Teaching Kids Art Through Picture Books

When my kids were little, I was always trying to introduce them to compelling stories that would shape their characters. I wanted to find good books to read with them that would ignite their curiosity and form them into leaders with character. 

Enter the picture book biography. Sometimes these books are overviews of people and what they accomplished; sometimes these are a short story of something interesting about their lives, but always the writing and the illustrations draw a child into meeting someone new they may or may not have encountered before. Reading these books together helps stimulate new thoughts and discussions between you and your kids. After reading about these interesting people, ask your kids:

• Why did the person make the decisions they did?
• When did they have to show perseverance?
• How did growing up the way they did influence their later life?
• How have their lives changed the world?
• What do YOU want to do to change the world?

Want some new...

Guess what? It's not really your job to entertain your kids.

You are responsible for keeping them safe and healthy. You need to care for their needs emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. You need to guide them and discipline them.

But you do not need to entertain them.

Here are some ideas for guiding them on spending their time well:

• Set up Daily Household or Personal Chores

  for them to do that are age appropriate and easily accomplished in a 15-30 minute time frame. Here are a few examples:
  • making their beds
  • brushing teeth
  • emptying the trash
  • emptying/loading the dishwasher
  • picking up their rooms
  • here's a link for more ideas: Age Appropriate Chores

• Set up a routine for Seasonal Tasks for after personal chores are done. 

   This is what I mean:
  • During the school year, all school aged kids have school work to do, whether from a homeschool model or traditional going to school model, or distance learning model. Help them get set...