Homeschooling embodies this principle as Rainbolt chronicles her research and personal experiences as an unschooled of her three children. She says, “Living life is the ultimate stage for learning . We have forgotten this . Our … More What We’re Reading: Sage Homeschooling (Rachel Rainbolt)
Hello friends, Who would have thought that six months after my last post we’d still be in a pandemic? Still arguing over whether or not to mask, have playdates, or go to church? Still wondering if the end is in sight or if this pandemic world is just the world we have now. In the … More *6 Months Later*
Here we are at the end of July and the whole world seems just as uncertain as it was in March. It’s been five months since we started all talking about COVID and four months since most of us have been on quarantine. While most of us are reeling with all the changes to our … More These Slow Summer Days
Usually, I frame my posts through stories of my children or other students, but when I sat down to draft today’s article, I had a vivid memory from my own past – I wasn’t quite a child (or I certainly didn’t think I was!) but it was certainly a learning experience for me. I remember … More Unlocking Montessori Key #6: Learning with Meaningful Context
I honestly am not 100% sure what day it is without looking at my watch. I am also 100% ok with that. Our days each blend into one another with their vague routines and unhurried agendas. I was thinking about the song from Tangled and how closely it resonated: 🎶🎶Seven a.m., the usual morning lineupStart … More What day is it?
———————————— This fifth principle of Montessori education is one intuitive to most parents – especially in the preschool years. It is the understanding that children will learn from their peers and their surroundings continually, not just in lesson times. Maria Montessori used the term “unconscious absorbent mind” to describe the concept of the child taking … More Unlocking Montessori – Key #5: Learning From Peers & the Unconscious Absorbent Mind
Wild & Free Childhood 