"I Want Homework!"

This is my daughter's own book. It helped us with potty training.

I love reading this book to my kids. It helps remind them that I think about them the whole day.

I love them every single minute of the day. 

I often hear this from my 4 year old daughter when her brothers are doing their homework. My boys, on the other hand, are whining about their sister's neverending playtime. How I wish it was the other way around!!!

On top of being a cake artist/baker/delivery person/purchaser/inventory person, I'm a mother of 3 beautiful, active, talented, and very curious children. I must admit when the boys were my daughter's age, I was more zoomed in on them when it came to "homework". Aside from school, we would have our own mini-learning centers at home and we really allotted time for reading, writing, art, a little bit of science and math. I would really prepare worksheets and tables and exercises to help them practice what they learned in school.

But times have changed, and I now have a thriving cake business that keeps my hands super full. It takes more effort from me to give "homework" to my little girl.

My little teacher

She's pretending to be a teacher reading to her students...or student (just me!) 

I just reminded myself to go back to the basics..how I started with my boys. I remember taking notes from the boys' teachers, who were also really good friends of mine, about what I can do to enhance their learning at home.

1. Handwriting Without Tears

This is the curriculum that my boys' school follow to teach their students how to write. I would have my own worksheets for them to practice on. What I like about this style is that they teach writing through play. My kids initially thought it was just a drawing activity.

They learned that the lines  and the curves that we practiced in our previous exercises helped them write their letters properly.

To know more about it, check out their website here.

For an added activity, I got my daughter a writing activity book that she can take with her everywhere. This helps her practice writing her letters, even when we're on the go.

2. Word Cards

One way to teach kids how to read is through sight words. Sight words are words your children should recognize by sight without having to sound them out. There are a lot of sight words printables available online but you can also do them yourself. All you need are index cards, pentel pen, binder ring, and a puncher.

I used to make sets of word cards for my boys to practice their reading. I wrote commonly used words on index cards and fastened them together with a ring. We would also read a favorite book together and I would write down the key words on the cards. We would go through the cards every now and then. And the next thing I knew, they were reading their favorite book on their own

I also wrote down some words and attached them to objects/things around the house. I know they may seem difficult words to start with but they remember from memory.

3. Teaching Values through Books

Did I ever mention that my kids and I love books? I think we're book hoarders! Haha! I have a stack of books in my bedside table, that just keeps getting higher. My kids are similar, especially my eldest. He never leaves the house without a book tucked under his arm. Super cute little boy! I call him my little walking almanac/encyclopedia. 

When the boys were younger, they used to have this short activity in school where the teachers encouraged the kids to D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything And Read). I adapted that activity in our "home school". (Disclaimer: I do not home school. I can only wish that I have the gift and the patience to home school my kids.) 

Books are great tools to teach kids about anything and everything you want them to learn. Check out some of the books that I got my boys when they were younger. These are the books that I read to my daughter from time to time. One of our favorites is The Little Critters series. They're simple books alright but they definitely helped me with a lot of "kid issues".

I read this to the boys when their little sister was inside my tummy. 

They were very excited for the coming of their baby sister. 

I got this book for my eldest son when he went to the hospital for an ear operation. 

The boy in the book had the exact same problem. It helped my son overcome his fear. 

It relayed the procedure of his operation. 

This book teaches about the benefits of eating healthy and exercising. 

This book teaches about being thankful. 

This book talks about the funny responsibilities of being an older brother.

This book talks about what different kids like to be when they grow up. 

These books show kids that they really have nothing to be scared of when going to the doctor or the dentist.

And this is an all-time favorite. It talks about the tiring routine of putting kids to bed. 

I learned that my kids relate really well with books. It's like they realize that they are not the only ones who face the issues they go through, even if it's only relating to a little critter. Hehe! It's a great way of teaching them without overwhelming them. 

These three are just a few of the many ways that you can encourage little kids to love learning. I believe that when you instill in them a passion for learning and cultivating curiosity, they will never get bored. These things are easily lost and replaced with mundaneness. Our role as the primary source of education of our children is to lead them to the path of loving learning and staying curious, AND most especially, to be resourceful in finding the right answers to their questions.

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:6)