Teaching My Daughter How To Read

I ran across a  book on Amazon titled "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons," with rave reviews. This whole month, I have been teaching my 5 yo how to read. We sit down every night and finish a lesson. At first, it was hard. I had to find the patience and my daughter had to regard me as a teacher. They recommend giving a rewards to tokens to help with any behavior problems. Nevertheless, my daughter has been making great progress. It is guaranteed and written by a well known author. In fact, she reminds me of our daily reading lesson. She's always loved books but now she has a sense of pride and accomplishment. So....if you would like to give your child a head start, I would recommend this book. It's never too early. If I recall, you can start as early as 2 yo.

In my next blog, I will share ideas for kids to learn early math with everyday experiences. I truly believe in supplementing a child's education. Make every opportunity a chance to learn.

Berrrrrrrrr..... Months

The Berrrrrrrrrrr............months has come at last. Ber means only 1 thing to me. The start of Christmas shopping. We are exactly 3 months away from the Christmas shopping. Every year, I try to start early. Alas, it never really works out that way. I do know a certain relative and keen shoppers that start as early as July or some that shop all year round. I guess it would help my budget to slowly shop all year round and catch good bargains. A great toy store website  is store.shop72.com I will without shame promote this family run business. They offer unique toys and collectibles. Great prices and offer coupons. They also have an incentive of matching prices for the same product online. It is recommended to shop early while their inventory lasts. Here's their link:

 http://store.shop72.com/

With the ongoing recession and such, homemade gifts are economical. Jars of jam like peaches during the season. Right now, it would be apples i.e jars of apple butter. Candles, cookies in a jar (basically the main ingredients built in layers with a ribbon)  or anything that can be mass produced. I think this saves time and money. I also like to browse around the Dollar Store or Salvation Army for donated brand new items from Target. They offer good selection of  books for kids. 

I will keep you posted on how to find good bargains for this season. Until then folks...have a good night!

Gardening for Kids

Fall is just around the corner. It's hard for me to fathom months of dreary weather. My daughter and I really enjoy gardening and spending time outside. What better way to learn about science, math and caring for the environment then by creating a garden with your children. It can be a small 2' x 2' or a pots of tomato plants or cucumbers. If you haven't started one yet, this is the best time to prep your soil for Spring. Select an ideal location that gets plenty of sunlight. Layer with newspaper then mulch and soil. By next Spring, the newspaper would have decomposed allowing you to plant directly on the soil. Garden centers would be having their seasonal sales. Buy seeds and start the seedlings as early as March or April. Transfer them to the ground as soon as the ground starts to warm or past frost.  Here's a link to get started:

http://www.weekendgardener.net/how-to.htm

Bulbs are the best plants to start in the Fall. Wait until the ground reaches at least 50 degrees farenheit. Bulbs are an easy way to get loads of color and plants come Spring. Find a location with good drainage. Plant in waves and close together for a good visual. Rule of thumb is to dig a hole twice the size of the bulb. Add some bulb fertilizer to ensure health bulbs that will last for years. 

Here's a picture of our watermelon and small veggie garden in the early Spring. So juicy and crispy. There's nothing like home grown fruits and vegetables without the added cancerous insecticides and pesticides. Add a weed blocker to avoid days of pulling out weeds in the hot summer.

Refrigerator Magnets

I'm home with my 5 yo daughter today because she has the flu.  I was thumbing through a magazine from school and ran across a recipe for "Refrigerator Magnets." I suggest you try this activity with your own child. It does fill an hour of time and you can find everything in your own kitchen cabinet. Right now, she seems to be feeling better. It's during this time when parents ran sack their brains to find some meaningful activity. Here's the recipe taken from a Kleenex ad on the cover of Scholastic Parent & Child magazine, Sept. 2010 edition.

Hands On!

DIY play dough kitchen magnets. Make them together.

Ingredients:

• 1 Cup flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1/4 cup salt
• food coloring

How To:

Mix ingredients in order in saucepan over medium heat; stir until smooth. Remove from pan and slightly cool.  Knead. Cool before using.  Roll out dough about quarter inch thick. Use cookie cutters to shape. Lift shapes out to a try to dry. When the cut outs are fully hardened, glue the back with blank magnets and decorate on refrigerator.

Suggestions: Use wax paper to avoid play dough sticking to your counter surface and for easy clean up. The recipe suggests 1/4 Cup salt. By accident, I only put 1/4 tsp. salt. I'm not sure how this will turn out but please post you review of this hands on activity.