Author Archives: Charity Hawkins

How to Help Kids Sit Still: Let them Move

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This is a fantastic site I just found from  a link on thepioneerwoman.com. Loren
Shlaes is a Manhattan-based “pediatric occupational therapist specializing in sensory
integration and school based issues, particularly handwriting.” In this post she’s discussing how vital it is for kids to move. I’ve read a lot on this topic, and have found movement to be so critical for my son. I LOVE her commonsense, practical advice.

“The only way for children to be able to mature and develop their nervous
systems, improve their motor planning, strengthen their core muscles, and
maximize their balance and coordination, all of which are vital to learning and
attention, is through movement. Do you want your young child to excel? Forget
the enrichment classes, which I consider a waste of time and money, and take
him outside. I’m not talking about Saturday morning soccer practice. I’m
talking about going to the park, playing on the swings, slide, merry go round,
teeter totters, playing tag and statues, having a catch, playing Frisbee,
messing around in the sandbox, climbing on the jungle gym, making snowmen,
sledding, skating, roller blading, swimming, riding a bike or scooter,
hopscotch, jumprope, etc.

In order to do and be their best, children need a lot of unstructured time to
play outdoors. They need to be able to coordinate themselves with their heads
and bodies in all kinds of different positions and situations.

If your child has a hard time sitting still, try this: give him lots and lots
of intense exercise and time outside every single day, drastically reduce
screen time, make sure he gets plenty of sleep, and minimize sweets and
nutritionally empty foods, substituting whole, fresh, organic, unprocessed
foods. Turn off your electronic devices when you’re with him and give him your
full, undivided attention. If you’re nervous about not giving him all the
enrichment classes, here are some ideas: play lots of classical music at home,
read to him regularly, provide craft activities, and do things together as a
family.”

Read the whole article here.

Cheap or Free Toys for Kids

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Here’s a post I wrote this summer on moneysavingmom.com about Cheap or Free Toys for Kids. All the toys, except perhaps the duct tape, work about as well inside as out!

I read this similar article after I wrote mine. I totally agree on all his toy ideas. In fact, we gave our kids three huge empty appliance boxes for Christmas (as well as other toys, of course). They have so far used their boxes, or pieces of those boxes, in the backyard for: a fort, a stage for a concert, drums for that concert, to jump in as part of an obstacle course, as a table for a pretend cafe, and a slide. Nice.

 

Chapter Book Review: Little House on the Prairie / Family Song

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This time around I’m not actually reading the book. We listen to the audio book on CD while snuggling in Mom & Dad’s big bed before the kids to go their own beds.

Last night we started The Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. My son sort of remembers this from a few years ago, but it’s all new to my five-year-old.

Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books are possibly my favorite chapter books for children. The first is Little House in the Big Woods, and the second is Little House on the Prairie. Either one of those books would be good choices for an introduction to Wilder.

These books have lots of adventure–panthers, bears, wolves, trips in a covered wagon, Indian visitors–told through the eyes of a little girl and steeped in America’s history. Don’t be afraid to skip over some of the “boring” parts — the long descriptive passages – and get back to the story. (Those parts are interesting for historical purposes, but probably not to a five-year-old.) Also, you may need to edit some parts of Ma’s reaction to the Indians. You could just cut some out or, if your children are old enough, talk about her attitude and why she was afraid and how the Indians might have been just as afraid of the white people.

The other reason I think these are great books for children is they teach courage, gratefulness, and respect in a way that many modern books do not.

Family Song

Each night we sing a hymn or song together as a family, usually just the first one or two verses. The kids do their best and we all learn it together. After a few months we switch. Our Family Song right now is “Trust and Obey.”

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and obey
No there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus
Than to trust and obey

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

Current Chapter Book

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We are having a Laura Ingalls Wilder marathon right now. We aren’t listening to them in order, but we have done:

Little House in the Big Woods
Farmer Boy
The Long Winter (because we were in a wintery mood)

Also, not a chapter book, but a fun book on CD we did one night was an Arnold Lobel collection. You know, Frog and Toad, Owl at Home? The man is brilliant. He can communicate humor to kids, a lesson to grown-ups, and great truths in the simplest language and in about 300 words.

Welcome

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I am very excited to be partnering with Todd and Debbie Wilson of  Familyman Ministries in the publishing and sale of The Homeschool Experiment. The book is due to be released in March 2012.  Meanwhile, please check out the Familyman website for all their great resources.

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This book is a cross between Confessions of a Shopaholic and The Girlfriend’s Guide to Homeschooling, if there were such a book. There needs to be.

Because none of my homeschooling books ever covered how to finish  your read-aloud when your baby just had a blowout all over the high chair, and you finish giving him a bath only to find that your oven fries were burned to a crisp, and you barely got those thrown out when you had to run to the living room because of the screaming and blood to find that your daughter just accidentally knocked your son’s loose tooth out by kicking him in the face. Accidentally. While they were supposed to be waiting for you to finish reading.

None of my books covered that.

So, this is a book for homeschooling moms, those who love them, and those fascinated by the freakiness of the whole homeschooling thing.

It’s also a book for all moms. Every mother can relate to the daily struggles and joys of life with small children, the worry about how to school them, and terror that we’ll manage to mess them up for good.

If you’ve ever wanted to dip a toe into the waters of homeschooling, or peek through the curtains of a homeschooler’s life to catch a glimpse of a real day, here’s your chance. And, there’s no bashing of public or private schoolers, either, just an honest account of one family’s struggles, decisions, and hilarious moments. Step on in and join us here.

This is a book a mom could read by the pool. Wait, moms don’t read by the pool; they have to make sure their children don’t drown. This is a book a mom can read on that rare occasion she gets to go to a nice restaurant and read something for herself. Something fun. Something that doesn’t tell her seven more things she should be doing.

It’s light, it’s funny, but there are deep truths inside. My prayer is that you will read it, laugh, cry, and be encouraged to keep running your race. The one God calls you to run.

Run on, Moms.

***

Here’s the synopsis from the back cover of the book:

Julianne Miller feels God nudging her to homeschool her three children. The only problem is, she has no idea what she’s doing. But, how hard could first grade possibly
be?

If you are a mother, homeschooling or not, you’ll be encouraged when you
join Julianne and her co-op friends as they navigate through a hard
but humorous year of diapers, dinners, husbands, meltdowns, and math
lessons.

And that’s just September.

 

We are planning to sell the book at Amazon.com, CBD.com, and the FamilyMan booth at homeschool conventions across the country.