Sunday, February 11, 2018

February Lesson Plans

Now on Teachers Pay Teachers---

February lessons are now up for grabs!

Dental week, Valentines, Presidents, and more!

*Fine Motor
*Gross Motor
*Science
*Math
*Nursery Rhymes
*Crafts
*Alphabet
*Numbers
*Colors

...and more!

69 pages of lessons, organized and ready to use with your babies up to 5 year olds for $10.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Babes-Tots-and-Kids-February-3647478

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Chore Charts, Discipline, Potty Training...

As adults, we’re pretty awesome at a lot of things.
We tackle big challenges in our careers, our finances, and our health. We build impressive  things. We write legal documents. We manage teams and conferences and estates and classrooms.
But when it comes to parenting, we often feel surprisingly unsure whether we know what we’re doing at all.
We love these kids of ours with a love so fierce and strong, and yet, half the time we shake our heads and wonder if we’re getting it all wrong and why this parenting gig is so darn hard???
Raising these hilarious, amazing, wild little humans of ours is both tough and tremendous, precious and perplexing, all at the same time. In fact, I don’t know about you, but it’s not uncommon for me to feel totally conflicting things at any given moment:

Looking forward to a quiet empty nest, while wishing I could just freeze time and keep my children exactly as they are in this moment.

Desperately longing for some peace and quiet, while loving the chaos and life surrounding me.

Wishing everyone would stop saying, “Mom! Mom! Mom!” even as I’m craving conversation with these fascinating little people of mine.

No matter what your day has been like…

…whether you locked yourself in the bathroom to cry after you blew up at your kids.

…or if “Mama needs some alone time” evolved into hiding in the pantry and inhaling a bag of dark chocolate chips.

…or your budding artist decided today was the day to create a mural on the living room wall with your colored Sharpies…

There’s one thing you already know.

Sometimes parenting is awesome. And sometimes it’s not.
You’ll take the not-so-awesome parts along with the beautiful parts. Because it’s so worth it.
But if you could find resources to help make it a little more awesome and a lot less hard?
It’d be a no-brainer!

Well, look no further, because I found something that might be just what you need: The Parenting Super Bundle. For six days only, you can get your hands on a package full of resources to help you rock this parenting gig even more, for the most affordable price ever. (Seriously, just wait until I tell you the price.)
This brand-new bundle includes 35 ebooks, 10 eCourses, 23 printables, 9 workbooks, 2 audios, and 1 membership site.
These top-quality resources cover everything you need to make parenting feel less stressful (and more fun!)… chore charts (yay!), discipline methods and ideas, strategies for tough challenges (for kids and for parents), printable craft ideas, homeschooling helps, and so much more.
For less than the cost of a gallon of paint to touch up your little Picasso’s mural, you’ll get a complete library to help you:

  • Apply step-by-step solutions to common challenges like whining, arguing, homework, and lack of cooperation
  • Build stronger relationships with your kids (even your teens)
  • Stop playing referee in sibling battles (and teach them how to work things out)
  • Instill gratitude, kindness, and helpfulness in your child
  • Become a kinder, more intentional parent and feel encouraged and inspired in your parenting.

Plus, it comes with over $100 worth of bonus offers from companies you’ll love (this is one of my favorite parts).
You sort of need to see it to believe it, but the package includes 80 digital products and it’s worth over $1270!
Besides being so incredibly helpful, one of the things I like best about the bundle is the price. By offering it for a short time only, they’re able to give you access to over $1270 worth of amazing products for a whopping 98% off!

Here’s how it works:

Visit their website, take a quick look at all the goodness that comes in this package, then click the “Get my copy now!” button to go through their simple and secure 3-step checkout process.
You’ll receive an email with a login to their online access portal, where you’ll begin downloading your eBooks, signing up for your eCourses, and redeeming your free bonus offers.
Use their Getting Started Guide to pick the topic you want to tackle first and give you joy in your parenting journey!

The most important detail, though, is that this bundle is available for just six days! After Monday night, August 14th, the sale ends and you’d have to buy all of these products individually
I’d hate for you to miss out, so click HERE (https://us154.isrefer.com/go/PARSB2017/a9310/) to learn more or buy the bundle.
It’s even backed by a 100% happiness guarantee, so you can make sure it’s right for you.
As you already know, parenting is amazing and difficult. Enjoying it even on the craziest of days is not impossible.
You don’t need to be a perfect parent to raise great kids, but if you (like me) could use a little help, learn more or get your bundle HERE (https://us154.isrefer.com/go/PARSB2017/a9310/. )
(Psst… the bundle goes away at 11:59 pm Eastern on Monday, August 14th, so don’t wait!)

Saturday, December 10, 2016

The Making of Candy Canes

If you've been following the curriculum, we have a few candy cane activities for your kids. My kids were very curious about how candy canes are made, so I supplemented with these 2 videos. The first one (above) is about handmade candy canes. The second one, below, is about factory made candy canes. Enjoy!

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Motivation and Frustration

If you spend any amount of time trying to teach your children from home, you are bound to be faced with frustration. Frustration can come from many different sources, but today I'm going to talk about one in specific.

Let me start by explaining our situation. My oldest is very good at math; she also has a tendency to be lazy towards school. My middle child struggles ferociously with math; she also has a tendency to cry and shut down. My third is great at math; he tends to not care at all about school and I often find him having turned his crayons into tiny toys and making them talk. Granted, he's 5. But still.

When one of my children was struggling with a particular math skill, we taught it, reviewed it, practiced it, drilled it. We made flash cards, we practiced in the car. Yet, she still had difficulty. Finally the tears (and this is my non-crier).

So I started thinking about what motivates her and her siblings. It's different for each one of them. When I have an activity I need to complete, motivation makes all the difference. Sometimes we need an external motivator, especially when our internal motivation in nowhere to be found (folding laundry, anyone?)

When your child is working and you run into difficulty that is not attitude related, stop and think about what motivates them. (Although I will say, attitude can turn up because of frustration and discouragement. But I'm talking about difficulty that is not simply attitude related).

For my oldest, competition is the key. She doesn't even have to be competing with anyone other than herself. So, we made learning the skill a timed competition with herself. She's trying to get her best score. That was the game-changer. For another child, she is food motivated. I could put a timer on, have her complete a page of math (or whatever she's working on) and for each correct answer, she gets 1 chocolate chip. Now she's motivated to get as many right in a short amount of time as possible. My youngest is motivated by play.

So, here's a list of ideas to help motivate your children when it's getting tough. In our house, having a good attitude is a given. There's no 'prize' for a bad attitude, so this is unlike bribery. This is taking a challenging skill (learning XYZ) and motivating them to work towards it.


  • Food (ex: one chocolate chip, marshmallow, grape, raisin, for each item completed in a certain time frame)
  • Food (I will set the timer for X amount of time. After you've ______ diligently for X minutes, we can have a snack).
  • Time together (When you are finished with X, we can play a board game, read a book, etc).
  • Competition (Compete against a sibling, you, or even themselves)
  • Make the learning fun (Teach a skill and then have them teach their dolls. Make a racetrack and let them drive cars on it, making a sound they are learning at each stop. Sing a song.)
  • Use toys as props. 
  • Have them teach YOU!
There are so many things you can do to help your children love to learn. When one child was not quite understanding measurements using fractions, we made cookies. And I let her make them wrong on purpose. (FYI, 2 1/4 cups is NOT the same as 1/4 cup 2 times). But guess who is now making cookies independently (among other recipes)? My 7 year old. But the idea of being allowed to make cookies by herself, from scratch, was a huge motivator for her to correctly learn fractions. 




So, when you hit a wall, start thinking about motivation. What motivates your child? Let us know! We'd love your feedback.

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Jack-O-Lantern Color Clip Cards



I made these cards for Brinley's playgroup this month. You print them off, cut them out each page is cut into four pieces--cut off the title and the footer).

You can print them on cardstock or laminate them to make them more sturdy.

Then you give the cards to the child along with some clothes pins. The child takes a clothes pin and pins it to the circle that matches the Jack-O-Lantern's mouth.

This activity works color skills, shape skills, and fine motor skills.

Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Do-A-Dot Pumpkin Letter P Page

Here is a pumpkin do a dot letter P page for your little one. You give your child a Do-a-Dot marker and have him mark each P. If you do not have Do-a-Dots, first add them to your Christmas list, then use a crayon or marker instead. Click below to print your own free copy!

Friday, October 7, 2016

Bat Counting Sheet Free Printable

I made this fun page for Brinley's playgroup this month. Click to get your copy--you can get a blank one or one filled mostly in. It is all free! Happy Halloween!