Awareness
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THOMAS & FRIENDS Watch and Play
Released today by PBS Kids, THOMAS & FRIENDS Watch and Play is designed for preschoolers and available on iPhone, iPad and iPod touch! This is the first-ever Thomas app to offer full-length episodes, in addition to games that promote key problem-solving skills for preschoolers as they build, fix and create train tracks and scenes. I had a chance to review THOMAS & FRIENDS with my daughter. The app opens up to the screen you see above and you choose what activity you would like to play. The kids will definitely be entertained if they touch Thomas the Engine face in the middle of the screen, he smiles and blows his engine! I love the…
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Education :: Improving Spelling Skills with All About Spelling
Image courtesy of Flickr If you are a parent looking for a better way to help your child learn to spell, I’m here to share something great with you! I homeschool, and was on the lookout for new material to add to our language arts curriculum. At the beginning of the year we purchased some language arts workbooks from Houghton Mifflin, but they ended up just being “busy work” worksheets for my son. I didn’t feel like he was learning anything new, and the workbooks didn’t give me any tools to help teach him. I found a company online called All About Learning Press. Created by…
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Family :: Creating Magical Holiday Meals Together
The holidays provide the perfect opportunity to spend quality time together making yummy holidays meals. It is such a wonderful time to pass down family recipes and have your kids help out in the kitchen. Just this past Thanksgiving, I had my daughter help me make the infamous green-bean casserole that my mother use to make every year. It is funny, because as a kid I didn’t really like this dish but now I absolutely love it! We ended up using Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom with garlic (highly recommend) and steamed the fresh green beans before we baked the casserole (also recommend doing this for a minute or two). I…
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Dwell :: 7 DIY Holiday Centerpiece Ideas
Are you hosting friends and family this holiday? Why not add in some little extras to the table to make it even more special. But don’t worry, we found some ideas that won’t break the bank! Most of these items you might already have in your home! Here are some fun ideas to try out and enjoy this year! Create a Snow Village: Love this idea! I just picked up some inexpensive glass containers at Marshalls and was planning on doing something festive when I came across this Pin on Pinterest. The kids would absolutely love to see this! Would make for a fun activity at Christmas…
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The IKEA Soft Toys for Education Campaign Changes Lives
Last year my daughter was having some difficulties with school and was not at grade level for reading. I had heard from other moms and teachers that every child is different but I was unsure if there might be other issues at hand. As I told her first grade teacher, she is just too smart to not be doing as well as I would have thought! Yes, you can say I am biased! But as my husband had to overcome his own reading issues as a child due to being diagnosed with Dyslexia, I was about one step away from getting her tested. I figured if she needed to be…
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Putting the HAHAHA in the HOHOHO
Image courtesy of Flickr It’s December (very much so) and my tree’s up but there’s nothing under it. Unless you count the tree skirt … does that count? And yes, you read that right: nothing under it! I always put a lot of thought into what I get every one. I want them to go “wow, just what I needed” or “I love it” so I do a lot of looking and window shopping [procrastinating]. What happens each and every year and seems to get later and later (pretty soon I’ll be out with all the men on Christmas Eve scurrying … oh who am I fooling I usually am out *lol*).…
