Our Niyah
She will 8 in just a few weeks, I have had that thought on my mind these past few weeks and it has made me look at her differently. I am realizing more and more how fast they grow up.
Her Education
Niyah was our first daughter and as a result we wanted to make sure she learned everything there was to learn and as quickly as possible. We read few fairy tales, mostly educational books and picture study books. She knew all the past presidents by name, order and photo by age 3, we prided ourselves in people saying “she is brilliant”
What I was so proud of then, I am so ashamed of now
Funny how that works
When we began homeschooling, it was push, push, push to see how fast we could move. She is brilliant and therefore would soak up the info and spit it back out without any trouble at all.
When we were half way through “kindergarten” I noticed that there was something mechanical in the way she would answer, something dry and cold in the way she would make new discoveries. She was 6 and how sad that learning had already become something have to do, something you get done…NOT something you enjoy!
I met this sweet lady, Cindie (who is now a good friend of mine) and she introduced me to Oak Meadow
I didn’t know it then but the day I met her, would be the beginning of a long and very hard year for me. It was the year of TRUTHS… A year of awakening new ideas and thoughts and the possibility of a completely out of the ordinary way of educating our children. I get a little teared up now, to think about how different things could have been for Niyah, had I learned these things sooner.
Through Oak meadow, I was introduced to the Waldorf tradition and have since dove in head first. I want to learn as much as I can, before it’s time to begin “schooling” my younger two.
About a year and a half ago, we gave up TV, we let go of the plastic toys & we started swimming in fairy tales, silks, wooden toys and nature.
We LOVE art, music, circle time, gentle art study, fairy tales, nature stories, french, ,math, history, science….we love all of those things but to be honest, my children spend most of their time outside. They are young and I feel VERY strongly that is where they belong right now.
I can’t speak for your children, only my own. My 7 yr old is a completely different person now, then she was just a year ago. I attribute it to FREEDOM, limited screen time, tons of Fairy tales & NATURE
When she learns now, her eyes light up with excitement, there is LIFE in her discoveries, there is joy in her study of the world. Her brilliance is there, her mind still capable of holding massive amounts of knowledge and it will keep while she enjoys being a little girl. This once in a life time opportunity to see the world through a child’s eyes, to see it with all of it’s magic and beauty.
Giving her Freedom to learn
~Barefoot Mama
