There will be times when your activity feels like a Pinterest fail. Your vision won’t match the reality for miles and while one child may be totally into it, another might be eating your props (yep, the latter was absolutely Bianca this morning). Guess what? That’s life. This happens in classrooms every year, all around the globe, and you have to learn to just try your best and…
Today was our very first day of school together. I haven’t been a classroom teacher for almost a decade, and never for my own child, although we learn from each other every day. Homeschooling or micro schooling is definitely different, but it’s also pretty great. More flexibility, less kids, and more socialization than had we kept her home by herself all year. Today wasn’t perfect, but it…
Fresh air is a necessity, and especially because we spend most of our days indoors, it’s so important to extend the classroom beyond 4 walls. Back in March, in preparation for lockdown, we went to the Dollar Tree and picked up some seed packets. We had never grown sunflowers, but planting them, watering them, and tracking their progress was one of the highlights of our day, every day. They…
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…
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…
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…