The Call of the Wild and Free Quotes

“A magical childhood isn’t about having the best toys, gadgets, and vacations. It’s actually the opposite. It’s about simplicity. A magical childhood is about freedom. Freedom to explore, discover, and play.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“One of the main reasons we homeschool is to foster relationships with our children, so when we prioritize the relationship over the to-do list, we are succeeding.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Our children need our time, not our intelligence. They bloom with love, not perfect language skills. They need mercy, not intellectual mastery. And they will learn—indeed, truly learn—when they are given time to explore ideas without constant fact-checking and examination.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“At the heart of every child is the need for play. Play is important for creativity, learning, and interacting with peers. But it’s also the way children communicate. If we want to show our children we love them, we need to play with them. Play is the magical portal to connection.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“You can establish a treasured family culture by celebrating the smallest occasions in big ways. All you have to do is identify what your children love, and repeat it. A tradition doesn’t have to be significant in order to be meaningful. It’s important because your family says it is.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Parenting is hard stuff. It builds us up, then beats us down. Swells our pride, then wounds our ego. Fills us up, then exposes our flaws. It defines our future and breaks our bodies. All within the same twenty-four-hour day. But we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Let’s stop striving to be good moms by other people’s standards and start becoming the mothers our children need.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Comparison is the thief of joy, but also of a mother’s confidence.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Raising children is hard, full of twists and turns, missteps and mistakes, regrets and trying new things. But even on its most challenging day, homeschooling is really just an extension of parenting. Rest assured, there is no perfect school, classroom, teacher, mother, or homeschool. But we can do the best we can, one day at a time. And that’s good enough.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“When children go from one class to the next, followed by extracurricular activities, sports, and then homework all evening, when do they get to experience the wonder of childhood?”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Comparison is the thief of joy, but also of a mother’s confidence”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“You are your child’s best teacher because you can lead by example. You can show them how to pursue knowledge by doing so yourself. You can join them on this learning journey as a guide through life and education, and sometimes the other way around.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“there is nothing more natural to a mother’s heart than to look after the needs of her own children, to preserve their childhoods, and to give them the chance to be who they were made to be. We need only to keep the voices from convincing us otherwise.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Know this: children will find adventure whether we’re the ones who give it to them or not. If they can’t find it in their families, they’ll look for it elsewhere. They’ll find it with friends, their girlfriends, their boyfriends, and even other families.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“As children grow, what we teach or don’t teach them in the developmental years makes a difference as well. Tough wrote, “What matters most in a child’s development, they say, is not how much information we can stuff into her brain in the first few years. What matters, instead, is whether we are able to help her develop a very different set of qualities, a list that includes persistence, self-control, curiosity, conscientiousness, grit, and self-confidence.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Lori Pickert wrote, “Creative work requires big chunks of unscheduled time. It requires freedom to explore, to try different things, to just think and imagine—and it requires a relaxed mindset. It is impossible to take your time and explore an idea in many different ways if you feel pressured by a lack of time or someone else’s expectations.”4”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Make music. In fact, make your own instruments. See who can make the craziest, most unexpected instrument out of the materials you have lying around the house. Set up a bird-watching station at the front window. Include the necessary bird books and binoculars, of course, but don’t forget the kazoos and party poppers to celebrate the birds’ arrival.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Children, as it turns out, need a childhood.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“A study of kindergartens in Germany compared fifty play-based classes with fifty early-learning centers and found that the children who played excelled over the others in reading and mathematics and were better adjusted socially and emotionally in school. They also excelled in creativity and intelligence, oral expression, and industry.8”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“research shows that social and emotional readiness in a child produces better academic achievement in the future. In fact, a study conducted by the University of North Florida found that children who attended academically driven preschools had lower grades by the end of fourth grade than those who attended play-based preschools.2”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Nature journaling doesn’t need to be complicated. You don’t need artistic skills, fancy pens, or expensive journals to get started. All you need is a curious spirit, a pencil, and a notebook. Call them nature journals, field guides, or whatever you like. But go into the fields, walk into the woods, and sit by the streams. Listen, watch, and sketch what you see. Include the date, time, and location. Include lists, quotes, or pressed flowers in your pages if you’d like. And fill them with the observations of your outings. In time, the habit of nature journaling will nurture a love for nature in both you and your children.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“At the heart of every child is the need for play. Play is important for creativity, learning, and interacting with peers. But it’s also the way children communicate. If we want to show our children we love them, we need to play with them. Play is the magical portal to connection. Playing with our children isn’t about enjoying the activity as much as it is about connecting with them. Much as with love languages or personality types, understanding how our children play is critical. Author and psychologist Lawrence J. Cohen, the author of Playful Parenting, wrote, “Play is important, not just because children do so much of it, but because there are layers and layers of meaning to even the most casual play.” He pointed out the various layers of a father and son playing catch—from developing hand-eye coordination and the joy of learning a new skill to the bonding time the two are sharing. “The rhythm of the ball flying back and forth is a bridge,” Cohen wrote, “reestablishing a deep connection between adult and child; and comments like ‘good try’ and ‘nice catch’ build confidence and trust.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“We can’t possibly thrive at homeschooling without understanding how our children are wired. In traditional schools, they are all taught in the same way. But we get to understand how our children are wired and then adapt their education to their personalities. We get to value who they are and meet them where they’re at. So observe them. Study them. Watch how they express themselves, and take note. Go Jane Goodall on your children.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“The challenge with parenting and, to an even greater degree, with homeschooling is making sure that each of our children knows he’s loved. Adding to the complexity, each child gives and receives love differently. Thanks to the insightful work of Dr. Gary Chapman, we know there are five love languages through which every person feels valued and cherished—words of affirmation, quality time, gift giving, physical touch, and acts of service. When people want to express love, they tend to do so in their native “language,” and when they want to feel love, they need to receive it in the same way”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Dr. Gary Chapman, we know there are five love languages through which every person feels valued and cherished—words of affirmation, quality time, gift giving, physical touch, and acts of service. When people want to express love, they tend to do so in their native “language,” and when they want to feel love, they need to receive it in the same way”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“But the time we spend together as a family will root them deeply in values that matter and dreams that inspire.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Children are born with all the wonder they will ever need. Our job is not to take it away.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Wonder is the birthright of every child. It’s the natural tendency to look at the world and want to explore it. Wonder is triggered by beauty, by new discoveries, and by our imaginations. Children live in a constant state of wonder. They’re always learning, exploring, and discovering new things. Children are born with all the wonder they will ever need. Our job is not to take it away.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“Plutarch said that “education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” How have we come so far and yet failed to remember what the ancient scholars and teachers knew?”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education

“What a gift to be able to put down the books and say, “Let’s try again later.” A pot of tea and honey, some warm scones, and a good read-aloud just might do the trick. Or a hike in nature. Or an art project on the back porch. But certainly not a school bell.”
― Ainsley Arment, The Call of the Wild and Free: Reclaiming Wonder in Your Child's Education