How to Keep Your Kids Organized This Summer

Kids love structure and to know what is expected of them. Today we finished our summer job charts. Each child printed out their list and put it in a frame so they can use a dry erase marker to check off the items that are done! If you would like to create a chart like this for your child, visit www.myjobcharts.com. 

Changing Schools Need Not be a Hair-Raising Experience

"By the way, your children are going to be just fine in their new school." These are the comforting words my doctor said to me as he looked me in the eye before leaving the exam room. It made me smile, because I knew he was right.

I "know" my children are going to be fine there. They will be fine almost anywhere, because they are very adaptable kids, but somehow this worry affected me so deeply that it has caused me to lose what feels like an enormous amount of my long locks (hence the visit to the doctor).

I've been through this before. Stress brings it on. Or shall I say, "makes it fall out."

But I thought I was dealing with the stress better, so it came as a surprise when the strands of hair just kept falling and falling and falling. My hair feels noticeably thinner now.

What happened to cause all of this shedding? We found out last April that none of the other four boys in my son's fourth grade class were planning on returning to the school for fifth grade. It's a smaller school -- his grade only had 16 students, five of whom were boys.

Although it was small, it worked with five boys. But, to think he might be the only boy or one of only two or three boys was unacceptable to my son, my husband and myself. Especially since he is at the height of his tween years -- he needs the influence and camaraderie of other boys.

After prayerful consideration and much research, we decided it was best to make a move. Luckily, we have many great schools in our area and found no problem with discovering a school with a larger population of boys that met all of our other criteria. That was the easy part. So, why the stress?

We had just changed schools when we moved across the country three years earlier, so I was worried that another school change so soon might be difficult for them.

• I worried if they would be OK in a larger school.
• I worried if they would get lost in the shuffle.
• I worried about them making new friends.
• I worried if the kids at the new school would be nice.
• I worried about the old school -- about the impact of five children leaving one grade.
• I worried about what other people were saying about our family's decision.
• I worried I was letting people down -- even thought I knew our decision was right for our children.

But now that school has started, and I have seen that the kids are doing just fine, I think what is happening with my tresses is the release of this worry.

I think my hair is giving me the signal to shed the worry -- like the trees shed their leaves in the fall. They die for the winter so they can live in the spring. It's time for me to put an end to the worry so I can live in the bountiful harvest of "now" ... which, by the way, is a really wonderful place!

Don't Cry Over Spilled Freeze Pops

Oh how I love perfection! In everything I think, say and do, I am always shooting for it, but sometimes, too many times, I fall way short.

I was given some experiences to practice the other day that were just hilarious in retrospect, so I wanted to share.

Alyssa asked if she could open the box of Freeze-Pops I bought that day. She has been bugging me to buy them all summer, and, I have been trying to let her do more things on her own, so I handed her a pair of scissors to open the box.

I supervised, of course, but before I could stop her, she stabbed the top of the box with the scissors. She didn't know any better, and has probably seen me open boxes this way before ... but that is not the tactic I would use with a box of 100 tubes of spill-able, sticky, staining liquid!

So, I showed her the right way to open the box, which did not really need scissors, by the way (my bad). Then we peeked inside to assess the damage. Luckily, there was only one pop that was leaking. No biggie, so I took that one to the sink and asked her to put the rest in the freezer.

For some reason, she thought she needed to separate the pops before putting them in the freezer, and as she pulled them apart, one ripped right in the middle. Spill-able, sticky, staining, red liquid shot everywhere as I carried the carnage over to the sink to dispose of it! And that is when I lost it. I yelled out her name in a frustrated, blaming tone, as if it was her fault.

It was not her fault. I'm the one who decided it would be wise to carry the darn thing over to the sink, not her. She didn't do anything wrong by tearing them apart, that's what she thought she was supposed to do. She ran up to her room crying. Who could blame her.

After I cleaned up the mess, I went up to her room, knocked on her door, got down on my knees to her level and said, "I am so sorry for yelling at you. That was not your fault. You did nothing wrong. Can you forgive me?" Thankfully, she did!

This story would be finished if that was the end of the excitement for that day, but alas, it was not. The next mess occurred just two hours later as we were leaving for a potluck dinner at church. We had baked some really cool cupcakes with filling in the middle.

As we were leaving, Alyssa volunteered to put them in the car. I was happy to let her help. She took the container from me, but could not fit it between the seats, so she tipped it sideways to make it fit! Logical, right? Well, not if what is in the container is frosted cupcakes!!!

"Nooooooo," I yelled out! At that moment, I remembered the lesson I learned earlier, so I asked her to hand me the container, and I brought it back inside to the kitchen table to survey the damage.

My first reaction, was, "Great. They're toast." But after a deep breath and a second look, I realized I could salvage the cupcakes if I re-frosted the tops and pulled the paper wrappers off the bottoms (because they were now covered in frosting).

Nobody followed me inside the house to see what was happening (they were probably afraid of my reaction), so I went back out to the car and told them to come back in while I repaired the damage, because it was a scorching 94 degrees outside.

Alyssa stood next to me while I doctored them up. I could tell she was waiting to see if I was going to get angry, so I said, "Boy are we having a wacky day, or what?" She laughed and started making jokes of her own.

As an added bonus, my dad was there, so he helped me clean up the mess and we were back on our way out the door in no time.

For the record, the cupcakes turned out fabulous! And hopefully I'm well on my way to learning not to cry (or yell) over spilled things!

Making Homework Time More Peaceful

This year the kids both have a sizable amount of homework -- Tyler's takes about an hour, and Alyssa's takes about half an hour.

For these first few weeks of school, we've been doing homework together -- both kids at the same time, but I was starting to notice that they each needed enough of me that there was not enough of me to go around.

It was starting to cause frustration for all of us, because we all just wanted this homework thing to be done so we could get to playing!

I came to my senses yesterday and presented this challenge and my feelings about it to the kids for their help in solving it.

We threw out some solutions, including 1) them being more patient with me and each other and we still do it together or 2) we have one child do their homework at a time.

They decided they would like to split it up so each child gets their own time with mom on homework.

For any of you who have read The 5 Love Languages by Dr. Gary Chapman, both of my kids speak the love language of quality time, so, this choice was not a surprise.

Tyler piped up and said he would prefer to go first since it stresses him out to let his homework linger. Alyssa said it didn't matter if she went first or second. Wow! That was easy! Yippee!

So, today was our first day of splitting it up, and it went much better than previous days! So much more peaceful. Whew. I am not sure if this is exactly how we will continue, but at least for now while we are still adjusting to the new school year, this may help alleviate some after school stress for all of us.

So, here it is ... about 4:00, both kids are done with homework and playing independently and I have time to write this blog! Feels good!

I'm not sure how other moms handle this situation, but hopefully our solution is helpful information for some of you. Happy Thursday!

What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

I love that Kelly Clarkson song, "What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger."

I think it's a great reminder that the trials we experience in life can help us grow if we choose to let them.

I put the word choose in bold, because that is the key. When trouble comes our way, we have a choice -- we can either grow from it or become the victim.

The correct answer is to choose to grow -- and the proof is in the past. If you look back over your life, you will see that you grew the most as a person during the biggest challenges of your life.

I recently appreciated this gentle reminder from a couple of friends as I expressed my frustration about some of the challenges Alyssa has experienced in school this year. I was dwelling on the negative. I kept saying, "I can't believe this is how her Kindergarten year turned out." I was momentarily stuck in the disappointment of wishing things would have been different for her this year.

But my friends helped me see the positive in it. They reminded me of the promise I already made to myself. That I would not dwell on the negative. That I would sieze the opportunity to teach Alyssa and help her grow through the challenges. That all of the work we are doing with her now will be of benefit to her later, as well.

One of my friends has a fantastic approach to helping her children deal with problems at school. She sympathetically listens, talks about solutions with them, then asks them, "What are we learning from this?" I love that question at the end, because I think it solidifies the lesson and shows them how to better handle these problems in the future.

I think we are giving our children a huge gift if we can teach them at a young age how to look at life's challenges as growth opportunities -- and it helps us remember to do the same!

Because really, what else are we going to do?  Everyone has challenges in life. The most important thing is how we get through them -- if we stay positive, we will come out Stronger in the end.

---This blog is dedicated to all parents! We have such an important job!

Looking Beneath The Surface With Kids

Yesterday I noticed Tyler treating me less than respectfully. A little eye roll here, a tough tone of voice there. I was alarmed by it. This is not normal behavior for Tyler. Although I felt agitated, instead of yelling at him in the heat of the moment, I waited until later and pulled him aside to talk about it.

I gently asked him if anything was wrong. Told him I noticed he wasn't being very respectful to me -- I cited examples. I asked him if there was anything I did to make him upset with me.

He said "no," then he got all serious. He looked down and started to cry. He said that a project at school was really overwhelming and that he was feeling very stressed out about it.

So, we talked about that for a while. Then, I told him how we treat other people is a reflection of how we treat ourselves. So, perhaps the reason why he was being hard on me was because he was being too hard on himself regarding this project at school.

You see, Tyler's real problem was not with me, even though he was taking it out on me. It was within himself with his own thought patterns.

I talked up his little self-esteem by telling him what a wonderful student he is. That I am totally confident he will do a great job on the project. That I know he will do his best work -- he always does. I also pointed out that what he is learning is valuable and will be needed in future grades.

This seemed to help my little guy quite a bit. It took him a little while to perk back up, but he surely did! By this morning he seemed his normal self. It was surprising that a third grade project would have him so worried, but to him, it's a really big deal.

The reason I am sharing this with all of you is to show you how you can get to the heart of matters with your children. When they act out, dig deeper. Be a good observer of their behavior and really listen when they tell you what is wrong. You'll be amazed at how much you can help them!

I am happy to teach all moms about how to utilize these valuable parenting tools! Contact me if you would like more information!

All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten

Remember that poem "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" by Robert Fulghum? Boy, has that been on my mind lately.

Almost every day since school started, Alyssa has been coming home upset with stories about how friends were not nice.

The types of things we are talking about are things like excluding friends from the group, not cooperating while figuring out what they want to play, saying hurtful things like "you're not my friend" or "I wish you didn't go to this school." (Ouch!)

Initially, I was so surprised that we were having these types of friendship experiences in kindergarten, but it turns out I'm not alone. Some even say it's normal. (Yuck!)

Lately, I've spoken with many moms who have had children in kindergarten, and they all say they've experienced the same thing. REALLY? Oh my gosh! I thought kids wouldn't learn how to hurt someone's feelings until later -- much later.

I have found it difficult to teach Alyssa how to be a good friend. The dynamics seem to be so complex and mature for this age. But, believe me, I have been working on it. We've read age-appropriate books, we've had many mother-daughter conversations, we've prayed, we've asked for divine guidance, and, of course, I've done my research by reading parenting articles, talking to the teachers and speaking to other moms.

Things seem to be normalizing, but I intend to keep these conversations and lessons going. Now, instead of looking at the situation with frustration, I am looking at it as an opportunity to teach Alyssa how to be a good friend at a young age. I know these lessons will help her for years to come.

I think a couple of the most helpful things I've done have been communicating with other moms, praying with Alyssa, and bringing the language back down to her level. That's what made me think of the kindergarten poem. I think I was initially trying to help her with a complex adult mind, instead of going back to basics -- back to kindergarten -- back to the simple mind of a child.

A few of my kindergarten tips:

• Be nice.
• Cooperate.
• Share.
• Don't hit.
• Don't push.
• Say you're sorry.
• Forgive.

My favorite line of the poem is this: When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.

I saw Alyssa holding hands with one of her friends today, and it warmed my heart. I know the learning curve has been challenging, but I see them all sticking together.

A bit of Nostalgia

Well, we've made the "temporary" move to Illinois. It has been very interesting, going back to the place I grew up, now that I have children of my own. While we anxiously wait for our home in Florida to sell so we can buy a new home, we are staying at my Grandmother's house.

As luck would have it, she vacated her house just weeks before we needed a place to stay in the Chicago area. She is now living with my aunt in Wyoming.

I'm so grateful she is with my aunt and has care 24/7, and I know it is the best place for her to be right now, but on the other side of that thought is amazement at how life goes sometimes. I moved to Florida 15 years ago...never really thought I'd move back. But, here I come, moving back, and there she goes. On almost every phone conversation I've had with my grandmother over the years, she always said she wished we didn't have to live so far apart. I did too. I missed her a lot.

My grandmother has always been a very big part of my life. We spent almost every Sunday at her house growing up, and I would stay with her and my grandfather for a week or two during the summers. I have SO many memories at their house. Throughout my childhood, their house was a very comfortable place for me. How fitting is it that it is available to me now when I need it? It's really too much for words.

The experience has been surreal so far. All the memories in the house, the yard, the neighborhood. Driving down the street. I feel like I am moving in slow motion. I know part of that is because I just uprooted myself and my kids and moved across the country, but the emotions associated with staying here are impossible to ignore. I feel sad, because I miss my grandparents, but grateful that their home is available. I am also grateful, because it throws me smack in the middle of all these childhood memories that I can share with Tyler and Alyssa.

One of my most sentimental memories is of feeding the animals in my Grandma's driveway. She put bread out for the birds every day. We'd tear up the bread, then go inside to the window and watch them eat. Tyler and Alyssa LOVE this activity! I let them do the feeding, then we wait and watch! Birds, squirrels, bunnies and chipmunks all graze on the bread! What fun! It tickles my funny bone to watch Tyler and Alyssa enjoy this activity!

 Written in honor of my Grandmother and in memory of my Papa. Thanks for the memories...

The "Stay-at-Home Mom" of the 2000's

I am so excited that one of my public relations projects -- The Million Dollar Coupon -- has been included in David Meerman Scott's newest version of The New Rules of Marketing & PR!

It got me thinking, "Not too shabby for a stay-at-home mom."

Gone are the days where women who choose to leave the workplace to take care of their children can not be successful in their careers. Gone are the days of the dreaded "gap" on a woman's resume for her years as a stay-at-home mom. Today, millions of moms are leaving their full-time jobs to spend more time with their children and pursue their careers.

For the record, I am not advocating that every mom should be a stay-at-home mom. I think moms should do whatever they think works best for their family. I always say, "I am not worthy of working moms!" I don't know how they get everything done in the little time they have before and after work each day. For me, though, being a stay-at-home mom has been the right choice.

Above all, the experience of seeing this project receive recognition from David Meerman Scott makes me grateful for all of the people and experiences in my life. If it weren't for the support of my husband, family and friends, I would not be able to do what I do and remain even remotely sane. So, thank you to all of you! Especially my mother-in-law, who helps with the kids so often!

In addition to the gratitude, I guess my message to those of you reading this is that you can do anything you set your mind to with the right tools and attitude. Here's to a great 2010! Thanks for reading!

Who says lullabies have to be "official" lullabies?

Today, Alyssa and I sat at the kitchen table and colored Christmas pictures. To help entertain her and set the mood, I started singing some Christmas songs for her. That reminded me of when Tyler was born -- December 23, 2002!

As a first-time mom, I didn't know any "real" lullabies, so I sang him Christmas songs instead! I sang the same four songs every time -- for as long as I needed to. :) I honestly can't remember exactly which four right now, but I think my serenade included Up on the Housetop, Rudolph, Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman. Hey! At least I didn't sing Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer!

I know. I know. You're all shocked and surprised that I did not research lullabies before Tyler was born. It is true. I was not prepared for that! Now you know -- I am not the perfect mother after all!

Sometimes I felt silly singing Christmas songs, instead of real lullabies, but mostly that was in May, long after the Christmas season was over! Luckily, before I knew it, December had rolled around again! It's like fashion -- if you hold onto it long enough it will come back into style! :) Just kidding!

Anyway, thinking of all of this today reminded me of a great book for moms. It's called I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids. If you haven't read it, I would strongly encourage it! It takes a hilarious approach at addressing the image of perfection we all have as moms. I could write on this topic for hours! But not today!

So, now you know one of my (many) imperfections! I sang Christmas songs for lullabies to my first child! Tee Hee Hee!

Talking Out of Turn

Normally, I take this time to provide my readers with insight and inspiration, but this week, I could use a little inspiration from you!

My challenge of late is how my soon-to-be 7-year-old and my 4-year-old talk over each other. One of them will be talking away, and the other just can't wait to jump in and tell their own story.

This usually happens in the car and ends up with Alyssa yelling and crying, because Tyler won't stop talking. Heaven forbid someone besides Alyssa be talking when she has something to say! :) This frustrates me to no end. I think it's Alyssa's crying and yelling that really get my goat. Plus, Tyler's determination to finish what he was saying, whether he was talking first or not.

I have tried to calmly explain that they need to be respectful and wait until the other is finished speaking. I have tried to keep my mouth shut and let them duke it out. I have also ended up yelling (no, I'm not proud of that).

I'm out of ideas. I was wondering how other parents handle this with their children. Does it frustrate you as much as it frustrates me? Got any tactics to share??? Let me know!

Using Gratitude to Change the Mood

One recent morning as my husband and I were loading the children into the car for school, I was feeling stressed out and overwhelmed. I was trying to talk to my husband, and the kids kept interrupting. We couldn’t even get a sentence out before one of them had something to tell us. I felt very frustrated and firmly asked the kids to “give us a minute.”

Of course, that made me feel worse.

As we started driving to school, the energy in the car was negative and heavy. I didn’t want the day to start like this, so I tried to think of what I could do to change the mood. I remembered my life coach taught me that gratitude can do just that.

I asked the kids to tell me what they were grateful for. This is an exercise we do almost daily – but I’ve never purposefully used it to change the mood.

Alyssa said she was grateful for school, the playground, her friends and trees. Tyler mentioned his family, school and his teachers. I told them I was thankful for a car to get us to and from school, for their health, for Paul’s help getting them ready for school that morning and for a beautiful sunrise.

We continued to talk about the things that made us feel grateful most of the way to school. I noticed the mood in the car literally lifted and turned into positive energy.

It felt great to give Tyler a kiss and see his big, sweet smile as he got out of the car to go into school that morning. I knew I had started his day off on the right foot…and for that, I am grateful!

Bravery in the Mommy Sphere

I was a very brave mommy yesterday. I allowed our teenage babysitter to take our children into the swimming pool without my presence.

It was a first. I thought it would be a good idea, because I was going to be gone for several hours at a couple of meetings, and I wanted the kids to have fun while I was gone.

When I first had the idea, I was totally comfortable with it. But, as I started to fall asleep in bed that night, I began to freak out!

"Oh my gosh...children drown in pools every day, what was I thinking?"

Let me say that our sitter is 19 years old. Extremely responsible. Extremely capable. It's just that accidents happen.

When she arrived yesterday, I smiled and admitted my fears. We decided to keep the kids in the shallow end and drew an imaginary line across the pool.

I explained that Paul and I always pay full attention to the kids when they are in the pool. We don't read magazines or talk on our cell phones, and the kids are not allowed in the pool without us.

I also asked her to text me before they got in and when they got out so I would know when to start and stop worrying! :) Too funny, I know!

All went great! No problems! Her texts came in just as I would have expected! Whew!

Many thanks to our wonderful sitter! I don't think I'd ask one of our 16-year-old sitters to do that for me. It's just such a HUGE responsibility. Sometimes I'm afraid to be in the pool alone with both kids!

Whew. Bravery.

A Playdate at the Airport?

I don't know about your kids, but my kids love the airport. In addition to the excitement of the hustle and bustle, we have a beautiful, new airport here in Fort Myers. It has enormous windows that let in a ton of natural sunlight and give a great view of the runway.

We parked in the long-term parking lot so we could ride the shuttle bus up to the terminal. Major excitement for the kiddies!

Then we explored around the shops in the airport and discovered many interesting things, including these awesome chocolate sea shells. We even got to sample them!

The kids were then drawn to the enormous windows and played there for a good while, making up imaginary games and scenarios.

When everyone decided they were hungry we strolled over to Chili's Too for some lunch. The kids kept busy with the sugar packets while we waited for our food. What is it with children and sugar packets? Somehow we could not fit all of the sugar packets back into their containers....sorry about that, Ms.Waitress. We tried!

Afterward, we added to the excitement by riding the escalator down to the transportation floor. They kids always love those! Then, we hopped back onto the bus for one last spin around the airport. What a fun adventure! Does that give you any ideas for other creative play dates with your children?

Musical Chairs at Dinner?

It's no secret that my 3-year-old daughter is a challenge for me to parent. It's not that she's bad -- she is not ... in any way, shape or form -- it's just that she's motivated very differently than I am. (Can you tell from the picture what type of a personality we are dealing with here?)

Parenting her requires me to be very creative and PATIENT. It's exhausting and fun at the same time.

As with many children her age, dinnertime is a struggle. Almost every night, she winds up having a meltdown at the table -- just in time for Daddy to get home. "I swear, she wasn't like this all day," I say.

She cries and complains that she doesn't like what's on her plate, or it's too much, or she's too tired. You name it, there's a reason for her meltdown.

I've learned that I have two choices when this happens -- I can beg and plead with her until I get angry and send her to her room, or I can try to shift her energy from negative to positive.

It's easier said than done. Some nights I feel like I have nothing left to give. No creative juices left (because, the same trick never works twice, you know!).

Tonight, as she freaked out while I tried to entice her to eat, I declared that she must be sitting in the "crabby" chair.

"That's it!" I said. "No wonder you are crabby every time you sit down for dinner. You're sitting in the crabby chair!"

"Hey, let's play musical chairs so you don't have to be in the crabby chair anymore!"

"Everybody up!"

At this point, I am met by looks that say, "Are you serious?" from my husband and both children.

"Seriously! Everybody up," I say.

"Wahoo! Do Si Do! Around we go! Move your chair to the person on your right! Come on ya'll! Move those chairs!"

I was the lucky one to get the crabby chair next. After getting back settled down, I proceeded to demonstrate that it was, in fact, the chair that was causing the crabbiness. I made crabby faces and spoke in a crabby voice. I even pretended to throw a fit. The kids were in stitches! My husband must have thought I was crazy!

The bottom line? Alyssa ate her dinner in no time. It was probably a record. Seriously.

Unfortunately, this trick will probably not work again, but it was fun while it lasted!

Making Memories out of Everyday Life

While on vacation this weekend, my sister presented my mother and I with a book called "Cold Tangerines." We're going to do a virtual book club! How cool is that?

I am so excited about the book -- it's tagline is "celebrating the extraordinary nature of everyday life." Coincidentally, the tagline of my blog is "On a Quest to Make Memories out of Every Day." So I can see already that this book is going to jive with my way of thinking.

I already started the book and am loving it! The biggest point I took from the first chapter was that we should not sit here waiting for life to be what we want it to be. We need to appreciate every moment of every day for what it is and work to make it what we want it to be.

We need to eliminate phrases like, "Life will be better when ... (insert your mantra here)." Mine would be something like. "Life will be better when my kids are a little more grown up and aren't so demanding of me."

If we sit here waiting for life to be better, we will be missing the life that is passing us by.

Here's the most inspiring quote for me:

"The Heisman Trophy winner knows...that his big moment was not when they gave him the trophy. It was the thousand times he went to practice instead of going back to bed. It was the miles run on rainy days, the healthy meals when a burger sounded like heaven. That big moment represented and rested on a foundation of moments that had come before it."

Wow. How true is that? If we all keep pushing and working hard, who knows what "big moments" we might have. More to come later!

Kids and Commercials

Happy Monday!

Until recently our children have not watched television with mega commercials -- we kept them focused on Noggin and Sprout, where commercials are minimal.

However, Tyler has recently started watching some age-appropriate shows on Discovery Kids, such as Bindi the Jungle Girl. Little did we know, he was taking in more than the show information!

One night at dinner he said, "Mom, you've got to get the Touch N' Brush!"

My reaction was, of course, "Huh?"

It was then that he proceeded to recite the entire commercial to us! We heard phrases like:

• No more messy bathroom sinks!
• No more fighting for the last drop of paste!
• Presenting the Touch N Brush!
  

Paul and I were laughing so hard it hurt! Wow! Fun Stuff! We had him act it out so we could catch it on video! Check it out on YouTube!

Now he's telling me everything I need to buy. Yikes!

Conversation in the Car

I've been trying something new for the past 2 weeks -- no radio in the car with the kids. It was a challenge by my life coach that was only supposed to last one week, but I liked it so much we have continued it.

Instead of trying to zone out and drive and hope the kids don't "bother" me in the middle of a good song, we're actually having conversations! I find that I am less "bothered" this way.

It used to be that I would spend quality time with them at home and expect to be able to relax and drive (if those two things go together) in the car.

But now, I'm taking the time to talk to the kids, teach them things as we drive and answer their questions without feeling bothered.

The last two days we have focused on the letter "B." We look for signs that have "B's" on them and for objects that begin with "B's." I also brought the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See, by Eric Carle in the car -- since it begins with "B." (This was yet another suggestion from my literacy class!) Tyler read it to us.

Anyway, it's been great! Give it a try!

Making Summertime Memories

Welcome! The newest thing on my horizon this summer is this great literacy class I'm taking for the kids. It’s being taught here in Fort Myers by three lovely women. Their names are Judy O’Halloran, Peggy Van Voorhis and Marilyn Senior.

I’ve learned that I can make an educational, fun experience out of everything we do. Judy, Peggy and Marilyn suggest six areas of learning for each experience – reading, writing, speaking, media, listening and critical thinking.

Here’s how it works. My family and I are going on a summer vacation to Illinois for my brother’s wedding. I’ll give you one example of how we can incorporate each of the six areas.

Reading: Before we leave, we’ll read a book or two about weddings.

Speaking: I’ll tell the children a story about my wedding. We'll chat about it.

Writing: I’ll have the children draw me a picture about a wedding. My older son can write a sentence or two to go along with it.

Listening: We’ll listen to some common songs that are played at weddings.

Media: While on our trip, we will take pictures and put them in a scrapbook when we get home. I could have my 6-year-old Google weddings and see what he finds (don't worry -- we have parental controls set up on his computer!)

Critical Thinking: I’ll ask them questions about the wedding. What they liked, what they didn’t. Why they think certain things happened.

The purpose behind all of this is to make a total experience out of everything you do! We’re not simply going to a wedding this summer, we’re also learning all about weddings in a very fun way!

You’ll probably notice that you are already doing some of these things with your kids – but what this philosophy did for me is put a framework around it. It gives it purpose.

Following this philosophy has been tons of fun for all of us this summer! They love it! After only doing it with them once or twice, my son started leading the activities!

For more information about the class, email Judy O’Halloran. I'm going to write out her email address to ensure she doesn't get spam. Her address is johalloran at comcast dot net.