Today is Day 1 of our series, 5 Days of Charlotte Mason Preschool and we are going to discuss Charlotte Mason habits! I could honestly devote an entire series to habits, so I am going to give you an abridged version and offer you a few tips on how to implement habit training in your Charlotte Mason preschool with your little ones.
What is Habit in a Charlotte Mason Preschool?
When we think about habits, we tend to think of the actual things we do. We brush our teeth in the morning and before bed, we take a shower at the same time every day, maybe you have a habit of checking your email at the same time, or reading a book at a certain time of day. In every thing we do, we form habits. We teach our children to brush their teeth, comb their hair, to share with their siblings, and so on.
When Charlotte wrote about habits, she went beyond these physical things we do. You can make habits out of character traits. When we teach our children proper hygiene we are teaching them the habit of cleanliness. When we teach them to put away their toys in certain places, we are teaching them the habit of order. The goal is to instill these character traits in our children so that they become habits that will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
“As has been well said, Sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character reap a destiny.” Vol. 2, p. 124
Why You Should Train Your Child in Good Habits
“The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days; while she who let their habits take care of themselves has a weary life of endless friction with the children.” Vol 1, p. 136
Training our children in good habits is one of the most important things we can do during the preschool years. When we help them shape their characters and let them know what we expect of them, our days are much easier. On the other hand, when we leave children to do as they please we end up with days spent arguing over finishing schoolwork, doing chores, and trying to get them to do what is “right.” I think we can all agree especially as homeschool moms we want our days to be as smooth as possible!
How To Train Your Child in Good Habits
Charlotte recommends you focus on one habit at a time. Take one habit, such as obedience, and focus on it for six to eight weeks. When you move on to the next habit, just keep on eye on the ones you have already formed, but keep your focus on the one habit you are instilling in your child.
Let’s say you want to work on truthfulness with your preschooler. You have noticed that she has started accusing her brother of doing things when you know it was her. First, you need to instill the idea of truthfulness in her and present it in a way that being truthful will be her own idea. Explain to her in confidence why she should be truthful. Children naturally want to please their parents. When your child is truthful with you, praise them! You need to be the person who knows your child can succeed, who expects them to succeed, and encourages them!
Three Habits for the Preschool Years
Here are three habits I recommend you start with during the preschool years. If you can instill these habits in your children early on, your days will be much smoother!
I have just barely begun to touch on Charlotte Mason habits here. I highly recommend you read the free eBook Smooth and Easy Days from Simply Charlotte Mason. This eBook is a much more thorough introduction to cultivating habits and it even includes a large list of the habits Charlotte touched on in her original work.
Please check out what some of the other Crew are blogging about!
Ellen @ Grace Tells Another Story ~ Making Homeschooling Fun!
Marcy @ Ben and Me ~ Helping Children in Uganda
Wendy @ Simplicity Breeds Happiness – International Meals
Melanie @ FinchNWren ~ Finchnwren’s Fabulous Family Movies
Sarah @ Delivering Grace ~ learning about England
Victoria @ Homemaking with Heart ~ Connecting with the Creator through Nature Study
Gwen @ Tolivers to Texas ~ A Happy, Peaceful Home
Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses ~ Homeschooling 4 FREE resources