Dear Mom Like Me

Dear mom who is run down, looks like a hot mess, feels like she can't remember who she is, is sure she is failing, feels guilty because she is secretly angry inside, is convinced her life is a hamster wheel, but somehow loves being with these amazing little people even more than she is frustrated by all of the "other" things that come along with them:

You know that you're enough, so I'm not going to tell you that. You know that this too shall pass, and you probably feel like you have no right to even tell anyone how you're feeling because you don't want someone to be confused and think that you aren't grateful for your children or that by feeling this way that you somehow take your children or your moments with them for granted.

I know you don't take the kids for granted. I know you don't take the moments for granted. I know you are grateful. But I also know that you miss yourself. I know that you struggle with being depressed and happy at the same time and man, it's so confusing. I know that you want to scream at doing 400 dishes a day, that Mt. Laundry might as well be called Mt. Never Ending Treadmill and that you just wish you could be a "normal" person (i.e. showering more than once a week) again.

Dear mama, this is what you need to know. This is what I need to know. And this is what we need to remember, and remind each other of daily:

• Your children think you're beautiful.
• No one else knows how messy your house is.
• Your kids don't care how messy your house is. (oh, the irony)
• If you're like me, you just can't accept the fact that your house is going to be messy while you have young children. Instead, work on accepting the fact that you're just going to feel crappy about how the house is while you have you have young children.
• You still have the same smile that your husband fell in love with.
• You can own your new "mom" identity. 
• You don't have to let go of who you used to be. Just because you haven't ran a marathon in 2 years, played piano in 6 months, aced a college exam in 10 years, or learned a new skill that didn't involve your offspring in...a long time..., doesn't mean that those things aren't still a part of who you are. There are seasons, and just because the corn isn't being harvested now, doesn't mean it isn't growing or that it won't be planted again. And if you decide to grow squash next time instead of corn, it's ok. Your entire life makes up you, not just the present.
• It's ok to rest. 
• It's ok to have a bad day.
• It's ok to love and hate what you're doing, where you're at, and to be frustrated by the fact that you can't change it.
• And it's ok to admit that none of these things mean that you don't love your kids more than all the other moms in the world. In fact, they have no effect on the fact that you are a rockstar mom or that your kids are going to grow up, call you blessed, and talk about the awesome memories they have of childhood--because they are going to have them. 

Maybe motherhood of young children is like childbirth; it's excruciatingly difficult at moments, but after it's done, you somehow become oblivious to the difficulties you went through and just remember the amazingness of it instead. Because let's face it, it is amazing hearing a person read for the first time. To see them discover their toes. To hear them say "I love you". The fact that we know what our baby needs by the way she cries. To be the one he needs in the middle of the night. That they want to tell us EVERYTHING. That is amazing.

And you, mama, are amazing, too. Keep your eyes above the waves. You're gonna make it, and you're gonna do great.

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How Understanding Learning Styles Can Help Your Children

We all know that individuals learn differently -- some remember best the material that they hear, while others remember what they see better. Some people need to experience something hands on in order to do it, while others need to just read the directions. These needs within us are shaped both by our experiences and our biological make up. Learning styles go beyond memory style and learning preference, though. In fact, there are a LOT of things that go into making the learning environment around your child (or yourself) as successful as possible! An article published in California Journal of Science Education, Survey of Research on Learning Styles, says that learning styles are "as individual as a signature" and that understanding them can give us the ability to set up a learning environment designed exactly as a student needs. You can read the article (and the Journal it's from, which is pretty interesting!) at http://marric.us/files/CSTA_learnjournal.pdf#page=76

According to these authors, here are the things that make up a child's learning style:

1.  Right or Left Brain Hemisphere Dominance. This information will give you an idea about the structure, independence, group/individual needs, background noise/activity, if they'll be motivated by peers or adults, and even optimal lighting for the learning environment.
2. Age and Gender. Considering these things will help you figure out lighting, mobility needs, and sound needs. For instance, the need for sound is stronger for younger children, who also need less light (the need for light increases with age). And as I'm sure you already figured, boys need to move while learning more than girls do!
3. Perceptual Preferences. According to the Institute of Learning, "Perceptual learning styles are the means by which learners extract information from their surroundings through the use of their five senses."  The different preferences (with links so you can learn more) are: 

   Print - refers to seeing printed or written words. Aural - refers to listening.  Haptic - refers to the sense of touch or grasp. Interactive - refers to verbalization.

   Kinesthetic - refers to whole body movement. Olfactory - refers to sense of smell and taste. Visual - refers to seeing visual depictions such as pictures and graphs.

   
   Studies have shown that in order to score the highest on evaluations of learning, the child should first be presented with the material in his or her perceptual preference, then that material should be reinforced by their secondary or tertiary preference (. So for example, my son is very visual. I might show him a video of a Magic School bus episode or a picture book about germs first, then I might reinforce that lesson by doing a hands on germ experiment (to meet his secondary preference for kinesthetic), and end by him listening to a song about germs (aural).
4. Social Preference. In general, small groups are best for young students (as opposed to them doing work on their own without teacher involvement), heavy social learning in Jr. High, and then tapering off to do work independently and without as much teacher involvement in High School. This can all be affected by the student, though, so remember that your child is an individual and watch (and ask) to see how he or she learns best among peers and with/without a teacher!
5. Time of Day. Is your child a morning, afternoon, or evening person? IOWA achievement test scores were significantly higher in the research when children were administered the test during the time of day that matched them best! I can vouch for this personally as I know my daughter does best with her most challenging subjects (her reading to me) in the morning, but then listens the best in the evening (if I'm reading to her).
6. Mobility Needs. (I'm going to paraphrase from the article here). A bunch of kids were sent to psychologists for hyperactivity assessments. What did the psychologists say? That the kids were just "normal kids" with higher mobility needs--they were not actually hyperactive. Furthermore, the research found that the typical classroom environment was actually HURTING the education of the high mobility needs of (mainly) boys. Yikes! So instead of running to medication or discipline, consider the possibility that your boy might just be a boy and might just need to run around. 
   

Put it all together, and you'll have a really clear picture of what your child needs in order to learn and succeed the best! Learning styles are more than just being partial to sight, sound, or hands on. How do you think you learn best, and how do you think your kids learn best after reading this post?

DIY: "The Very Hungry Caterpillar Day" activities & inspiration

I realize I'm getting this out just in the nick of time, so if you can't get everything ready for tomorrow, the first day of Spring, when The Very Hungry Caterpillar Day official occurs, plan to celebrate this weekend! You might be surprised though, how many things you already have around your house that you can throw together for a momentous day tomorrow.

Food

Create your own line of snacks that are as close to the food in the book as possible. Use a straw to poke holes in the food. Don't forget your lettuce leaf at the end! Source: The Masked Mommy

You can also recreate pictures from the book using healthy food! Source: It's Our Long Story

Sensory Tub

Throw in anything related to the book that you can find, and maybe a few other things to fill in that theme along colors or textures, too! The items included in the one shown below are dyed green rice, colored large bottle tops, colored craft sticks, cardboard tubes with shiny tape wrapped around for pouring, neon plastic shot glasses for scooping, coloured cotton reels, coloured pom poms, wooden fruit, cakes, ice creams and other food items from the story, a few real clementines for a real sensory experience, a Very Hungry Caterpillar butterfly toy (a caterpillar would be a fabulous addition too!), and a copy of the book. Source: The Inspiration Tree

DIY Felt Book

I found this unbelievably adorable and FREE felt book instructions so your little one can have a quiet book experience of The Very Hungry Caterpillar! Included are printable templates for you to follow when cutting your felt. Source: Lavender's Blue Designs



Activities

Target: small motor, colors, sequencing, math.
Instructions: Cut out 1 apple, 2 pears, 3 plums, 4 strawberries and 5 oranges out of felt. I hand drew my own stencils out of cardstock, but you can also use stencils or find free clip art online to help you with the shapes. Punch a hole through the center of each felt fruit. As you read The Very Hungry Caterpillar, have your child lace the felt fruit onto the green “caterpillar” pipe cleaner in order of them appearing in the book. Review the colors of the fruit with your child. Source: See Vanessa Craft

Target: Listening/word assimilation, motor skills, object recognition.
Instructions: Print and cut out the printables in the link (click on photo). Glue to sticks of some sort, and allow your child to choose the correct object to hold up when you get to that point in the story. You can create a story board with this by having foam blocks or an upside down egg carton for your child to stick the sticks into when you get to that point in the story, creating a visual timeline of the story when done.
Printables are from: Make It Cozee

Target: motor skills, colors, math, science
Instructions: Create a butterfly life cycle. First, look at photos/pictures of a butterfly life cycle (easy to find online), and then make your own by drawing, gluing pictures to a plate and adding arrows, or making a 3-D one like the photo below. Directions for making the one below can be found at: Classified: Mom

Games

For a huge, and I mean HUGE supply of printables, games (dominos, bingo, snakes & ladders, etc. all with "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" theme), activities, booklets, and MORE, visit English Teaching Worksheets!

Bringing Literature To Life For Your Preschooler

How to teach a story to your preschooler in five days:

Day 1: Read the story, show pictures, ask questions to assess and aid in comprehension.

 

Day 2: Assign child to create three specific age appropriate illustrations for the story. For example, in the story of The Three Bears, ask her to draw a picture of the three bears, a picture of Goldilocks eating porridge, and a picture of a bed. You can use various mediums for creating the illustrations, including stickers or coloring sheets for young children.

Retell the story to the child, using his or her illustrations as you go.



Day 3: Have the child narrate the story to you, and write it down. Bind the pictures from yesterday with the narrative to create a book (staples or a folder work just fine). Feel free to assist the child in remembering the plot, but allow the words to be direct from him or her.



Day 4: Create a song that tells the story. If you are having trouble, use a familiar tune, like “The Farmer In The Dell” or “Twinkle, Twinkle.” You can have multiple verses, and can write down the lyrics to help you remember.



Day 5: Provide the child with props, and allow him to act out the story in a play. If needed, you can read the child’s narrative or the story (or sing the song from yesterday) while he acts.



Montessori Phonetic Small Object Activities

Small objects are used in Montessori schooling to help teach a child phonetic sounds of letter names in a hands-on way. The teacher would have a box for each letter of the alphabet that contains small objects that represent that letter sound. I was going to make my own boxes, but after a few months realized what a tedious and costly adventure it was personally going to take me. Instead, I eventually purchased the Alphabet Sound Teaching Tubs from Lakeshore Learning. While they are a $150 investment, they are fabulous, save a lot of time, and I think cannot be equally done any cheaper!

Here are a list of activity ideas to use with your Phonetic Small Objects:

Seek & Find: Randomly place all of the objects from 2 or 3 boxes onto the mat and ask her to find an object that begins with one of the letter sounds. After she identifies an object correctly, she can line it up under the appropriate letter and continue the game until all objects are with their respective letter.

Please, Bring Me! Place objects from two boxes across the room on a shelf or table. Ask the student to bring you something that begins with one of the letter sounds you’re practicing. When she brings back the correct object, ask her to name it. Confirm the name and make note of the sound. Example: “Yes, that’s a ball. Can you hear the ‘b’ sound in the word ‘ball’?”

I Spy: Put several objects from various containers on the tray and say “I spy with my little eye, something that begins with the ‘t’ (or whatever) sound.” The student may then find that object and name it.

Letter Match: Place the appropriate sandpaper letters out, spaced apart. Have your child trace the letter and make the sound. Mix the objects from 2-3 boxes, and allow the child to sort them by sound, placing the objects on the correct sandpaper letter.

Large Sandpaper Letter Match: Like the above “Letter Match,” but include more letters (10-12 at a time, when the child knows that many). Have the child first trace and say the sound of the letter, then find the objects for that sound.

Story Teller: Use the small objects from one box to create a story. This will reinforce that particular letter sound. As your child grows, you can incorporate more boxes at a time, and cue your child to which object she will need to include in her story next by holding up the sandpaper letter of which the next object should have the sound of.

Memory Game: Place all objects from one box on the tray. Have your child close her eyes and remove one object. Have her open her eyes and identify which object you removed. If she gets it right, give her a token. Take turns doing this until all of the objects are gone. Whomever has the most tokens, wins.

Thanks to http://CountingCoconuts.com for inspiring me with the first handful of ideas!