In today’s post, I will be writing about how your littles are always listening! I have been surprised many times in the past three years, when my younger two (currently 5 and 2) will repeat back something I taught my older two that day! There are many ways you can optimize your homeschool, even with toddlers.

Your Littles Are Listening

As most people with young children know, kids are always listening! Often times, even when you aren’t speaking directly to them (or don’t actually want to them to overhear), they not only hear what you say, but remember it…and repeat it back later!

I have experienced this many, many times the past three years. This fall, we start year four of homeschooling, and my kids are currently in 5th grade, 3rd grade, kindergarten, and peak toddlerhood (age 2).

You may have read this kindergarten-curriculum post about my son Beau, and how he picked up on themes from The Story About Ping several years ago. We did the story through our favorite Five In A Row curriculum, and he sat in for the (five) readings of the story. He would be playing in the room nearby during our other activities, but never forgot that Ping was from China, and that he lived on the Yangtze River. It was really sweet, and special, to hear a (then) three-year-old talking about those things!

Littles Are Learning All the Time

Another example of how your little ones are always listening, is through other methods of teaching! Besides your own speaking and teaching throughout the day, think about: what are your kids listening to? What playlists do you use in the car, or in the kitchen while they’re coloring or making playdoh creations? What do you listen to in the car?

While I completely understand that you may not want your every-waking-moment to be kid-centered, I think you can still be mindful of what your kids are listening to, even in their downtime! (Don’t worry-I usually pop in a single earbud to listen to my own audiobooks, while I’m doing chores ;))

Earlier this summer, I wrote this post about how imperative our family quiet time is, even in the summer, and how Bluetooth headphones are a huge tool in our homeschool. One of the most requested audiobooks that Beau (5) and Emmaline (8) listen to, are Ron Roy’s A to Z Mystery stories!

We use the Libby app, which is a library app tied to our library cards. I love using this app, as well as free Spotify audiobooks, because they’re free! I was always nervous my kids would damage a Yoto, and they’re too expensive for my preferences right now. With Libby, you have unlimited free stories. We use Bluetooth speakers so that the kids can take the story into their room with them for quiet time, without having the actual device.

Beau has picked up many fun things from various audiobooks, but since he listens to A to Z mysteries so much, he knows that main characters Dink, Josh and Ruth Rose live in Connecticut! I printed off a U.S. map for him, and we colored in all of the states he knows about, has family in, or can identify. It was impressive! We colored in Connecticut, and then I printed off a little picture of Dink Josh and Ruth Rose for him to paste on there, just for fun. 🙂

Homeschool Walls That Teach

When I taught in the public school system, and even before that in my methods classes, we discussed an idea, called “walls that teach.” The concept suggested that educators be mindful of what their posters, classroom decor and visuals around their room, were communicating.

To be honest, I remember a lot of what was hanging in my teachers’ classrooms growing up! I bet this varies a bit from kid to kid, but in general, it’s a great idea to consider what your walls, or homeschool classroom environment, are “teaching!” My kids are pretty observant, both from nature, and nurture. Being observant is a valuable skill and I try to encourage it. In our home, there isn’t a ton of room for posters in our sunroom (where we do most of our schooling). We do have space in the basement, which is where I placed these posters–my favorite ones for our creative writing projects.

If you don’t have tons of wall space for posters, consider these temporary charts. This Post-It note chart paper is one of my homeschool staples (and unfortunately, I tried the Amazon brand and it didn’t compare–the charts weren’t sticky enough to stay on the walls! So, I just wait until the Post-It brand is on sale and stock up. :)) I love using these for Art History, World History, Creative Writing, or other brainstorming projects. It’s nice to leave them up all week, so that the kids can refer back to it as we work through a week-long project.

Homeschool Objects That Teach

Other items in your homeschool space can “teach,” besides just posters. Manipulatives like globes, roll-up maps, encyclopedias or similar colorful books, or puzzles with maps or animal groups on them can teach littles in similar ways.

Consider it gentle, passive learning! While you are doing direct instruction with your older kids, your littles can be playing nearby, arranging the puzzle pieces of the U.S. map, matching capital letters to lowercase letters, or studying a globe.

Beau often asks me questions about the globe–like why certain parts are bumpy, what the lines are for (longitude and latitude), and where Bluey lives (Australia!) I love using real people, and pretend people, to help him commit different geographical concepts to memory. For example: we have family in Montana, Florida, New York, and Guatemala. We print out their pictures, and place them on our map. We also know that Bluey lives in Australia (and it’s daytime for her, when it’s nighttime for us), Harry Potter lives in England, Madeline lives in Paris, and Ping lives in China. Even though these are fictional characters, it’s really fun for the kids to be able to make memorable connections to real life places.

Never Underestimate Your Littles’ Ability to Learn

While I hate to think I would ever underestimate my kids’ capacity for learning, I think that still happens sometimes! I just forget, or get busy, or don’t realize how capable they are sometimes.

I was reminded of this just last week.

We started up our “Morning Meeting” last week, which has been an abysmal flop in years past. Ha!

It was something I really wanted to be successful, that simply did not pan out in previous years. Last week we started it, and it went pretty well.

A few things I did this year to set us up for success:

• Communicated expectations clearly: told Graham (10) and Emmaline (8) I expected good listening, and leadership with the younger two
• Told Beau (5) to do his very best listening, that he was my special teaching assistant, and that I needed his expert help with Violet (2)
• Kept the morning meeting to a 20 minute max
• Hung up an order of events so they knew what to expect
• Included singing with movements, calendar, flexible seating options, and comfy blankets
• Passed out some new fidget toys, which I will save exclusively for morning meeting

During this meeting, we sang “Si Estás Feliz” which is the Spanish version of “If You’re Happy And You Know It.” My husband and I are both fluent in Spanish, and our kids know varying degrees of Spanish. My two-year old Violet loves this song, so we all sang along to it and did the actions. I then read Clifford Va Al Zoológico out loud, (Clifford Visits the Zoo) and did some dramatic actions for certain parts.

To my shock, Violet (2) was repeating parts of the book, with my exaggerated actions, for the rest of the day. I couldn’t believe it! It was the first time I had read her that book. But for some reason, there was a part she found really memorable, and she had memorized it. I felt convicted that I hadn’t done more with her this summer!

These are just some small examples of how your littles are always listening! While we all know this, sometimes it’s good to be reminded of the simple things, because they are often easiest to forget. No matter what you’re teaching today–fractions, synonyms, or Lewis & Clark–I bet there is a good chance, that your littles are listening. Don’t forget about them! They are so capable!

With love,

Cait