50 Shades of MOM

Okay fellow moms, check this out for #funFriday.  Which of these 50 Shades of Mom are you feeling today???

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Food and Learning?

by Kristin Miller on 04/18/16

Yes - we love learning with food.  I mean, come on, how many times growing up were you allowed to paint with your yogurt???  Super fun!

From painting with our applesauce and ketchup, to smearing our yogurt, coloring on tortillas, learning the colors with our fruit loops cereal, scooping up rice, and making letters with our cheese and crackers.  There are endless opportunities to learn using food.  It is so practical and easy; and the best thing, the kids LOVE it (because they get to eat their "homework" - literally!)

5 Foods to Easily Learn with at Any Home:

1. Tortilla or Bread - Have your child build their fine-motor skills to tear the pieces apart.  Then, color on them!

2.  Thick Liquids or Foods as Sauce (Ketchup, Yogurt, Applesauce, Mustard, Jelly, ect) - Just for some messy fun, let your child finger-paint (or use a paintbrush) to smear these fun sauces around on thick white paper!

3. Foods you can Cook (spaghetti noodles, rice, ect.) - After they have cooled off, throw some noodles in a bucket (or rice).  Give your child a cup, fork, and a spoon to stir.  Creative imagination and pretend play will be sure to keep your child busy as they make some spaghetti or rice for you!

4. Snack Time Foods - Like crackers and cubed cheese - Use these to teach tons of learning skills, like letters, numbers, counting, and making shapes.  Check out our other blog post specifically for ideas HERE.  

5. Breakfast Time Foods - Using a variety of cereals to teach learning concepts, such as colors, counting, making letters, and using to build fine-motor skills and literacy awareness!

- See more at: http://www.eteachingme.com/Mom-Blog.html?entry=food-and-learning#sthash.yvSzqBTg.dpuf

Disney in the Mail

What a great opportunity for your kids to interact with Disney, without having to actually be there (and save thousands of dollars)!!!  I can't take the credit for this one, however; I found the idea while scrolling through my Facebook feed one day (not sure who the actual source was).  But thanks to one of my good friends, she shared this idea on her FB feed, which led to me wanting to do it with my kids, and paying it forward to share with you, too!

This is an easy thing to do, and can be done with no planning, right in your own home.  Just have your kids draw a picture or write a letter to their favorite Disney character, put it in the mail to the address listed below, and wait a few weeks to get a little something in your home mailbox in return.  

We did this over the summer in my home.  My kids LOVED picking out their favorite character to mail a picture too, and when their Disney postcards came in the mail in return, they were so excited!!  Try it!

Mail to:

Attention:  (Your child's characters name)

Walt Disneyworld Communications

P.O. Box 10040

Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830-0040

See more at: http://www.eteachingme.com/Mom-Blog.html?entry=disney-in-the-mail#sthash.7Hu5arZj.dpuf

Elf on the Shelf - Fun ideas & Teaching Tools

In my family we love "Frank the Elf!"  He is always getting into something!  My kids love finding him every morning throughout December.  As I "try to keep up" and "be a good mom" preparing him for each morning - I have also have taken the time to think about what really matters?  During this time of year, we are busy.  We are awaiting the arrival of Jesus' birthday.  We are shopping for presents.  We are taking the kids to go see Santa.  And we are trying to Pinterest ways we can "set up" our Elf so it is fun for our kids.  

However, I am all about meaning, too.  As it just is important to make sure we continue this fun Elf tradition for/with our children - we must also stop and remind ourselves to take each moment, as a learning opportunity.  In our household, we must not forget what the true meaning of Christmas is really all about too!  Therefore, I created this Calendar!  It gives you daily ideas of how to "set up" your Elf on the Shelf, and then approach your kids finding Elf as a learning opportunity.  Every day gives you a "set up" and teaching tool.  Integrated within the monthly calendar, are Christian opportunities for you to also teach your child what the real meaning of Christmas is all about!

Enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Learning with Home-Made Tools

Teachers, parents, and nannies .... teaching your child is easy and interactive with this "outside of the box" thoughtful idea!  You can vary it in many different unique ways, for any age, to teach multiple concepts, anywhere at anytime!

Watch our Videos for an interactive experience of HOW-TO TEACH this Lesson Plan 

Video 1

Video 2

Lesson Plan:  Learning Literacy using Home-Made Tools

Age Range - 1 to 5 years old

Cognitive Learning Focus Areas:  Literacy, Math, Language development, Early reading readiness, Fine-motor skills, Hand-eye coordination

Author:  Kristin Miller, M. Ed. Founder www.eteachingme.com 

Materials needed:
Paper towel roll
Black magic marker
Long white art paper (or poster board) cut into strips (about 1 1/2 feet long and 1 inch wide)

What to do:
1. PARENTS ONLY - Pre-Create the "Language Tool" before teaching lesson to child.   Using a knife (to start the square holes) and then scissors, cut 4 squares out on one side of a paper towel roll.
2. Cut long strips of paper (about 1 1/2 feet in length and 1 inch wide) out.  Multiple strips desired for however many learning concepts you wish to teach.
2. Create "language strips" by writing different teaching concepts on each strip.  See ideas below for what to create and teach child.
3. Line up the strips of paper, following the same length apart as the 4 square holes on the paper towel roll, and write whatever concept you want your child to learn in that same spot.  Do so in a way that when the child pulls the paper through to "read" what's inside each hole, they can see what is written through the holes easily, so that it all measures up accurately.  See pictures as an example.
4. Sit with your child and learn together; using different "language strips" to teach specific concepts.
5. Let your child put the "language strips" in the paper towel roll, and "learn freely" to teach you what they may see in the holes, or you help guide child to teach the concepts.

Ideas for "Language Strips":
* Alphabet letters to build words
* Numbers
* Shapes
* Sentence - story telling pictures and/or words combine
* Sequence of event pictures
* Child's letters in their name
* Emotion pictures
* Colors
* Counting amounts (# of dots for children to count)