Four and a half years ago, we moved our little family across our state. It was a good move for us - good job, great place to live, close to our siblings - but it still took a toll on our little guy who had just turned 4. After several months of adjustment, we finally clicked into a routine, but the first weeks in our new place were an upheaval for us. Here are some tips to keep in mind when moving with little ones:
If there is one part of child-rearing that I absolutely would outsource, it is potty training. There are no clear rules to potty training. No perfect age, no best method, no sure-fire absolute way. Each child is different.
Our natural world is the perfect classroom on so many levels. The world is full of color, vibrancy, life, science, history. It is an inspiration for art, writing, music and dance. And, our world is so mathematical.
Not exactly what you were expecting? Read more…
If there is one item in my 4 year-old class that thrills every single one of my students, it is my set of pattern blocks. My class loves to create patterns and pictures with shapes, creating art and objects using squares, hexagons, triangles and quadrilaterals. This activity always manages to lead the child to discover the properties of shapes in regards to angles and sides: how different shapes can “interlock”, which shapes work best for creating patterns, and which shapes do not work at all. Read more…
Montessori is not a new word in our vocabulary. Maria Montessori, an Italian educator, developed this once-unique style of learning over 100 years ago. Since then, the Montessori method has been utilized worldwide to establish a strong educational foundation for children, and it has even been used with older children as well. Like any other method of learning, it is not the best way to learn for every child, but it is a highly positive, highly motivational, and extremely hands-on way to establish key educational concepts with young children. Read more…
Some mornings are a breeze in getting my crew out the door and on our way to school and our other activities. Other mornings, though, are a fight from the second their little eyes open until we all get to our destination. What makes those great mornings so great? Here are a few things I’ve observed that help us get off to a great start (even on a Monday!).
Something amazing happened here Wednesday night. My older son was finishing his homework, and my three year old was sitting at the table as well, coloring in a blank sketch pad. He’s been fixated on letters for a while (I teach 4 year old pre-k classes during the week, so we have quite a few “letter” toys), so I wasn’t too shocked when he drew almost a complete circle and said, “C! The C says /k/!” What impressed me was when he turned the page and wrote his name. Read more…
Do you remember the palette of paint you had as a child? It was probably the rectangular box with the eight or so oval color “bricks”: red, orange, yellow, green, blue violet, brown and black. The plastic brush would nestle right in front, and you would get a little cup of water to rinse off your brush - a cup of water that would magically turn murky brown to black after only a few rinsings. Read more…
