reading

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: #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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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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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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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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learning during read-alouds: improving fluency

November 16, 2011

Fluency is a tricky–but totally important–element of reading comprehension. No. Question. About it. And though research is funny about fluency’s roll in reading comprehension, I’m a firm believer in the fact that in order to fully understand what is being read, it must be read fluently. Lately, fluency has been my focus for Maddy and [...]

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just 1 book: author melissa ridenour (& signed book giveaway)

November 14, 2011

It’s not always an easy topic to cover with children, but stranger safety should be tops on our list of must-cover items with our children. Today’s just 1 book contributor has written a book that will help caregivers with this difficult task, and the author shares the heartbreaking event in her life that led her [...]

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how to use halloween candy for (sneaky) fun learning

October 31, 2011

There may only be a few more days left until our Jack-O-Lanterns turn into lunch for the squirrels (if they haven’t already!), but the candy that my kids have collected this beautiful Halloween night will be around for days. Or weeks. Or months. There seems to be more and more every year, as Maddy, Owen, [...]

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halloween word search

October 26, 2011

Homework time over here this week and last has been a little spooky. Just a bit. Cora and Owen have been rockin the Halloween Word Search, which I made last year for Owen when he was on his crazy word search kick and which I made not a single change to this year. Owen is [...]

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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