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Monthly Archives: August 2020

Music as a Game Changer

I’ve been singing to my daughter since the day she was born.  Disclaimer: I am NOT a singer nor do I claim to be, but music is so heavily tied into memory and behavior management and happiness that I decided to start early.  To be honest, it just sort of happened and now Bianca expects there to be a song for a whole lot of things (my…

Art as a Process, Not a Product

There is something to be said about learning to follow directions in order to duplicate a product, but it’s not the ONLY way.  In fact, I’d much rather not show or tell a child what it’s supposed to look like at all, and have them create something original using the same materials every other person in the room was given.  Sure, it might look like total poop…

It’s Never JUST Play

Every time I hear someone say that they’re basically paying for school so someone can “just play” with their child, my hair stands on end.  Yes, it offends me.  Why?  Because I have 2 Master’s degrees that qualify me to know HOW to play with children, and what I can accomplish in 30 minutes with a child, the average person may not be able to…

Play-Doh Activities

Play-Doh doesn’t just help your children build up muscles in their hands, but it’s a ton of fun with infinite possibilities.  Even without any of the fancy sets that Play-Doh sells, kids can use their creativity to take a colorful blob and create anything their hearts desire.  Here are just a few examples: Letters – Spell out their name or words.  Need to…

Developing Fine Motor Skills Through Play Instead of Using Paper and Pencil

Often times I see families so set on getting workbooks for their littles, and although parents’ may be well intentioned, you’re talking to a woman who ended a school tour early because multiple classrooms had cookie-cutter coloring pages on display as “artwork.”  No, no, no, and absolutely not. To be clear, I’m not saying small children shouldn’t ever use pencils, crayons, and markers, but this…

Why Mother Goose Times?

I want to start off by saying that I make absolutely no money from the company whose curriculum I chose to use for my daughter.  I looked into 10 different ones (and there are many more to choose from), and it’s the only one that really stood out.  It’s research based, aligned to each state’s standards (for FL, it’s aligned to the old standards…