Several years ago, I wrote about how to make the school year a smashing success, or. . . actually how to make the school year as successful as humanly possible. It included 10 easy steps that any family could follow in order to start the school year off on the right foot. I just looked back at it, and I decided it's totally worth sharing again, because, well, with a little prep and a little thought, every family can start the school year off on a positive note. Every one of us wants the … [Read more...]
get kids to cook: weekly meal plan sheet
Kids are all home from school for who knows how long, so let's get kids to cook this week, friends. It's a perfect time to get kids in the kitchen, planning and preparing meals, and helping with household chores. Think about it: three meals a day, seven days a week, times [how many people in your family] = a lot of meal prep. So let's get kids cooking. Here's the skinny. . . Get Kids to Cook -- Weekly Meal Plan Sheet This is super-simple, friends, but if kids have a little … [Read more...]
homeschooling schedule during coronavirus school closings
Here is our official homeschooling schedule during the current Coronavirus school closings. School at home. Here we go! Since we are in an official state of emergency now, in order to contain and control the spread of CoVid-19, we have to keep our kids at home. That means that a whole lot of children in the US will need to be "homeschooled" for a while. And though it may be super difficult for many families, the most important thing is that we keep our kids on a schedule so that we all … [Read more...]
free hand washing posters: coronavirus 2020
We may have three 'big kids' in our house, but we all still need reminders to wash our hands, especially during the 2020 Coronavirus Outbreak. So I scoured the internet, found a ton of free posters, and printed some out for our family. Here's the skinny. . . Free Hand Washing Posters -- Coronavirus 2020 It's a basic thing, I know--but many times, especially when we're running late (which our family usually is!), sometimes hand washing is forgotten. Or maybe it's not forgotten … [Read more...]
scratch off ticket valentines: candy-free and totally fun
Every year the kids and I have a really fun time searching for cool Valentines to make for their class party Valentine exchange. We don't go super-crazy. We just do something a little special that will hopefully make their friends and teachers smile. It's a yearly tradition--the search, the planning, the mess, the crafting, and the delivering. It's a lot of fun, and honestly, I could weep thinking that this yera will be Maddy's last year for a Valentine's Day class party. Next year, as a … [Read more...]
fun dip valentines
Judge me if you will, but I have finally given in to the pressure of Owen and Cora. I've held up for quite a while, though, and for that I'm proud. Every, single year when I bragged about creating fun, super-cool candy-free Valentines for the kids to make for their classmates, they sighed. Puh-leaaaase, Mom. We just want to give our friends candy Valentines. That's all kids want. Can we just get the Valentines from the store that everyone loves? The ones that have a lollipop or Nerds in … [Read more...]
holiday note gift idea for families: unique, thoughtful, and FREE
These holiday notes may turn out to be one of your family's most coveted and meaningful traditions! It's so easy for our little ones (and even adults sometimes!) to lose sight of what the holiday season is all about. So in 2008, when I saw this idea on a late-night, dvr'd Oprah, I knew I wanted to use it. With a little prompting, my family tried out Holiday Notes with both sides of the family. Even though some interpreted the exchange a little differently, it was a success overall. Most … [Read more...]
halloween class party: 10 quickie activities for that extra 10 minutes
Planning class parties can be a real struggle, especially when you're rolling solo as the Room Parent. But for years now, I've made it my goal to share as much as was humanly possible so that no one's stuck trying to figure out what to do with 30 kids eager for a good Halloween par-tay. If you need a full-fledged Halloween class party, you can check out: Halloween class party ideas MORE Halloween class party ideas for the whole deal. But if you just need a quickie 10-minute activity … [Read more...]
30 days of financial fitness: 3 cool resources to raise financial literacy in kids
As a parent and educator, I know it is super important that my kids learn how to make smart financial decisions now, before they go off into the real world. But I know that raising money confident kids isn’t always easy. It involves planning. It involves understanding ourselves how to be money confident—and that can be scary, even as adults. So when I was asked by the good people at T. Rowe Price to take a look at the Money Confident Kids® resources they have for school and … [Read more...]
st. patrick’s day BRAIN TEASER scavenger hunt
Even though our lives have changed quite a bit since I started this blog seven years ago, one thing has remained the same: we love to rock it out for holidays. Even big kids like to rock it out for the holidays. So this year, I decided to kick up our traditional St. Patty's Day Scavenger Hunt just a wee bit. My kids are quick, and they're smart. So our Scavenger Hunt needs to be tricky and engaging to keep them interested--or at least to stretch our hunt a bit past the … [Read more...]
lent for modern catholic kids | daily reflections and prayers
Cards have been updated to reflect dates for the 2021 Lenten season. Enjoy! We're one week into Lent this year, and I feel like we kind of struggled for the first week. Our parish priest stressed to us the importance of 'not giving up chocolate' again and instead challenged us to really make this Lent count. So we agreed. We wouldn't give up chocolate. But honestly, after so many years of doing just that--giving up sweets--for Lent, it felt strange not to. And we … [Read more...]
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