TOS Review- Circle Time

Today I am reviewing Circle Time from Preschoolers and Peace.

Some years back, when I was the director of a Montessori school, little did I know that the experience was laying the foundation of much of my homeschooling philosophy; an integral part being the importance of mixed age grouping and children interacting together, not in an artificially created environment stricly based on exact calendar age.  In real life, we interact with people everyday who are of different ages than ourselves.  When I had that position at the school, I had to supervise staff, some of whom were young enough to be my children and others old enough to be my parents.  I considered many of them friends, some with whom I remain in contact until this day, yet not a one was the exact same age as I.  This is real life.  If we are preparing our children for success in the real world, we would be doing them a disservice to rear them in an artificial one.

One of the greatest benefits of homeschooling is the relationship that siblings develop, learning and loving together while also supporting and assisting each other.  Circle Time stresses the importance of including children of different ages in a family learning time together.  It gives examples and resources (and even has printables!) of how this can work in any homeschool, with any learning style, family size or age of children.  This can be accomplished for a short-time (morning prayer, discussion of the day's events) or for longer amounts of time (unit studies with all of the children working on the same subject area, but on levels appropriate for each of them individually).

In our homeschool, we have worked around a table together for some time, whether on the same subject or on different ones.  If some are doing independent work or reading on the couch, they leave the table, but it has always worked for us to have that central location together where we begin and end our days.   There are definitely subjects that can be done all together.  In our homeschool, the children learn Italian, some history and some Bible work all while sitting around the table with each other.  Although the olders are always given more detailed or indepth assignments, it has always amazed me how much the youngers have learned by this format.

When someone thinks of "Circle Time," our minds seem to instantly go to preschool where the calendar, weather and tasks for the morning are discussed.  That certainly could be the case, but bringing children of all ages together can be so much more, as is stressed in the book.  Kendra gives wonderful ideas for bringing families together, not just ones with preschoolers, but families with children of all different ages.

I really enjoyed reading this book.  I was happy to realize that I already utilize some of her suggestions, but am looking forward to implementing others.

The book is an easy read, being 33 pages long, but is packed with so much information and good ideas.  It is $4.99 and can be quickly downloaded in PDF format.