fine motor skills

beautiful butterfly tote bag

March 11, 2012

We’ve had two dancers in our family this year–Cora, who has been rockin her Hip, Tap, Toe class each week, and Maddy, who started out as a ballerina but who moved on to classes with a little more beat and movement by mid-year. Now she’s a tap-dancin’, jazzy-jazz dancer, and we’re really excited that both [...]

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favorite things book: an easy, little book of all things happy

February 19, 2012

It has been  tough go for us over here for the last few weeks. Maddy, Owen, Cora, Brady–everyone–has unfortunately felt the ‘funk’ that I conveyed throughout the last weeks, especially when Susan became very ill. It was hard. So hard.  And it still is. But before I took off for NYC, on one quiet afternoon [...]

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sweet kids’ valentines: mini stained glass hearts

February 11, 2012

I have always loved making Valentines with Maddy, Owen, and Cora. I love the discussion and decision-making beforehand, I love the mess, I love the time together.  And I love their proud smiles when they look at the big pile of little gifts they’ve created for their friends and classmates. So this year, since it’s [...]

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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: #3 shoe-tying

January 11, 2012

Teaching some kids how to tie their shoes is so not easy, it’s not even funny. While one child may teach herself how to do it, for another child, it may take time and time and time again for her to actually learn how to tie those shoelaces on her own. Maddy was a great [...]

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best of teach mama countdown: #4 — cooking with kids

January 9, 2012

Though our family has changed a ton in the three years that I’ve been writing this blog, one thing that has remained the same is my kids’ interest in hanging out in the kitchen. They love to eat. They love to cook. They (shhhhh!) love to throw on an apron, crack some eggs, measure ingredients, [...]

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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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making the most of holiday clean-up

December 31, 2011

The holidays have rushed in and rushed out over here, and despite a 7+ hour ride home from Pennsylvania and two people down over three days with the stomach bug, we had an amazing season. And now that we’re home and trying–desperately–to reclaim our home and have a little fun, rather than throwing the kids [...]

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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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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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