what should a four year old know?
I love this post. Love, love, love it! (Thank you to Jessica for sharing it with me!)
Did you read it?
If not, go read it, then come back.
I don’t understand the obsession with force feeding children the things they will learn over time while not teaching them the things that matter most.
To me, the things that matter most in mothering my children are helping them know the answers to these questions for themselves.
* who I am
* who God is
* what family means
* how God speaks to me
* what am I willing to live for
* what am I willing to die for
* what does God expect of me
* my ideas are valuable
* I can learn from books, toys, creating, building, fishing, digging, loving, thinking, drawing, praying, singing, animals, machines, grumpy people, kind people, rich people, poor people, art, instruments, dreaming, working, failing, succeeding, struggling, conquering…basically, I can learn from everything.
I want my children to know these things deep down in their little toes. I want them to be free from wondering if they are of worth. I want them to be able to trust their relationship with God. I want them to learn who they are, not what they can do and who they can beat, but who God created them to be.
Think about how many adults you know that are struggling with the above issues…wondering who they really are and if they are really loved.
Learning your academics is a piece of cake to learning the above.
Go back and read some more at Magical Childhood…go ahead, get inspired.
I'm Tracy, a mama with big dreams, crazy ideas, loads of laughter, an insatiable desire to learn, and enormous piles of laundry.
Beautiful, Tracy! Thanks for the link to Magical Childhood, too… so much good, sound advice and good things to think about. I sometimes get frustrated when I think we’re not “keeping up” in some aspects, but I also see a house full of children who like to know and do things, and can focus mindfully, and have life skills, and social skills, and know (on a continuous, growing basis) who they really are, and that we love them. AND like them. :)