Snakes don’t frighten my son. This may be because my husband and I have made great effort not to let the unexpected sight of snakes startle him. We want him to have a fascination with nature and not immediately kill what he presumes is dangerous. That said, we also tell him if he ever sees a snake to immediately tell Mommy or Daddy and by no means should he touch it or get near it. (Nothing infuriates me more than to see someone kill a snake just because it’s a snake. If it’s a water moccasin in a swimming pool…then …read more

Truman rolled out of bed this morning and the first thing out of his mouth was that he wanted to make a flag of Africa. He got a globe for Christmas (to foster his interest in the planets) and he became fascinated with the continents and their countries.
My husband has been sitting down with him nightly and drawing the continents and telling Truman whatever he knows about the countries. Truman relays this information to me throughout the day: “Mommy, did you know it is very, VERY cold in Antarctica?” “Mommy, you know what Mommy? There is a really bad war …read more

Mothers all over the world are frantically searching for ways to keep their kids from totally destroying the house and finding that it is no small task. There is a secret to keeping the kids’ behavior under control, but it takes some commitment from you. It is called “involvement.” Television is only effective for so long in our home, like five minutes maximum. It also dumbs down your children and contributes to ADHD symptoms. Fear not, television is not the only way to entertain your kids. Today’s idea for curing summer time blues is making a summer memory box. Here are …read more

Whether you have one child or fifteen children, creating balance in your home life may seem impossible. For example, my children are out for the summer. We are trying to follow a summer home-school program that allows the kids to retain their acquired knowledge. I have six kids who participate in the program, all ranging from preschool to fourth grade. It can be tricky to “balance” out the amount of time spent helping each kid. I also try to “balance” play and learning time. I’m not telling you this so that I can earn your praise. Trust me, there is so much …read more

 
…a little too easy, if you ask me. Many parents see their child’s summer break as a cessation of learning. The summer days are often spent on vacation, lazing about the house or whining about how boring life is. While there is definitely a portion of the break that should be used for these three things, there seems to be a lack of preventative maintenance in education. Did you know that most (publicly schooled) kids start the school year, academically farther behind than they did at the previous year’s dismissal? That is just sad. We spent a pretty penny at Sylvan Learning …read more