Want to be intentional with the time you spend with your kids, but don’t know where to start? This open-and-go family enrichment approach has all the inspiration you need!
* This is a sponsored post. I received free access to Enriched at Home for review purposes and have been compensated for my time. As always, all opinions are my own and I was not required to write a positive review. You can read my full disclosure for additional information.*
As a homeschooling parent, I know about the thousands of curricula options out there to help us cover math, language arts, and other traditional subjects.
But what about aspects like social and emotional development, connecting with the natural world, and taking care of ourselves? Finding resources that support those goals tends to be a different story.
That’s where Enriched Kids comes into the picture for us. We didn’t start our year with this family enrichment program, but I’m glad we found it along the way.
Family Enrichment with Enriched at Home
Before we jump into the importance of family enrichment and what it encompasses, here’s what you need to know about the Enriched at Home.
Enriched at Home is an open-and-go digital subscription service designed for use at home to help families connect through character development, healthy living, and time in nature.
Centered around Charlotte Mason’s emphasis on nurturing the whole child, these connections happen through activities and lessons within three modules meant for families to work through together.
The S.E.L.F. module emphasizes character development and social and emotional learning. The Nutrition module covers a nutrition concept presented in kid-friendly terms and includes recipes to bring the concept from the lesson to the table. Lastly, the nature module provides easy nature-based observation activities that can be enjoyed in the country, city, and anywhere in between.
Don’t follow Charlotte Mason’s model or don’t homeschool at all? Hang with me for a moment because this family enrichment program is for you also.
Here are a few other things to note about Enriched at Home:
- While it’s a great fit for homeschoolers, it can just as easily be used for afterschool family enrichment in public and private school families.
- The modules themselves are all faith-neutral.
- Each S.E.L.F. module includes living book recommendations.
- It’s written with elementary kiddos in mind, but the whole family can get in on the fun with the recommended activities and recipes in each unit.
Now that you’ve had an overview of Enriched at Home’s approach to family enrichment, let’s talk about why it’s so useful in helping to implement Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy and why that’s helpful (even if you don’t otherwise draw inspiration from that philosophy).
Bringing Charlotte Mason and Family Enrichment Together
I happily follow Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy as the foundation for our homeschool. There are many reasons for that, but one of those is her respect for the whole child.
And, while academic life is certainly part of developing the whole child, Miss Mason understood that we are more than our academics. She also understood that parents have a unique opportunity to support and positively impact their children.
Family Enrichment: an Educational Spin on Intentional Parenting
Charlotte Mason’s teachings on the personhood of children and her understanding of education being the science of relations remind us that our kids are constantly forming connections with the world around them.
Additionally, these teachings charge parents with the responsibility of making those connections available.
“The duty of parents is to sustain a child’s inner life with ideas as they sustain his body with food… The initial idea begets subsequent ideas; therefore, take care that children get right primary ideas on the great relations and duties of life.”
Charlotte Mason, Parents and Children
Miss Mason shared thought-provoking ideas about about parents and how they aid in the forming of connections. But what do those words from the 1900s have to do with raising children today? I’m so glad you asked.
1. We must be intentional about time in nature.
Technology has brought us many lifegiving advances, but with that technology comes the temptation to stay inside and reserve connection for our devices. That’s why now, perhaps more than ever, parents must be intentional about providing opportunities to connect in person with the natural world.
“We were all meant to be naturalists, each in his degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things.”
Charlotte Mason, Home Education
Miss Mason wasn’t wrong here. Nature study cultivates appreciation for life and awakens wonder, but that’s not all. It also lays a valuable foundation for all scientific study:
“The habits of observation they have acquired, will form a capital groundwork for a scientific education.”
Charlotte Mason, Home Education
That’s where Enriched at Home’s Nature Module can help. Each month features four open-and-go activities that help parents and children experience and observe nature on a multisensory level.
Related: Nature Study for Beginners: 33 Easy Ideas to Help You Get Started
2. We shouldn’t ignore social and emotional development.
Character training and personal development are also a key part of intentional parenting, but success in this area doesn’t happen overnight. It comes through consistent instruction and modeling, which makes character development a natural fit for family enrichment activities.
Provide a child with what he needs in the way of instruction, opportunity, and wholesome occupation, and his character will take care of itself: for normal children are persons of good will, with honest desires toward right thinking and right living.
Charlotte Mason, Formation of Character
Enriched at Home covers that through the monthly S.E.L.F. module. This module features a specific character trait or behavior and provides exercises and talking points for exploring it with children.
This module also features wonderful living book recommendations that highlight the focal character trait; This allows kids to get a clear example of that trait or behavior in action.
3. Nutrition and nourishment go hand in hand.
Miss Mason was ahead of her time when it comes to health and nutrition. Granted, we’ve learned a lot about these things since Home Education was published. Even so, she understood nutrition and wellness and encouraged parents to be intentional even at the dinner table.
“But it is not the food which is eaten, but the food which is digested, that nourishes body and brain.”
Charlotte Mason, Home Education
Enriched at Home also provides guidance in this capacity. Along with delicious, nourishing recipes, the nutrition modules teach nutritional concepts and include actionable steps for putting the concepts into practice.
How to Connect with Enriched at Home
Ready to learn more? Head to Enriched Kids to learn more and subscribe for your family. :)
Want to know more about Enriched at Home and S.E.L.F.?
Use the button below to learn more and get your free social and emotional development guide for families.
In closing, I happily recommend Enriched at Home for any family with elementary aged kiddos. These monthly guides help us make time for important areas of personal development, but also help us to be intentional with the time we spend together.
