Some children are able to easily read the words on a page but cannot remember a lick of what they read.

Believe it.

Whole paragraphs, pages, chapters can sometimes decoded–words read, even fluently–but nothing.  The child remember nothing.  Frustrating right?  Believe me, it’s not all that unusual.

And you can help!

• What can a parent do?
• What can a teacher do?
• What should the child do?

Fear not.  There is help, and there are a handful of strategies that really do support this kind of struggle.

I covered what to do when your child can’t remember what he reads over on the Scholastic Parents blog this week, and I totally think it’s worth mentioning here.

Don’t get angry about the jump from teachmama.com to Scholastic Parents. It’s totally worth it.

See you there!

Here’s the skinny. . .

• What to do When Your Child Can’t Remember What He Reads: Find the deets over at Scholastic.

See you there!

The post how to help your child remember what he reads appeared first on teach mama.

I can’t stress enough the importance of raising word-conscious kids.

Words are everywhere, all around us. Why not capitalize on the learning opportunities available to us everywhere we turn?

If we model a love and genuine interest in words, that will translate into our kids being more aware of words, being stronger readers, and being more eager to learn new things.

Promise.

This week, I had the incredible opportunity to spend time at the PBS Annual Meeting.  As one of the PBS Kids VIPs, several parent bloggers and I had a behind-the-scenes look at new programming, new ideas, and even new characters on some of our family’s favorite shows.

It was incredible, and I’m thrilled about what’s in store for us–they’ve got some top-notch programming in the lineup, from early childhood through adult audience. Really great stuff.

I even had the chance to chat with two PBS Kids rising stars about one of my favorite topics–words!

Here’s the skinny. . .

• Raising Word-Conscious Kids– Chatting Words with Mando and Rosita:  Really. Meeting these two superstars and talking about words with them was an absolute dream.

Check it out:

How to raise word conscious kids: with Mando and Rosita of Sesame Street

chatting about words with Sesame Street’s Mando and Rosita

 

Though it sounds complicated and scary, ‘word consciousness’ is really the furthest thing.

It’s easy. Easier than you think.  We were all up in the word conscious action right there in that very video clip.

See? So easy–and pretty darn fun.

 

Word A Day: Get the Family Involved

Word consciousness is as simple as pointing out a word on a page during a read-aloud, and it can be a totally on-the-fly thing–you don’t need to have a plan.  When you’re word conscious, you’re learning along with your kids; you’re simply word aware.

You can admit to not knowing the meaning or pronunciation of a word. You can admit to confusing a word with another.  Word consciousness is:

• talking about the way a word sounds when you say it;
• playing with words;
• discussing the meaning of a word;
• noticing words;
• talking about the way a word looks on the page;
• trying different ways of using a particular word;
• challenging each other to use a ‘new word’ later that day;
• listening for ‘new words’ during other read-alouds and taking turns ‘catching’ them;
• sharing ‘new words’ as a family, at the end of the day or at dinnertime;
• keeping a family list of ‘Cool, New Words‘ or becoming ‘Word Wizards’ and making a ‘Word Wizard Wall’ of words you love. . .

 

Word A Day: Word-Conscious Kids

Want a little more word-happy information?

• Learning During Read-Alouds: Word Consciousness
• Word-A-Day, Creating Word-Conscious Kids
• Word-A-Day: Get the Whole Family Involved
• Fun Ways to Learn Spelling Words
• Word Feud, Words with Friends, & Building Words with Kids
• Farm-Full of Rich Vocabulary Words

And that’s it–just our not-so-sneaky way of celebrating language and words any way we can.  So many ways to play with words, but not enough time to do it!

What ways do you help to raise word conscious kids? Share your ideas in the comments–I’d love to hear them! 

Until then?  Happy word learning!

The post raising word conscious kids: a chat with Mando and Rosita of Sesame Street appeared first on teach mama.

Texting is big.

For tweens, it’s really big.  It’s like the coolest thing ever.

And everyone is doing it (or so they think), and so Maddy has asked for months and months and months to have her very own phone so she can text her friends.  Share photos.  Do all the things she thinks every other 9 year old in the world can do except her.

Quite frankly, my husband and I aren’t ready to get her a phone because we don’t think she needs one–and at 9 years old, she really doesn’t.  We also don’t want to buy her an iTouch just because the other kids have one; we have two iPads in the house, so we don’t feel like we need another device.

It’s tough—a fine line for parents between creating rules and boundaries with technology and supporting them gently by guiding kids into a safe spot.

So this weekend, we took a big step (for us) into the big time: we got our kids started with texting.

We set the kids up with texting on an older phone, and now they are flying high, feeling good, happy little birds.  Like they’re riding the technology cruise ship.

And it’s a start.

Here’s the skinny. . .

• How to Get Your Kids Started with Texting:  We’ve got our kids set up texting on a freebie platform on our old MyTouch phone.

We created a collaborative account for Maddy, Owen, and Cora under TextPlus Free account.  It’s free, and there are ads, so be forewarned.

 The kids’ phone which functions only as an android device and not a phone, phone.

However, our kids are pretty good about not touching ads in freebie games, and at 9, 7, and 6, they have a pretty firm understanding that if they touch these ads on purpose, their time online is over.

You need to be careful with TextPlus Free, though, as the ads run in a bar right under the texting box.  With this program, users get a number to text from, so we shared that number with aunts, uncles, and grandparents.

Then I added each person to the contact list under names the kids would recognize: Grandma cell, Nanny cell, Aunt Mary, Mom cell, etc.

Yes, the phone needs a little cleaning. . .

. . . but the kids don’t care.

Our goal with this was simple:

• to give the kids a bit of controlled freedom as they communicate with family members and friends that we agree upon;
• to let them have the feeling they have their own technological ‘space’ to have games that we decide upon and to take photos;
• to give them a chance to show us that they can handle this bit of technological freedom and room to breathe.

 

 

As protective, first-time parents, we (okay, I) was totally freaking out about this step, so we :

• set the settings to the loudest spots so we could hear them texting and knew when new texts came in;

• have a rule that the phone stays in the house and on our main living area, not downstairs or in bedrooms;

• require that the kids turn off the phone each night and are careful with charging it;

• removed all programs we could that were not relevant for the kids;

• will allow the child whose day it is to check messages first.

It’s understood that we’re reading along with them, and our first and foremost message was that texting is the same as talking–you interact with respect, kindness, and manners.

 

 

We’re learning as we go.

Serious parental learning going on over here, but we feel pretty good about this first baby step as we support our kids with this big step: it’s texting 101, parent-style.  Though I use technology every day–many of us do–it is just so important that we walk our kids through these steps instead of throwing them in headfirst or just assuming they know how to handle it.

Are our kids young for this? Probably. But it’s a different day and age, folks, and we’re doing the best we can.

What am I missing? Please let me know if you’ve been here before and if you have advice to share.  Leave ideas in the comments, please!

This post is part of my series: Digital Kids– Teaching, Supporting, and Parenting 21st Century Learners

fyi: this post contains affiliate links

The post how to get your kids started with texting: texting 101 appeared first on teach mama.

Who knew that National Limerick Day was May 12?

It’s true.  National Limerick Day is celebrated on May 12 to honor Edward Lear, the creator of limericks. May 12 was Lear’s birthday.  Who knew?

And while I’m at it, who knew that limericks could be a really fun way to show loved ones you care–in a totally fun, completely silly way, of course!?

It’s been a long, long week here with two of us flat out with the worst colds we’ve had in ages, but Owen and I put aside our tissues and cough drops one afternoon long enough to really get silly with limericks.

We did a bit o’ rhyming, playing with syllables and sounds, and laughing.  We blinged them out and made them fancy with our Melissa & Doug stamps. Then we popped them in the mail.

And we realized that limericks certainly deserve a wee bit more air time, and they can put a fun spin on showing friends and family you care.

Just in time for Mother’s Day, Cora, Owen, and I wrote some limericks for loved ones that will be put in the mail (hopefully!) in time for the big day.

Here’s the skinny . . .

• Limericks for Loved Ones: Limericks are five-line poems that follow a specific rhyme pattern and syllable pattern.

Sounds complicated but they’re not.

Because our only trips out this week were to the doctor, our mailed Mother’s Day gifts to out-of-towners, had to be quick and creative. Though we made the beautiful Butterfly Pens, we planned to gift them when we saw them in person. Plus butterfly pens may be tough to send.

So we played with limericks, catered to our loved ones for Mother’s Day.

Once you pick up the rhythm and sound of the limerick, they’re rather easy to write.

For example:

There once was a lady called ‘Mom’,

who you could say was quite the bomb.

She gave us all hugs,

and swept up the rugs.

She kept the house nice and calm.

The rhyme pattern is AABBA, with the syllables for each line being 8-8-5-5-8.

Yes. I know. Mom, bomb, rhyme fine, but calm is a stretch–the classic ‘slant’ rhyme. I get it. I came up with it on the fly, okay?

 

Limericks for Loved Ones | silly poems full o’ love by teach mama

 

I came up with a quickie sheet because I knew that Owen worked better when he could see words on the page and hear them as they’re spoken. And I knew that limericks were pretty interesting mix of reading and math, so I was pretty sure my boy would dig ‘em.

Which he did.

 

First, I read the examples of the limericks on the page and asked if Cora and Owen could hear any patterns or make out the ‘secret sauce’ of limericks.

I reminded them to listen to the sounds, the rhythm, and the words.

They were pretty on target but it helped for them to see the limericks on the page to see the red and blue words, the words that rhymed, and to see the lines on the page.

We talked about syllables–the beats, or rhythm in a word or phrase–and we talked about rhyme patterns: ABA, ABBA, ABAB, etc.

 

the brainstorm cloud for Nana

And then?

We brainstormed.

Hugely important step in all writing but the step that is often sadly forgotten.

We first decided who our limerick would be about–my mom, their Nanny–and we wrote down everything we could think of about Nanny.

Owen decided our first line would be, There once was a lady named Gayle, so we wrote down all of the words we knew that rhymed with ‘Gayle’.

 

 

We talked through the limerick, line by line, cooperatively writing the whole thing.

I wanted to do this first one together so that Owen and Cora would be able to try the next on their own, but as it turned out, we wrote all of them together. Fine by me.

The syllable piece along with the rhyme is pretty tough for little ones.

 

Cora copies the final draft of the limerick. . .

. . . cuts it out. . .

 . . . and mounts it on cardstock.

From there, we were ready to do some serious limerick blinging.

Using our trusty Melissa & Doug stamps, Owen and Cora stamped their little hearts out, beautifying the area around the limericks.  They used our Animal Stamp Set to add some little friends, the Friendship Stamp Set to add some flowers and hearts, and the Alphabet Stamp Set and to personalize their piece.

 When they were finished, we popped the special limericks into a few manilla folders and mailed them off to our loved ones.

Here’s to hoping that these silly poems put a smile on the faces of the women we love so much–and will sure miss seeing!–this weekend on Mother’s Day. Turns out limerick-writing was a fun and unusual way of sending a few happy hugs through the mail.

And along the way, Owen and Cora were doing some serious work because limericks really do push your listening and creative-thinking skills.  They did a great job with them.

Happy National Limerick Day!

This post was written as part of the Melissa & Doug Blog Ambassador program.

As always, opinions and ideas are all my own, influenced only by my experience as a parent and educator and by my three little limerick-writers.

The post how to write limericks for loved ones appeared first on teach mama.

It’s actually hard for me to type this title after years and years and years of math drills that made my elementary-school head want to explode.

Can learning math facts be fun? Is it possible that learning these facts can actually be ‘super-fun’?

That may still be debatable.

But what these five ways do is mix up the ole flashing of the flashcards and trick out the rote learning of these guys.  Learning math facts is actually kinda fun.

Scratch that. It’s fun. Pretty darn fun.

Instead we use some movement, some flashlights, and some technology to up the fun factor.

And honestly? That may have been enough to move from totally awful to kinda fun for this gal way back when.

Here’s the skinny. . .

• 5 Super-Fun Ways to Learn Math Facts: Like I said, super-fun is up for discussion but there is certainly some fun to be had with these math fact practices.

Let’s try it.

1.  Play with dice.  Really. Toss the flash cards and practice adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing using the numbers you roll on dice.

2.  Flashlight math.  Use the flashcards and flip two cards at a time. Kids shine a flashlight on the one they know and answer that one. Simple. Don’t have a flashlight? Make a math wand.  Bumblebee wand, perhaps? Use a stick or a light saber. Anything that works for your kid.

3.  Use electronics. We love My Math Flash Cards App on the iPad and Math Practice Flashcards on my android phone.  There are a gazillion flash card apps out there. I’m sure any would do the trick, and if you have five minutes and your kid says, ‘Can I play a game on your phoooooone?’ Say ‘Why yes you may! I’m so very glad you asked. . . ‘

4.  Write the answer.  Or paint the answer.  Water on cement or chalk on sidewalk or window crayon on window.  One person flashes the cards and the other guy writes.

5.  Math bingo.  Again, toss the flashers and play Math Bingo as a way to learn and practice these numbers.

Five of many more cool ways, my friends, but this is just a start.

Okay a few more:

• Answer races: Stand on one side of the room and make kids run to the other side of the room to write the answer on a long piece of roll paper on the floor or taped to the wall.
• Go crazy. You flip the card and say it in one voice and the child says the answer in the same kind of voice (whisper, grumble, shout, squeaky, princess, etc.).
• Skype or Facetime with family members and have them flash the cards and the kids say the answers.
• Check out the Multiplication Post where we shared all of the things Maddy was doing.
• Play Strike it Out to practice those facts and critical thinking.
• Try Magic Triangles to really get the fun flowing.
• Get nuts and try any one of these 3 hands-on math games.

As in anything  you do with kids, keep it light, keep the pressure off, and make it fun. As soon as your child starts reaching a frustration level, stop.

Need the cards? Desperate for some mini’s?

Here they are:

• Addition Math Fact Cards
• Subtraction Math Fact Cards
• Multiplication Fact Cards

Consider starting with one fact family or number set at a time.  And print the cards on brightly colored card stock so they last longer and look nicer.

Most of all? Have a super-fun time.

fyi: affiliate links are used in this post

The post 5 super-fun ways to learn math facts appeared first on teach mama.

Believe it—summer is around the corner.  Woo-hoo!

Around the corner!  As in like just a few weeks away!  It’s May! Pools open in May. Weather warms in May.  Swim team registration starts in May.  We buy bathing suits in May.

Wait.  How can we even talk about ways to get your kids psyched for summer reading when school isn’t even out yet?

Many of us still have assessments to think about, big projects coming though, and a whole lot that has to happen between now and the time those kids come running through the school doors screaming, No more teachers, no more books. . .

Getting your kids totally psyched for summer reading is easy.  Eeeeasy.

We’ve got be cool. We’ve got to be creative. And we’ve got to be careful.

But I’ve got the ‘how-to’ right here, and you’ll be surprised at how easy it is.

Here’s the skinny. . .

• How to Get Your Kids Psyched for Summer Reading: Five ways.

1. Start planning your Summer Reading Book Swap Party.  We do this every year, and every year it’s both a great way to say ‘good-bye’ to the school year and ‘hello’ to summer!

With just a wee bit of planning, anyone can throw a rockstar Summer Reading Book Swap or a Kick-Off Summer Reading Party or a Book-Lovers Book Bash any day of the week.

Send out evites, have your kids create simple invitations using an index cards and a simple ‘Come to Our Summer Reading Book Swap’ use a sample invite below:

summer reading book party invite by teach mama

 

2. Search for inexpensive or (even better!) free books.  For the next few weekends leading up to summer, go on a book search:

• visit yard sales or garage sales
• find local thrift shops
• reach out to your local groups–church groups, MOM Clubs, playgroups
• ask friends and family if they have books they’re ready to part with, and give them the ones you are ready to part with yourself.

Before you know it, you may have a whole new set of summertime books to call your own!

 

 

 

3.  Celebrate the library.  Make sure your kids all have their own library cards.  If they are old enough to write their names, they’re old enough for their own cards.   And you know what? They will love, love, love having their own card.

Worried that they’ll lose their cards?  I get it.  Make special library card holders by punching a hole through a gift card envelope and threading a long piece of yarn through it.  Kids can wear them around their necks (as necklaces) or pin them to their shirts on library trip days.

 

4.   Make book-happy Summer Fun Cards:  Another early summer tradition in our house is to make Summer Fun Cards.  We pow-wow after a picnic lunch and make plans for our long summer months.

This year, give your Summer Fun Cards an extra-special book-focus.  Challenge each child to include at least three cards outlining new and unusual places –or ways—to read their books.

5.  Get in on a summer reading challenge.  Many kids need a challenge to keep them interested and engaged, and that makes sense.

Consider challenging your child to:

• Master a series:  Pick a series of books, and see if through the summer, your child can read the whole thing, from start to finish. A book series exists for every single reading level, so don’t think that your child is too young or too old for this challenge!
• Finish a list: Libraries, schools, and sites like Scholastic have entire reading lists to print and keep on hand.  Wouldn’t it be a riot for your child to read an entire book list from beginning to end?
• Break a record:  Set a goal as a family for weekly number of books read, hours logged, or chapters read, and check in each week. Check in each week and evaluate how you’ve done in relation to your goal, and

 ———————————————————–

Start scoping Summer Reading Programs.  We’ll be chatting all about Summer Reading programs tomorrow, and you won’t want to miss it.

Join us for:

 

• we teach: Summer Reading Resource Share
  • Monday, May 6: 1-2pm ET

Join the Community Managers from the we teach forum for a Summer Reading Resource SHARE!

Hosted by:
–>+amy mascott(@teachmama)
–> +Bernadette Ortiz-Grbic(@Momto2PoshLilDivas)
–> +Jacquie Fisher(@KCEdventures)
–> +Kim Vij (@EducatorsSpin)

We will cover tips, tricks, and ideas for:
-making Summer Reading exciting, memorable, and FUN;
-engaging reluctant readers;
-kicking off the season with a Summer Reading event;
-including the whole family;
-keeping the momentum going all summer long;
-finding new books, free resources, and lists for every child. . . and more!

We would love to answer any of your summer reading questions! Leave them below, or tweet any of us with the hashtag #weteach and we’ll add your question to our program.  And if you can’t make it, NO problem!

The video from the live event will be embedded on our forum, and resources will be shared on a Summer Reading Resource page.

•  Scholastic Summer Reading Facebook Chat
  • Monday, May 6: 9-10pm ET

Join the folks from Scholastic, and the writers of Scholastic Parent’s Raise a Reader blog, Allie McDonald of No Time for Flashcards and me (yay!) for an event to kick-off Scholastic’s Summer Challenge!

We will be focusing on keeping kids reading–and enjoying it!– all summer long! 

We’ll also talk about Scholastic’s Summer Challenge, why you want to try it, and how it can help your children maintain momentum throughout those long summer months.  Wondering about how to use digital books for your kids? We’ll chat about them as well!

Big prizes for the night? Personalized book packs for your family!

Please leave questions or concerns you have about summer reading on the Scholastic Parents Facebook page, and we’ll cover them during the event!

 

Here’s to a reading-happy summer, my friends! Looking forward to lots of great ideas and some serious resource sharing!

Please leave any of your Summer Reading questions, concerns, or super-awesome ideas below!

The post 5 ways to get your kids psyched for summer reading appeared first on teach mama.

What games do you play with sight words?

Sight words are words that we all need to be able to read quickly and automatically in order to be strong readers, and the more we allow emerging readers to interact with these words, the better!

There are tons of hands-on ways to play with sight words, but these three games are total winners in our family’s book.  We’ve played them year in and year out with sight words so that Maddy, Owen, and Cora learn these little–but important!–words.

And the great thing? Play them with spelling words, vocabulary words, any words your kids need to learn and know.  Mix it up and play it with numbers and numerals. Bam.

But wait. How do you know which list of sight words to use?

Where do you get the cards that you need in order to play these three games?

Glad you asked.  It’s all right here.

Here’s the skinny. . .

• 3 All-Time Best Games to Play with Sight Words:  Here are three fun and easy games that get your kids playing with–and learning—these important little words.

3 of the All-Time Best Games to Play with Sight Words

 

So there are just three of my kids’ all-time favorite ways to play with sight words.

But where are the words themselves?

In order to pick up some freebie word cards for playing sight word games, click on the photo of the post to grab some word cards:

 

Go Fish! A fish out of water–games for playing sight words

Sight Word Memory  –All of the word cards are here, including ABC cards

WORDO! A game for word-learning

Wait. Sight words. High frequency words. Early emergent words, fluency words. Word wall words.

What in the world is the difference?

Essentially, they’re all focusing on words that all readers must know, and commit to memory, in order to be the best readers they can be. That’s it. Many school districts and counties offer their own specific list, or maybe they go with the Dolche or Fry list. The Dolche list is older, the Fry list is more updated.

Word Walls? What? Word Walls are walls in a classroom used as a tool to help teach young readers new words.  Word Walls are just that—words filled with words! Words are placed in alphabetical order and are introduced to children throughout the year, and after introduction, the child needs to lean and know the word.  These words include word family words (-at, fat, cat, mat, etc) and high-frequency words, many of which are sight words.

Need or want more on word wall words?

• http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/info/baldrige/staff/addresources.shtm

• http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top-teaching/2012/10/tips-teaching-high-frequencysight-words

Need or want more on sight words?

• Visit: teachmama.com early literacy sight words
• Visit: teachmama.com reading

The main thing?  Don’t sweat it. Your kids will learn these words eventually–and the best way to ensure that is to read early–and often!

And okay. . . play some games with sight words as well.  Questions? Let me have ‘em!  I’m happy to help!

The post 3 all-time best games to play with sight words appeared first on teach mama.

For Teacher Appreciation Week, for Mother’s Day, as a birthday party favor, or for any occasion, these butterfly pens are indeed a sweet spring garden gift!

No glue, no sewing, no lengthy prep, these butterfly pens are totally quick and so easy.  And so beautiful.

And the really cool thing is that they’re easy enough that kids can get involved no problem. They can show their love and appreciation by helping to create these, while working their fine motor skills along the way.

With a little trip to the craft store, you’ll have everything you need–and some pieces you may have under your roof already.

Here’s the skinny. . .

• How to Make Butterfly Pens– A Sweet Spring Garden Gift:  Another big win for these guys is that they make use of all that mixed-up, almost-on-the-outs PlayDoh that you’ve had sitting around.

 Your Butterfly Pen Spring Garden supplies

Biggest tip? Spend the extra on good-quality butterflies. So worth it.

You’ll need: (affiliate links are included)

• butterflies: I used Monarch Feather Butterflies which Maddy, Cora, and I loved
• duct tape: green duct tape did the job for us
• pens: blue or black ballpoint pens
• grass: green crinkle cut paper leftover from Easter baskets
• flowers: inexpensive silk flowers for the garden
• buckets: small, silver tin buckets
• playdoh: use your old stuff–the mixed up cruddy colors that the kids don’t want to play with anymore

Then get started!

1. Make weights for your pails. The pails are light. The pens are light. So if you don’t weigh them down somehow, they’ll tip over and just be a pain in the neck.

Maddy, Owen, and Cora just scraped together baseball-sized globs of old Play-Doh, rolled them into balls, and shoved them in the bottom of their silver pails.

2. Wrap Butterflies around the pens.  The way these butterflies are made makes it really easy to wrap them onto the pens.

Take the caps off of the pens and start from the top, wrapping the butterfly wire around the pen.

The butterflies are already attached to wire. . .

 . . . so wrapping the pen is totally easy.

Now you just need to cover the wire with tape.

3.  Wrap the pen with Duct Tape.  This may be the most difficult part of the whole process, and it’s not even that difficult. Just tricky.

One thing to remember is that they do not need to be perfect. They can’t be perfect. And the more we remind ourselves of this, the more fun  you’ll have doing it.

Cora cuts the tape–not easy–so better for an adult to do it.

We cut the Duct Tape long enough to leave a teeny, tiny bit over the top and then we cut it short enough so that it ended before the curve of the pen tip.

Totally impossible to make these completely flat, so we went with the bumpy, wavy look.

Owen wraps his pen for his teacher. . .

. . . and so does Cora.

One thing we were careful to do was to flatten the very tip of the wire and then double-up on the tape.

Otherwise, if we didn’t, the pointy part of the wire would poke fingers as they used the pen. Ouch. Lucky it was an easy fix!

Tiny bit of tape at the end did the job. . .

. . . and we thought the ‘wave’ of the wire through the tape made the pen look more ‘grassy’.

4. Fill the pail with grass. So easy. Plop it in.  Bam. Done.

Just don’t skimp on this because otherwise it’ll look strange. If you want to put a big bunch of glue on the Play-Doh to keep the grass in place, that works, but we didn’t do that.

Crinkle-cut paper worked so perfectly as grass for our little butterfly gardens.

5. Add your butterflies and flowers to the little gardens.  So fun.

The very first thing Maddy, Owen, and Cora did was pick the colors of their butterflies, so when it came time to add theirs to the garden tins, they knew exactly which three to grab.

No need for glue; the butterfly pens stick in pretty tightly among the crinkle-cut grass. Woot!

 

Adding just a dab of glue to the flowers . . .

. . . so that they don’t fall out . . .

. . . of the garden. Just a wee bit because it’s really okay if they move around a little.

Final little butterfly pens and little gardens? So cute. So totally cute.

We love them.

They couldn’t be more beautiful, and really, each one of the kids was so proud.

And so was I.  Here’s to hoping that everyone who receives one loves her little butterfly garden!

And that’s it–just a little springy craft in the name of Teacher Appreciation and Mother’s Day. But really? It’s a super-cute something that could be used for any occasion!

We made one for each teacher, one for each grandmother, and one for great-grandmother. Shhhhh.

Though we made flower pens for our teachers and grandmothers and great-grandmother last year, the response was so great that we thought we’d do it again.  New teachers meant it wasn’t a repeat gift for them, but I’m betting that the ‘mothers’ used their flower pens so frequently, it just might be time for replacements!

Happy butterfly-garden building!

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No matter how or when you do it, it’s an important time of the year to offer a sincere ‘thank you!’ to teachers, especially with National Teacher Day and Teacher Appreciation Week just around the corner.

Teacher Appreciation Week is the second week in May! Every year! That’s right.

But as a mom of three, I know that often, it’s really hard to scrape together the cold, hard cash for all of your kids’ teachers’ gifts.  Especially if you include your kids’ extra-curricular teachers, or their para-educators, support teachers, and adminstrators, there are a lot of people who support your child’s education.

It’s also hard to find time for putting together a thank you gift.

There are ways, however, to say ‘thank you’ without spending a trillion bucks.

And without buying dollar store junk that will fare well as White Elephant gifts for holiday parties.  And without spending a trillion hours on a craft you saw on Pinterest that looked a whole lot cooler on a pinboard than it does in real life, on your kitchen counter.

Go simple.

Here’s the skinny. . .

• Quick and Easy Inexpensive Thank-You Gifts for Teachers: These are simple but sweet. And seriously functional.

Simple thank you’s for teachers that are fun, frugal, and functional.

What teacher couldn’t use a well-made plastic container?

And what teacher couldn’t use some sweets?

Right. And when you combine them and add a little happy message, it’s sure to bring a smile to his or her face, any day of the week.

For our little teacher thank-you gifts, which Maddy, Owen, and Cora gave to their teachers one day this year, we went with the Systema Klip-It minis.  The kids use the lunch cubes every day, and we have come to love and trust this brand.

We used bold, vinyl alphabet stickers and added the following words to one side of each container:

• thank you
• love
• joy
• peace

And then we filled each small container with hard candy.  Bam. Done.

 

 

Each child wrote a small note to the teacher, which we included with the gift.

Notes make a big difference for teachers–for anyone, actually.  Both my husband and I still have boxes of personal notes from parents, students, and colleagues, and it’s amazing how rewarding it is to look back and read those every so often.

Maddy, Owen, and Cora gave the ‘Thank You’ boxes to their classroom teachers, and they gave the ‘Peace’, ‘Love’, and ‘Joy’ ones to their Religion School teachers. However, I’m betting that any of these messages would work for either teacher.

 

The Sistema colored containers looked great with white stickers. . .

 . . . and the clear containers looked great with black or rainbow stickers.

All wrapped up with a little curling ribbon, these little tokens of appreciation looked pretty good to us.

And from what the kids said, their teachers were quite pleased.

All I know is that I am thankful Every. Single. Day. for the gifts that are my kiddos’ teachers. Every day I am thankful because I know firsthand how difficult their jobs are and how every year the demands are more and more great for teachers.

So to be a gifted teacher–to be able to reach children and teach children? Not easy.  Not easy in the least.

You better believe I’m saying thanks.

Tomorrow? A whole lot more on Teacher Appreciation. Woot.

fyi: Affiliate links are used in this post.

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We’re on a crazy nursery rhyme kick over here.

But instead of sticking to our more modern nursery rhyme poems and calling it a day, we branched out a bit from our nursery rhymes 2.0, the Mary Had a Little Jam, by the amazing Bruce Lansky.   We upped the fun factor and added a little piece of comparison.

We looked at traditional nursery rhymes–the not always happy and cheerful and sometimes actually a little nutty nursery rhymes–from books I had when I was a child.

Old school nursery rhymes which might not sound like a big deal to you but when your kids are raised on mostly Mary Had a Little Jam and you give them the no-frills nursery rhymes, straight-up The Real Mother Goose, you’re in for a little shifting.

Wide-eyed, Maddy, Owen, and Cora listened to the sounds, learned a bit, and compared these powerful little poems.

And though yes, a little shell-shocked, it was a really worthwhile look at nursery rhymes old and new.

Here’s the skinny. . .

• Nursery Rhymes Old and New– Listening, Learning, and Comparing: Like I said before, we had been on a real Nursery Rhyme kick.

So when I added two books to the mix, Mother Goose Rhymes by Platt & Monk and The Real Mother Goose, by Blanche F. Wright, the kids were naturally curious.

I didn’t say much.

In fact, all I did was color coordinate sticky notes between books, and I left them in a pile.

I put hot pink sticky notes on “There Was an Old Woman” in both books, I included as many colors as I could, matched up poems, and I let them go.

The O-man checking out the old–and new–nursery rhymes.

And after bath, when I noticed Owen reading the old nursery rhyme book, I said, Oh Owen, did you match up the sticky notes? I linked the poems by color–find the hot pink ones in each book and let me know what you think.

He opened the books and searched for the poems.  He looked at the page and then looked up at me.  Mom, why’d this old woman whip her kids? What’d they do?  I mean, was she trying to hurt them? Or were they bad?

I said, Owen, I’m not sure. Let’s read it again.  We read it together. And we talked about what broth is and how even though it’s not true–it’s just a story–that it’s still not a pretty picture of hungry kids and a nasty old woman.  And then we read the ‘new’ nursery rhyme.

I like this one a whole lot better–it’s funny. And nicer,  he said.

I know–I have to agree, I said. This is the book of rhymes I had when I was little, and though some are funny, a lot are kind of . . . not so funny. And I wondered the same thing when I was your age.  When Aunt Mary found this book for us, the new one, I was like so happy I think I danced around the house.

Let’s look at some other ones.

By this time, Maddy and Cora had joined us. We read a bunch of them:

• Three Blind Mice
• Mary Had a Little Lamb
• Humpty Dumpty
• Peter Peter
• Little Bo Peep
• London Bridge
• Yankee Doodle

The kids were speed-flipping through the pages of the book in order to find the poem’s ‘match’.

We laughed, re-read, and listened to the sounds in each poem.

We talked about the similarities–and differences we heard in each.  And we talked about how and why the authors made the decisions they did.

• Was the old poem trying to teach a lesson?
• Which illustrations did we prefer–and why?
• How many years ago was each poem written? (We used the copyright for each book.)
• Was the poem funny? Memorable? Silly?
• What did we like–or dislike–about each poem?

 

Not for every one, mind you, but a few here and there. And we had fun with it–which is why, I’m sure, for the next few nights the kids argued over who got to read the nursery rhyme books before bed.

So cool, if I do say so myself.

And it only took a teeny, tiny amount of effort in matching up the poems, riding the wave of something the kids were already interested in: nursery rhymes.

Who knew that a 9, 7, and 6 year old would enjoy them so much?  I may bring out a few more oldies but goodies in the next few days. . .

I just finished reading “Let Me Tell You a Secret: Kindergartners Can Write!” by Amanda R. VanNess, Timothy J. Murnen, and Cynthia D. Bertelson in this month’s issue of The Reading Teacher.  I learned a ton from their article and case study, and what it made me realize is that even young children, emerging readers, can do well with confident, supportive teachers.

Cora, though only in Kindergarten, was holding her own in our little nursery rhyme right-bef0re-bed-analysis, listening to Owen and Maddy and adding her own insight to our discussion. It’s exciting. And amazing.

Moral of the story? Let’s bring it on–even for our little guys. They may be ready–but we’re just not always letting them have it.

fyi: Huge thanks to the following books for coming in handy for the last few days: Mary Had a Little Jam by Bruce Lansky;  Mother Goose Rhymes by Platt & Monk; and The Real Mother Goose, by Blanche F. Wright.

Affiliate links are used in this post.

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