Do you all know about the children’s book subscription box Literati? I was thrilled when they asked if we’d like to receive a few boxes in exchange for honest reviews of their services, even though we have plenty of books. Why was I so interested in checking out what Literati Kids had to offer?
Continue reading “An Honest Review of Literati Kids Book Clubs — Round 1”
At the beginning of this school year, I mentioned on Instagram that we had decided to have both girls make their own school lunches this year, and received many, many requests for more details on what this REALLY looks like day-to-day. So, here we are, a few months later (but, still with a few months more of school for most of you, so definitely not too late!), with all of the details about how we outsource the packing of school lunches to the two people in the house who actually benefit from these lunches! Continue reading “How We “Outsource” Packing School Lunches”
Earlier this summer, Vera, also known as The Tutu Teacher, briefly mentioned that she loves My Family Builders blocks. If you don’t follow Vera, her recommendations tend to be exceptional, so I of course immediately went to the My Family Builders website to see what these blocks were… And, they looked so wonderful that I bought the small set immediately! And, while on the website, I also decided to splurge for their Happy Family Card Game. Now, I’m here to tell you in an unbiased, unsponsored review that our whole family is absolutely thrilled that we now own these two products!
Continue reading “My Family Builders Product Reviews”
By now, you’ve probably picked up on the fact that we believe our most important job as parents is to help our children grow into kind, positive, and strong members of our community, and one of our favorite tools in this endeavor is children’s literature. So, when the team behind Adventures in Kindness: 52 Awesome Kid Adventures for Building a Better World reached out to see if I’d like to take a look at their book, I gave my standard, “I’ll happily take a look, though I can’t promise to feature it until we’ve received it and read it…” But this time, I figured this would be a book our family would love. And sure enough, we do! Read on to see what Adventures in Kindness, by mother-daughter duo Sophia and Carrie Fox, illustrated by Nichole Wong Forti, is all about!
Continue reading “Adventures in Kindness: 52 Awesome Kid Adventures for Building a Better World by Sophia and Carrie Fox”
Our almost-four-year-old daughter is raising polar bears and panda bears in the bushes in our front yard. And, she feeds them sweet potatoes that she makes from the wood chips surrounding said bushes. She’s been raising these animals for more than a year, so we decided she needed some proper kitchen tools to help her along! Last Christmas, we bought her some stainless steel and aluminum cups, pans, pots, spatulas, and spoons, and last spring, we made the simplest DIY mud kitchen that has ever been made. Why did we go to such lengths to encourage this play? Besides simply being an amazing creative outlet (I mean, think about the imagination required to keep those polar bears alive for so long!), did you know there are many, many other benefits to playing in dirt and mud? Read on for some of those benefits, as well as basic directions to our super simple mud kitchen!
Continue reading “The Benefits of Dirt and Mud Play — and the Easiest DIY Mud Kitchen Ever”
How comfortable are you with your understanding of your child’s development? Does your child ever do something that makes you wonder, “What on earth is going on in his head?” or “What happened to the child who always did _____? She seems like a completely different kid overnight!”
I was a Child Development major in college (and I have a graduate degree in Elementary Education…), and even I have to admit that my memory of all that I learned about how children grow, learn, and change so many years ago seems rocky at times. Fortunately, researchers have given us many wonderful resources, full of information that provides parents and teachers a small window into what’s happening in children’s brains.
And y’all, I refer to these resources ALL THE TIME. As a teacher, I owned a handful of these books and gave brochures with pertinent information to my students’ parents at the beginning of each year. As a parent, these have provided me with great comfort when we hit “What in the world is going on?” stages. Read on to see why it’s important to gain an understanding of stages of child development, as well as which resources for understanding stages of child development I love and why!
Continue reading “Child Development Resources for Parents and Teachers”
A few weeks ago, I wrote a quick post with some easy ways to build literacy and writing skills in this time at home. In that post, I shared our “Have a Great Day!” sign that has been hanging on our front porch for close to two months now. Close to two months, and people still walk by, point and smile, stop to tell us how much they love it, and sometimes even take a picture of it! Today, I’ve got another porch sign for you to make — a sign thanking all your delivery people for their hard work and service.
Continue reading “Quick Writing Activity to Boost Neighborhood Morale”
Okay, all, I need your input! I’m working on my favorite booklist of the year — my 2020 90 Books for 90 Days of Summer booklist! And, I need your help… I’ve got a massive list of finalists (WAY more than 90, because it’s just so hard to narrow it down!), but I want to make sure that this list is extremely easy for you all to use. Continue reading “Reader Poll!”
Okay, all, if you’ve been around for a few months, you’ve likely read about our girls’ obsession with the Workman Publishing Paint by Sticker Kids books. While we still love them, of course, I recently discovered a sticker puzzle mosaic series — Brain Games Sticker by Number/Letter books, by Publications International! Continue reading “Brain Games Sticker Puzzles”
Hello, all! This week is technically spring break for our girls. We were supposed to travel to see extended family, but we’re obviously staying put instead. Rather than venture cross-country and spend time with cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents… We’ll venture around the block and hunker down, just the four of us.
And I’m not going to lie, our honeymoon period of sheltering in place and schooling at home definitely ended last weekend. We had some long, rough days and some wonderful days. And I had many moments where I realized that I am trying to accomplish way too much in this new and different season. I kept all of the to-dos I had already filled in my planner for the last month, while also adding the to-dos that come with keeping up with things these days (does anyone else feel like having everyone in your house all day, every day means that you ALWAYS have a sink full of dishes, even if you just washed them???). I had originally planned to take this week off of posting and social media to spend our travels focused on our family and our visits, and I’m going to stick to that plan! Continue reading “Taking a Break for Spring Break”
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