Katie Klein from Little House Learning Co. recently joined me to share her insights on implementing the Charlotte Mason approach in the preschool and kindergarten years. Katie emphasizes the importance of nurturing a love for learning from the very start. She provides practical advice on prioritizing play, recognizing the right time for formal instruction, and creating a rich, living education that respects and enriches the early developmental stages. Whether you’re new to homeschooling or looking to refine your approach, Katie’s perspective offers valuable guidance for fostering a gentle and joyful learning environment for your young children and beyond.
- Home Education, Parenting, and Nurturing the Whole Child
- What does homeschooling in the early years look like?
- How Do We Know When It’s Appropriate to Transition to More Formal Academic Instruction?
- What Are the Key Elements of a Living Education in the Kindergarten Years?
- Key Takeaways
- Listen to the full podcast episode “Charlotte Mason Living Education for Little Learners with Katie Klein” on Homeschool Conversations with Humility and Doxology
- Find Katie Klein online:
- You may also enjoy:
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Home Education, Parenting, and Nurturing the Whole Child
As Katie has grown in homeschooling experience, she’s begun to see how Charlotte Mason’s philosophy (and home education in general) is about much more than academics. It has a lot more to do with parenting, relying on the Holy Spirit, and learning to nurture the whole child in their development of body, mind, and soul.
Of course, this also can be one of the greatest challenge that comes with homeschooling, as we are “on” as parents 24/7. There can also be pressure to meet academic standards and a struggle to balance educational goals with family dynamics. Katie reminds us that it’s okay to have imperfect days and that flexibility is a key component of successful homeschooling. Give yourself grace, embrace the messy moments, and remember that learning happens in many forms, not just through structured lessons.
What does homeschooling in the early years look like?
Katie emphasizes the importance of viewing the early years as a time of gentle growth and exploration rather than rushing into formal academics. She believes that young children thrive in environments where they can engage with the world around them through play, outdoor exploration, and meaningful relationships. Katie encourages parents to prioritize the development of habits, such as attention, obedience, and kindness, as these form the foundation for future learning. Rather than focusing on academic milestones, she advises parents to foster a love of learning and cultivate a sense of wonder in their children during these formative years.
Katie elaborates on the role of habit formation during the early years, which she considers foundational in a Charlotte Mason education. She discusses how establishing good habits in areas such as attention, routine, and personal care can set the stage for a smoother transition into formal academics. According to Katie, these habits are not just about discipline but about building a framework for a child’s character and approach to learning. She encourages parents to model and gently guide their children in developing these habits in a nurturing and supportive manner.
How Do We Know When It’s Appropriate to Transition to More Formal Academic Instruction?
Katie suggests that the transition to formal academic instruction should be guided by the child’s readiness rather than a specific age. She emphasizes observing the child’s natural curiosity and readiness to engage with more structured learning. Indicators of readiness might include a child’s ability to sit still and listen, follow simple instructions, and express a desire to learn new things. Katie stresses that this transition should be gradual and tailored to each child’s unique developmental timeline. She encourages parents to be patient and resist the pressure to start formal academics too early, allowing the child’s natural development to lead the way.
What Are the Key Elements of a Living Education in the Kindergarten Years?
For the kindergarten years, Katie highlights the significance of a “living education,” which she defines as education that is vibrant, meaningful, and rooted in real-life experiences. She suggests that education during this stage should be rich in nature study, storytelling, and hands-on activities that engage the child’s senses and imagination. Katie advocates for a curriculum that includes exposure to beautiful language, whether through quality literature or poetry, and emphasizes the importance of nurturing a child’s relationship with the natural world. She encourages parents to focus on creating an environment that inspires curiosity and joy in learning, rather than adhering strictly to traditional academic subjects.
Katie acknowledges that many parents feel pressured to start formal academics early due to societal expectations or comparisons with other children. She reassures parents that learning does not need to be rushed and that each child’s educational journey is unique. Katie encourages parents to trust their instincts and focus on the developmental needs of their child rather than conforming to external pressures. She highlights that there is no need to rush into academics; instead, parents should prioritize building a nurturing, stress-free learning environment.
Key Takeaways
- Prioritizing Relationships and Play in Early Years: Katie emphasized that the early years should be about nurturing relationships and allowing children to engage in unstructured play. This helps develop foundational social, emotional, and cognitive skills without the pressure of formal academics.
- Delaying Formal Academics: Katie advocates for delaying formal academic instruction until children show signs of readiness, which can vary widely. She suggests observing the child’s natural development and interests rather than adhering to strict timelines or external pressures.
- Living Education in Kindergarten: A living education in the early years includes hands-on learning, nature exploration, and exposure to rich, quality literature. Katie highlighted that education should be life-giving and immersive, focusing on the whole child rather than rigid curriculum standards.
- Understanding Readiness for Formal Learning: Katie stressed the importance of looking for signs of readiness in children before transitioning to formal academics. This includes observing attention spans, interest in letters and numbers, and a natural curiosity for learning.
- Integrating Learning with Daily Life: Katie encouraged parents to integrate learning into everyday life through activities like cooking, gardening, and errands, which naturally teach skills like math, language, and problem-solving.
- Embracing a Flexible Approach: Katie recommended a flexible and adaptable approach to early education. She suggested that parents avoid rigid schedules and instead tune into their child’s individual needs, allowing for a more personalized learning experience.
- The Value of Outdoor Time: Katie highlighted the importance of spending ample time outdoors, which supports physical health, sensory development, and a connection with nature—key elements of a holistic early education.
- Avoiding the Pressure of Milestones: Katie cautioned against the pressure of meeting arbitrary educational milestones and instead encouraged parents to celebrate their child’s unique pace and progress.
- Building a Foundation of Joy in Learning: Overall, Katie’s advice centered around fostering a love of learning through joyful, meaningful, and engaging experiences in the early years, laying a strong foundation for lifelong education.
Listen to the full podcast episode “Charlotte Mason Living Education for Little Learners with Katie Klein” on Homeschool Conversations with Humility and Doxology
Katie Klein, Little House Learning Co., is a wife, curriculum writer and homeschooling mom to 3 in Minnesota who is passionate about teaching Biblical literacy, protecting childhood and reading good books!
Find Katie Klein online:
You may also enjoy:
- Nurturing Little Learners: How to Homeschool Preschool Workshop
Charlotte Mason Inspired: Little Learners, Learning Challenges, and the Cultivation of Habits - Getting Started with Charlotte Mason Homeschooling
- Patience, Wonder, Ignorance, and Joy in a Classical, Charlotte Mason education (with Karen Glass)
- Mother Culture for the Homeschool Mom
- A Living, Humble, Joyful Homeschool Education (an interview with Cindy Rollins)
- Nurturing Little Learners: How to Homeschool Preschool Workshop
- Homeschooling Preschool: Tips and Insights
- Everything You Need To Homeschool Preschool: A Parent’s Guide
- Truth, Goodness, and Beauty in the Homeschool Preschool
Amy: Hello, friends. Today I am joined by Katie Klein from Little House Learning Co., who is a wife, curriculum writer, and homeschooling mom to three in Minnesota. She is passionate about teaching biblical literacy, protecting childhood, and reading good books. I think I first started following you on Instagram, Katie, several years ago. You had a lot of fun reels and have enjoyed following you since then, not just for the fun, but for your thoughtful content, especially when it comes to homeschooling in the early years. I’m really excited to have you here. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself, your family, and how you got started homeschooling?
Katie: Yes, well, thanks for having me. This is such a fun conversation. Homeschooling is something that we have been doing now. We’re going into our seventh year, I believe. It’s tricky depending on if you count preschool or not, but I do since we preschooled our youngest, our oldest, when he was in preschool. We homeschooled him. Yes, I have three kids, live in Minnesota, like you said, and we’ve been here. I came to college here in Minnesota, and I have stayed ever since and have just really enjoyed the homeschooling community that we have found here in the Twin Cities. It is something that I never expected necessarily to homeschool. It was something where when my oldest was a toddler, he was very chatty and precocious, and people were like, oh, why don’t you enroll him in preschool? In Minnesota, preschool is very expensive. I know some of our neighboring states, they have free preschool programs and things like that, but not here. It was just something that I felt like I could do at home, where I was like, ooh, that’s a ton of money. Maybe I could just try this at home since I was already a stay-at-home mom. From there, really was exposed to this new homeschooling that I had not seen when I was growing up in new homeschoolers, which was this Charlotte Mason approach that was really focused on truth and beauty and goodness and, worthy ideas. That was something that really captured me at that age. Then from there, I just said, well, let’s just see how preschool goes, and we’ll send him off to kindergarten in 2020. Then we all know how that went. It was like, oh, maybe I guess we’ll homeschool for kindergarten. Then here we are still homeschooling.
Amy: You were introduced to Charlotte Mason ideas early on. Have you seen your approach to education or thoughts about homeschooling grow or change over the past few years?
Katie: I think that there’s always growth and change that happens as you homeschool different ages, as you go through those different thresholds of like, okay, I just have, a preschool young age, and then it’s kindergarten, and then it’s that elementary age. I expect that, I hope that I’ll continue to grow and learn, especially in my knowledge about homeschooling from a practical perspective, but also from the Charlotte Mason perspective. when I was first introduced to her, like I said, those ideas of like time outside and habit training and beautiful books was very, it just resonated with me. I was someone who loved to read. I like loved being outside. I spent all my summers at summer camp, that sort of thing. As I’ve gotten to read through all of Charlotte Mason’s volumes, I think the biggest change for me has just been really coming to understand more of her philosophy and honestly just how little it has to do with homeschooling and how much it has to do with this wider perspective of parenting, of relying on the Holy Spirit, and the faith conversation of childhood brain development, just child development in general. There’s so many things, as I read more of her words, get to know that better. I just see so many echoes in modern books on parenting and on technology use and all of these other things. There’s just a lot that Charlotte Mason was really ahead of her time. I said, I hope that I continue to keep growing and learning more as we continue to homeschool. Just seeing those connections even with like, oh, this is a lot more than just the education, like homeschooling part. It’s parenting and child development.
Amy: A friend of mine, Lynna Sutherland, has said that homeschooling is parenting on steroids. I think you realize it’s not just this sort of separate part of your child’s life or your family life. It really is just parenting in a different way. All of these ideas play into one another for sure. Definitely. Katie, what have been some of your favorite parts of homeschooling?
Katie: I love this question because I feel like the more we homeschool, the longer our list grows. Our primary reason for homeschooling was just doing life together. we have a family value of just togetherness, of why do alone what you can do together. Homeschooling for us just resonated with these values my husband and I already had. It was what we saw for the benefit of our family. Obviously being together is the best part and also the worst part sometimes because it’s a double-edged sword of like, yes, it would be so nice to have my house quiet and be alone for, four hours a day or eight hours a day while my kids were off at school or whatever. It is really genuinely the best part of homeschooling. then of course, you go down just the litany of lists of just it provides my kids a one-on-one education. It is something that, really benefits their physical health where they’re able to sleep as long as they need and eat when they’re hungry and use the bathroom when they need. All of these things, I think ultimately, sorry, this is going to be a long answer, but I think ultimately, like when we look as adults of like, what would be our ideal life? It’s like no boss, flexible schedule, able to travel when I want, all this freedom. Then you look at that and you’re like, well, I can’t give my kids that life in adulthood necessarily, but I certainly could give it to them in childhood. I feel like that’s what homeschooling does for us is it gives my kids this life that is the ideal that everyone’s working towards of just freedom and flexibility, freedom to be themselves, freedom to play, freedom to pursue their interests, all these different things.
Amy: Oh, I love that idea. It makes me think of in the classical world, we call it restful learning or schole and that being sort of this ideal of the end of education or how it’s just a part of a good human life and that we get to give that to our children. we can’t control their future boss situation, but we can give them that in childhood. Yes. How about some of the challenges? I assume you have faced some even in this, magical, wonderful world of homeschooling.
Katie: Yes. Yes. far and away it is that being together, but really it’s the parenting piece. I would just love sometimes to have a break from parenting. If I could just homeschool and not have to parent my kids as well, like that would be a cinch, right? It’s not actually the homeschooling part, but it is the constant grind of parenting in conjunction with homeschooling because we are together. It is the more than that, like the requirement of me to become less selfless, less selfish, more selfless. As I lay down my priorities, the way that I wish that the day would go for my child who maybe has a need or a preference where I’m saying, well, I would love to be, on the treadmill and getting my hair done or whatever, like these different things. I would love to orchestrate my day where it wasn’t constant interruptions and kids who have needs and need me to shepherd them in those scenarios. Because we choose homeschooling, we are just doing life together. That comes, like I said, with so many gifts and benefits, but also it requires more of me as the mother. It requires more of me and more of my time and more of my active parenting.
Amy: Yes, I think so often with homeschooling or just parenting in general, there’s all of this humiliation that comes in the process of being made more humble. It’s dying to self, right? It’s a repentance. I think I am very blessed with the one, my husband and I just celebrated our 20th anniversary this past summer. Marriage can be hard sometimes, but I’ve been very blessed with a wonderful marriage. I think parenting has done more to show me my need for Jesus, than anything else. That is very painful at times. That is not always fun, but that’s also really good. When we’re homeschooling as well, we get all of that times 10 or times a hundred, right? Many opportunities to see how incapable, how incapable we are, how much we don’t know, but how much we can rely on Jesus.
Katie: Totally. Honestly, I could fool myself into believing I was a much better parent if I wasn’t homeschooling and with my kids, like for a majority of the day. It is just, it is a constant need for me to come before Jesus and just say, okay, I need you like every hour, Lord, to come and help me, equip me for this job. you’ve given me these kids to shepherd and to love, and we’ve chosen this pathway that I think is really a benefit to them. I need your, I need the Holy Spirit to help me and guide me as we homeschool, which is really just you said, parenting on steroids.
Amy: Katie, one of the reasons why I wanted to especially talk with you on this season was you share a lot of encouragement and tips and ideas about homeschooling in the early years. I wanted to just talk to you about this topic and ask how you think we ought to think about and approach the early years of education. If there are particular things, let’s just start sort of the preschool years. Are there particular things we ought to be prioritizing as homeschool parents?
Katie: Yes, it’s interesting. I actually was reading in Home Education, Charlotte Mason, my husband and I are going through that book together, where she was talking about how little we value the personhood of young children, to the point where in her time and culture, they would have these nannies who were, maybe gruff and older, or these like, these women who were maybe not well educated, and that was who the child spent most of their time with. in my mind, just looking at that little years, how much we think like, oh, they’re just, they’re just these little kids, we can brush to the side, we can give them, something that’s mediocre, instead of really the best. I think when we look at kids at that age, they are capable of so much more than we give them credit for. They are whole people, who are worthy of us honoring them and their personhood and us seeing them for who they are, not trying to shape them or mold them into who we want them to be. I think for me in the little years, because I just think they’re so special and really a unique time of childhood, where kids are growing into these, it’s almost miraculous as you watch a child age, even from like two to six, you’re like, wow, every year they are such a different child, but so much the same. They have grown and learned so much, that I just, I just love this age group. For me, we try to focus on four things, one being, spending lots of time outside, getting the child well acquainted with the world around them, with the natural beauty, and just wonder, we don’t need to be making sensory bins for our children. The outdoors is all, so much sensory input for a child. it’s, it is a way to connect with, God as our creator. It’s a way to develop a healthy body. there’s so many benefits to being outside. The second thing would be, focusing on habit training. For me, when most people in the modern world hear the word, the word habit training, they’re like, what in the world? I like to say, habit training and life skills, because that translates a lot more to, our modern vernacular. helping kids learn how to be, a part of your family, to have productive work, to give them purpose, and have them learn to help. At age, you have kids who are two, three, four, five, and everything you’re doing, they just want to be right by you. They have your little shadows. They’re like, can I help? Can I do it? Me do it. Me do it. That’s what you always hear. To really give kids some of that equipping, with life skills, but also with habit training. Working on the habit of obedience, working on truthfulness, working on attentiveness, being able to grow their, attention span through reading together. the third thing really is connected to that, and that’s, living books. giving your child the best of literature, spending lots of time reading. There’s been so much research done out there on just how much reading aloud impacts a child. It impacts their brain development. It impacts their familial connections and relationship. It impacts the way that they’re able to, see the world through different lenses and have empathy and compassion. there’s just so much out there on data on why reading aloud is beneficial. Outdoor time, habit training, living books, and then my fourth one is just delaying formal education. by that is being able to, have a child who you are maybe exploring letters and numbers, but you’re doing it in a way that, like I said, is honoring the child’s personhood. It’s their pace. It’s their tempo, and being patient with that where you’re not forcing them to sit down and do all these worksheets and coloring pages. I, could go on a whole tangent about worksheets because you’re really, when you can’t read, most worksheets are just for the parent to say, look what we did. Look at all, the progress. It’s like a marker for the instructor to say, oh, look at all this that they’ve done. especially for kids who aren’t preschool, it’s mostly just cutting and pasting and coloring. there’s so much more to education than that. It’s delaying that formal piece of sitting down and doing table work and having it be pressureful and, you will learn this, you will write this, and letting the child be who they are, which some kids at that age, they’re excited. They want to learn all their letters. They want to learn to read. They’re just, gung-ho. Then there’s other kids that are really, stressed by that. They are, they want to play. They want to do their own thing. They maybe are curious enough if you’re doing, a fun little activity together, but they don’t want to, they have no interest in school. Really, finding that balance, which is a lot harder, with anything. It’s so much easier to be on one side or the other. Nothing, all or nothing, it’s the balance that’s a lot trickier.
Amy: Yes, definitely. I think sometimes people hear, delaying formal education and they think that means you’re not teaching your child anything, which I think, I love that you were making the distinction between, worksheets, some sort of external measurable sign that we could point to and be like, look what we’ve done versus more organic learning in those early years. I’ve seen in my own children, all five of them, very different, ready for different kinds of ideas at different stages. All of them, when they were very young, you’re able to teach them, numerical thinking and literary thinking and giving them these pre-reading skills without ever having to use a curriculum or any formal learning, right? It doesn’t mean you’re keeping them from learning about numbers or you’re keeping them from even learning about, oh, gaspedition and subtraction or whatever. Yes. That you’re just doing it in a way that fits your normal life as they’re working beside you, as you’re reading and exploring together. Totally. Then eventually we do have to transition into, more formal learning. How do we know when it’s appropriate to transition to more formal education and when might that happen maybe differently for different kids?
Katie: Yes, I do think it is very different for every kid because you want to take where they’re at. in my preschool curriculum, we do a lot of just playful learning. you can do, for example, you’ll play a little math activity and it’s very hands-on. It feels like a game. It doesn’t feel like school. You can do that anywhere from just one, number recognition all the way up to, beginner edition, probably. beginner edition problems, depending on where your child is at. When it comes to that formal, education, I think sometimes it really, you have to step back and define what do you mean by formal education? for me, formal education includes narration. It includes more table time, I call it, like in our homeschool where they’re sitting down and doing more writing or any like, worksheet type, whether you’re doing, a math lesson or, copy work or things like that where you’re at the table working. to me, that is a formal education. Even formal education is having, here’s our schedule. These are the things we want to accomplish. We’re going to introduce you to books that you might not love, but they’re part of our curriculum and we’re going to, explore this together. Whereas, the years before that, it’s just like, hey, are you interested? Are you not? Letting the child be in this quiet growing kindergarten or quiet growing time, as Charlotte Mason says. I think that, for many kids that can be, there’s a wide sliding range of when they’re ready for that formal education. For me, especially, narration, we do not do until the child is in first grade, which is usually, six, seven range. I have a quiet growing kindergarten. My kindergarten curriculum that is really focused on that five, six-year-old. There’s a huge range of what kids are ready for. sometimes it’s just taking your child as they are, setting up some activities and things, seeing how they’re interested and letting them, like I said, set the pace, letting them define when they’re ready. that’s going to be different for every child.
Amy: Kind of as a distinction from maybe the earliest preschool years, and then we have first grade, maybe six, seven. We have this sort of middle transition period. What would as some of the key components of a living education for what we might traditionally think of as kindergarten?
Katie: Yes, well, I still see kindergarten as part of that quiet growing time, that young informal schooling age. I also feel like they need something more than maybe just play outside and read books. For me, for my kids, I’m going to have my third kindergartner this year. I’ve written a kindergarten curriculum, like I mentioned, that looks like being able to bridge the gap between first grade, which is like, here’s your structure, and here’s your, narration, and here’s, all like this table work. Preschool, which is like, let’s go to the bakery and like, let’s like read these picture books and let’s do these little like craft things and work on, learning to sweep and wipe the counters, whatever. It’s this, it’s this time in between where you’re helping to bridge that huge chasm, make you like making your child more aware of, hey, this is a little lesson instead of an activity, if that makes sense. Maybe that’s obscure. Maybe that’s like, not, maybe that’s super subjective. For me, that’s how I see it as like, preschool is very playful. first grade is much less playful. What can we do in this in-between time to help, really prepare your child, but also still retain so much of that time and space for them to play, where most of the day is still free play and theirs to choose what they want to do.
Amy: What would, do you think that would look like practically on a daily basis? What does that include? Do you think maybe there are ideas that people think you would be including that you’re not or that you wouldn’t, that you are?
Katie: For me, in my kindergarten, that includes like really like introducing them to the world of poetry and to science and geography, but doing that at a, at an appropriate level. For science, we start in our backyard and we learn about the animals and the plants that are growing in our backyard. Then we expand it to maybe the woods or the ponds that are in our area. same with geography. It starts very much with like basic concepts where you’re not like sitting down and there are some kids of that age who are memorizing, all of the continents and all of the states. That’s fine if that’s like your vibe, there’s nothing wrong with that. for me, it is this introductory level where you’re showing them this, these subjects are beautiful. They are rich. They are fun. I’m excited to learn with you. This is like, it’s almost like training for a marathon where you’re like, the marathon is hard and it’s going to come when, like these formal years, like I’m sure when you’re looking at 10th grade algebra, it looks very like kindergarten seems like nothing, so you get some of these more cultured or more experienced homeschoolers who are like, oh, kindergarten, you can’t do kindergarten wrong. Don’t do anything. Your kid’s fine. then you have these parents who are first time homeschoolers, or whose state requires kindergarten. They’re like, but what do I do? I’m so lost. For me, it is being able to, like I said, introduce these beautiful ideas where your child is having their, like getting their feet wet with history and with nature journaling and with definitely with the Bible, lots of scripture, with folk songs and with handicrafts and things like that, but it’s still age appropriate. It’s not this upper level, formalized learning.
Amy: Because we’re training their affections, obviously, right, like we’re helping them learn to love the things that are lovely and to believe the things that are true. I think about this, like Shakespeare is a big part of our homeschool just because it’s something I love. I just have decided to trick all my children into loving it too. The thing that I love about including Shakespeare, even, with my young learners, we just do it all together as a family, is they just always have thought of themselves as people who love Shakespeare. That’s just a thing in our family, like Sloans love Shakespeare. It’s not something when they’re later on, maybe having to learn how to analyze it more or approach it in a different way. It’s not scary or like boring. It’s like, oh no, yes, like I’ve been doing Shakespeare since I was two. It’s fine, I think that can be true for a lot of these, a lot of these topics or sub, subjects, maybe if we can call them that. In those early years when you’re first introducing your children to these ideas, it’s like when you get to capture their imagination, right? Oh, you’re going to love this. This is great. In our family, like we just get really into nature study, like you were saying, or whatever it is for your family. You’re like, oh, you’re going to love it. You’re going to love it. Later on it’ll be harder. Maybe they won’t always love it, but it’s really a sweet time of childhood.
Katie: Honestly, so much of kindergarten is even for the parent, especially for the first time homeschooling kindergarten parent. It’s learning, how do I like put a schedule together? How do I teach these subjects? What does this mean for my family? How do I do this? For me, it was a huge jump between staying at home and homeschooling. There’s a big difference for me, especially the farther we got into homeschooling, it was like, oh, I thought this was going to be just like when I was a stay-at-home mom, but now I have all these extra responsibilities and things I’m teaching. Sometimes it’s even just more for the parent to say, okay, how do I learn how to be a homeschooling parent?
Amy: Yes, that’s a really good point too. I think my friend Dawn Garrett, @ladydusk, she talks about using those early years really as a time to start getting your own education. If you feel like as a mom, your education was lacking, or maybe you want to dive more deeply into some of these, Charlotte Mason volumes or whatever educational books that you want to start learning, you have a lot more time to start thinking about those ideas yourself as the mom, while maybe the homeschooling education part is a little less time consuming. Definitely. Okay, this has been great. I know it’s going to encourage many moms of young learners, but before we wrap up, I want to ask you the questions I’m asking all my guests this season. The first is just, what are you reading lately?
Katie: I read a lot. I have read over a hundred books already this year, which is the most I’ve ever read in a year, but it’s because I set a challenge for myself that I really wanted to read down my bookshelf. My bookshelves keep expanding as I’m picking up books at, thrift stores and book sales, and I’ll pick up titles that somebody, has recommended or that’s on a book list, and then I don’t know what’s in it. Then my oldest is getting to the point where he’s much more independent in his reading. He’s saying, hey mom, what should I read next? I’m like, well, I’ve heard that this book is good for your age group, but I don’t really know. I’ve been reading down my bookshelf, and that has been super fun. I spend a lot of time then in, children’s chapter books. I’ve been reading through especially the Betsy Tacey series. Have you heard of it? Yes. By Maude Hart Lovelace. Yes. I’m about, six or seven books into that series, and that has been so fun. It takes place in Minnesota, so it’s just so special. We went, my family went and saw the Betsy Tacey houses in Mankato, where the author lived, and, she lived across the street from the girl who represents Tacey in the series. That was really special. Reading the series has been fun for me, but there’s a lot of gems in those chapter books. As I’ve been pre-reading for the upper years of our curriculum, I’m just finding so many things that I enjoy, and I’m like, oh, now I know why it was on all those book lists. Now I know why everyone recommended it, because it’s wonderful.
Amy: That sounds really fun. Yes, it’s really a delight to get to sometimes just go to a children’s book that you had never read before. I just recently, well, within this past year, I had never read the Half Magic series by Edward Eager. Okay. I’ve been reading it out loud with my youngest son, and it is an absolute delight. I was like, how did I go through childhood without reading this? I read a ton of classics growing up. I was very well-read, I thought, There’s always more, and it’s so much fun to discover that new gem and get to share it with your kids.
Katie: I’m the opposite of you. I did not read any classical books growing up. I never even read Narnia or anything like that until I was an adult. It’s been really fun to go back and read all of these series. It’s just been, I have that feeling literally once a week where I’m like, oh, this book, this is so great. It’s so fun.
Amy: That is so fun. A really good children’s book, of course, is worth reading as an adult. It’s not just for children. I’m almost jealous that you got to have the experience of reading Narnia for the first time. Yes, it was fun. Yes. All right. The final question I have for you, Katie, is what would be your best tip for dealing with a homeschool day or maybe a homeschool season that seems to be going all wrong?
Katie: I think I have two. One comes from Nancy Kelly. It’s a phrase she uses a lot. I don’t know if you’re familiar with Nancy. She’s from Minnesota. She’s a Charlotte Mason mom. She says, keep coming back until there’s peace in your home. I just think that is always something I put in the back of my mind of, is there peace? are we prioritizing this connection over curriculum? Is our home a place of peace? In every season, that’s going to look different. Then I think one that cannot be understated is just the power of prayer. I think that sometimes we think of prayer as a last resort, where it’s like, oh, yes, prayer. Oh, yes, and prayer. I think it is incredibly important, too important not to pray. Our homeschooling is so much. We need, like I was saying, too, we depend on the Lord and the Holy Spirit so much that we just shouldn’t put off prayer. prayer should be our number one go-to when we’re feeling like things are falling apart.
Amy: Yes, that is very wise words. Katie, thank you so much for chatting with us today. Can you let people know where they can find you all around the internet?
Katie: Yes, so on Instagram, my handle is littlehouselearningco. That’s also my blog, littlehouselearningco.com. Those are the two places that I show up the most so they can find me there. Then my DMs are always open if people have questions. That’s where they, my blog is where you can find my shop and all my curriculum and things like that, too.
Amy: Perfect. I will have links to your Instagram and your website and the show notes for this episode over at humilityanddoxology.com. Thank you to everyone who is listening or watching. If you would share this episode with a friend that who is homeschooling in the little years so she can be encouraged, that would be terrific. If you’re watching on YouTube, please make sure that you subscribe so you don’t miss the rest of the homeschool conversations this season. If you’re listening in your podcast app, you can leave a rating and review, which would be great. Thank you, Katie. I will chat with you more later. Yes, thank you.
