Teaching a child the way of a Witch

My daughter just turned 5 a week ago... and it seems with that birthday came a sudden vigorous interest in the goddess again. I had maintained the stance of telling her what I'm doing and why whenever she was awake/around for my magical workings, knowing that she would let me know when she was ready for hands on learning instead of me just yakking at her. Since that time appears to have hit, I have begun preparations. Now, my girl loves problem solving games, especially when there are "rewards" after. She is freakishly smart, and learns quickly, but giving her an incentive for learning makes it fun (for both of us). Last week, I drew a compass with chalk out on our back porch. As I drew, I explained the directions and what elements correspond with them. We talked and talked and talked some more about it, even branching out into what time of day goes where on the compass. Eventually, I told her that if she was really ready and wanting to learn, we would start. When she told me that she wanted to, I told her that, when she could remember the directions and the correspondences we had discussed, she would get an altar table. Wouldn't you know it, by Sunday she knew all the directions, the elements, and even what corner we would typically put our altar in for a circle (we put ours in the East). So,  after a bit of cleaning and rearranging, we cleared out the Eastern corner of her room, and she set up her altar table. Now, this table is very special, as it was my very first altar table as well, and it feels so amazing to have passed it down to my little witchlet.

 

Of course, after we got it all set up, my daughter asks, "Where is the stuff I get to put on it?" Ohhhhhh smart kid. And this is where we are at- she will earn things for her altar after she passes each lesson. I gave her the option of starting with the full moon, or waiting until the new moon- she opted to wait. With the dark part of the year quickly approaching, it will be the perfect time to stay cozy inside and work on hands on learning lessons, which will include her making her own wand. =)

 

And so it begins, my daughter will be the first in my line to be a hereditary witch.