writing

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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our easy, affordable new year’s family traditions

December 29, 2011

My husband and I have never really been fans of New Year’s Eve. We’re the furthest thing from night owls, so staying up late is not easy–or that much fun for us. New Year’s means that the long-awaited holidays are over (boo) and that family has come and gone (wah) and that there’s a lot [...]

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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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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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new for us friday: help for classroom parents — letters, party ideas, & volunteer spot

October 8, 2011

It’s almost Halloween time, which means that all around the world, Classroom Parents will soon be a-scramblin’ for Halloween party ideas. And then they’ll be scramblin’ for Valentine’s Day party ideas, and then they’ll be scramblin’ for springtime party ideas. At least I was, last year–and I was only a co-room parent. This year, I’m [...]

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window writing: spelling word and letter practice

September 28, 2011

Who knew that window writing would be so much fun? Maddy has been window-writing for the last few weeks to study her spelling words, and Cora has jumped on board the window-writing train to do some letter-writing practice. It’s been a riot. Even yesterday one of Maddy’s buddies came over for a short playdate–aaaand so [...]

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meeting new teachers: hello, teacher notes!

August 16, 2011

Today we spent a few minutes doing one of our favorite back-to-school activities–one that gives my kiddos a chance to say a little ‘hello’ to their teachers even before they meet them at the Open House. A while after breakfast and after we all enjoyed some much-needed end-of-summer downtime, I printed out Hello, Teacher Notes [...]

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homemade back-to-school lunchbox notes

August 15, 2011

I have been on a major cleaning kick lately, trying to get our family (and home) ready for the new school year. I want to begin on the right foot so that we’re organized, efficient, and sane. When I hit our work room, I noticed that one major piece of overflowing madness was our Card [...]

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playing with pixie–poem-writing, picture-creating

August 4, 2011

Maddy has loved using Pixie ever since Kindergarten. Her school has it installed on all of the computers in the lab, and when I asked her what she wanted to do on our computer early this summer, she said, Pixie! Pixie is ‘creativity’ software by Tech4Learing that can be used to share ideas, imagination, and [...]

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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