I received this email recently and knew it had to be shared. Mystie's story has lit a fire under me to get going on some new CDs for my little ones!
Kendra,
I've been doing circle time with my two boys since my oldest was 2 1/2,
ever since I saw the suggestion on preschoolersandpeace.com. We were
working on Psalm 1 and the Catechism for Young Children. However, we got
out of our groove while we were in the process of moving, I was in the
first trimester, and then our renovations of the house we bought got
delayed and we were living in chaos -- and no kitchen -- for a month.
So, things were crazy and memory stuff didn't get worked on. I
remembered your suggestion for recording a "Mommy CD" and so as I was
putting together goals and a plan for this coming year, I made a CD with
everything I wanted to accomplish in the next year or year and a half:
the entire catechism (145 questions), the Apostle's Creed, the Ten
Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, Psalm 139, and a few others. Then I
filled the rest of the CD with songs and stories. My oldest has been
listening to it for a month during his quiet time and we began our new
routine last week. We hadn't hardly worked on the Apostle's Creed before
and he was saying it by himself on the second day; not only that, but he
had also vastly improved on his catechism answers, just by hearing it
every day. Today I decided to introduce the next three questions and
answers (Q&A 31-33) and he immediately answered them and only needed a
little help with his pronunciation! So I decided to keep going to see
just how much he'd already picked up and he got through Q&A 138 before
requesting to stop and use the bathroom. :) He needed some promptings on
quite a few (especially reciting the Ten Commandments) but only
completely missed 7.
Ok, so I'm bragging to you and I don't even know you and you don't know
me, but I just wanted to tell you that I am very grateful for your
suggestions on preschoolersandpeace.com and suggest to you that you
emphasize that Mommy CD more, because it really works! Also, ever since
I made it for him, he's been eager for quiet time and doesn't complain
about going down. Some days he even asks at 10 in the morning if he can
go take his quiet time and listen to his CD. :) Now I'm starting to
think I might have to buy a little CD player for my 2-year-old and make
him a CD, too. :)
Thank you!
Mystie
pelennorfields.com/mystie
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He wasn’t so sure about the grass...
but eventually got the hang of it...
So, are my children creative or bored???
Traditionally, summer is a time to kick back and enjoy life. Initially I thought that meant that any schedule and routine could just be put to the wayside, but the reality was that my children didn’t function well without the sense of routine we always had during the school year. They bickered more. They accomplished just about nothing. And they complained when asked to do something worthwhile.
It took me about a week to realize that while we didn’t need to be following a school-year schedule, we did need at least a flow chart, or some concrete goals for the summer. And having a routine actually frees us to be spontaneous; I don't worry so much that we are fritting away our time because I know that on most days, we are being productive.
Yesterday I sat down and wrote out a routine, including the activities I would need to get the two older boys to every day for 11 weeks of the summer. I took the baby’s naptimes into account, and the goals the children have made for themselves.
Times are estimate and I really don't stick too closely to them. But listing times helps me to see if what I've planned will realistically fit in a day.
Summer Circle Time and Daily Schedule
10:00
Psalm
Prayer
Devotional: Finish Grandpa's Box
Songs CVP Worship Book (our church's book)
Catechism Review
Manners: Boys and Manners
Table Manners
Memory Work 1 John 4:7,8
Proverbs 31:10-31
Psalm 1
Psalm 23
Seeds CDs
Cards Nat’l Geographic
Art cards
Walk Through the Bible Old and New Testament Cards
11:30
Chores For those who didn’t finish before breakfast
Math
Summer Catch Up H- Omni, Latin,
N- Logic, Spelling,Latin
J- Greek, Thinking Skills
Ab- Spelling, Cursive
C- Reading, Phonics, HW
Copywork H & N- Choose book of the Bible
J- Complete 06/07, choose book of the Bible
*N to Lifeguarding at 12:10*
1:00
Read Aloud at Lunch
2:00
Swim 30 mins after lunch
2:30
Quiet Hour
*H and N to water polo at 3:10*
3:30
Summer Projects
4:30, 5:00
Swim/Free
Lisa gave our three-year-old some very useful DVDs for her birthday this year. Leap Frog Talking Letters and Words Factory have taught her, effortlessly, her basic letter sounds and complete alphabet recognition. Resources like these are a boon to the homeschooling mom of many. But if you are a mom of little guys and gals, these DVDs will give your students a leg up before you even begin to teach them to read.
If you’ve read the Preschoolers and Peace site or blog for any length of time, you know what a fan of Lauri Puzzles I am. The alphabet puzzle is a great tool to reinforce what has been learned on the Letter and Words Factory DVDs. I was recently caught with little three-year-old (in princess attire, no less) as we played through the alphabet puzzle and sang the little ditty reciting each letter’s principle sound. It’s fun and games to her, and little does she know she’s mastered her pre-reading skills. See the sidebar for all three resources.
What is it about nursing a baby that makes one’s head fuzzy? I’ve wanted to write this post for some time, and finally tonight I knew I had to try and put two cohesive thoughts together. Bear with me.
When we named the site “Preschoolers and Peace” we knew that the word, the idea, the goal of peace was central to the ministry here. But what does it mean exactly to have peace in the midst of preschoolers?
To some extent I think that the measure and level of peace in a home is individual; some of us can handle more chaos than others. Your definition of peace may not be mine simply because you might be able to function well with more going on around you than I can.
Does peace mean that you will have a lot of time to yourself? Well, no. But by implementing routines and schedules that can be followed by everyone in the household, you may be able to have an hour in the middle of your day or several in the early morning or late evening in which you can accomplish several tasks uninterrupted (or nap 
).
Does peace mean that your preschoolers will always happily obey you with quiet responses of “Yes, ma’am”? Um, no. But by setting standards and goals and by building a strong relationship day to day with them, you can capture their hearts and cause them to want to obey you, eventually. Their trust and your leadership will bring peace to your home.
Does peace mean that your home will be quiet, devoid of shouts and babble indicative of resident preschoolers? Nope. But again, we can put a plan into action that gets us to the goal of a functioning, peaceful home. I often look a little one in the eye and say, “Honey, I’m right here. You don’t need to shout”. Preschoolers, toddlers, babies, and yes- teenagers, can cause a lot of unrest by default. They are all busy, noisy, and require heaps and heaps of our time and energy, but I’m sure you know that.
Preschoolers and Peace exists to encourage you in your journey of home educating all ages, but particularly those little ones who can cause such an uproar if mom doesn’t have a plan. As long as God provides me with the time, energy, and resources, I will continue to post ideas and strategies that might be another tool in your quest for a household that functions well and peacefully.
Still, I hope you know and I often have to remind myself that peace, true peace, the peace that passes all understanding, is found in Christ alone. Begin and end there. Period.
