Part 7: Timothy’s Passion Tailored Learning

You may be wondering how Timothy’s passions can be tailored when he is only a year old. It’s funny, but even at a year old, he does already have interests and passions. He may not know that is what they are called, but I as his mom and mentor do know and recognize them for what they are. I also have the wisdom to use these same passions as he grows to talk about shapes, numbers, colors, and counting. A whole world of learning is opened to him merely by Mark, his siblings, and me talking to him and playing with him. He does it all with a toothy smile because in his mind he is playing with the people who love him the most and who he loves the most. To him it’s a win win situation!

First, he loves anything that involves his big brother and sisters. He wants to be where ever they are. Our kids toy room is in the basement, to get to the basement the kids go through the kitchen. Timothy has no idea where they go, but he knows where ever it is, it is through the kitchen. He will squeeze his little body through whatever crevice he can to get out of his baby jail, he crawls as fast as he can towards the basement door. One day I let him peek around the kitchen door and when he heard and saw his siblings it was as if someone had showed him the richest treasure. He squealed, he clapped, and shouted at them as if to say I finally found your hiding place.

Secondly, he loves balls. It doesn’t matter if it is a football, soccer ball, or bouncy ball. He loves them all, his face lights up in sheer delight upon the eyeing of a ball. He will chuck ever toy out of his crate to get to the bottom of the bin where his beloved balls often hide. Throwing them or rolling them does not matter, both are a delight to him.

Thirdly, he loves cars, trucks, planes, or anything with wheels. He received an airplane riding toy for Christmas and wouldn’t you know it he can already make the sounds a plane makes. Same goes for his toy cars and trucks, it’s amazing to me that at only a year old, between his daddy teaching him and instinct this kid can crash an airplane like the big boys.

Timmy is definitely in core phase. We are teaching him even now that he has boundaries and limits, as he gets older the boundaries and limits will widen as his grasp on the world widens. We will slowly trust him with more pieces of the worlds puzzle pieces and we will allow him to be able to do that which he is able to do. We will teach him that Jesus loves him deeply, died for his sins, and calls him beloved. We will teach him that his Heavenly Father cares deeply for him and is well pleased with him. We will share the gospel of how we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God, but God in his rich love for us did not leave us in that ugly place. He redeemed us through the Jesus’ blood and when we confess our sins he again calls us His. We will teach Timmy that one does not take what is not his and if we want to use it we ask the owner first. Teaching him to look both ways before crossing a street. We will wait and watch as we do with his brother and sisters for his learning readiness. Watching and waiting to help him find the many answers to his questions about the world.

I’m excited to mentor Timmy through navigating the great big world. The wonderful world that God has made! Helping Timmy to love the gifts and talents God has given to him to use for his glory. I am excited to watch him develop a relationship Jesus and watch Jesus work through Timothy.

While we are discussing Timothy it’s a good time to talk about what we do with Timothy during structured learning time. First, he gets to enjoy circle time and table time with us. He claps along to our fun circle time songs and eats snacks as the big kids work on their assignments. As Timothy gets older he’ll get busy boxes to explore and as he gets older he too can have blank paper, crayons, and tracing papers with numbers and letters on them. When one on one teaching time is needed with the older kiddo’s, I either wait until Mark is available to watch him or one of the big siblings steps in to play with him. He loves playing with his siblings and they enjoy playing with him. Pinterest has great busy box ideas! I have even heard of a busy box party. Each mom that is invited makes a different busy box, enough for each one in the group. Then when the moms get together for coffee and talk time, each mom gets to take a sack full of busy box’s home!

I have no doubt that Timmy’s interests and passions will change as he gets older, but that is the wonderful thing about life, we get to pick and choose what we want to do with it. Mark and I, with God’s help are ready to help him navigate his way through life!

Do you have a little one at your house? Have you noticed their early passions or what creative ways have you found to keep your little one busy while the rest enter there structured learning time?