Which Is More Educational

As I was snapping photos of my daughter and my husband enjoying the snow, I noticed the kids lined up on the elementary school grounds in the background. I'm grateful my daughter was able to have some one-on-one with her daddy--this one-on-one teaching and exploring seems priceless compared to the alternative of being herded around by one adult who is responsible for 25-30 other kids.... I'm just saying.

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Change comes little by little....

There are things about myself I want to change. And sadly, some of those things are things I've wanted to change for many years, and yet, here I am, the same. Why? I think a big part of it is that I haven't had a vision of what is possible. And another part of it is that I get overwhelmed. Here's how it goes.... I read a parenting book. I vow to be kinder and more patient with my kids. Then something happens where my expectations are not met, and I'm tired and overwhelmed by something else, and my emotion gets the better of me. I do or say something unkind. And then I get upset at myself. And after a few days of this scenario happening again and again, I give up, thinking I'm just not capable of being the kind and patient Mom I want to be. But in reading The One Thing this week, I gained a new perspective that I know will be beneficial in my journey of change. My goal needs to be mastery. I don't want to just be OK at being patient and kind. I want to be e...

Kids and Reading

One of my favorite things is walking into the room to find my 2-year-old son plopped down on the ground "reading" a book. He looks at each page intently before turning to the next. And when he finishes that book, he grabs another from the shelf and repeats the process, sometime for more than 10 minutes. My 4-year-old daughter loves to "read" too, but she mostly prefers to be read to. Of all the things we have done wrong as parents, one thing we feel like we did right was putting a book case of children's book in the room where we spend most of our time, within easy reach of our children. My husband was telling me about a book he read that talks about setting yourself up for success. It tells about a woman who really wanted to go far in her profession, which required her to read academic journals at home in the evening. However, somehow she ended up watching TV every night instead. The book suggested the reason why wasn't merely a matter of a l...

How We Helped Our 7-Year-Old Son Find His Passion

As a Homeschooling Mom, one thing I regularly struggle with is inspiring my kids, or helping them to be properly motivated to learn. When I am interested in learning about a particular topic, I pursue it and enjoy it. It’s not work, it’s play. But when I’m forced to study something I’m not interested in, it can be a painful experience. I know it’s the same with kids, so I try to find ways to help them learn while pursuing their interests. The trick is to find something they’re passionate about--as they learn about that interest, they have so much fun that they don’t realize they’re learning. We’ve know about and have encouraged our 9-year-old daughter’s passion for creating art since she dre w “Mouse Eating Cheese” just after her third birthday. We’ve bought her art supplies, taught her some basics, put her in several art classes, and found great online resources like the Art For Kids YouTube channel where a Dad and his children teach how to draw child-friendly subjects. She ...

One Mommy's Memos

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