- Awareness, Books, Crafts, Creativity, Entertainment, Giveaways, Lifestyle, Parenting, Plan, Play, Slideshow
5 Ways To Keep Kids Busy This Summer
We all look forward to summer vacation. For a little while we are free from loading backpacks, rushing out to beat the school bell, and homework. And as much fun as we know we’re going to have, we all know our children will tell us at least once how bored they are. I know I’ll hear it – I often do. But I have started preparing myself for those occasions and keep things on my bookshelf that I can pass off to the kids when they can’t find something fun on their own. I’m well stocked with Usborne sticker books, wipe-clean flash cards, and learn-to-draw books. Here are a…
-
National Poetry Month: Online Poetry Resources
Celebrate National Poetry Month! April is National Poetry Month and most classrooms will spend some time exploring poetic expression in one form or another. Children enjoy the rhymes and humor from poets like Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein, but don’t be afraid to branch out to poets like Robert Frost or Louisa May Alcott. There are so many beautiful words to share and poetry makes great bedtime material. April 30th is Poem In Your Pocket Day. Help your child write their favorite poem on a piece of paper and let them carry it with them that day. Encourage them to share their poem with their friends, family,…
-
Parenting :: Is it Ever Okay to Lie?
In our family we call my daughter’s little white lies “Kate’s Tall Tales” a take on Mater’s Tall Tales! Sometimes I have to admit that I think her stories are a little funny and figure she is using her imagination. But then there are other times when her “tales” could do some harm to others in that I might have to talk to another parent about it. In these situations I will sit down with her about whether this is a “tall tale” or did it really happen. You know, the stories that kids come up with! So I am wondering on our journey as parents how do we go about explaining the…
-
March 14 is National Pi Day! Ways to Have Fun With Math
If you take a few minutes to do a Google search about the most popular subjects in school, you might be surprised to find that math receives an overwhelmingly popular vote. Elementary-aged students seemed to be especially fond of the subject. If you dig deeper you’ll also find it gets a lot of negative votes, and those thumbs-down seem to be ever-increasing as common core curriculum is forced into classrooms. Last year, my then-kindergartner went to the library with his class and chose a math book to bring home for the week. During his reading buddy time with a 4th grader, they generally finished their reading early. I asked him…
-
Education :: Studying the 13 Colonies
I started homeschooling my first grader this year and I heard a lot of good things about unit studies. A unit study is picking a topic and including lessons or activities that span multiple subject areas. I researched a few different styles and ended up plotting my own unit study path. You can download my checklist below: Unit Study Development Checklist PDF Filling out the Checklist I use the checklist as a guide – it isn’t necessarily the definitive course, but it helps me plan and, if something else comes up, I’ll add it in. Here’s what my list looks like for the 13 Colonies Unit Study: Topic…
-
Roam and Wander: Toys for Little Readers
Today’s post is brought to you by Roam and Wander. DiDi: iPad Powered Teddy Bear for Little Readers: I recently received the DiDi Teddy Bear (soft and plush it sits up with no problem plus has a teddy bear face without the iPad inserted ~ and my daughter loves “him” just as much without the iPad which is great) from Roam and Wander. DiDi utilizes your iPad (iOS 6 or higher) with an app created just for this cute teddy bear. Insert your iPad and turn on the app and it split screens (with the top looking just like DiDi) and the bottom being DiDi’s interactive tummy where you will choose…
