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MOTHERS WORK WONDERS

We believe there is a wonderful work that only mothers can do; to change the world, one child at time. Many mothers are feeling the call to educate their children at home, and we are here to help them along their journey.

CHRISTLIKE TEACHING

Teach Ye Diligently is a series of articles and additional resources to help you become a more confident teacher. The material is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, Charlotte Mason, and modern research.

SMALL + SIMPLE

We believe that wonders happen by small and simple things. When you simplify education it will encourage deeper learning and creativity.

LINE-UPON-LINE

We’re working to create guides that assist you in creating a tailored education for your child,
based on Charlotte Mason’s methods.

simple.wonders.co

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Just a friendly reminder to simplify your teaching

Just a friendly reminder to simplify your teaching this week.
Truth in all subjects is clear and simple—no need to be the “showman of the universe” and put on a show everyday.

The Gardner Home Tour _ Randi is the artistic tale

How to teach foreign language to children age 7 an

How to teach foreign language to children age 7 and older.
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After your child has a solid foundation of listening and maybe some speaking, it’s time to start lessons. There are a lot of programs out there, and after doing a lot of research and speaking to homeschool mommas the program that came the most highly recommended was ULAT. The creator’s philosophy is the same as Mason’s—learn to speak, then read, then write. His program is 3 years (if you go at the prescribed pace) with the first year having lots of listening and speaking, the second year is learning how to read Spanish, the third year is learning to write and express original ideas in Spanish.
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My oldest has started ULAT this year and genuinely enjoys it. The lessons are funny, engaging, and structured so they build on each other. He does these structured Spanish lessons 3 times a week for 15 minutes. Once he gets to the next year I will be using a free Spanish beginner reader to do reading lessons. I am considering hiring a tutor through italki.com to practice speaking and listening to the language. If you don’t speak the language fluently this is an excellent option.
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My oldest still participates in our daily Spanish song, poem, and vocab. But now his face will light up when he recognizes a word in a song “hey! I heard that word in my lesson.”
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The varied approach that Charlotte Mason recommended gives children a chance to hear words multiple times in different settings, and it brings joy and excitement when they recognize words in the song, poem, or scripture they are learning.

Learning Foreign Language in the Early Years _ Lan

Learning Foreign Language in the Early Years
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Language should be learned first by hearing it spoken and learning to speak it. In the early years this looks like singing songs, listening to stories, and memorizing poems and scriptures. Learning simple games is also fun!
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I bought a few different programs—Cherrydale Press and TalkBox— and although they are very good and well-thought out, I always go back to the simple methods. We do one thing a day in Spanish: a song, scripture, vocabulary, story, and phrases.
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We listen to the songs all week—when we’re in the car, playing, etc. One day a week we intentionally learn one line at a time. I use Pio Peep and the church music app for primary songs in Spanish.
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When we learn a short scripture I use the church site to translate it and print a card to learn at the same time as the English version.
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I get easy reader books from the library, like Dr Seuss or Elephant and Piggie, to read for stories. We also like The Spanish Experiment site for classic tales read in Spanish. Carmen Lomas Garza writes wonderful stories about her childhood in Spanish. Family Pictures is a good one.
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For vocabulary my husband just goes around the house naming things, but there are also books (Usborne has good ones), flash cards, and apps that show pictures while saying the word.
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For phrases, TalkBox Mom and Cherrydale Press have good options. If you speak the language just teach them how to say common phrases and DO THE ACTION while speaking it. For a treat we watch Whistlefritz videos, these are perfect for exposing them to Spanish. They only watch once or twice a week.
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It is important to not translate back and forth. The mind should be learning to think in the second language, not how to translate from English to the second language.

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“Mothers work wonders once they are convinced that wonders are required of them.”

CHARLOTTE MASON