Life in the modern world pretty wells guarantees constant noise.
Phone noise
TV noise
Radio noise
Traffic noise
Kid noise
Our minds continue to work despite all this noise. We plan dinner, decide
Continue reading “Constant Noise and Finding Silence”Quote me on That
I occasionally have the privilege of sitting in on standard classes (I am in school working on an education degree) and while in the classes I often see quotes hanging in the classrooms or in the hallways. Quotes are also used during lessons and students would even share some with me. This got me thinking.
What quotes stand out to my own kids?
I remember being in school and hearing so many quotes but my favorites were by Albert Einstien. One such quote stated, “Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” As a child,
Continue reading “Quote me on That”Teaching Love
What would the month of February be without love? The two are forever interconnected thanks to Valentine’s Day. In our home, we do not make a big deal out of the day but rather use it to springboard lessons on compassion and empathy for others throughout the month. This year, our lessons have been more on what love is and what it is not.
But what is love?
This question is one that has been asked many times over the history of man but we are not trying to go that deep into what love is. I want
Continue reading “Teaching Love”Finding a Rhythm for my School Day
I have mentioned before in a previous post that we do not have a set schedule for our school day. This is not to say that I haven’t tried. I remember when my kids were in lower elementary grades and I was trying to manage visual therapy sessions, three kids (two of them temperamental twins), household work (to include repairs), the hubby’s civilian work and school plus military things he needed help with and school my kids.
I very much wanted a set schedule.
At one point I created a specific schedule of when exactly school
Continue reading “Finding a Rhythm for my School Day”What I hear a lot: Why didn’t you just ask?
There are many things that I hear a lot and some of them are said by the same people or only certain people say certain things. The one I am going to focus on is one I am sure you have heard.
Why didn’t you just ask?
This can be said in connection with our personal life:
-need a babysitter short notice
-need advice on how to deal with
Continue reading “What I hear a lot: Why didn’t you just ask?”Nature: How Much Is Too Much?
Lately, the weather has been back and forth so many times I do not know what season we are in. One day it will be 30 and winter-like, the next day it will be 60, sunny and almost early summer feeling. The weather going back and forth as it has been has caused some plants to even bloom early. This has me thinking about spring and what that means for us.
Nature Walks and Hiking
We are a very outdoorsy family. We camp in regular tents, my boys go on weekend backpacking trips, my daughter and I have camped not only in 25-degree weather but also in a torrential downpour (unplanned). We have hiked little trails that are only one
Continue reading “Nature: How Much Is Too Much?”Morning Battles
Every morning I brace myself for a battle.
It is not a battle most people think of either. It’s not a battle against a long day. It’s not a battle against kids who don’t want to get up. It’s not a battle against starting school work. No, my battle is a unique one for me.
My son doesn’t want to eat breakfast.
Now, that’s not entirely true. He is hungry and willing
Continue reading “Morning Battles”Unexpected Changes to the Schedule
I do not have a planned out, hour-by-hour schedule, but we have a schedule established in our home.
Get up, eat, see Daddy off to work, morning chores, then independent book work. After independent book work, there is a bit of a break, kid showers (after arguments), lunch, then group time work before they all run out of the house to play for the rest of the day.
This works for us. This also just changed.
I find it interesting that once we get a good rhythm going in our house, things have to change. Whether it changes because your kids hit a new developmental stage or something happens with a family member, or a parent’s job gets changed up, there always is a change. For instance, a few years back my mom and little brother came to live with us for 8 months. Another instance was when my twins developed from young kids who had to do hands-on things all the time to ferocious readers who wanted more library books on what we were learning about. Yet another example would be when my hubby was activated with his national guard unit to help with hurricane rescue and evacuation. Changes happen and we have to adjust accordingly
So what changed this time?
We now have a 3-month-old puppy running
Continue reading “Unexpected Changes to the Schedule”Encouraging Kiddos to be Active
Ever since the invention of the television, parents have been having trouble keeping their kids active. It seems all they want to do is stare at a screen. When video games were invented, this problem was made worse. Not only could kids never miss their favorite shows, but now they had to make it further in the game than their friends.
How then do we get them to go play?
While we can often get frustrated with our kids’ tendencies
Continue reading “Encouraging Kiddos to be Active”New Year Ideas for the Kids
I tend to not set resolutions. I was never big on them and then as I got older and saw how quickly people seem to drop them, I decided New Year’s resolutions were not for me. The funny thing about that is ….
Every year I seem to pick something to focus on improving
This year, I want to focus on helping the kids learn to set personal goals and work towards them. This is no easy task as children rarely see their own faults and when we try to point it out to help them learn, it is not received well (can you tell I have tweens?). So how do we help our kids assess themselves and set personal goals that are attainable?
First and foremost, we need to have our children think about
Continue reading “New Year Ideas for the Kids”