One of the advantages to living in a smaller home is that you tend to adopt more minimalist tendencies. In a small house, everything which is additional to our needs really stands out and becomes far more of an obstacle than simply stuffing it in a basement, attic or garage- far more of a temptation…
Why homeschooling can lead to better and deeper learning than formal schooling.
I grew up in the 1970s and early 80s and enjoyed an education free of a set curriculum, targets and the results-based environment schools face today. Most afternoons in primary school I was free to explore and play with the materials which the teacher had deemed suitable for the day/topic/budget/weather. Many happy hours were spent…
When you can’t/won’t buy new; Upcycling- a mud kitchen
‘Necessity is the mother of invention‘ Plato I’ve been on the lookout for a suitable lot of wood for making a mud kitchen for the boys to play with. I had been hoping to come upon a spare pallet or find something fitting in the wood pile. Alas, there really hasn’t been anything which would…
Cooking With Children
I love getting into the kitchen with son number one, it’s something we have done together since he was really small. Cooking with two has needed a ton of patience and a reworking of how we do things, I can’t pretend its getting easier, its often completely chaotic and definitely more messy! It helps if…
Schools are failing us – children’s learning has to begin with developing love for the natural world.
I had a rather strange exchange this week with a lady requesting online education materials to teach her 5 year old about the importance of recycling. Whilst I appreciate what she was trying to do, it got me thinking about how we begin to educate our children to become responsible custodians of our planet. I…
10 ways to inspire independent play
Getting children to play on their own is essential for their deeper cognitive development and the sanity of their adults. Here are ten ways in which we inspire play through ‘Invitations To Play’. Most of these can be set up with resources you already have at home (or sourced second hand). This may give you…
Small Pleasures this week
Paints in the garden – all the fun without the messy clean up! A vintage find transforms our mealtimes from cramped to calm and the old table re-imagined as mud kitchen.( the transformation pics in another post) Lots of sensory play and a dustpan and brush at the ready! The absolutely joy of unschooling –…
Invitations To Play
Invitations to play are little set-ups of materials which tempt children to come and explore. Children have an innate need to discover their world, through play, and are hard-wired to learn, through their play. Everything that a child will become, as a person, has its foundations in play, and through play the child develops every…
Get out of the way! – Independent Play and why it is essential to children’s development
As modern parents we often feel that we should be engaging with our children as much as possible, filling every moment with talk and activity designed to help our child learn and develop. We have been told many times of the importance of talking frequently with our children and providing enriching environments for them to…
Trees and their benefits to our immune systems
Spending short amounts of time amongst trees has been shown to benefit our immune systems and significantly improve our health in a number of ways. As a family we love to spend time in woods and forests and we are lucky to live within walking distance of some small but lovely areas of trees. The…
