Trickle Down Homeschooling

I don't know whether to laugh or cry . . . but I'm proud as punch that our six-year-old and eight-year-old daughters have been teaching arts and crafts (click here to read about Preschool Scouts), and now school, to our four-year-old son for weeks now.

While cleaning the Bonus Room late on a Thursday night, I discovered an entire set of preschool workbooks made by our daughters for our son. Below are just a few pictures of them all.

I had heard some talk about these workbooks, but had no idea how detailed and professional they really were!

Margaret's workbook series is entitled Kiendul Ken Four and Mary's workbook series is entitled Autaum Quin Six. I don't know what those titles mean, but they sound like Latin and they sure sound good.

The series come with excellent teacher's manuals, making these open-and-go workbooks that don't require much advanced preparation.

Each page encourages the students in a positive, cheerful way to continue with his assignments and learning.

The description of the authors makes these ladies sound like wonderful teachers and people I'd like to know!

I had wondered why my four-year-old was drawing so many horses this week and now I realize it is because he learned that in his Doodles! Doodles! Doodles! workbook.

It seems as if any other homeschooling parents who simply don't have time to teach phonics, writing, and numeric literacy to an eager Pre-K student could inquire about purchasing their own Kiendul Ken Four or Autaum Quin Six workbooks.

My husband suffers patiently through my laments that I can't carve out time to teach Joseph, when his three older siblings were already reading by age four, so he was eager to see these workbooks and encourage me (read: "I told you so!") that Joseph is benefiting from other wonderful lessons: sibling love, generosity, their willingness to teach him.

Seeing these workbooks reminds me that I'm teaching all the time, even when I don't think I'm teaching. For good or for ill, how I behave, how I speak is the lesson. I need to speak to the older children exactly how I want them to speak to the younger children because I hear them echo me at my best, and I hear them echo me at my worst. This is about forming their souls primarily, not about their academics only.

Soldier on, homeschooling families! We can do this thing!