Spelling

So are we getting tired already of doing spelling every night with our kids? Change it up and go to this website and let them do a word search. Totally easy and very fun.

www.puzzlemaker.com

Beg. Reading

I was hoping this would post better than it did. This is what I start with after my kids know sounds, ABC, abc, and of course basic sounding out principles. Once they know those I start on these. If you want a better copy email me and I will give you the word file. I guess I am too dumb to figure out how to post it as a word file in the first place. Anyway the trick with these, is that you don't go on to the next page, until you are perfect at this one. Re-print this everyday if you have to, until they start to get it. I scanned 3, and I have about 30 of these that I will post another day.

One of my favorites!

Dr. Jean is one of my favorites of kids music! You can see her stuff at her website http://www.drjean.org/ She also has activities, ways to purchase individual songs, or whole cd's, utube links, etc!In Dr. Jean Sings Silly Songs, my favorites are: Bubblegum and Katalina Matalina Dr. Jean and Friends has these as my favorites: Tooty Ta, Macarena Months, Days of the Week.

But now I want the Math is fun CD, Nursery Rhyme one, and a few others. Anyway if you are looking for some new music here are some ideas. Also you can get these on I-tunes!

School Book!

When I teach preschool, I always make sure to take lots and lots of pictures. I also think it is important to save their special art work, and writings. (In an older post you have seen how I do writing their name.) I save all school year and then make each child a scrapbook that they can take home and either add with their own scrapbook, or they can keep it like I made it, so they can read it over and over again on their own. I also divide the book into categories, to make it easier to track their progress. This is a small sampling of one I did for my daughter, when she was in preschool years and year ago. Physical:Language:Cognitive:Social:Creative: Affective:

I do this also for my kids. Every Summer I take all the things I have gathered and make them into a school scrapbook. I always add it to their regular scrapbook. When they get old enough, they get to do their own, which also increases their creativity.

Now I know that lots of you now Digital Scrapbook. So my idea for you is that you actually scan your child's papers and art work into the computer, so you can digitally do your thing. Scanning is so fast and I think you will really like the final look.

So you might be wondering how I got little notes on each picture and just in general of her. What I did was I took a notes every day on a clip board and of things each child said through out the day. Then typed them up everyday when the kids left.

For your own kids, you have to come up with some way that works for you in making notes and being the busy Mom. What I do is have a paper on the side of the fridge that has 6 months worth of months. When they do something cute, or say something cute then I just write it under the month we are in and put the child's name.

Before this way, I used index cards in a box and then would actually put the index card in their scrapbook stuff.

My friend Chrissie keeps little note books of each of her children and when they something funny, she stops what she is doing and writes it in their book.

Practice Makes Perfect!

Learning to write your name is a very big thing for a kid. I have my boys write their name everyday. When they are little, I give a slip of paper and then I let them color their paper. I tell them they are writing their name. I always keep the first one of every month. Oh and I always have a laminated copy of their name in front of them. As they grow I start to help them do more on their name. When I think they are ready to really start writing their name, I place the laminated version of their name under a tracing paper, and have them trace their name. After awhile I put it back in front of them and have them start writing it for real. After they write their name, I have them answer a question of the day. Are you happy? Did you eat breakfast today? etc. This is my 13 year old's name writings when she was little. I saved them and put them in her scrapbook. I love to save things like this, that show progress.

Not only am I glad I did this with my kids, I am also glad I saved it and scrapbooked it this way.

Art Corner, Idea #2

Crayon Meltings!

I have listed an idea about this before under fall, but this is how it looks with out the fall leaves. You will need Wax Paper, An Iron, Crayon Shavings, A Heavy Towel, and Iron Board.This is how I set it up to let the kids create their picture. Then after they are done creating, I do the heating, but I let them stand on a chair and watch the melting. I like to use an old Iron and towel for this project. I also like to use another old towel to cover my iron board with- just in case. The picture goes on top of the towel on the iron board, and then the other towel goes on top. Then you slowly heat up the picture. It takes lots of heat to go through the towel, so it might be a little slow. This is what it looks like when done.

What can I do fun tonight?

With Silly Putty's birthday today, Dr. Seuss's Birthday today, Porky Pig's birthday today, and Elmer Fudd's birthday today, I think I can come up with something.

After School: A little Seuss music, maybe some cartoons of Elmer and Porky, and making Silly Putty. (recipe below)

Dinner Prep: While I am making dinner, they can play with the Silly Putty we made, Seuss coloring pages, and watch the Sneeches movie, or cat and the hat movie.

Dinner: Of course! Green Eggs and Ham!

Bed Time Reading Time: Of Course! Dr. Seuss!

What a fun little night we can have!

Silly Putty:
1/2 Cup Elmer's Glue
1/2 Cup Liquid Starch
Food Coloring

Slowly Combine the starch with the glue and knead the mass with your fingers. The longer you work with it the better the silly putty gets. Add food coloring to get desired coloring.

Go to this website if you want Dr. Seuss Printables, like this one, http://k2printables.com/seuss.htm

Two of my favorite things!

Well I decided to highlight two of my very favorite things that help me be clean and be a good mom. They both are the Shark Steamers. Very easy to use, no chemicals just water that turns into hot steam, and you can use it on everything! This the pocket steamer. It cleans crayon off the wall in seconds, cleans kitchen chairs that have food stuck on them, the toilet, wipes finger prints off walls in seconds, mirrors, Toys, etc. I think this one is a must if you are doing preschool, daycare, nursery, etc. It sanitizes in seconds, and when those kids start sucking on a toy, you will know that no chemicals are on the toy, and it is clean.

The other favorite thing is the Shark Mop. No Chemicals used, only water, and washable pads. This is a very effective way to clean your floors. I think it is a must for any Mom with little babies. I think we have seen all babies lick the floor, and eat things off the floor, so to have it clean with no chemicals is a plus.

I have used steamers before, but hate the fact that they take 30 minutes to heat up. With these, you put the water in, plug it in, and 30 SECONDS later it is ready. I got mine for my birthday about two years and I love them. They are worth the 70-100 dollars they cost. Anyone that knows me can call me anytime and try it out before they buy one.

LeapFrog!

I love the LeapFrog learning dvd's and I also have people always recommending them to me. I went to their website today to buy one and saw a section for parents that are helps in teaching, divided up by ages. One activity was getting a U.S. Map and teaching states by collecting quarters. How fun is that? It also has lots of printables to go with the activities. Anyway that was an older activity, but there was lots of other activites for different ages.

www.leapfrog.com/en/leapfrog_parents/preschool.html

Science Fair Projects

So I figured out that all my kids will do a science fair project in elementary, and two in jr. high, and one in High school. So that means by the time I am done with raising my kids I will have helped with 20 science fair projects. CRAZY! Now the naughty person in me, wants to recycle the older kids projects to the younger ones. But I know that is wrong. So far we have done two. Weather Prediction, and What happens to fresh water plants when oil gets in the water. But sometimes I look to the future and think, what will we come up with next? So if you are in the same boat, here are a couple of websites I have found about science fair projects. I will put them on the right side under science, because I think all of us Mothers are going to need them eventually.

http://www.sciencebuddies.org/

http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/

http://www.super-science-fair-projects.com/

www.terimore.com

www.sciencefairadventure.com

Little People With Adult Opinions

I am thinking about World Issues, National Issues, Local Issues, and Race Issues in association with our children. Little people with adult opinions. Certain football teams suck, Mexicans are horrible and shouldn't be allowed into our country, Special Needs Kids are weird and should be teased, wheel chairs are scary, the president is evil, Immigrants shouldn't be in our country, certain countries and their people are horrible, etc. Have you heard kids expressing things like this? Where are they getting this? I would hear kids talking in scouts and figured that their parents must have these pretty strong views. But when my own child made a comment about hating all immigrants, because she doesn't like one that goes to her school, I was floored. I realized that she didn't get this from me, but where is she getting it? My sister in law shared with me an experience of her being at school and her child told a little black child that his mom doesn't help black kids. She was floored because her little boy has 4 black cousins (my kids). I have had my daughter come home many times in tears because of something someone has said about her skin, hair, or size. Last year when Obama was going to talk to the schools, each of my children came home with stuff others had said. Now one of my daughters loves Obama cause he is black like her. Personally I don't share her opinion, but that doesn't mean I am going to make her hate him. My other daughter asked me one time if I hated the 9-11 hijackers. I could honestly say that what they did was wrong, that they had a ton to learn in heaven, but that I didn't hate them. I felt sorry for them that they had to grow up the way they did and learn to be bad as little children. I also am touched my the poverty in Mexico, and don't wonder why people are trying to come here to a great country. I understand, but I do think we need stronger borders. But instead of focusing on that part, I choose to teach my children about poverty, and why Mexicans want to come here, and why they want to leave where they live.

So here is my conclusion.

1. I think they are getting this from all around us. T.V., Channel 1, Reading, Listening to Parents, Other kids on the play ground, Teachers, etc.
2. We can't control others views, and what our kids hear, but we can control what we are saying and letting our kids hear us say.
3. Kids can misunderstand things that you say and repeat them in a misunderstood way, that might really embarrass you.
4. Above all else, we need to teach our children to love all. Stop the scare of differences and hate, teach them to love and accept differences.
5. Anyone that deals with lots of kids on a regular basis will tell you. Kids repeat, kids share, kids talk lots. If you don't want something shared, don't talk in front of them.

Few Reminders & One New Website!

1. PTA Reflections Contest: The theme this year is... Together We Can. Don't forget to check when you need to turn it in. Your child can do literature, visual arts, photography, dance, musical composition, film/video, theatre, and 3D art. You can get the specific guidelines at your local school. Each child gets a little prize or treat for doing it and it gets presented at an awards night. Everyone is honored. It is really good for their little self esteems.

2. It is almost October! Time to figure out Halloween costumes if you haven't already. Ebay, Savers, DI, etc. get pretty picked over the closer it gets to Halloween.

3. Fun Conference Packets for LDS Conference. Go to this website. They are really fun and current! www.scriptures4kids.com/activites-downloads/general-conference.html If you are going to do it though, don't wait until Saturday. Get it printed now, while it is not stressful!

4. Life is so hard for kids these days. I have been trying some simple things, that hopefully help them have better days. You might be already doing these things. When my kids come home from school I am always so stressed out that I was not doing these.

A. Smile while greeting them when they come in the house, or the car.
B. Give them a love and tell them how glad you are they are back.
C. Stop everything and pay attention to how their day was. (This is a real hard one for me. How do you stop when everyday seems like a whirl wind? But they really don't feel important unless you stop)
D. Make sure that you say at least 20 positive things to them after school and through out the night. For every negative comment you need to provide 10 positive comments. That goes for all the negative comments they are hearing at school as well. Maybe I should up it to 50!

Anyway have a great day and hopefully something in this post helps you somehow!

Two new websites!

My cousin sent me this website to check out. Her little girl's school is learning the 7 habits of a happy kids. She checked out the website and it had lots of fun stuff for kids, but teenagers and adult as well. So check it out and see what you think! http://www.seancovey.com/kids.html

What I like about this site, is it is very fast at loading. I hate slow sites. Franklin Covey has done a really good job making this very kid friendly.

Also my sister in law recommended this website to get kids to do chores. She is loving it and so I thought I would add this website as well. It is www.myjobchart.com

Beginning of School!

So most of us have finished with the first day of school. Did you survive it? I noticed a few things that I thought I would share. I am sure you have had the same observations, and if you have different ones, please feel free to add them in the comment section.

1. Mom having to wake up early and make sure they look o.k., are fed, hair is done, is hard. I didn't realize how lazy I have been in the Summer.

2. I really should have done better getting my kids to bed earlier, in prep for school.

3. The kids at home without their siblings are adjusting to not having them around.

4. The kids are extra tired, hungry, anxious- when coming home from school.

5. This one was the most important observation: My daughter who has ADHD and OCD couldn't focus, was extremely naughty and Hyper- about 1 hour after school. I think it took all she had to get through the whole day of school being good. Because of this I had to give her an emergency pill of riddlin to get her through the night. Even with it, it was a very hard night. So today I am doing it different. First a snack will be on the table. Then a manditory play outside for a little while. Then a manditory quiet time in her room. After that we will try and get her to clean her room, play with the family, and do homework.

6. I honored my seventh grader by giving her a piece of cheesecake and a special note when she first got home from school. Then the next day she didn't have to go to school, so I took her out to lunch. I think I will be doing this with all my seventh graders. It was very fun!

7. I was so surprised how different each school year/ teacher really is. We started bad and ended bad last year, and this year we have started with amazing teachers and having a great year. I guess this means I realized you don't have to switch schools or homeschool just because you had a bad year last year. Communicate with the principal and he will help you have a good year!

8. It costs way too much money to send kids to school. I am broke. How about you?

Anyway thats all. I hope you all got through the first couple of days of school.

My Favorite Quote!

Whatever you are... Be a good one! A. Lincoln

I think this is a great quote to start out the school year right.

As a child I hated being compared to my other siblings. Maybe one was more talented, or one had better grades, maybe one was more outgoing, or maybe one teacher liked my older sibling best. I was not a straight A student, but I didn't get bad grades. I hated having my report card on the fridge with my straight A honor roll brother.

When I got kids I started out with an honor roll daughter. The next one came and she is delayed. Now I have 5 and I have no idea what life is going to throw us. I have learned that it doesn't matter about honor rolls, or being delayed, it matters what is in each of your children that makes them special. It doesn't matter if we are still on a first grade reading level, it doesn't matter if we all go to college and get honor cords. What matters is that we be whatever we are and that we be a good one. I am sure that all my kids will be educated, but I have no idea what they will choose and how long that might take them.

I didn't realize this personally until I was a junior in college. I didn't even realize that I had very specific talents that no one else in my family has. They did, but I never knew. For my kids I want better. I am recognizing these talents and helping them by pointing them out and making them feel proud. My 12 year old is very musical and very responsible, my 10 year old is very courageous, she is very organized, and she loved dance, My 7 year old has a love of life, she loves sports, and she is a really good reader. She also is my nurse of the family. My 4 year old is a great runner. He runs faster than anyone else in the family. He loves anything that involves pipes! and My 1 year old baby: He is very interested in lights. He is always trying to figure out how they work.

As my daughter is starting Jr. High, I think of all the kids that will potentially pick on her or make her feel less than who she is. My goal is to make sure she has a good self esteem before all that happens, so she can just shrug it off and move on.

So I guess this post is just about helping your child realize what talents they have, voicing them to them, and that we didn't all come out of the same mold. We are all unique and it doesn't matter what we are....... just be a good one.

My School Check!

1. Go through kids clothes and take out old, stained, holes, or too little clothes.
2. Move too little clothes to next kid.
3. Label with Sharpie on tag of clothes so I know whose it is (One dot is oldest, two dots second oldest, three dots third oldest, etc.) That way no one wears the wrong thing and it looks like floods.
4. Buy any new clothes and shoes needed to start school (label clothes)
5. Get children going to bed early and getting up early.
6. Buy any school supplies that you can ahead. Backpacks if you wait have a really bad selection.
7. If you have a child that has had problems in school, schedule a meeting with the new teacher BEFORE the school open house.
8. Write letter about child and give to teacher if your child had a hard year last year. Take with you to the meeting.
9. Organize cubby, drawers, room, etc. so they can start their school year out right.
10. Have a family meeting and talk about school and how the family is going to run.
11. If LDS have each child get a priesthood blessing for school.
12. Go to school Open House.
13. The day of school, take some post its and write little notes where your child will find them (lunch, backpack, mirror, carseat, etc.) This will help them feel loved during a stressful situation.
14. Always, Always, Always have a special gift or treat on child's bed when they get home from school. It really makes that child feel special.
15. And the biggest thing I learned last year was to not stay with a teacher if it is not a good fit. Change now, because you gut is probably telling you something. We stayed and suffered all year.

Hope school goes well for your child. If you have any additional ideas, please share in the comment section.

Teacher Gifts

We just had our teacher appreciation week, so I gave my teachers a gift- that counts for the end of the year as well. Then my cuz called me and wanted some ideas, so I decided to post them.

What I did this year was a banana split of a great year bag! In it had Marchino cherries, carmel topping, bananas, m&m's, and waffel bowls. The tag read thanks for making this year a Banana Split Great year! It cost 8 dollars per teacher, which I didn't think was bad at all. Because I had 5 teachers though, it seemed like a lot at the register.

Last year I played it more simple. I just did a package of Whoppers and said, Thanks for a Whopper Year in Third Grade! The teachers really liked this as well and it was really fast to do.

My cuz needed ideas for bus drivers. I gave her the idea of making a paper bus thank you card and stacking starbursts on top of each other and attach to the card.

Another idea I came up with is to buy a book for the library in your school and donate it in their name. That way it helps everyone!

I like gift cards, but if you have five teachers like me that gets really expensive.

My sister does the unique gift of being a sub one day for each of her kids teachers. Of course to do this, you would need to be certified.

And lastly if you need more ideas than this, go here and they have lots of fun ideas for a teacher gift. www.skiptomylou.org/2009/05/01/teacher-appreciation-gift-ideas/ Skip to my lou also has lots of other fun things to make on their website!

Colored Noodles for Art!

Warning: This is NOT an edible activity and should be made with adults only and then let the kids use them for the project.

So it is VERY easy!

1. First buy noodles at store. You will want different shapes, different sizes, etc.
2. You will also need to buy Rubbing Alcohol and food coloring.
3. put rubbing alcohol in jars about 1/2 way. Add a couple of drops of food coloring. Mix. Do this for each color.
4. Add noodles into jars.
5. Let sit over night.
6. Take out and dry on cookie sheets.
7. When dry put in bag or bucket.

Reward Charts!

I have two kids that have been having a REALLY hard time in school. One of the two also has a really hard time communicating. So we set up behavior folders for each of them. On the cover it lists their first name, teacher, and grade. Inside the folder has a pocket on each side and a three hole area for the middle. One side of the folder has a place for their homework (since it was being thrown away), grades, or things that are coming home for us to see. The other side is for extra papers (I try to make up a couple months worth of papers). The three hole area has a calendar (one of my kids sees three teachers a day so she has a calendar that has a place for all three teachers to place comments. This is what hers looks like. The other child has just one teacher and so she has a more of a month calendar! It also has a reward chart that has a goal they are working on. I have the teachers pick the goal, but if you were doing something for home, you would want to. Our goals have been: Sitting in your seat and raise your hands if you need to tell the teacher something (since one likes to follow the teacher around), Telling the truth, bringing the folder to all the teachers to sign and then back home, Reading a book and telling the plot of the story at the end, Doing 10 subtraction problems, etc. If it is a hard one like sitting in your seat, then I divide that into three time periods and the teacher can give her up to three smiley faces or check marks on her reward sheet.

It also lists the reward they are going to get. So far we have done: Getting to go to the movie store and pick out your own movie to watch with the family, sleepover with grandma, Late night, game with mom and dad. It has been working really well.My problem though is that I had to make this up as I went along. The teachers are more than happy to do the goals, and to check things off and make notes, but not to organize the whole thing. I also thought I would have been able to find really cute goal/reward charts on the Internet that I could print off. I did find some and I will put that at the end of this post, but not many. So I decided I would just make my own. That way I can decide how many they need to get in order to get their reward. When I started this, they only had to get like five. Now I have increased it, so they are having to work harder for their prize.

It has really worked for us so far. Do we still have problems? YES! At least once a week I get a note from the teacher that something has happened, and once I got a call from the principal. But overall they are working harder, being more responsible, being more behaved, and getting better grades! If I end up making more, I will post them. Also this is the site I have been using a little:

http://www.freeprintablebehaviorcharts.com/singlebehaviorcharts.htm

Learning to count Money!!!

I have been such a big slacker! So sorry! Anyway I was thinking about what idea I wanted to share and I decided to share this.

I decided last week, that I wanted to teach my three little ones more about Money. I have a nine year old, seven year old, and a four year old. The nine year old is delayed and so she is just starting learning about money. So I came up with this idea.

I got jars and filled them with different candies. I then put prices on each of the jars. I have been using real money to encourage my kids to do things that they need to be doing. My nine year old has a real problem bringing her homework to and from school. My seven year old has a real problem with anger, and my four year old doesn't want to color or do any kind of preschool. So now they get money for this. They also get money for doing extra jobs, being kind to others, etc. Mondays and Fridays I open the store. They have to figure out the money (right now they require a lot of help with that) and then they get the candy, that they had enough money to buy.

Already I am finding that people are happier, my house is cleaner, we are being more responsible, and we are learning about money. And since they are really little candies, I don't feel bad about the amount of sugar they are getting.

This is how I set it up:

.10 two jelly bellies

.30 one gummy worm

.75 two gummy rings

1.00 Dum Dum

2.00 Mini Candy bar

3.00 Other little candies

Yes these are really high prices for things. I am very generous with the money as well, so it equals out. My goal is for them to be counting money, so by having it high, it makes them need to count more. Also my 12 year old does this also. You would think she would be mad, at how high the prices are. I have told her she can just put her money in savings if she doesn't like it. She does about 1/2 and 1/2.