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Circle Time - It's all about connection! {Episode 69}
91 Plays5 years ago
What is circle time? For us, circle time is connection time. In this episode we discuss WHAT circle time means to us, WHEN we fit it in, WHY this time is a priority for us, and share tips on HOW to implement it. Then we share what our current cirle time looks like!
Mentioned in this episode:
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Transcript
Introduction to Episode 69 & Circle Time Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, and welcome to episode 69 of Outnumbered the Podcast. We are talking about circle time today. And this is a time that you can spend with your little children at the beginning of the day or throughout the day. And it's going to make a big impact with a little effort on your part. So we go through what is circle time? Why is it important?
00:00:24
Speaker
how to add it to your homeschool rhythm, and then we each talk about an example of what our circle time is currently including. We hope you enjoy this episode. Hello and welcome to Outnumber the Podcast. I'm Bonnie. And I'm Audrey. We're experienced moms to a combined total of
00:00:46
Speaker
18 children. Our mission is to help overwhelmed parents find peace in parenting and humor in the chaos. Come join us as we attempt uninterrupted conversation about parenting with joy and intention.
00:01:04
Speaker
Okay, and we are so excited to talk to you today about this really practical episode talking about circle time.
Community Engagement & Support
00:01:12
Speaker
But first of all, we wanted to share a little something with you. So I know we've mentioned before, we have set up a place on Patreon where you guys can support us.
00:01:22
Speaker
And in the month of April, we gave away one of the top level tier interviews to one of our followers over there on Patreon. And we had such a nice time talking to her. We gave her some advice on a couple of things that she asked for questions about. And I just wanted to read a little bit of an email she sent us because it was so sweet. So she said, thank you again so much for taking the time to chat with me this evening.
00:01:51
Speaker
I'm so grateful for you both. Truly, this was probably the highlight of this year so far. I just wanted to thank you both again for such a wonderfully fulfilling opportunity to talk with you. I'm looking forward to working on your suggested action items. Your kindness, consideration, and thoughtfulness mean so much to me. I just thought that email was so sweet. It totally was. It made my day.
00:02:16
Speaker
Yeah, and talking to her was really neat. I really enjoyed being able to share some of our experience with her because the things that she brought up and was wanting to talk about were things that both you and I had experience with Bonnie. And that's why we offered that tier to some of our Patreon followers is so that we can help you. We can share with you specifically on what you want to talk about.
00:02:40
Speaker
Right, right. Yeah, it was really enjoyable and I felt like we learned from her as well. So on that note, we have loved hearing from so many of you. We get really, really sweet emails regularly from many of you listeners who have enjoyed the show and found some one or two episodes or more that have really helped you in a time of need. And so on that note, we just want to remind you that we love and really, really rely on your reviews on iTunes.
00:03:03
Speaker
So if you could pause the podcast right now and run over and leave us a review if you haven't, we would be so grateful. It really helps iTunes, the iTunes algorithm let people know that we're out there because people are leaving reviews so they know people are listening. And then it always helps other mothers realize that, hey, this might be a value to me because this many people have appreciated it. So we would so love that. You can leave both a star rating.
00:03:28
Speaker
But the reviews really help because that's where you type something in. It could just be a short sentence. But we would love to see more reviews from each one of you. So thank you so much. Yes, absolutely. Thank you so much. We appreciate all the ways and all our supporters. And it makes it worthwhile for Bonnie and I to keep doing this.
00:03:45
Speaker
Yes, definitely. So we are going to launch into today's episode.
Exploring the Structure of Circle Time
00:03:49
Speaker
We made this episode circle time. It's what we like to call this. But basically what we're talking about is the time when you come together with your children to start off the day. And this is something that's very common in homeschooling, probably what a lot of you are doing to gather your children together now that everyone is trying to do some form of school at home. But we've broken this episode into three parts to kind of explain it a little bit better.
00:04:12
Speaker
Right, exactly. We're going to talk about the what, the why, and the how. But first, I want to give you a little note about the when. So we almost called this episode morning time because both Bonnie and I do this thing, what we're going to be talking about the rest of this episode. We do it in the morning. I think because it sets a nice tone for the day and gets everybody started off on the right foot.
00:04:32
Speaker
but it does not have to be in the morning, first thing in the morning. It can be any, you can implement this kind of thing anytime in the day. So just keep that in mind. We're probably going to keep continuing to refer to it as in the morning and talk about why, but you can do this anytime of the day. So that's the when.
00:04:52
Speaker
Right. Just like any part of homeschooling or motherhood in general, if you try to do something and it doesn't work and it doesn't work and it doesn't work, sometimes you just have to shift your expectations a little bit. Well, instead of expecting it to work at 7.30 in the morning, maybe I try at 10 or maybe I try at 1pm or maybe I try, you know, just to be flexible with that. So love that thought.
00:05:11
Speaker
We're going to start with the what. What does circle time mean for us? I will say that our lives are pretty crazy with all these kids. Circle time especially is valuable for families that have a lot going on because for me, circle time is connection time. The morning is very easy for me to get caught up in doing my own thing. Kids left some pots in the sink from dinner, so I'm finishing those up.
00:05:37
Speaker
Somebody needs a run to the potty because they're working on going to the bathroom. And then the washing machine gets imbalanced and I have to go fix that. Any number of things come at me all day long. But when I make a priority to have this morning time, circle time with my kids, then I know every morning at 9.30 or 10, whatever is working for us at the time, everyone is expected to gather together and we do something that connects us that day.
00:06:02
Speaker
And if we're really going gung-ho on school, it's usually educational, a couple of educational things. If we're not, we're being a little lazy, then it might just be a great verse from the Bible and we play a game together. I don't know. It's just a really great time to connect with your kids before you go off and do your own thing.
00:06:21
Speaker
Yeah, you know, my kids kind of see it as the signal that it's the beginning of the school day, whereas well, some of the older ones do go off and do their own thing before this time that we have together. But the little ones don't start, even though afterwards I release some of them to OK, now you go work on your math while I work with so and so on their reading. And but they don't go work on their math while they're waiting for circle time to begin because I'm finishing up the load of dishes or whatever.
The Role of Circle Time in Education & Connection
00:06:47
Speaker
Yeah. So my kids kind of see it as like the signal that, OK, now school is starting.
00:06:53
Speaker
So what does it mean to us in our house? It's like you said, together time. It's an opportunity to work on subjects or skills that everybody needs together. So my older kids actually don't come and participate in our circle time because they don't need some of these subjects and skills. But for example, some of the things in the past that I've worked on during circle time are days of the week, months of the year.
00:07:19
Speaker
learning to tell time, you know, that kind of thing where everybody needs to work on that, you know, everybody in the circle needs to work on that kind of thing. And so it's an opportunity to work on something for me to say at one time and spread the information to all the kids instead of working, okay, now I'm going to work on telling time with you and then I'm going to work on telling time with you and then I'm going to work on telling time.
00:07:42
Speaker
Yeah, no, but it's time for me to work with the younger kids and get them all together. And yeah, we'll talk specifically about what our circle time currently includes, because like you said, you know, seasons in your life, our circle time has changed through the years, what we do, depending on which kids are included and what skills are needed. But anyway, that is what circle time means to us.
00:08:07
Speaker
That's awesome. I also want to add here that I have had the thought to work together and maybe during our circle time, maybe a little bit later, but similarly on life skills with all those little kids at the same time. So if they master
00:08:23
Speaker
telling time on a regular analog clock, then maybe the next thing we work on is tying shoes or maybe it's frying an egg or something like that. So that instead of your five-year-old trying to help in the middle of dinner rush when it's crazy, that that could be your learning time to just work on those skills. We're going to actually talk about how to load a dishwasher today and then we're going to go load the washing machine. And then we're going to talk about how to turn on the dryer. Any number of things that you don't want to have to repeat yourself multiple times. And even if you only have one or two children,
00:08:52
Speaker
It's a great dedicated time to work on those skills that you want all your kids to have. Yeah. Yeah. I also find like on Monday morning, I find myself making announcements, like the announcements for the week. Okay. On Thursday, you'll notice on your schedule, I put that you don't have anything in the afternoon. Well, that's because you have, you know, a dentist appointment or, you know, whatever fill in the blank. And so it's kind of time, again, time for me to get a information to a bunch of kids at one time. Right.
00:09:20
Speaker
I don't know if your kids are like mine, but I'll call three kids, you know, I'll call, open the door and call out three names for three kids to come. And the first one gets there and says, what mom? Like, no, I called three of you because I'm not going to say what I have to say three times. Exactly. Okay. Totally. Okay. I'm always looking for opportunities to spread information with the least amount of
00:09:47
Speaker
effort for me. Yeah. And actually, if you're doing calendar skill, then that would be a great time to do the calendar for the week, right? Like, hey, you know, this is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. By the way, Jews, does anybody know what happens on Friday? Well, it's so and so's birthday, and we're going to have this for a party, and our cousins are going to come over, whatever. So I love that idea.
00:10:07
Speaker
So the next segment of this episode is talking about why this time is important to our homeschool. So we've already talked a little bit about that, right? In the what? It's important to us because we don't have to repeat ourselves. It's a time for connection. And it starts off the day. And those are really my big whys as well. I will also say that it really helps my children realize that they're important to me.
00:10:32
Speaker
We know as mothers that everything we do shows love to our children, right? You think I don't love you? I just made you meals three times a day for the last 16 years. Of course I love you, right? But sometimes they don't see that in our day-to-day just service at home. When we sit down and connect during this circle time, we can kind of get our finger on the pulse of what's going on. We can kind of tell, hey, so-and-so is a little bit cranky today. I wonder what's going on in their life.
00:10:59
Speaker
Hey, so-and-so was a little bit hyper. Maybe we need to look at their diet, right? So it's a chance to really sit down in this small group and just kind of feel out how kids are doing. And then if they are being wild or they're not in a great education mindset, sometimes we throw the education plan out the window and just do something fun, like I mentioned before.
00:11:18
Speaker
This usually looks like reading books to my little kids because they always love to snuggle and read books with me or it could be a simple card game or whatever. We're going to plan a dessert to have tonight after dinner and we go and print out a recipe and we get all the supplies, whatever. Just that feeling how everybody's doing. Yeah, that's probably exactly the same reasons why this time is important to us too. It's about connecting with each child, like taking their temperature.
00:11:49
Speaker
their emotional temperature and see what's going on and how they're doing that day. And it is an opportunity that they know mom's going to be sitting there at the table. And so if I was having trouble in my math yesterday, it's a good opportunity for them to say, hey, mom, could you help me with these couple problems here that I just I just can't figure this out and, you know, whatever.
00:12:07
Speaker
But I also feel like it's a time for me to let them know that their education is important to me. I'm prioritizing their education. And unless I'm using looking something up on the internet that relates to what we're doing during that circle time, I won't have my phone in that time. Because even if I'm not on it, studies have shown that kids feel less
00:12:30
Speaker
less, what's my word, paid attention to? If your phone is there, you know, and it, you know, notification pops up and even if you just glance at it, then, you know, it's just a distraction during that time. So it's a way, that's one way that I let them know that you're, you are the center of my attention right now. Is that not having a device there? Unless of course we're using it for something we're doing.
00:12:55
Speaker
And then it's also an opportunity to add in things that are missing.
Circle Time Benefits: Teamwork & Camaraderie
00:12:59
Speaker
So let's say I really want to add in more art lessons with my kids or whatever, spend some time drawing with them. Well, okay, so maybe once a week during circle time, I pass out paper and pencil and we all just draw while we sit there and chat about, you know, whatever during that time.
00:13:17
Speaker
And it's a place, once you have a routine, it's a place that you can hook more things onto. So, you know, I mean, you hear this all the time, like,
00:13:29
Speaker
If you consistently brush your teeth before you go to bed, then next you can say, okay, I'm gonna brush my teeth and read my Bible before I go to bed. And then when you have those two, okay, I'm gonna brush my teeth, wash my face and read my Bible. See, it's what you can just build on. It's a consistent place to be able to add in things that are missing.
00:13:49
Speaker
Right. And on that note, I will say that if you are new to circle time, you probably shouldn't expect your kids to sit down and listen to you, I don't know, read an encyclopedia for an hour, right? You're going to have to start small. So if your children are young, you're going to have to say something like, guys, we're going to get together and play duck duck goose. I don't know anything that's going to get them excited and ready to spend a few minutes with you. And then you're going to read a book and then you're going to let them go.
00:14:15
Speaker
That's a very easy way to just get them started with this routine and then after a few days or a week or so, then you can start implementing something that they might be not quite as excited to do, like memorize a poem, but they'll get excited about that sort of thing as well because you are and because you're doing it all together.
00:14:33
Speaker
So a little bit more about my why is I want to go back to talking about that connection that I mentioned earlier. So we've all realized probably, especially during this quarantine time, that our lives are generally very busy and it's very difficult sometimes to have everyone together, right? Even in small families, somebody's at dance and somebody's at sports and somebody's at music class and somebody's doing something else. And especially as the kids get older, they all have more and more things going on.
00:15:01
Speaker
In our church, we're encouraged to have a once a week family night. So we usually do this on Monday night where we all gather together and we do a little lesson and we play a little game and we have a treat or something. It's usually very simple, but it's a gathering time. So I've started to look at circle time as kind of a mini family night every morning, right? So it's our chance to check in with each other, to come together.
00:15:23
Speaker
to just have that unity in family. And I've noticed that when we do not do it consistently, so we've been a little bit lazy last few weeks ourselves, probably because I think everybody else is, everybody's done with being stuck out. So we're like, ugh, less motivated to do our regular school. I noticed that there's less unity in the home and kids don't get along quite as well. They don't listen to me quite as well. So I really feel like that connecting time in the morning is essential to our family unity.
00:15:51
Speaker
Yeah, that's a really nice thought. Um, and I, I noticed that my kids kind of fall into a rhythm of it too. And if we skip circle time that they just kind of are a little bit more, um, squirrely that day that they, it's like something is a mess. Yeah. Yeah.
00:16:08
Speaker
Okay, a little more why from me. Like I said, it's a consistent time and place to work specifically on skills that need repetition. So multiplication tables is a great idea. If somebody's trying to get their seven times tables down at the end of circle time, they just say those out loud to me. So then I remember to do it.
00:16:28
Speaker
And, um, or if, if, um, like you said, you know, learning to tie your shoe, that's something that needs a skill that needs repetition. So if you practice that every day, then pretty soon you'll, they'll have that one mastered, but it's just a good place to work on.
00:16:44
Speaker
fit in something that just needs constant, consistent repetition. And another thing that I like is that we use it as a time to participate together as a team. So I notice when one of my kids kind of
00:17:02
Speaker
graduates out of circle time. They're not doing those activities anymore. I noticed that they still kind of hang around, you know, maybe in the next room or lean on the door jam or something. They're just kind of still listening in because it was such a comforting time for them and they enjoyed it.
00:17:20
Speaker
So for example, we'll be talking here in a little bit about what our circle time includes. But one thing that we include in ours is probably no surprise to you guys if you've been listening for a while is we include poetry in our circle time. And how we use that to participate as a team is the other kids applaud for the child that just said a poem. And so that's kind of like cheering each other on and participating as a team.
00:17:45
Speaker
just building camaraderie and friendship during that time. So that's another reason why, like if we're singing a song together or saying a poem or the Pledge of Allegiance or whatever, it's a together thing that we do.
00:17:58
Speaker
Right. I was just going to add a little bit here about when a child might graduate from
When to Graduate from Circle Time
00:18:04
Speaker
circle time. So I don't know if you have a specific age or milestone that you use in your home, Audrey. But for us, it's just kind of been right around when they are willing and ready to work on their own. And circle time is kind of a drag. It's no longer exciting. You don't want to sit there with all the little kids and listen to poems or read picture books or whatever.
00:18:28
Speaker
So in our house, it's usually been right around 10, but I have had a couple of kids, like you say, hang around a little bit longer or be ready to be done before. My twins are turning nine this year, and one of them is definitely like ahead academically than the other one. So I'm gonna be curious to see how this happens if she's just ready to move on and go do independent work with the other kids, or if she wants to hang around her sister while she's still learning stuff. So that would be, you could just kind of play that by ear and see how kids do.
00:18:58
Speaker
Sure, sure. Yeah, the when for us, it kind of goes more less by age and more by readiness. But in general, we do history on four year cycles. So at the grammar level, that would be like for second, third and fourth grade. Then they move on to the dialectic level, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth.
00:19:16
Speaker
And they study the same events in history again, but at a deeper level. And then the last rotation for us is the rhetoric level, which is the high school years, 9, 10, 11, and 12. And they study the same events in history from creation to modern day at an even deeper level than they did the first two times. And I usually find that when a child is going from grammar to the dialectic, from grammar level to dialectic level is when
00:19:44
Speaker
I stop working with memorization skills on them because it's usually around the time where they just don't need it anymore. I mean, their their memories are really good and they don't need that poetry memorization time anymore. And I wonder, too, like just thinking about it, if part of the reason that I let them go and don't
00:20:03
Speaker
make them require circle time for them anymore is just because of the number of kids that I have left in the circle time. And if you have three kids reciting a poem, it takes a lot less time than if you have seven kids reciting a poem. So that might just be a convenience thing for me, but that is generally when we have found that they're ready to move on.
00:20:26
Speaker
Okay, so we are going to move on to the how of implementing circle time to your homeschool rhythm or even just your regular
Initiating Circle Time Routines
00:20:33
Speaker
day. So let's say you, when we do go back to school in the fall, you have big kids that go, but you have some preschoolers at home. This is a great thing to do with little ones who get antsy or don't really have enough structure to their day and they just want you to play with them all day long. Having a quick little circle time with a two, three, four-year-old could be a great way to give them individualized attention or small group attention, right?
00:20:56
Speaker
And then they tend to be a lot better at playing on their own because mom has already fulfilled their need for interaction. Have you found that to be true, Audrey? Oh, yeah. And I remember Rachel talking in our episode with her about how she sets a timer and then puts her whole self into doing what she's doing with that kid for 15 minutes or whatever the timer time is. And then they're fulfilled and she can go and do the things that she needs to do.
00:21:19
Speaker
Right. And that's a great segue into this house. So it's always difficult to start a new routine with kids, right? They don't know what to expect. Everything's new. So you can start by saying, we're going to do something fun at 9 30 every morning, guys. It's only going to be 10 minutes long.
00:21:34
Speaker
So at 930, you all gather and you set a timer and here's the key. You choose what you're going to do and you gather the supplies before the kids gather. Yes, that is like so key. I only got a mistake for like a year.
00:21:50
Speaker
Why do we keep running off? Oh, because I'm not ready. So be 100% ready before your time and make sure the kids know ahead of time, even the day or night before. Hey, Rick, don't forget, we're going to do our new circle time at 9.30 in the morning. So they know they're supposed to be out and have some stipulations for what they need to do beforehand. So you need to be dressed and have eaten breakfast and then you meet up.
00:22:12
Speaker
And then you can just start a timer and say, okay, it's only gonna be 10 minutes. We're gonna read this book and this book, and then we're gonna get up and we're gonna do the Pledge of Allegiance, maybe some jumping jacks, get some wiggles out, and then we're gonna do some math skills out loud. And I'm gonna
00:22:29
Speaker
say two plus two and I'm going to point to a kid and they have to tell me the answer. Whatever you choose to do, like the world is your oyster. You can choose any number of things that you think will work for your kids and their ages, but the trick is just communicating ahead of time what time it will be and giving them an end time as well. I tend to like try to cram as much in as possible and my kids just start getting this glazed over look in their eyes, you know, and then it just devolves and nobody likes it.
00:22:55
Speaker
Those are my two main tips for how to make it happen is the setting a specific time, being prepared ahead of time, and having an end time. Yes, yes. Love those practical tips. Okay, so I had some tips. Start small. So you may want to add in a bunch of things that are missing like I was talking about earlier. Just start with one. And then when you and your kid get through it,
00:23:19
Speaker
in a fun, positive way, then when they're used to that, then you can add in something else. But just start with one thing or just start small. So like in the past, one thing that we did in our circle time was weather. And every day the kids would run to the window and look at what the weather was and then mark it down on a chart. That was something that we did in our circle time.
00:23:41
Speaker
And they and they really enjoyed that. And we just did that one thing that was like circle. And yeah, and then when they had that down, then we added in the next thing. So then we did maybe the weather and a poem and then, you know, so just start small. Don't expect like you can have a vision and a goal of where you want it to go. When I worked in preschool,
00:24:01
Speaker
We always started circle time with a song. Back then it was on a record player. And I think by the time I was done working there, they had upgraded to like a cassette player. But anyway, that gate, go ahead. I was going to say you're dating yourself. I know. I know.
00:24:31
Speaker
But I think, I mean, like CDs were even around then. I think the reason they had that was because it was a, that was what they had. And they had all the records already and they're like, well, these are perfectly good resources. Why would you get rid of these and update?
00:24:46
Speaker
No, okay, so then that was a time, playing a song was kind of the signal to everybody in all the preschool to come in from all the different areas and gather together in circle time and sit down. And there's even little finger plays. This just popped to my mind. Now I'm thinking about my experience teaching preschool. You know, open them, shut them, give a little clap.
00:25:08
Speaker
open them, shut them, set them in their lap. You know, there's little finger plays you can do to kind of get the kids settled down and quiet and ready for whatever thing you're trying to teach or work with them on during that time. But kind of when you have a bunch of little being wiggly, some of those little finger play things are fun. Yeah.
00:25:25
Speaker
Okay, my next tip for how to do circle time is just be consistent. If you do it one day and it doesn't work out very good, it's okay, and do it again the next day. Because every day that you do it, it's gonna get more consistent, more routine, more familiar to them, and it will start going better. I know that every time in the fall, when we start our circle time after having not done it all summer, it doesn't go very good for about a week. But then they get used to it again.
00:25:53
Speaker
And then they settled in and it goes better after that. But don't give up after the first day that it doesn't go well because it might not go very well the first day or the first few days.
00:26:04
Speaker
And my last tip is have fun. Do something you enjoy. Don't bring something into this time that you hate doing. Okay. Just don't because that's going to translate to them and they're not going to enjoy the circle time if you're not enjoying it. So you're having fun. They will have fun. So those are my, those are my three tips for how to add in a circle time to your own homeschool practice.
00:26:28
Speaker
Yes, I love those. And I was just chuckling a little bit when you're talking about the weather because we got one of those big calendars a few years ago, you know, with little slots for the day and the month and the weather and everything else. And my kids loved it until they realized that whoever got the weather slot, you know, we live in Arizona. It's like hot, sunny, hot, sunny, hot, sunny for like, I don't know, 70% of the year. They're like, this is boring. I don't want to do the weather anymore.
00:26:57
Speaker
And my four-year-old when there was like a single cloud in the sky, they're like, it's going to rain, yes. I'm like, probably not, but sure, throw the rain cloud up there. We'll mix things up a little bit. What you have to do is do it with a dry erase board so they forget that it was just still sunny the day before and every other day previous. Yeah, totally.
00:27:18
Speaker
I was also going to reiterate the consistency thing. I have to admit I am pretty terrible at consistency, especially when I get really gung-ho about something and then it doesn't work out the way I anticipated. And I tend to start too big, bite off a little bit more than I wanted to. And so that is definitely something I have to remind myself of very often is to be consistent and to really read your children's cues, right? So let's say that you've been doing poetry regularly for a while. And now every time you bring it up, the kids go,
00:27:46
Speaker
Oh, right. Well, then maybe it's time to change. You could still do poetry, but maybe get some funny, goofy poems. Maybe get some ones that have some action moves in them, right, where they're actually standing up and moving their bodies. Or maybe it's just time to put poetry in the back shelf for a while and you do something else. So definitely don't make it a punishment or the kids will just have a terrible time and you'll be fighting them the whole time.
00:28:10
Speaker
Kids love Shel Silverstein poems. So if your poetry needs livening up, grab some Shel Silverstein. That's right. That's right. That will always make it interesting. We are now going to share a little bit of what our circle
Hosts' Circle Time Routines & Activities
00:28:22
Speaker
time looks like. I've shared already a few things that we do. Generally for us, it's mostly a reading time because I know I can convince my kids to come and read books with me.
00:28:31
Speaker
So we usually start with a picture Bible, some sort of inspirational book, but usually a picture version so the kids are excited and get to look at the pictures and say, oh, what's happening now? Who's that? And what's this, et cetera. And then we move on to fun read aloud books. I like to do easy picture books that they're familiar with and they really love at this time, as well as more advanced read alouds because reading aloud
00:28:55
Speaker
to kids, especially out of more advanced books, is really, really beneficial to their vocabulary, to their comprehension, et cetera, because it's something that they would never pick up on their own. It's too hard for them, right?
00:29:06
Speaker
And then we love the things that you've said, like the calendar type thing, that's always very fun, the Pledge of Allegiance, et cetera. And then we really, really like doing basic math skills together as well, because math is a subject that you kind of either love it or hate it. And for the kids that struggle with it, it's always more fun when we're doing it together, either with manipulatives or just fingers and toes, or sometimes will pop up and down, whatever.
00:29:32
Speaker
And then finally, I was going to share that circle time is also a great time to do fun, messy activities that you don't want being done.
00:29:42
Speaker
out of your supervision, right? So let's say you want to do a read aloud book and the kids are being kind of fidgety. What if you got to the table and gave them all Play-Doh that they molded with and rolled with and cut while you're reading aloud. And then as soon as the book is done, you pack it away. So then they're like, oh no, we want to play more. And the next day they're super excited for the read aloud time because they get Play-Doh again.
00:30:03
Speaker
or, you know, the little stamp, the little paint marker stamps, or slime or whatever horrible thing you kid also wants to play with. It goes in a special box that only gets brought out when mom is talking during circle time. It helps them focus. It helps keep the mess at bay because it only gets brought out once a day, et cetera. So that's worked for us.
00:30:25
Speaker
That sounds like a very fun circle time. Okay. So like I said earlier, our circle time has been all over the place and what we've included in it. And, um, currently I'll just talk about what our circle time includes right now. So this year, our, um, a couple of the kids are studying for science flying creatures. So I bought one of those Audubon, um, day of the week. No.
00:30:52
Speaker
Yeah. But page a day calendars and each one had a picture of a different bird on it. So what we do, we start out our circle time by we go to ebird.com. I think that is what it's called. Well, I'll link it in the show notes for sure. And we look at different pictures of the birds, what the male and female look like.
00:31:09
Speaker
We look on the map and see there's a map on each page, each bird page, and see if we have that bird in our area or where in the world that bird looks. And then the third thing on that page that we do, like there's lots of things you could do on each bird page. This is on the internet.
00:31:27
Speaker
We listen to what that bird sounds like. And then we take, as we're listening to what that bird sounds like, one of the kids takes the picture of the bird from the calendar and they tape it up on the wall. So we're nearing the end of our year this year and we have this entire bird wall that they've taped up pictures of birds all over the place. So that's our first thing that we do during circle time.
00:31:50
Speaker
The next thing that we do is we grab, we have a box of sign language flash cards and I will go, I grab five cards out of there and we go through those five cards, either learn them or on Friday we review all the cards we've done for the week. And then poetry is the last thing that we do. So the three, the four,
00:32:10
Speaker
for kids that I'm working with during circle time, they will each recite one or two poems and their siblings will clap for them. And it helps them work on resuscitation, saying it out loud and standing up straight and looking people in the eye and all those kinds of skills. So those are the things that we are doing during our circle time right now. And it's been a really fun, really fun year. You are an inspiration. I need to do more.
00:32:38
Speaker
But I do love your bird, your whole bird study. I think that's super fun. And I have also been collecting, Arizona has this like Arizona Highways magazine that they send out that's very into the wild of where we are, right? So that's another really, really fun thing that you can do is just to collect materials of the, you know, the local wildlife or,
00:33:03
Speaker
plant life in your area so that kids can start to recognize things and circle time is a great time to implement that. Like you guys look at these cool trees. Has anyone seen one that looks like this or birds or, or other animal life, et cetera. So that's, that's a good inspiring thing to start doing that. Yeah. Yeah. That sounds really fun. You know, another thing I have done during circle time in the past is, um, we have a microscope, but it's quite expensive. I mean, it's a really good microscope, but it's quite expensive and I don't want the kids handling it on their own. So, um,
00:33:30
Speaker
we'll at sometimes at the end of circle time I'll say okay does anybody have anything they want to look at under the microscope and that's a real good time for me to be supervising the use of the microscope and then get to get to see oh what does what does a hair look like magnified 40 times or whatever um so like you said earlier about supervising using something that's messy or using something that's expensive something that you're right there for them to look at
00:33:57
Speaker
So, and then they don't try to get into the microscope other times. They'll just hang on to their bird feather or whatever they found. Cause they know that during circle time, mom will say, does anything, anybody have anything they want to look at under the microscope today? So expensive things can be preserved. I love that. That's a great idea.
Conclusion: Circle Time as a Connection Tool
00:34:14
Speaker
Yeah, so just to wrap up, I just want to say that circle time is just like any other aspect of homeschooling or parenting in general. It can be super, super beneficial if we start small and be consistent, right? And not have it be one more thing that we're piling on our plate, but rather a simple way to connect with our kids. Yeah, exactly. I think that's just the essence of circle time is that we're letting our kids know that we love them. They matter to us and we want to
00:34:43
Speaker
their education matters to us and that we want to help them learn and have fun with them. I think that's a very important message that can be passed on during circle time. Be sure to take a look at our show notes because we'll be linking some of the things we talked about today, resources for circle time. Okay everybody, have a great week. We look forward to talking to you next time.
00:35:04
Speaker
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00:35:30
Speaker
As usual, if you have any questions or ideas for future episodes, you can reach us at OutnumberedThePodcast at gmail.com. Thanks for all your support. We'll talk to you next week.