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helps families connect & build bridges between home & school, by amy mascott

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    • comprehension
      • activating schema
      • connecting
      • inferring
      • predicting
      • questioning
      • retelling / summarizing
      • visualizing
    • concepts of print
    • environmental print
    • fluency
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    • word building
    • word consciousness
    • vocabulary
  • writing
    • creative writing
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    • informative writing
    • tripod grip
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    • computation
    • counting
    • numbers
  • science
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    • plants
    • science experiments for kids
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family holiday cards: how to get the kids involved

home / Activities / holidays / christmas / family holiday cards: how to get the kids involved
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This year, ordering family holiday cards was totally different for us.

This year, our family agreedย on the photos.

Each and every one.get kids involved in choosing holiday cards | teachmama.com

And this year, we agreed on the card.

We agreed on the message, and we agreed on the language.

From start to finish, ordering holiday cards was a family affair, and this year, every single one of us was happy.

Mom and Dad were happy.

My tween was happy.

My third and second grader were happy.

No tears. Only a happy family, all five of us.

Thank goodness we were all happy, because last year was a total nightmare.

Here’s the skinny. . .

Family Holiday Cards–How to Get Kids Involved:

Last year, we sent out holiday cards that I loved.

I mean, I loved them. I loved the photos, I loved the way they were arranged, and I loved how everything looked once they were finished.

I thought they looked really great.

family holiday cards: how to get the kids involved

The photos were natural–the kids were outside in our yard, splashing and playing on a sunny-rainy-rainbow day, andย they looked beautiful.

And my husband thought soย too.

But my kids? Not so much.

Mom. These are awful.

I can’t believe you would choose these pictures. We look crazy.

Moooooom! I look like a baby. I am so embarrassed.

These are the worst photos ever, and I can’t believe we’re sending them to all of our friends and family.

Right. Three out of five people in our family–over half of us–didn’t dig them. At all.

And though I felt awful, they were already ordered. And they had already arrived at our house.

So I apologized sincerely and promised them that next year would be different. That I’d never, ever order photo cards without a family vote and that they would definitely have a say next year if I could just have their blessing to send them out this year.

That was the deal.

So here we are.

This year was different, from start to finish.

family holiday cards: how to get the kids involved

Here’s how this year was different:

1. We began by choosing a few holiday card designs from four different styles.

The idea is that by trying a few different styles, you’re introducing a variety of ideas to your kids.

I know that there are some styles that my husband would absolutely not entertain. So I kept our styles simple, choosing mostly from

The styles we tried were

family holiday cards: how to get the kids involved

2. ย Upload 3-10 agreed-upon photos to the holiday card website.ย 

Do whatever is easiest: save a handful of photos to your desktop, create a special ‘holiday card’ folder, or flag a few dozenย photos in your photo program on your computer.

Whatever you decide, you want to narrow down the photos to about 3-10 that everyone in your family is okay including in the holiday photos.

Then upload those photos to the website you choose.

family holiday photos teachmama.com

3. Choose four holiday card designs.ย 

Save each design as you go, and title the designs ‘holiday cards [year] 1, holiday cards [year] 2, holiday cards [year] 3, and holiday cards [year] 4.

And then when you have saved four designs, click on ‘compare designs’. Then you will be able to see each design on the screen. This makes discussion about the designs much easier.

family holiday photos teachmama.com

4. Take a silent family vote.

We numbered ours clockwise from 1-4, and we each wrote down the number of our choice on a piece of paper.

Then we tallied the votes.

Because Owen admitted that when he wrote down ‘1’ he really meant ‘2’, we had a vote that worked: 3:2. It was close, but we talked through the decision and figured out a way to make it work for all of us.

family holiday photos teachmama.com

ย 5. ย Make final adjustments in layout and language.ย 

Here’s where you make the card work for everyone. We did some adjusting with ours, in both layout and language.

And finally, we found something that worked for all of us.

Super-duper important: before you order, remember toย apply. Those. Coupons.

Right now, they’veย got a few seriously good holiday card dealsย going on.

Really, remember thatย I shared a ton of coupons for photo books on our family photo book post, and many of those same companies sell rockstar holiday cards, too.

And that’s it.

When the photos arrive, we’ll create our family assembly line of addressing, stuffing, stamping, and sealing the cards–one of our favorite holiday traditions! ย On the night of doing holiday cards, we make hot chocolate, put our pj’s on, and chat together while we prepare our cards.

Bringing out the old boxes of holiday cards is super-fun, too!

The more simple we can make the holidays, the better. . . and the more family timeย and simple gift-giving, the best!
Want a few more holiday-inspired learning ideas? Check out:ย 

  • Best Gifts for Kids and Families 2014
  • Best Gifts for Kids and Families 2013
  • Best Gifts for Kids and Families 2012
  • Holiday Fun Fact and JOKES Lunchbox Notes (with Hannukah!)
  • Holiday Time Fun Fact Lunchbox Notes
  • Little Holiday Notes and Jokes
  • Holiday Notes for Families
  • The Polar Express tradition
  • Scratch-off Cards
  • K-Cup Advent Tree
  • New Year’s Family Interview
  • Happy Holidays Backyard Birdsย 

fyi: Some of the links in the post above are โ€œaffiliate links.โ€ This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Forever and always I recommend only products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commissionโ€™s16 CFR, Part 255: โ€œGuides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.โ€ ย For more information, please see teachmama media, llc. disclosure policy.ย 

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About amy mascott

teacher, mother, dreamer. lover of literacy, fun learning, good food, and three crazy-cool kids. finder of four-leaf clovers | dc metro ยท http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

Previous Post:if we want change to happen it must start here | teachmama.comsomething has to change and it must start here–with you and with me
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Quick! Thereโ€™s still time to see if your area is registered to participate in this yearโ€™s National Civics Bee! #ad

Click the link in my bio to learn more and to grab a TON of free resources for families and educators. 

This yearโ€™s registration deadline is approaching, but you still have time! 

What better way to get students to engage in civics and contribute to their communities? 

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#CivicsBuzz #strongcommunities #middleschool #civicsbee #teachersofIG
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Have you heard of The National Civics Bee? #ad 

The National Civics Bee is an initiative aimed at encouraging more young Americans to engage in civics and contribute to their communities. 

Organized in partnership with The Civic Trust of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, the competition in your community will inspire middle schoolers to become better informed about American democracy, to engage respectfully and constructively in the community, and to build greater trust in others and institutions. 

Learn how to bring The National Civics Bee to YOUR community now: https://teachmama.com/bring-the-national-civics-bee-to-your-community/

Iโ€™m thrilled to have partnered with @mom_select and @civicsbuzz for this exciting campaign! โ™ฅ๏ธ๐Ÿค๐Ÿ’™

#CivicsBuzz #middleschoolers #teachersofIG #communitypartners
View
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Oh HEEEEEYYY, @luvvie โ€” did you see that @littletroublemaker made our hallway bulletin board? ๐Ÿ˜‰โ™ฅ๏ธ

(Itโ€™s what Rusty the ๐ŸฆŠ is currently reading.) 

Find it at your favorite bookstore or order here: https://amzn.to/3Pu3tWs

(This is my affiliate link, so when you use it, I will earn a small percentage of the sale, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for using my link and supporting my small business!)

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How can people with dyslexia learn to read? ๐Ÿค”

Here are the 3๏ธโƒฃ elements that reading instruction should contain in order to be most effective for students with dyslexiaโ€”

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #readingteacher #teachreading #dyslexiaawareness
View
Open
Lately when I find four leaf clovers, Iโ€™ve been leaving them. ๐Ÿ€๐Ÿคท๐Ÿผโ€โ™€๏ธ

So if youโ€™re in Maryland, and you happen upon a lonely, little 4-leafer with very little grass, weeds, or leaves around it, I donโ€™t know WHO tried to set you up for success.

#yougotthis #keepyoureyesopen #itsthelittlethings #kilpattyluck
View
Open
Okayโ€”how do we know if someone has dyslexia? 

Which professionas are able to make that important determination? 

โ–ถ๏ธ Watch to find out. 

Hit me with the questions you still have about dyslexiaโ€”and know we have a few more posts to go!

#demystifyingdyslexia #raiseareader #teachreading #readingteachersofig
View
Open
What are some of the common signs of dyslexia?

Watch to learn and find out!

#demystifyingdyslexia #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading #dyslexia
View
Open
True โœ… or false โŒ?

#demystifyingdyslexia #dyslexiaeducation #readingteacher #raiseareader #teachreading
View
Open
What do you know about dyslexia? 

What questions do you have about dyslexia? 

For the next few weeks leading up to my own start to the school year I am sharing a new series called โ€œDe-Mystifying Dyslexiaโ€ and I would love for you to join me! 

Follow in my stories or on the highlight above!

#dyslexia #teading  #readingteacher #raiseareader #demystifyingdyslexia

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