{"id":799,"date":"2023-02-26T20:15:51","date_gmt":"2023-02-26T20:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedelightfulhomeschool.com\/?page_id=799"},"modified":"2023-07-12T18:51:27","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T18:51:27","slug":"little-years","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thedelightfulhomeschool.com\/?page_id=799","title":{"rendered":"Little Years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Delight directed learning in the early years is so easy. It just means allowing your children to enjoy life. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Free play should take up the majority of their day with a small amount of additional practice in the basics (reading, math, handwriting) when they express an interest. Read aloud time should be a regular activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For those who desire to follow a delight-directed learning approach in their homeschool, the early years can be a bit confusing. \u201cHow can I encourage my child\u2019s interests when they seem to change daily\u2026 and are primarily just childhood fun?\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be at peace, Mama. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this season of life you don\u2019t have to worry about attempting to make your child\u2019s formal learning time reflect their interests (which can constantly change at this age!) because those interests will be worked out through the abundance of play time they have. (Legos, pretend play, art time, outside exploring\u2026). Their life *is* delight-directed learning already. This is the way God made children to learn. We, as the mamas, are learning how to enter that world gently, bringing in new ideas to learn (reading, mathematics, etc) as we see a window of opportunity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enjoy your child and let them enjoy the world around them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After you\u2019re done with a beginning reading program,\u00a0what\u2019s next?<\/em>\u00a0It\u2019s time to move on to practicing with real books! This list contains some of our kids’ favorite books to \u201cgraduate\u201d to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As we have spent countless hours reading aloud as a family, we have discovered many treasures. The books listed here are some of those favorites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Having activities available to keep hands busy during read-aloud time is a \u201cmom hack\u201d that has blessed our household for years! Even my littlest ones will stick around during our longer read-aloud sessions when they have something to do while they listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ MORE…<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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In the early years of homeschooling my children, I was in a hurry to see progress and not yet able to just enjoy the process of my children maturing at their own pace. In those days language arts worried me.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ MORE…<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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The love for books starts young! This post contains some of our favorite books for toddlers; perfect for snuggling up before bed. My husband and I could recite most of these with our eyes closed, and we still enjoy them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ MORE…<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Unit studies are a great solution for families who want to explore a topic more fully. Instead of a segmented homeschool day where history, language arts, or any other subject you cover in a day have nothing to do with one another, a unit study can bring all of these areas together in an exciting adventure of learning. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ MORE…<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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In our home, we require just a few daily subjects to be covered together as a family. Beyond that, we love exploring the excitement of learning with many different books and resources. Here are a few of the extras I have used during our morning times together…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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You\u2019ve completed a reading curriculum with your child but they\u2019re still not comfortably reading on their own. Now what? There is something that you can do to help your child make the transition from a beginning reader to a fluent one. Surprisingly, it only takes a few minutes to do each day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ MORE…<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Delight directed learning in the early years is so easy. It just means allowing your children to enjoy life. Free play should take up the majority of their day with a small amount of additional practice in the basics (reading, math, handwriting) when they express an interest. Read aloud time should be a regular activity….<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1285,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"0","tag":"0","restrict_content":""},"footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-799","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\nLittle Years - The Delightful Homeschool<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover delight-directed learning in early years: play, read aloud, nurture interests. 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