You’ve perfectly explained something I’ve been worrying about and this whole piece is incredible. We’re expecting our first and I’ve read all the newborn and early childcare articles I could get my hands on. However, many resources just leave it at “engage your baby early to encouraging learning” or “play with your baby to ensure they developmental essential skills” and then they offer no detail. As a first time mom, the generic advice left me fretting because I was worried I wouldn’t know how or when or what to do. The way you’ve laid it out here not only clarified things for me and gave some tangible insight samples, but they also seem like natural and organic steps and I love that. I’ve been worried that I’m missing some inherent mother’s intuition, but this was reassuring and I feel like I can do this. (And I’m going to send this to my husband immediately.) Thank you!
You can absolutely do this! You already sound so dedicated and well-prepared. There’s so much advice out there and at some point I think it’s good to say, ‘enough’. I think it’s a bit like skiing - you can read all the skiing books and they’re useful up to a point, but it’s not until you hit the slopes that things fall into place and you find out how it actually works for you!
This was so great. I’ve wondered at times how well my wife and I are doing with my daughter who will two next month and this gave me such relief. I can honestly say we have adopted many of these strategies and they are working! My daughter loves to count and LOVES to read. So much so that she got upset last night when she wanted me to read to her and I told her we needed to wait a few minutes. And I will definitely be utilizing the books for ages 0-7 you included. Thank you for sharing all of this!
I’m so glad it was useful and that it gave you some relief. I honestly think most parents are doing these kinds of things anyway but it’s so hard to keep the faith amidst all the noise about what we and our children ‘should’ be doing. It sounds like you and your daughter are absolutely on the right track!
You saying “the pressure gets in the way of the instinct” is spot on. And this post is helpfully succinct and direct and encouraging. This would be a great resource for those with young kids who want a temperature read on whether they are doing “enough” in the way of education.
Thank you so so much for this. We have a daughter who is 17 months and I often deal with a lot of inner guilt when I let her just play on her own for a while, even though I know she is content for that little chunk of time, just stacking her cups over and over or sorting her clothes. This world wants to keep throwing us all these new, shiny, loud, toys or gadgets that they are really good at convincing us we need, and lately we have been asking ourselves if we had that as a kid and the answer has been a resounding NO. So instead we’ve been going to the library more and reading more and just using what we’ve got and our daughter loves it. I really appreciate your newsletter as we make preparations (not too soon as we have a few years, but just looking ahead) to homeschool as well.
Hi Rachael, I’m so pleased you found it useful and that you’re enjoying the blog. I think it’s great that your daughter already plays contentedly by herself—you should feel good about that, not guilty! Using what you’ve got is a great way to think about it. Many of us already have more than enough if we can only manage to resist the temptation to buy more more more.
You’ve perfectly explained something I’ve been worrying about and this whole piece is incredible. We’re expecting our first and I’ve read all the newborn and early childcare articles I could get my hands on. However, many resources just leave it at “engage your baby early to encouraging learning” or “play with your baby to ensure they developmental essential skills” and then they offer no detail. As a first time mom, the generic advice left me fretting because I was worried I wouldn’t know how or when or what to do. The way you’ve laid it out here not only clarified things for me and gave some tangible insight samples, but they also seem like natural and organic steps and I love that. I’ve been worried that I’m missing some inherent mother’s intuition, but this was reassuring and I feel like I can do this. (And I’m going to send this to my husband immediately.) Thank you!
You can absolutely do this! You already sound so dedicated and well-prepared. There’s so much advice out there and at some point I think it’s good to say, ‘enough’. I think it’s a bit like skiing - you can read all the skiing books and they’re useful up to a point, but it’s not until you hit the slopes that things fall into place and you find out how it actually works for you!
This was so great. I’ve wondered at times how well my wife and I are doing with my daughter who will two next month and this gave me such relief. I can honestly say we have adopted many of these strategies and they are working! My daughter loves to count and LOVES to read. So much so that she got upset last night when she wanted me to read to her and I told her we needed to wait a few minutes. And I will definitely be utilizing the books for ages 0-7 you included. Thank you for sharing all of this!
I’m so glad it was useful and that it gave you some relief. I honestly think most parents are doing these kinds of things anyway but it’s so hard to keep the faith amidst all the noise about what we and our children ‘should’ be doing. It sounds like you and your daughter are absolutely on the right track!
You saying “the pressure gets in the way of the instinct” is spot on. And this post is helpfully succinct and direct and encouraging. This would be a great resource for those with young kids who want a temperature read on whether they are doing “enough” in the way of education.
Thank you Susie and I’m so pleased you liked it.
Thank you so so much for this. We have a daughter who is 17 months and I often deal with a lot of inner guilt when I let her just play on her own for a while, even though I know she is content for that little chunk of time, just stacking her cups over and over or sorting her clothes. This world wants to keep throwing us all these new, shiny, loud, toys or gadgets that they are really good at convincing us we need, and lately we have been asking ourselves if we had that as a kid and the answer has been a resounding NO. So instead we’ve been going to the library more and reading more and just using what we’ve got and our daughter loves it. I really appreciate your newsletter as we make preparations (not too soon as we have a few years, but just looking ahead) to homeschool as well.
Hi Rachael, I’m so pleased you found it useful and that you’re enjoying the blog. I think it’s great that your daughter already plays contentedly by herself—you should feel good about that, not guilty! Using what you’ve got is a great way to think about it. Many of us already have more than enough if we can only manage to resist the temptation to buy more more more.
I have my own substack called She’s a Mother, could I please share this in my next newsletter? 🙂
Of course!