During the Fall and Winter months, we tend to have A LOT more of what we like to call… ‘Appetizer Nights’. It’s exactly what it sounds like – we eat appetizers for dinner! Let’s be honest here, kids love finger foods and so do adults! So ‘Appetizer Night’ has quickly become a regular occurrence on Sunday nights in our house. (And trust me, I’m not complaining!)
I was at our family doctor’s office recently for my youngest daughter’s three year check-up. As we always do at annual check-ups, she turned her computer monitor so I could see where she fell on the growth curve. She was in the 90th percentile for height and 93rd percentile for weight. Whoa! Both of my girls had always scored high on the growth charts, but that usually tapered off by three years of age. This was clearly not the case for my spirited little one!
Our boys love going to the park. And we love taking them to the park! They love swinging. They love climbing! In fact, they love climbing up the slides as much as they like sliding down them. They’re energetic, social kids who always seem to find a group of other kids who are up for a game of tag, or hide and go seek, or manhunt, or “grounders”. (whatever that is!)
As a teacher and tutor for over 10 years, I have heard the statement “I hate homework” more often than I would like, and not just from students. There has been a lot of negative press surrounding the much maligned “homework” recently. In fact, it has been getting a bad rap for decades. Everyone is touting studies that show little or no correlation between performance and homework, while others say that any evidence that does exist between improved achievement and homework lacks a true causal link. This is particularly the case for elementary-aged students.
Like so many parts of motherhood, the first day of school is bittersweet. Your heart melts at the sight of your child walking along with a backpack that’s half their size. You feel proud as they walk through the doors of the school – maybe timidly, or perhaps bravely forging ahead. You know you’ll miss them, but you breathe a sigh of relief at the return of structure and routine. It’s complicated, as all things parenting are, and we all feel it a little bit differently.
September is always the time of year I resolve to set new, positive habits and one of the things on my list this year is philanthropy.
The idea that every student learns differently has gained widespread recognition in education theory and classroom management strategy over the past half a century. Learning is now viewed as a complex process, influenced by an individual’s own cognitive, emotional and environmental factors, as well as prior experience. Research shows that people have different preferences and strengths in how they take in and process information and these preferences are sometimes referred to as learning styles. We use learning styles to describe and help us understand the different ways in which children learn.
On the afternoon of Sunday, November 23rd, 2014, a bullet flew through our house. We don’t live in a high violence area. We don’t even live in a city. We live on a quiet street out in the country where nothing exciting EVER happens. Until that day.
September is just around the corner and that means the dreaded school lunches are BACK! As a high school teacher, I am often up and out the door before my Kindergartner and preschooler even wake up, meaning school lunches have to be made/organized in advance(well, almost all the time!).
My six year old daughter is standing across the room, putting together a salad to go with the dinner I’m making. She’s put some mixed greens in a bowl, added dressing and croutons, and is gently tossing it with a pair of tongs. She’s being helpful, learning valuable cooking skills, and is more than happy to take on this role. It’s a very sweet scene, and as I watch her, I feel grateful to be her mom.