3 Ways to Achieve the Best Homeschooling Environment for Kids

August 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment
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Image by isafmedia via Flickr

Homeschooling is a big commitment but one that can bring your family closer and keep you in touch with your children’s interests and passions.

Staying organized right from the beginning will alleviate a lot of stress for everyone involved. Here are three suggestions that can help make your homeschooling adventure something to look forward to every day.

  1. Stay organized by planning daily lessons and gathering all the materials and books required for each lesson. One good method is to put everything needed for the day in a large plastic tub labeled with the child’s name. Kids love having a tub full of fun looking stuff to get into every day.
  2. Neatness counts and is important when you’re dealing with a lot of expensive learning materials. Teach your children to clean up after each activity and put things away. Schedule a half hour at the end of your homeschooling day when everyone pitches in and straightens the house for the evening. For peace of mind, arrange for contents insurance if you decide to invest in a lot of tools and materials such as microscopes, musical instruments and books.
  3. Be flexible with your schedule and let your homeschooling day evolve with your children’s interests and needs. Sometimes the most memorable learning adventures are unscheduled.

If you plan to invite other children to visit for play dates or to attend lessons with your kids, you should consider consulting a policy expert to make sure you’re covered in the event a child is injured while at your home.

Taking the time to arrange and plan for your homeschooling environment will insure that teaching your children is an experience your entire family will remember and treasure for the rest of their lives.

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Filed Under: Child Development, Discipline Tagged With: , ,

Taking Your Daughter to American Girl Place

June 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Molly McIntire from the American Girl doll series.

Image via Wikipedia

If you have a daughter, you might want to consider taking her to American Girl Place. This is the perfect opportunity for mommy to get one-on-one time with your daughter. This trip to American Girl Place will be an exciting experience for not only your daughter, but for you, as well. Enjoying this with your daughter will most likely bring back vivid memories from when you yourself were a child playing with your dolls.

Not only does each location offer shopping, but they offer many more experiences. You can start your day off by shopping in the store for your daughter’s perfect doll. You can shop for the perfect accessories and American girl doll clothing that will best fit your daughter’s doll of choice. Consider purchasing your daughter a matching tee shirt with her doll.

After she picks out her doll, you can enjoy having lunch with her in the same area. Once your daughter has a full tummy from eating the delicious food on site, give her the opportunity to have a photo shoot with her doll. She will be given an issue of American Girl magazine with her face on the cover to take home as a souvenir.

The American Girl Place has their own Doll Hair Stylist. This is an area that will allow your child’s doll to receive a new hair style of choice, whether its braids, a cut, or an up-do.

Why not consider getting your daughter’s doll’s ears pierced? It comes with a pair of silver stud earrings.

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Disciplining Small Children

June 11, 2011 By Leave a Comment

For children who are around the age of two, discipline can be one of the more challenging of subjects not only for the child but also for the adult in his life. The problem is simple – a child this young does not have the ability to understand why he should not do something. He is also testing the boundaries in every direction he can as he naturally explores the world.

Tips for Success

During this early time, it is never a good idea to spank the child, as it is not okay to do that at any time, experts say. The following are some tips to help you with the toddle age discipline.

  • Consider timeouts, especially for children who are closer to three. This is a good option because it allows the child to calm down and to relate doing the bad thing to sitting in timeout.
  • Initially, when the child begins to do something you do not want him to do, it is a good idea for you simply to distract the child after telling him no. It does not have to be a screaming match.
  • Removing the child from the problem area may be necessary. This is especially true whenever there is a tantrum brewing. Calming the child and then telling him why you did so is important.

Every child’s needs are different, but it is a good idea simply to stay calm and collected yourself when you are trying to discipline. The child is most likely to mimic your behavior now and down the road as well. The key to being successful, too, is to be consistent when disciplining the child.

 

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Filed Under: Child Development, Discipline, Parenting Tagged With: , ,