Sometimes my kids think school is boring. Not always and not every lesson but overall, they’ve come to think of school as boring. And I hate that for them! Learning shouldn’t be boring! I’m not sure exactly where we are going wrong but I know that introducing more fun activities is going to…
I have on clear memory of learning math as a child. And it was when I had failed my first math test. It wasn’t actually even a test, it was an assessment to get into the gifted program that I was already in. But we had to retest every six weeks. I hadn’t just failed…
“One-ty one, one-ty two, one-ty three”. Yes, we renamed the teen numbers to be more in line with the rest of the numbers. And it sounds so weird. But it makes so much more sense. I could see the frustration all over Logi-Bear’s face. His eyes would well up with tears and he would clench…
We threw out our first pumpkin today. Arizona weather is not kind to any living thing, including pumpkins. I was so excited for the holiday season that I bought a pumpkin the second I saw them out. And as a result, we’ve already had to throw out our first pumpkin. It reminded me of how…
Do you ever feel like your kids need a small review of previous lessons? I was reading with Royal the other day and he just plain forgot what sound -sh makes. He’s a great reader so I was a bit confused. I think he might have been having a brain fart, if you will, but…
Have you ever thought about how arbitrary measurements are? I find it kind of interesting that we use systems of measurement every day but they’re really just standardized systems we made up! Of course, it makes sense to have a standardized system. I still remember the first time I realized that humans made up our…
It’s no secret that my boys love all thing that move. Baloo was a train-nut until about 6 and still loves them now. A few years ago, Daddy got a job as a train conductor and he’s now considered a hero. He even got the overalls to be a bit more authentic and they just…
What do you do with a child who thinks reading is amazing, pretends to read constantly, yet isn’t quite ready for sounding out words? You teach them sight words! I’m pretty much on board with teaching phonics and that’s how we taught both Royal and Baloo, primarily. We limit sight words and push through with…
Sometimes I feel so stuck with learning math facts – or the boys learning math facts that is. They’re not highly motivated so the idea just falls flat on them. So I’m continually trying to find new, fun, and novel ways to get them to practice! I knew I wanted a train doubles plus 1…
I love puzzles and I was always one of those people who loved having a puzzle on the table to work on little by little. Somehow over the years, we’ve gotten out of the habit of puzzle solving. We don’t even really do many puzzles with the kids, which makes me sad. I think there…
Getting kids excited about reading by themselves can be tricky. We spend years and years reading to them and they don’t want that to stop (and rightfully so) but sometimes that also means they resist reading by themselves. My kids are not really motivated readers. They take some prodding. But with easy reader books that…
Multiplication is the first big fish in the math pond, or that’s how my kids see it at least. When learning concepts like addition and subtraction, they kind of don’t even know that’s what they’re learning. It’s presented from preschool age and then suddenly we tell them “Oh by the way, that’s called addition”. But…