• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • About
  • Shop
  • Press
  • Media Kit
  • Contact
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

teach mama logo

teach mama

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

  • early literacy
    • alphabet
    • beginning sounds
    • phonics
    • phonological awareness
    • read-aloud learning
    • rhyming
    • sight words
  • reading
    • books
    • comprehension
      • activating schema
      • connecting
      • inferring
      • predicting
      • questioning
      • retelling / summarizing
      • visualizing
    • concepts of print
    • environmental print
    • fluency
    • non-fiction
    • spelling
    • word building
    • word consciousness
    • vocabulary
  • writing
    • creative writing
    • grammar
    • informative writing
    • tripod grip
  • math
    • computation
    • counting
    • numbers
  • science
    • animals
    • plants
    • science experiments for kids
  • Activities
    • birthdays
    • cooking
      • new for us foods
    • crafts
    • foundations
      • colors
      • critical thinking
      • fine arts
      • listening
      • pretend play
      • sorting
      • speaking
    • holidays
      • new year’s
      • valentine’s day
      • president’s day
      • st. patrick’s day
      • april fool’s day
      • easter
      • mother’s day
      • teacher appreciation
      • father’s day
      • july 4th
      • halloween
      • thanksgiving
      • christmas
    • family life
      • family fun
      • giving back
      • lunchbox love notes
      • school
    • indoor activities
    • outdoor activities
  • digital literacy
    • computer time
    • iPad for learning
  • early literacy
    • alphabet
    • beginning sounds
    • phonics
    • phonological awareness
    • read-aloud learning
    • rhyming
    • sight words
  • reading
    • books
    • comprehension
      • activating schema
      • connecting
      • inferring
      • predicting
      • questioning
      • retelling / summarizing
      • visualizing
    • concepts of print
    • environmental print
    • fluency
    • non-fiction
    • spelling
    • word building
    • word consciousness
    • vocabulary
  • writing
    • creative writing
    • grammar
    • informative writing
    • tripod grip
  • math
    • computation
    • counting
    • numbers
  • science
    • animals
    • plants
    • science experiments for kids
  • Activities
    • birthdays
    • cooking
      • new for us foods
    • crafts
    • foundations
      • colors
      • critical thinking
      • fine arts
      • listening
      • pretend play
      • sorting
      • speaking
    • holidays
      • new year’s
      • valentine’s day
      • president’s day
      • st. patrick’s day
      • april fool’s day
      • easter
      • mother’s day
      • teacher appreciation
      • father’s day
      • july 4th
      • halloween
      • thanksgiving
      • christmas
    • family life
      • family fun
      • giving back
      • lunchbox love notes
      • school
    • indoor activities
    • outdoor activities
  • digital literacy
    • computer time
    • iPad for learning
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

just you and me

home / math / numbers / just you and me
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

I had a quiet morning with Cora today while Maddy and Owen were at preschool, and after finishing the necessary stop at CVS for milk and diapers, we headed home and just spent time together. My goal for the New Year is to do just that–spend time just being with my little ones. This time is so fleeting; I’m afraid one day I’ll wake up and it’ll be over.

Here’s what we did:

  • Dolls: Since language–acquisition, appropriateness, manners, problem-solving, etc– is something parents need to perpetually work on with their children, just playing with dolls with Cora is fun. It gives me a chance to listen to her words developing and practice with her.
  • Play-doh: We had about 30 min to spare before I started lunch for her, so I put Cora in her mealtime chair and gave her a tiny container of Play-doh–the ones that fit perfectly in party goodie bags and Christmas stockings. It was the perfect size for her little hand, and it was all she needed. Unlike her older siblings, she didn’t request the haircutting set, the ice-cream making set, or anything else. We rolled, flattened, pulled apart, and just squished. I grabbed a handful of dried noodles from the pantry and put them on her tray. I let her figure out how to use them for a bit then showed her how to stick them in the Play-doh. She loved it.
  • Water Colors: Before dinner, another tough time for us, I found I had a good 45 minutes to fill. Maddy and Owen were tired of playing together, tired of playing alone, tired of everything in general. I grabbed the box of Crayola Washable Watercolors (we have about 6 palates at varying stages of life), some blank paper, and tiny water bowls. They all cheered and ran to the table. They watercolored for a solid 30 minutes. They challenged each other to make the brightest colors, the lightest colors, and to mix the ugliest. We played “guess the letter,” “guess the number,” and “guess the picture.” It wasn’t always easy to tell, but at least they were trying. It was great, until Cora tried to paint her cheeks, but that’s another story. . .

And that’s how I tried to make today a bit of a learning day.

Thanks for subscribing to teachmama! Have a good one!

You May Also Like...

  • be nicer than necessary notes: lunchbox love to help us stop bickering
    be nicer than necessary notes: lunchbox love to help us stop bickering
  • how every family can start the school year off right
    how every family can start the school year off right
  • everything free and awesome online to do while kids are home: classes, crafts, virtual tours and more
    everything free and awesome online to do while kids are home: classes, crafts,…

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 · http://about.me/amymascott
tweet with me: @teachmama

Previous Post: « laundry day
Next Post: wikki stix and crayon bits: teach children letters and grip wikki sticx and crayon bits »

Sidebar

our books & freebies

setting the stage for rock-star readers
raise a reader
amy mascott profile blog
subscribe teachmama

join the coolest club around:

Find Us On Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Helpful Links

  • About
  • Contact
  • Press
  • Media Kit
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy

Follow Us On Instagram

View
Open
Aaawwwhhhhh live this little Welcome Pack from @univofmaryland @umddining — countdown is on! 

T-minus 8 days until our #1 hits campus!

#bts2022 #OldBay #marylandlife #universityofmaryland
View
Open
Super easy, homemade dog treats! 

Kids can help—they love the scraping into molds part!

Recipe below: 

ingredients 
1 egg
1 12.5 oz can chicken
1/4 cup chickpea (or tapioca) flour
1/4 cup whole wheat flour

instructions 
1. preheat oven to 350•

2. add all ingredients to blender and mix on high

3. pour into silicon molds

4. bake 10 min then switch trays to opposite oven racks—our racks cannot fit two trays). bake for another 10-12 min or until treats pop easily out of molds. 

5. let cool on tray so they get a little more crispy. 

store in airtight container for up to a week!

#kidsinthekitchen #homemadedogtreats #pettreats #diydogtreats #dogtraining #familyfun
View
Open
Pop Up Shops for Musikfest!

New tees and tanks—super cool and perfect for ‘festing!

@bethlum.shop is where it’s at!
View
Open
happy saturday 🚙
View
Open
Painted rocks are a lifesaver most days, aren’t they?
View
Open
Hello, Teacher Wish List.

You are welcome here. In fact, we are incredibly glad that you’ve made your way into our culture.

You’re like the Wedding Registry or Baby Registry–but better. 

You are a dream because you are the list that gives and gives and gives. You’re not full of weird kitchen appliances or ugly China patterns or tiny baby Air Jordans. You are made of books, pens, pencils, journals, math manipulatives, bulletin board letters, lab goggles, staplers, and hole punchers.

You are helping to equip and educate the youth of the world and are taking a tiny bit of stress off of the shoulders of our educators. And we all know that our educators–especially in the last few years–have been stretched to the absolute max. They are tired, worn down, and stepped on. They’re pushed and pulled every which way and are expected to do the job of 27 different people.

What an amazing thing you are, you little Classroom Wish List! Just a simple Amazon Wish List, you let us all feel like we are helping in a teeny way, and we thank you.

We hope you never, ever leave and that you’re here to stay.

Sincerely,

Everyone

Want to help #ClearTheList ? 

Please visit: bit.ly/HELPclearthelist

#BTS2022 #HelpClearTheList #ISupportTeachers #TeachersRock #linkinbio
View
Open
TEACHERS! 

We appreciate you. 

We know that you have been spending your own money for AGES for your classroom and students, and we want to help. 

Here’s everything you need to know about creating your own Amazon Wish List: https://teachmama.com/help-teachers-clear-the-list/

Am I missing anything? Please let me know! 

#ClearTheList #CreateTeacherWishList #ClassroomWishList #AmazonWishList #BTS2022
View
Open
Friends, if you have an extra $5 or $10 that you could spare to help some amazing educators, we would be SO GRATEFUL.

Head on over to find out what I'm talking about and to learn how you can help.

And? If you're a teacher, add YOUR list to the mix so it gets more eyes (and more support!)

Check it out: https://teachmama.com/help-teachers-clear-the-list/

#ClearTheList #linkinbio #BTS2022 #ShareYourList #AmazonClearTheList
View
Open
nosotros votamos!

Find YOUR Gun Sense Candidates here: https://gunsensevoter.org/candidates/

#FirstTimeVoter #GunSenseVoter #AppleBallotVoter #yovoté

Copyright © 2022 · teach mama media, llc · All Rights Reserved