early literacy

best of teach mama countdown: #2 — spelling words

January 12, 2012

Yay! We’re getting down to the wire with this teach mama top 10 all-time best countdown! This post is one that I have shared probably more than times than any other post I’ve written.  It seems that most of the emails that I receive are from parents who are tired, desperate, and . . . [...]

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best of teach mama countdown: #5 — letters b and d

January 8, 2012

I love it when I find a resource that really, truly helps my kids. And PBS has provided me with so many ways to support my children’s learning, in their smart and thoughtful programming and online resources, that it’s not surprising that this particular post seems to have helped numerous other families as well. Coming [...]

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best of teach mama countdown: #6 — learning with recyclables

January 7, 2012

One of these days I’m going to share where and how we store the recyclables that we manage to save from the big blue bin over here. But until then, I’ll share the #6 most popular teach mama post of all-time: how to use recyclables with kids–get fun, crafty, creative. I think people have responded [...]

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best of teach mama countdown: #9 — building words, names

January 4, 2012

This post, which rolls in at #9, continues to surprise me with the amount of hits it gets. Maybe it’s the title: word building, name building (and crossing the line). Maybe people find it unintentionally when they’re trying to figure out what to do when their kids ‘cross the line’–I’m not sure. I’m really not [...]

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teachmama’s best of 2011: mine and yours!

January 2, 2012

A few of my favorite bloggy buddies and I have decided to do a little reflecting before moving forward with 2012. We thought that beginning the year by sharing our personal favorite post from 2011 would be a cool to celebrate our collective awesomeness in a very big way. And I mean our, as in [...]

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family playing cards: take ‘em, make ‘em, then play!

December 28, 2011

A few years ago, I burned the midnight oil way too close to the finish line, in an attempt to create Family Playing Cards for Maddy, Owen, and Cora. And though I made the work harder than it needed to be, it was well worth it. The kids have used the cards steadily for the [...]

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last minute treats: fancy, festive chocolate pretzels

December 22, 2011

Last week, the kids and I celebrated our annual Cookie Baking Day–something we all look forward to in the month of December. On the morning of our Cookie Baking Day, we carry on as usual.  I drag everyone out of bed, cheerlead them through bed-making, dressing, teeth-brushing, and the relocation from bedroom to breakfast table. [...]

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learning during read-alouds: non-fiction that WORKS

December 12, 2011

The first few times Owen had media at school this year, he came home with the most random books. His first book was an Arthur book that we already have here at home.  Then he came home with a non-fiction book about Chihuahuas. The next week, he picked yet another book that we have here [...]

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magazines rock: creative, crafty, sneaky-learning fun

December 4, 2011

We are huge magazine fans over here. We love finding them in the mailbox, reading them, playing detective with them, crafting with them, and learning with them.  When they arrive in the day’s mail, it’s like a getting a little gift, just for you.  And when we sit down to read a magazine, it never [...]

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build your own bingo: uppercase and lowercase letter match

December 1, 2011

Cora and I have been rockin’ the bingo games lately, with a new spin on bingo that she really seems to love. And I’m sure the Smartie bingo markers don’t hurt. . . But after noticing that my tiny one seems to have the uppercase letters of the alphabet down pat, I have been keeping [...]

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family names: reading and writing the ones we love

November 21, 2011

Homework time is still a really important part of our day, especially now that Owen’s in Kindergarten and Maddy’s second grade work is picking up. And I really try my best to find something fun and focused for Cora to do while Maddy and Owen are doing their work.  Lately, she’s been really into learning [...]

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under a shady tree
can you feel the soft cool grass?
can you feel it with your toes?
we can sit here while it grows.
laurie berkner, "under a shady tree"


i know nothing with certainty but the sight of the stars makes me dream
. . . vincent van gogh