Today is the debut of the first of my new contributing writers here at Keeper of the Home. Over the next 6 weeks or so, you will get a chance to "meet" each contributor, and shortly I will have a contributor's page up with their photos and bios.

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Our first writer, Angela Beery, has created her own pattern for making a homemade, one-size cloth diaper and it looks excellent! Making your own diapers is a wonderful way to use up extra material, and to make diapers that are extremely frugal as well.

Here's a look at the diaper:

Diaper front (size small)

Diaper front (size large)

Diaper side (size small)

Diaper back

Want to try making this diaper yourself? Here's what you'll need:

Diaper Pattern - This is the printable pattern, with tracers for your fabric pieces.

Tiny Tooshie - These are the written instructions for putting together your own "Tiny Tooshie" diaper. One thing to note is that there is an option of either keeping these as simple cloth diapers, which you would put a cover over OR the other option is to use a waterproof fabric on the outside to make them all-in-one diapers.

Note- to download these files, click on the link once. On the page that it brings you to, click on the 2nd link.

Angela's Cloth Wipes "Recipe"

• 3 cups warm water
• 2 T olive oil
• 3 drops of lavender essential oil (or scent of your choice)
• 2 drops Tea Tree Oil
• 2 T baby wash

1.) Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

2.) Soak baby washcloths or other soft cloth in mixture and place in wipes holder. Do not wring out completely. The wipes holder will keep wipes moist until ready for use.

Angela Beery, former So-Cal city girl and world traveler fully embraces her simple, yet abundant, life in a small town at the foothills of the Colorado Rockies. She and her husband love serving the Lord with The Salvation Army - Angela, as a volunteer and her husband as a youth and music pastor. When not chasing around her 18 month old daughter, Angela enjoys spending time outdoors, cooking low-fat meals and crafting of every kind. You can read more about her journey as a homemaker at her blog, Domestic Godliness.

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
• ListPlanIt: Lists to put your world in order
• Vintage Remedies: Get healthy, naturally
• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

More from Keeper of the Home

• Cloth Diapering a Newborn | Keeper of the Home
• Homemade Cough and Cold Syrup | Keeper of the Home
• Cloth Diaper Liners: No More Rash Overnight! | Keeper of the Home
• Making homemade yogurt | Keeper of the Home

Knowing how to prepare real, whole foods is an absolutely necessary life skill that every child should learn. Children who are not taught the basics of food preparation will end up defaulting to processed, packaged foods, simply because they haven't learned to make anything better.

If we don't take the time to teach them, how will they ever learn?

I know that having little (dirty, mischievous) hands in the kitchen isn't always the easiest or most convenient thing. Kids make messes. The put in the wrong ingredients. Things get spilled. Eggs get dropped. You can sweep up more flour when you're finished than what was actually put into the recipe. It takes longer than if you just did it yourself.

It can also be incredibly rewarding. I've been letting both of my oldest children help mama in the kitchen since they were about 1 1/2 years old. Naturally, the "helping" looks different depending on their age and skill, but they love it nonetheless and I know that no matter how small, they are still learning valuable life skills alongside me.

I recently noticed that my 5 year old daughter has grown significantly in her ability to knead bread. She didn't really get the concept very well up until now and sort of played around with the dough, but today her motions were much smoother and more consistent. I praised her for this, and informed her that pretty soon I was going to be able to just ask her to make the bread for our family, instead of mama having to do it every time. She beamed proudly, and went back to kneading her own little portion of bread dough.

We all have frazzled moments where it's easier to do it ourselves than to invite our children into the process. I can often be guilty of this, whether it's because I'm frantically trying to get dinner on the table at 5:57 with a crying baby, or when I'm scrambling to make the house presentable before guests arrive.

My own stress and impatience cause me to undervalue what could be an opportunity to take my child under my wing and let them learn to help me. The results might not be perfect, but I have never regretted the moments when I have slowed down enough to invite them into the things that I am doing.

In what ways are you successfully training your children in cooking and homemaking skills? What are your weak areas?

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
• ListPlanIt: Lists to put your world in order
• Vintage Remedies: Get healthy, naturally
• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

More from Keeper of the Home

• Good in the Kitchen | Keeper of the Home
• Play it Again: Good in the Kitchen | Keeper of the Home
• Learning the Gentle Art of Infant Toilet Training | Keeper of the Home
• Organization in the Real Food Kitchen: Ferments Everywhere | Keeper of the Home

Image Credit

Guest Post by Louisa

I toilet-trained my first child when she was four-months-old. I thought I would start this guest post with a statement that knocks most people's socks off when they hear it. "Four months old, you are kidding, aren't you?" No, I kid you not.

I had worked extensively in China and seen what mothers did there; always aware of their children's needs, able to listen to the signs that told them when their child wanted to pee and available to help them achieve their own personal hygiene at a very early age, many from birth. In our age of disassociation from our babies, when we wrap them up, place them in prams and car seats and leave then in front of TVs for hours, it seems impossible to be in such harmony with our little ones, but it is absolutely possible and many, many, many people have done it before now.

After reading Jean Liedloff's Continuum Concept before giving birth and then the book Diaper Free: The Gentle Wisdom of Natural Infant Hygieneby Ingrid Bauer, I knew that I wanted to train my baby too, it just seemed the natural thing to do. So this is what I did and you can too, if that is what you decide.

I believe that diaper-free babies are eco-friendly, aware of their bodies at a young age, sociable and under no pressure to perform in any way. They must be 'responded to' from a very early age however, before the feeling of peeing in a diaper gets too natural for them. It all takes time, patience and devotion, something that has to be thought about very carefully indeed before embarking upon as you have to be 100% available. This doesn't mean sitting and watching your baby's every move, it means being there for her when she needs to tell you she wants to pee/poo.

It is very well worth it for the sake of the planet alone, but also for the deep and long-lasting connection you will be forging with your child.

Starting off simply is a good plan. Use one less diaper at night by leaving your baby free from the waist down after her bath in the evening and getting her to sleep on a thick towel. Babies will very rarely wet themselves whilst asleep and will benefit from air circulation around the parts that have been enclosed and wet all day. This I did with my baby and never had an accident in bed, nor diaper rash. It helps if you co-sleep with your baby, (but I figure if you have thought of infant training, then you have probably thought of co-sleeping too) so when she fidgets in her sleep, you can get her up and let her pee into her potty. Making quiet hissing sounds will encourage her to relieve herself straight away, then you may settle her down again.

This routine I was doing pretty soon after birth with my baby, I then graduated onto awareness of her needs during the day. Making the hissing sound whilst holding her in a comfortable position over her potty I found to be a key factor to my success - staying tuned to her cues also was crucial; a young baby will cry to be helped to pee/poo before she gives up and does it in her diaper. Be gentle, understanding and don't get stressed, if you miss it this time, you may very well get it next time, no problem! Having your baby wear diapers during the day is up to you, having the potty in view as the child learns to walk is also up to you. As a rule of thumb, your young baby will pee 20 minutes after drinking fluids, then approximately every half-hour thereafter and once or twice during the night.

This is the start of diaper-free babyhood and it happens like this all over the world. That is why Chinese children have splits in their pants with their bottoms showing and use the gutters regularly, I kid you not.

My first born was a happy, capable and contented baby, we taught her to make a sign for 'pee' long before she could talk and she seemed very capable at managing her own 'toilet matters' as she grew.

She laughs now at seven-years-old when I tell her what she could do at four months old and she thinks it is the most natural thing in the world too.

What do you think... is this an idea that appeals to you? I'd love to hear who else (this is Stephanie speaking now) is intrigued by this idea, and especially if anyone else has tried it!

Louisa has brought her children (7 and 4) up in a natural way, she lives in the mountains of France, home schools and follows the principles of Weston A.Price and Rudolph Steiner. Her first child was potty trained at four months old, both her girls co-slept with her and her husband and were carried until the age of one. She lives in a TV-free house. She believes that when a woman takes on the role of nourisher, (both physically and emotionally) she becomes both hearth and heart of her family. Read her slow-living blog at: constantstateofflux.com or find her on Twitter as @lululovesmilk.

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
• ListPlanIt: Lists to put your world in order
• Vintage Remedies: Get healthy, naturally
• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

More from Keeper of the Home

• Training Kids to Help in the Kitchen | Keeper of the Home
• Two questions for you, ladies! | Keeper of the Home
• Living Simple Saturdays- First time, all the time | Keeper of the Home
• A Trip to the ER | Keeper of the Home

Wooden car made by Bajo

Why We Care About the Toys We Choose

It all started a little over two years ago. Recalls on toys (particularly from China) were coming out left, right and center. Our little guy was about 5-6 months old and just starting to put absolutely everything in his mouth. I found a recalled toy among our bunch- a very non-threatening looking set of cloth baby blocks made by Baby Einstein. There was too much lead in the paint designs on it's side. It sort of pushed me over the edge, and thus my search for something better began. No way, no how was I going to let my baby and toddler suck, bite, gnaw, lick (come on, admit it, your kids do the same things!) on highly toxic, junky plastic, phthalate-enriched, heavy-metal laced toys of unknown origins.

Add to that our growing desire as parents to stay away from all of the blinking-light, loud-noise-making, battery-requiring toys, and instead fill our home up with items that truly fostered imagination, rather than encouraging passivity. We decided that we really wanted to avoid toys that simply entertain. Instead, we wanted things that spurred them on to creative play. We also wanted to steer clear of all the tv and movie character toys out there (Dora, Disney princesses, Sponge Bob, and the likes).

Nope, this isn't my son, but he received this gorgeous Haba toy last Christmas

I love the motto at one of my favorite toy stores, Oompa: "No batteries. No blinking lights. No cartoon-themed toys. Period."

Now, I'm the first to admit that we're not purists and we do own a lot of toys (more than I'd like, actually), but we still keep a really close eye on what comes in, and we've been working hard to get rid of toys we're not so keen on. As we get rid of them (donating them to charity or thrift stores), we slowly add in higher-quality toys. We will probably have a few less in the end (which actually sounds great to me), but they will be toys that go the distance through many different children (we're going for 12, remember?) and our children will appreciate what they have more if they aren't inundated with an entire roomful of toys.

What We Look For:

Not battery operated. Toys that don't "perform" for you. Preferably from Canada, USA or Europe (though I know that some toys are responsibly made in other parts of the world, including China, and so this isn't a strict rule). Something that I think will enhance and support my children's natural creativity. Toys that are fun, interesting or appealing somehow (something bright made with non-toxic paints, or a soft and adorable plush doll, or a really unique game or puzzle). Toys that appear to be well-made and that will go the distance and handle lots of childish abuse.

A push-cart from Haba (just might be my favorite toy maker), our son's 1 year birthday present

A few important things to look for:

1. If it's a painted item, you want to specifically see that they've used a non-toxic paint or finish, because even cute wooden toys can be painted with lead-based paints (or other paints that still have a lot of chemicals in them). Water based paints are best. Another option is to purchase unfinished wooden toys and paint or finish them yourself.
2. Check to see if it's certified according to European specifications. They are much stricter than any North American standards for manufacturers. Some excellent European brands to look for: Haba, Kathy Kruse, Vulli, Keptin Jr., Sigikid, Bajo. Plan Toys is another that meets their specifications.

So what kind of toys do we own?

• Building sets- lego, wooden blocks, Wedgits, peg boards.
• Dress up clothes, costumes, hats, purses.
• Kitchen play- We have a wooden play kitchen, plus plenty of dishes, pretend foods, a tea set, etc.
• Dolls- plus carriages, beds, blankets, clothing, and even a little baby doll sling I made for my daughter when I was pregnant with my son.
• Puzzles and games.
• Vehicles- We especially love all things wooden! Trains, cars, planes, emergency vehicles, even wooden animals with wheels.
• Animals- We have both a farm and a zoo and plenty of animals to fill them with. We've just recently fallen in love with the brand Schleich, which makes incredibly detailed, very solidly made animal figurines (and other accessories). German brand, made in China, but they're still high quality, and we're starting to collect them this year.
• For baby- a few simple teething toys suffice. Our little one (though she's not quite there yet at 3 1/2 mths) has a couple of colorful wooden ones, one round wooden teether with a soft bear on it, and an organic cotton soft baby doll.
• Musical instruments- For Christmas, we bought the older kids a wooden drum set made by Plan Toys. Last year Abbie received a child-sized guitar (you know you've got a musician for a father when...). Lots of tambourines, shakers, bells, etc.
• For outdoors- We have a few balls and bikes. That seems to suffice, because there are so many things in nature that are infinitely more interesting than toys!

A wooden teether from Plan Toys, one of the first "natural" baby toys we bought

Where to Get Great Toys:

Oompa- Probably my favorite online toy store, simply because they have such an incredibly large selection of toys, games and puzzles, furniture, decor, dress up, baby stuff, etc. and it's basically all non-toxic, made with natural materials, eco-friendly and adheres to our creativity-enhancing criteria. Prices are reasonable, customer service is good, and I promise you'll have fun looking through what they sell!

Baby Naturopathics- I love this "kid and earth friendly boutique". They carry many of the same types of toys as Oompa, and also have things like organic children's clothing, glass bottles, etc. This store happens to be Canadian! Yay!

Amazon- Yes, surprisingly (or maybe not with how Amazon is expanding these days) they carry a great supply of safe and adorable toys! Furniture, baby teething toys, organic dolls and stuffies, wooden puzzles and blocks. Lots of the big names out there (Haba, Plan Toys, Under the Nile, etc.). We got Johanna's Christmas presents through Amazon (a wooden teether and an organic cloth clutching doll) using our Swagbucks.

Baby Because- I first discovered this store when buying some cloth diapering supplies, but they also have a nice selection of playthings, plus baby feeding supplies, infant carriers, etc.

Tons of small, independent toy makers- Truly, there are just so many of them out there! I realized this year that Etsy is a fabulous place to look, with shops like Small Town Toys and The Wood Garden (both carry handcrafted wooden toys) or BeckyM's shop (with the most adorable play food I may have ever seen!). You can also often find independent toy makers at craft fairs or festivals. Last year our kids received beautiful, hand-crafted and very unique wooden puzzles from a lady my Nana discovered at a craft fair. My parents found someone a few hours north of where we live who makes sturdy wooden vehicles. (So yes, my kids were spoiled last year!)

Waldorf Toys- To learn more about the Waldorf methods and philosophy, read this excellent guest post on my blog. There are many online shops selling absolutely beautiful Waldorf-style toys, such as Waldorf Treasures or Bella Luna Toys.

The doll we bought Johanna for Christmas, in organic cotton by Under the Nile. Similar in style to some Waldorf dolls.

More places to find safe and amazing toys:

The Cool Mom Picks Safer Toy Guide

Safe Mama's 2008 Safe Toy Guide (sorry, but there doesn't appear to be a 2009)

The Daily Green: Safe Toy Watch

And another wonderful option: Making your own toys!

You can make your own Waldorf dolls, or your own teething toys (with organic cloth even). Some friends of ours once made a simple and small set of wooden blocks with our daughter's name carved into them, and they finished the wood by rubbing them with Crisco (ok, so it's not a fat that I would choose to eat-- lard or tallow or butter are much better choices!-- but it's a far cry from varnish or lacquer!). Michele at Frugal Granola has also made play food for her daughter out of felt- so cute!

I'm not the handiest person around, so I don't pretend to know how to make my own toys, but there are so many resources out there (books, websites, etc.) if you just take a look!

One of our daughter's favorite games, Tottering Towers by Haba.

How do you feel about toys and what are the guidelines for the toys that you allow in your home? Any other resources to share with us for purchasing safe and natural toys, or even for making some of our own?

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
• ListPlanIt: Lists to put your world in order
• Vintage Remedies: Get healthy, naturally
• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

More from Keeper of the Home

• Toys that could actually be worth buying | Keeper of the Home
• Natural Living- A Beginner’s Approach | Keeper of the Home
• Excellent (and affordable) home education resources for Kindergarten | Keeper of the Home
• Healthy, Natural Pregnancy: Considering Homebirth | Keeper of the Home

Looking for a way to memorize scripture with your children?

Over the last month or two, we have begun using a system that is
working so well for us. It helps us to not only learn new scriptures,
but to continually be reviewing the ones that we have already committed
to memory.

My husband ran across this system on a Charlotte Mason site. The
method was relatively simple to put together. The most time consuming
aspect was actually choosing the verses that he wanted to include in it
and typing them out, but setting up the box itself was quick and easy.

Basically, we always have one verse under "today" or "daily" that we are in the process of memorizing, as well as many others in rotation. Those verses are reviewed on even or odd days, the days of the week, and then the date of the month (this link explains it much better than I do). We bought a small box that fits index cards, and then a package of index card dividers from the dollar store. We printed the verses out on the computer, then cut and paste them onto index cards. We store all the extras at the back of the box, and gradually add them to the system as we learn them.

We like to do our verses while we eat breakfast (or dinner, if we weren't able to all eat together in the morning). Ryan leads us and we all repeat the verses together while we are learning them, and then take turns trying to say them on our own. I am constantly surprised and awed by how our 4 1/2 year old picks up the verses so easily and just rattles them off to us! Children have amazing, sponge-like memories and this is the perfect time to help them learn to hide God's word in their hearts. I am so blessed to see her learning these truths, and trust that as she understands and learns more of the Bible that it will bear much fruit in her life (and in our other children, as they grow old enough to do this as well).

Do you memorize scripture with your children or as a family? What types of methods or systems do you (or have you) used?

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
• ListPlanIt: Lists to put your world in order
• Vintage Remedies: Get healthy, naturally
• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

More from Keeper of the Home

• Going with the flow of learning | Keeper of the Home
• Sweet and Sour Lentils | Keeper of the Home
• Blueberry Syrup | Keeper of the Home
• Guilt-free Christmas Snacking | Keeper of the Home

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Guest Post by Abbi

I feel so thankful to be able to homeschool my children ages 9,7,5 and 3. We love being able to learn together and just spend time together.  My husband and I were also both blessed to be homeschooled as children and know firsthand how homeschooling can well prepare you for life in “the real world”. I know not everyone wants to homeschool, and that is okay, but what makes me sad is when I have parents tell me “We would love to homeschool but we just don’t have the ability and often they will name something that they feel they are lacking in. Another thing that makes me sad is when I talk to parents who are homeschooling but they are totally overwhelmed by many workbooks and busy work that lots of curriculums provide, but they know of no other way.

My goal in this post is to tell you that homeschooling is not just for those that have parents that are super smart and have loads of patience (neither description applies to me). Nor is homeschooling meant to be a replica of the public school in your home. Homeschooling is for those that have an enthusiasm for learning and are willing to share that enthusiasm with their kids. Homeschooling can be a very fun adventure for the whole family that prepares your kids to be wonderful additions to our world.

  In our home we do use regular textbooks for some of our core subjects (Math, English and Spelling) but for the rest we enjoy doing a lot of family studying using a lot of different ways of learning. Some might wonder if that really works, “Do you really learn when you don’t use a “school book”?” This Spring when the kids were taking achievement tests, my 9 year old Mara was about to take her Science test, she started to panic “Mom, I’ve never studied science!” I assured her that she knew a lot about science and didn’t have any need to worry. Sure enough the test results proved this to be quite true as she was in the 98th percentile and at a grade equivalent of 11.8 (She just finished 4th grade).

  Here are some of the educational activities we enjoy that don’t involve text books. You probably will find that you do a lot of them too, but perhaps you never thought about how much your child is learning.

SCIENCE

·         Walks in the woods with identification manuals in hand.

·         Learning to indentify wild foods, collect and eat them.

·         Growing a garden (complete with starting some of the plants indoors)

·         Raising fruit trees (even trying to raise oranges and bananas in the house).

·         Having many fun science books on hand to browse through and read together just for fun before nap times. We own quite a few and I also check them out regularly from the Library.

·         Regular trips to the local Science Center where there are many hands on activities to try and fun classes just for homeschoolers.

·         Finding a Monarch caterpillar, feeding it and watching it grow, turn into a chrysalis and then into a butterfly.

·         Making a box solar oven together and attempting to use it.`

·         Making our own laundry soap.

·         Cleaning with Vinegar and Baking Soda and having fun watching their reaction to each other.

MATH

·         Baking together and as they get older on their own. Have them help you double, triple and half recipes (or any other amount you care to try).

·         Taking your children grocery shopping and having them help you figure out what is the best value on items by noticing volume and price.

·         While grocery shopping have a child keep a running tally on how much everything will cost by using a calculator.

·         Enjoy learning about fractions when cutting up pies, pizzas and such like.

·         We have a couple of boys that really enjoy numbers and so just for fun at some mealtimes we will spend time just challenging each other with oral math problems.

·         Have a rummage sale or bake sale and let the kids help (or manage completely if they are able) with the checkout table.

·         Get watches (not digital!) for the kids and teach them how to tell time and then give them reason to use them.

·         Be open about using math in your own life (such as budgeting). When children realize that math is actually useful it will make it much more interesting.

·         Teach them how to sew (my job) or do carpentry work (Ken’s department) where they get to do measuring and figuring and such like.

·         Play games like Dominos and Monopoly and have the kids do a lot of the number work.

HISTORY

·         Read together! There are so many neat biographies out there as well as historical fiction. History does not have to be dry and boring!!! The kids and I have a  reading time together every day after lunch and before our rest time, this time has been a wonderful time to get through many, many neat books and series. Some familiar examples would be: The Little House books, Ralph Moody’s books (Little Britches is the first one) and many others. My kids just beg me to keep reading more on things like that.

·         Have good books available for the kids to read on their own. They will be far more likely to pick it up when it is handy and looks fun.

·         Read historical books yourself and then excitedly tell them about some of the neat things you learned.

·         Have fun learning about a certain time period complete with finding as many books (and videos or DVD’s) as possible on that era, using the internet, making foods to go along with that time period, dressing up in period dress and trying things like making candles, spinning and whatever else you can think of to go along with that time period. When doing this you don’t have to feel like you have to get it all figured out before you begin. We had a wonderful time learning about Viking Era, Pioneer times and the Colonial Period in this way and I simply got lots of books and then as we  came across something that we wanted to try we would do it if we had the time and the resources needed.

·         Visit older people and be interested in them and their lives. They have so much to teach us and they usually love to tell stories.

·         Visit Museums, Historic sites and Living History Museums. I absolutely love Living History Museums as they teach you so much in such interesting ways! As you travel be aware of learning places you might be passing. We took a recent trip with my parents and we were passing within 7 miles of the spot of the “House in the Big Woods”, so we took a little side drive to see it. Now not only have the kids heard the story but they can also visualize where it happened.

GEOGRAPHY

·         Get to know people from other countries. One way we have especially done this is befriending international students at our local university.  Invite them into your home. They usually enjoy learning more about America and then in turn love to tell about where they are from.

·         Try ethnic foods. We have had a lot of fun trying recipes from other countries, we have also had several international students who have enjoyed coming over to cook for us (and then we usually get to help). Another way is to visit ethnic restaurants.

·         Have maps and globes prominently displayed throughout your home. My favorite way we have done this is to have a laminated map on our table as a tablecloth. It is a little unusual but it has promoted many learning discussions!

·         Take advantage of the many fun books and videos available at the library. In 2008 we decided to study a State each week. We found a series of books at the library which we read from each day before naps. We also tried foods and any special activities we might learn about from each state. Now we are on to countries and again our library has a nice supply of books about many of the different countries.

·         Travel! I wish we could do this more but we do enjoy what we are able to do. We keep track of each state we have visited.

·         Collect state quarters and then have fun placing them on their correct state on a map.

·         Play games. There are quite a few games out there that help you learn more about geography.

·         Put together puzzles. After putting together a couple of puzzles (with tiny pieces) of the world I feel much more in tune with where things are.

HANDWRITING

·         Have your children write letters. REAL letters that they send to somebody. This is a much more meaningful way to practice writing and grandparents or somebody like that really appreciates them as well!

·         Get a Calligraphy set. It is even more fun to try really fancy writing!

·         Have the children write our Bible Verses, illustrate them and hang them around the house.

LITERATURE

·         Read aloud to your children! Books are so much easier to understand and get into when you can read them together.  Plus you can create some really great memories with your kids! (I know, my parents spent many hours reading to my siblings and I and we loved it!)

·         Shut down the TV and electronic games in your house. I think that kids will have a much higher interest in books if the books don’t have to compete with that.

SOCIAL STUDIES (or political science)

·         Get involved as a family in the whole political process. We have done that and are amazed at how much information our kids have learned.

·         When a Governor, Senator or any other such person comes to your town, try to go see them if possible. Often you will be in a group with few children and yours will quite likely be given some attention. Last year we had a lot of fun meeting various leaders and the kids got to shake their hand and listen to them speak. They now have a personal experience to remember when we speak of various leaders.

ENGLISH

I confess this isn’t my strong point and I don’t have any great ideas for eclectic learning in this department. One thing I do know is that reading good books is helpful for learning good grammar. This is a subject I am quite thankful that we can have textbooks in . J If anybody else has neat learning ideas for this area I would love to hear them!

 There are so many ways that we have fun learning together that I have just begun to touch on them. Here are a few final tips:

~Something that I think is of major importance when teaching with kids is being excited about learning yourself. They really pick up on that. If you think learning is fun and are regularly trying to learn new things, they most likely will too.

~Another thing is don’t be afraid to learn together. You can’t possibly know everything there is to know about every subject. There are many times that we pull out books or use google and learn together.

~A third tip is: Take advantage of the knowledge and experience of others. We have many friends and family that have expertise in many different areas. We love to visit them and learn from them. For example: My dad raises goats and other farm animals , raises gardens and an orchard and grafts fruit trees plus he does a lot of metal and wood working. We have learned a lot from him. We have a friend who helps to fight forest fires by dispatching water planes and helicopters. We have been able to visit her work a  couple of times and so how she does it, go inside of the planes and helicopters and talk to the pilots. That is couple of the knowledgeable people we have in our life, I am sure you have many people you could learn a lot from too!

~Fourth thing: Remember it is not all about academics! I think we all are happy when our kids do well at academics but the truth is some people excel more in that area while others excel in other areas. God made us all different and we need to embrace that. I think everybody should work at academics but how well you do does not determine your worth. Sometimes working with your hands is not given as much attention but it doesn’t have to be that way in our home schools. Knowing how to make and fix things is very valuable and we need to encourage our children to excel in that area as well.

~Most of all (to repeat what I have been saying throughout this post) have fun and don’t get stressed! Homeschooling can be a wonderful way to enjoy the blessing of children that our Heavenly Father has given us.

Abbi lives with her husband Ken and 4  homeschooled children ( Mara, Jonathan, Aaron and Megan ) in Northern MN. She blogs at Proverbs 31 Living about living as a Christian woman, Family, Homeschooling, Homemaking, Natural and Green living, Sewing, Gardening, Cooking, Frugality and all sorts of Crafting.

What are some of the ways that you teach your children and encourage them to learn and explore, without the use of textbooks and curriculum? Do you agree that learning can often happen best in these natural, real life ways?

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More from Keeper of the Home

• Waldorf-Inspired Real Play | Keeper of the Home
• All Ready for Another Year of Home Educating! | Keeper of the Home
• Memorizing Scripture as a Family | Keeper of the Home
• Going with the flow of learning | Keeper of the Home

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Guest Post by Katie

Moms wish only the very best for their kids: healthy meals, opportunities to try organized sports or music or art (or all of that and more), academic challenges and experiences, friends who stand by them, a deep and abiding faith, strong health, and joyful days. In seeking those goals and trying to find the time to balance everything, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that most kids just want their parents to love them and give them time. Parents are short on time these days, but that makes it all the more important to carve out special periods of time to spend just with the family. If you have more than one child, it’s important to spend quality one-on-one time with each child individually.

We’ve only been parents of two for a year, but already we see the joy and advantages of having “special time” with Mommy or Daddy.

Here are some ways we’ve gotten one-on-one time in our family:

With the baby…
Our daughter is just one, so her special time is mostly on the swings or cuddled in the rocking chair before bed.

With a toddler…
When my son was small, about 18 mos.-2 years old, if we weren’t going anywhere on a given day, I would make sure that we had “Special Time” mid-morning.

Special Time Guidelines:
• The child gets to choose any activity he/she wants, and (within safety and reason) the parent participates, even if “not in the mood”.
• Set the timer (we did 10 minutes, sometimes 15, at this age).
• The parent is not allowed to do anything but play during this time: no answering the phone, no folding laundry, no checking the to-do list or email.
• When the timer beeps, special time is over.
• Decide upon a way to “end” the time that can be a routine. For my son and me, we had a “Special Time hug and prayer”: “Thank you God for Mommy, Thank you God for Buddy Boy, Thank you God for Special Time. Amen.”
• Go your separate ways. You can come back to playing in 5 minutes, but try to do another task for a little while so Special Time is set apart from daily life.
• Special Time wasn’t in place of regular playing, and it didn’t mean that was the only time I spent one-on-one with my son at that age. It was just a time set apart.

Benefits of this system:
• Multi-taskers are forced to focus on what’s important: their child.
• Allowing the child to choose the activity gives you something productive and encouraging to say during the day: “I wonder what you’ll choose for your Special Time activity?” or “Mommy doesn’t want to do X right now, but hold that in your head for Special Time.”
• The child knows that they’ll get some positive, one-on-one attention every day and have something to look forward to on a normal day when you’re not going anywhere fun.
• The timer makes the ending clear to all participants, and Mommy doesn’t have to watch the clock; she can just enjoy playing.
This Special Time system was inspired by Dr. Harvey Karp’s The Happiest Toddler on the Block.

When balancing two children…
During Lent this year, I promised God I would give 10 minutes of “Special Time”, although not quite this systematic, with each of my kids. I had noticed (with sadness and guilt) that it was just too easy to get to the end of my day and realize that I hadn’t spent real one-on-one time with my daughter especially. She seemed to be just incorporated into play with the older child or into my cooking or cleaning. Special Time was a good routine to have. I modified it so that I just made sure each child got their 10 minutes of basic Mommy-time, and although I didn’t always set the timer, it was better if I did.

Daddy-Son time…
Before Lovey Girl was born, my husband and son would always have “boy night” when I went to my book club once a month. They cooked and ate dinner together, often in front of the TV, and played sports. It was a treasure that Buddy Boy truly mourned when his sister got too old to come with Mommy to the restaurants. We now make sure that “Boy Night” happens every so often. Here’s a great shot of the boys watching Scooby Doo and eating their dinners (that I got to witness because Lovey Girl and I just went for a walk and played downstairs to stay out of their way):

Mommy-Son time…

I know my son also misses time with just Mom, because he sure is eager to be near to me and doing something whenever his sister falls asleep. I had an opportunity to take him to a children’s production that our local symphony orchestra puts on, and when I asked him if he wanted to go, I called it a “date”. He smiled like I had said “candy and ice cream”, and I knew I was onto something. He’s heard Daddy and I refer to our “dates” and knows they’re fun and special.

My son and I have gotten all gussied up twice now to go on special Mommy/Son “dates”, and he really glows in the presence of just mom. Last week we even went strawberry picking, just the two of us. Even though it happened that way out of necessity (husband doesn’t love strawberry picking and volunteered to stay home with Lovey Girl), calling it a “date” got Buddy Boy all excited about it and helped me remember to be patient with him in the patch.

So Date Your Kids!
This serves as a good reminder to me to make sure I get some one-on-one loving time with each of my kids, every day. May it also inspire you to find some “special time” or make a “date” with your kids. They’ll positively beam, and you won’t regret it!

Let’s pile up great memories in the comments: tell us about your favorite “dates” or “special time” routines with your kiddos.

Katie blogs at Kitchen Stewardship, where it’s all about the Baby Steps to balancing nutrition, the environment, time, and money through the eyes of faith. She gives weekly “Monday Missions” to challenge readers to make one positive change in their kitchen each week, with supporting recipes and tips to help make it happen.

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• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
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• Happy New Year (and it’s great to be blogging again)! | Keeper of the Home

What a great topic! I love it, so I'll hand it straight over to Jamie without further ado...

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Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
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Well, I'd say we're an incredibly thankful, mostly happy and pleasant, though generally overtired (and occasionally, overly emotional) bunch around here lately!

I'd have to say it's mostly the mama who fits into the overtired and overly emotional category (okay, and maybe the 2 year old as well). But, sleepless nights and crazy hormones aside, I'm doing well. Loving my little brood, reveling in my sweet newborn girl, and trying to just take it easy and recover from the birth. 

Recovering is hard work. Do you know why? Because it requires me to slow down and not do anything! I don't like to not do anything! As you can imagine, I have a hard time really letting my body heal and recover for the simple reason that I find it so difficult to just stop and rest. And so, I keep starting to feel really great, then begin to push myself just a bit too much, and bang, I'm two (or three or four) steps back again, feeling worse than I did before.

As a result of this continued pattern over the past two weeks, last night my husband gave me 3 priorities for this week:

1. Take care of myself
2. Take care of Johanna
3. Work on my new ebook (because it only requires sitting at my laptop. Easy, peasy.)

That's all I'm allowed to do! And write this post. It drives me crazy, but deep down, I really appreciate it. Isn't he great? (Seriously, he's in the kitchen as I write this, making a gallon of Bread and Butter Pickles for me, because I'm not allowed to do kitchen work. What a man. Sigh.)

(And yes, that's a sling he's wearing, calming a fussy little girl- it's worth it to buy your baby carriers in husband-friendly colors!)

Even with my current limited responsibilities, life is busy and bustling around here! It's impossible to be bored or to have many calm, quiet moments with 3 littles, that's for sure! There's always someone who is hungry, or thirsty, or needs a bum change (or both little ones at the same time!), or is loving on the baby a little too aggressively, or has an owie, or wants to tell us something, or made a mess, or... you get the point! But it's a wonderful sort of busy, and we're slowly adapting to it and learning how to balance the needs of three small children. Thank goodness for all those freezer meals and a husband who was able to take a bit of time off this summer! 

In the midst of it all, a few things of interest:

1) The baby poll! I had almost forgotten about it, until yesterday afternoon! What's really funny about it is that nearly everyone expected Johanna to arrive much earlier than she actually did (me included!), and so most of the dates guessed were much, much before her date of birth. The winner is actually the very last entrant, who put her guess in after I was already overdue!

Harmony is the winner, with her guess of:

August 14th (it was August 12- the next closest was August 10th, but when I took the time and weight guesses into account, this one was closer)
3:40 pm  (5:22 pm)
girl (yep, she's a girl)
7 lbs 10 oz. (exactly right!)

Congrats, Harmony! You've won a $20 Amazon gift card, and a copy of my ebook, Healthy Homemaking: One Step at a Time!

2) Cloth diapering a newborn is really not difficult at all. With my first baby, I started cloth diapers at around 6 or 8 weeks. With my second, I think I waited 3 or 4 weeks. This time, I had been given one pack of newborn sposies, and I was determined to start cloth after 1 week. It actually ended up being more like 5 or 6 days, and off we went! I've been using a combination of pocket diapers (Fuzzi Bunz, DryBees, and Haute Pockets), and fitted with covers (mostly Indisposables, with a few other random diapers mixed in, and for covers I've got Proraps and Bummis Snap). It's working out really, really well, is far easier than I thought it would be at this stage, and hey, if you're already doing cloth with one child, then why not with two? The more the merrier! LOL! 

3) The garden that continues to produce, in spite of me. Someone just asked me the other day if I'll share my experience of gardening and preserving through a summer of pregnancy and having a newborn, once I hit the end of garden season. I can already anticipate my answer- it just doesn't go together very well! Of course, I'm saying that in the midst of 3 weeks during which I have barely gone out to my garden at all, except to do a bit of harvesting that simply had to be done.

However, I actually kept up with it all pretty well until baby arrived, and even though I am seriously neglecting my garden, it continues to produce food for me. Gotta love that! The weeds are dangerously high and I believe they are plotting a coup to take over my garden. Nonetheless, I am picking cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, onions, carrots, beets, beans and the last of the cauliflower. The potatoes are ready, but I'm fortunate that they can sit in the ground for a couple of weeks, and thankfully my tomatoes are a bit behind this year and won't be ready until probably early or mid-September. 

As soon as I can, I will be back to preserving, and the series that I began earlier in the summer on Preserving Summer's Bounty. Yesterday afternoon, one of my dearest friends came over and helped me (ie. did most of it herself) can just over 20 lbs of peaches. Is that not love? She called it her baby gift to us. That's what I call a great baby gift- 12 pints and 5 quarts of freshly canned peaches! I should have taken pictures of the process, but I wasn't quite that on the ball. Next time, I promise! 

That's it for me! I'm signing off, but there's most guest posts ahead for the rest of this week and next week as well!

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
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• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
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• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

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Guest Post by Cara

Waldorf is a method of education
founded by Rudolf Steiner in the late 1800s that focuses on a natural
approach to child development. While we don't use everything from the
philosophy (it goes into some religion stuff that we don't agree with),
we do really like the approach to early childhood education.  Steiner
advocates allowing children to develop in a natural environment with a
focus on the natural rhythms of home life.  In this philosophy of
childrearing, children live their lives with purpose, imagination, and
love.  I learned about this method of education when the daycare that I
worked at four mornings a week as a teen underwent transformation from
a regular daycare into a Waldorf preschool.  I was amazed to watch some
of the daycare children turn from hyperactive, easily distracted, and
easily bored to calm happy kids with an excellent attention span.  The
play they engaged in was now Real Play, play with more meaning that
mimics what we do in every day life.

The following are some things that we do to facilitate Real Play in
our home.  It seems almost too simple, but it is quite enriching.

Starting
with my little babies, I help them to be a part of every day life by
playing near me on the floor, and when they want to be held they ride
on my hip in a sling, or on my back in a mei tai or Ergo.  I chatter
about what I'm preparing for supper, sing little nursery rhymes, and
give lots of smiles while allowing them to see what goes on in every
day life.  Letting them see you always being engaged in something,
rather than just passively being entertained (on the computer or TV)
helps prevent boredom through example.  When I am sitting and listening
to the radio or just having a conversation with my hubby, if I'm not
nursing a baby, I try to have some handwork to do, like knitting or
hand sewing. 

We don't allow screen time of any kind for children.  No videos, no
cartoons, no computer games.  I'm not a purist, my daughter has seen me
on the computer and she has seen cartoons at other people's house. But
as a general rule, we stay away from that, so that she doesn't get
conditioned to where she needs something to watch to be entertained. 
You will find that once your child develops a long attention span, they
are happy to play alongside you while you work and you will not depend
on the TV to keep them entertained while you accomplish your chores.

I
make a point to slow down what I'm doing and do things with purpose so
my little ones can see and imitate me, since that's what they do
naturally.  I don't rushidly fold the laundry. I carefully smooth out
each shirt, fold it, and place it in the stack.  I take care to place
my dirty dishes in the sink, then gently wash them.  I avoid looking as
if I'm a chicken with my head cut off as I rush around to catch up on
housework.  I smile as I work.  Really, it doesn't take much more time
at all, and it gives the children something to imitate.  This work is
your quality time with the children, young children especially enjoy an
activity like making bread with mom just as much (or in our case more!)
than a trip to the fair or amusement park.  It shows them by example
how to care for belongings, to find contentment in what must be done,
and it gives them peace of mind to know that Mommy isn't frazzled.

When
possible, I involve my children in my work.  It takes a little longer,
but my toddler receives much more joy in completely emptying the dryer
into the laundry basket for me than she would with a dozen 'Good Job!'
stickers.  I also pay attention to what will trigger a meltdown and
avoid it.  For instance, my little girl isn't happy just putting the
two cups of flour in my cookie batter; she wants to scoop the entire
flour canister into the mixing bowl. So, knowing this, scooping the
flour is something that just Mommy does for now, and she has a bin full
of rice and scoops where she can scoop to her heart's content.  When
helping isn't possible because of safety (like with sewing) or the
tendency to trigger a meltdown, I do try to provide some similar
alternative for her, again, encouraging her desire to imitate me.

We sing little songs throughout the day.  Children love repetition
and silly rhyming songs. A verse of "This is the way we wash our hands"
before lunch or after playing outside makes hand washing into a
pleasurable experience rather than a chore.  A little song can convince
a reluctant toddler to do what needs to be done as well, "This is the
way we buckle our carseat, buckle our carseat, buckle our carseat..."

Waldorf
puts emphasis on outside time as well.  And to allow children's
imagination to flow, unstructured open nature areas are encouraged over
playgrounds with play structures.  On play structures, children are
confined to what is there. In a natural park setting, children have
more of an opportunity to notice small things. They watch the ants
trailing out of the ant hill.  They collect pine cones.  They make mud
pies and daydream.

Natural toys are preferred, but if those are not available due to
money constraints, open-ended toys are the best.  The more specific a
toy is, the faster a child will get bored with it. Open ended toys are
toys that can perform a variety of purposes. A basket can be a bathtub
one day, an oven for baking bread the next, and also turned upside
down, covered with a playsilk, and used as a stage for a play the next
day.  By contrast, a flashing box with buttons that talks and tells the
child what to do is limited to its one specific roll, and quickly
becomes boring.  Having few toys is preferred to having many.  With
many toys out, the child is overwhelmed and stops playing with them in
search of more order and simplicity.

My first summer job as a daycare assistant greatly influenced how I
parent my children and live my life. I learned to slow down and
appreciate the little things with children. I learned that faster isn't
always better. I learned that children don't need to be constantly busy
to be happy. And I learned that children weren't nuisances to be 'kept
busy' until they could be taught later on, but they were to be joyously
included in every day life right along side an adult. I wanted to share
since I feel that what I've learned has enriched our family life, and I
hope it can enrich yours as well.

More Reading:
Why Natural Toys?
Dressing Children Simply
An example of Meaningful Work
Instructions to Make a Waldorf-Style Doll

Cara is the stay-at-home mama of two children so far; 2-1/2
and 7 months.  She writes about parenting and crafting at Green Bean, and health and food at Health Home & Happiness, and also has an Etsy shop where she sells Waldorf inspired dolls and more.

Our Sponsors:

• It Starts at Home: Are we Discipling or Outsourcing the faith of our children? Read It Starts at Home! Then, just nurture them together.
• Moukisac: Your 6 in 1 shopping bag system; compact, stylish, versatile and practical, of course! Made by Canadian mom.
• hope ink: Custom inspirational art for your home
• ListPlanIt: Lists to put your world in order
• Vintage Remedies: Get healthy, naturally
• Just Bumming Around: When only the best cloth diapers (at great prices) will do. FuzziBunz packages on SALE!

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