Early Learning. Happy Teaching.
Good morning everyone! We’re off to a new week of learning in our family! As you know, we’re dealing with ADHD and we’ve been using various approaches to try to manage it without using medication. One of the ways that we’re finding to be helpful is by making lifestyle changes.
When I say “lifestyle changes”, I mean all parts of our lifestyle, including what we eat, watch, and do. There’s some disagreement over whether diet plays a role in ADHD symptoms among the medical community.
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It’s our first time joining the Poppins Book Nook blog hop and we’re extra excited to show you a couple of our transportation-themed activities! First we got started by reading a couple of Anne Rockwell books:
In both books, our kids took to the helicopters and trains. That’s actually pretty natural, since until a few months ago, they were Thomas and Friends addicts. Naturally, we followed up our reading by watching Go-Go Thomas.
As we watched the show, the kids called out the different vehicles they saw: trains, helicopters, boats, front loaders, buses, and more. (Of course, they called them all by name.) Afterwards, we decided to make our own helicopters. I stuck a push pin through a popsicle stick and then stuck the pin tip into a pencil eraser to make DIY helicopters.
Now the trick with these is to rub them back and forth between your palms and then roll it once all the way through to make them fly. It takes quite a bit of practice, but the kids were up to it!
Look at the determination and intensity on Pooh’s face!
Success!
Piglet was rather bored by it all, but we had a great time!
Be sure to visit the other blogs participating in the Poppins Book Nook fun this month!
And stop by tomorrow to see another one of our transportation activities from June! Keep on learning!
Hi everyone! Welcome to the next installment in our series “Homeschooling with ADHD.” Today we’re talking about how we can prepare kids to learn.
One of the most common indicators of ADHD is the inability to adjust your train of thought. For ADHD kids and adults, thought patterns are often like runaway engines, speeding down a single track in one specific direction. At times, this can be really useful, especially if there’s a project or task that needs finishing. At other times, though, it can make it almost impossible to perform the simplest task.
Good morning everyone! Today, I wanted to share something I’ve just realized about my parenting and homeschooling style. Hopefully, this will be of some help to some of you out there as well.
Yesterday, Jay and I took the kids to the library. If you’ve been reading our blog for a while, then you already know how much we love visiting our local library. We probably go at least every couple of weeks and, now that the boys are learning to read, we’re getting more books than ever before.
The last time we went, Jay made a comment about how Tigger needed to learn how to find her own books and how to speak with the librarian for assistance. Before he said that, I had honestly never thought about it. (Mind you – I went to public school during the elementary years and I visited my school library every day. I still didn’t think about the importance of learning those skills, though.)
So, when we went yesterday, I took Tigger aside and showed her how to use the library’s online catalog to find her favorite book series and authors. Then we walked down the aisles and we practiced finding the authors by last name. She had a lot of trouble focusing on what I asked her to do, though, because she had never done it before. My almost nine-year-old was unable to locate a book in the children’s section using alphabetical order. Why? Because I’ve always found books for her and then handed them to her to read after we got home. I don’t think of myself as a helicopter parent, so why was I so accustomed to performing this simple task for her?
And that’s when I had a realization…..
Being Preoccupied Can Have the Same Negative Effect as Being Overprotective
I’ve taken Tigger, Roo, and Pooh to the library more times than I can count over the years. Why hadn’t I taught them how to find their own books, look for their favorite authors, or talk to the children’s librarian? I was too busy. Too busy keeping everyone quiet. Too busy keeping everyone where I could see them. And even worse, too busy trying to select the books that I felt they needed to read, rather than exploring the joy of reading together.
By insisting on following a specific household routine or by focusing too intently on getting “everything done”, I’ve been unconsciously handicapping my children. I’ve been holding onto my comfortable ways of doing things, and in the process, holding onto their hands for far too long. Tigger will be approaching her pre-teen years before I know it and it’s entirely possible that I’ve been so lost in the daily details of parenting, working, and running a household that I could leave her unprepared for that part of her life.
So, I’m learning how to let go…of my old habits, my old ways of thinking, and my obsession over the daily to-do lists. After all, the Bible clearly says, “Never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties.” (Matthew 6:34) Instead, I’m going to focus on mindful parenting that will help me prepare my children for their futures. This way, when it’s time to let go of their hands completely, they’ll be strong enough to fly on their own.
Are any of you struggling with preoccupied parenting? How have you broken out of this mindset and become a more purposeful parent? Let us know in the comments! Keep on learning!
Happy Monday all! Welcome to the second installment of our series “Homeschooling with ADHD!” Last week, we discussed why it’s important that we manage our expectations of our children and ourselves. Today we’ll be talking about adapting as teachers.
When we accept the responsibility of homeschooling our kids, we’re accepting a special privilege, especially when working with kids who have special needs.
The good news is that we can adapt the schoolwork to suit our children, instead of forcing them to adapt to the curriculum. The bad news is that doing this successfully may require that we completely overhaul our teaching styles to suit their learning styles.
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Hi everyone! Big news today! We’re joining up with the monthly virtual book club Poppins Book Nook. Every month, we’ll be sharing our favorite books on a specific topic and a few activities we plan around the theme. Our Poppins Book Nook activity will always post on the last Monday of the month and this month’s theme is Travel and Transportation, so look for our new book club post on June 24th!
If you’d like to follow along for the next few months, here are the upcoming themes:
June – Travel and Transportation
July – Beach and Ocean
August – Fairy Tales
September – School
October – Seasons
November – Animals and Pets
December – No Book Club
January – Greek Myths
February – Presidents
We’re busy planning our travel and transportation activities for this month, but in the meantime, check out some of the books we’ll be highlighting!
Here’s a list of all the bloggers participating in June’s Poppins Book Nook. Stop by and show them some love in the meantime and then come back on June 24 for all the traveling fun we’ll be sharing!
As we mentioned last week, Tigger has been tentatively diagnosed with ADHD and we suspect that Roo may have some attention issues as well. So we’ve had to make some changes in how we approach our homeschooling journey.
Interestingly, the biggest change I’ve had to make personally is in how I view a productive school day. When I first started thinking about homeschooling, I envisioned a full day of lessons, experiments, crafts, play, and music.
Good morning everyone! Thanks for stopping by to see us today! This week we’ll be starting off a new series called “Homeschooling with ADHD.”
Tigger was diagnosed with ADHD a few months back and we’ve made the decision (so far) to continue on without medication. Interestingly, her doctor actually said that the fact that we’re homeschoolers works in her favor. Since we don’t require her to sit still for several hours per day and we work with her on an individual basis, we may not need to use medication at all. Yet another win for homeschooling!
Hi everyone! Today we’re sharing pictures of our recent field trip to Callaway Gardens! On May 10, 2013, the gardens offered free admission to everyone in honor of National Public Gardens Day and we decided to pack up the Hundred Acre Wood crew to drive out to Pine Mountain, GA.
One of the things we loved the most was the free BINGO game that they hand out at the visitors’ center. The kids get to walk through the gardens looking for items on their bingo sheets and then marking them off. We ended up seeing almost everything on our list!
The gardens holds a live “Birds of Prey” show every day. During the show, they allow some of the birds to fly loose over the audience’s head, which was a huge hit with the kids. This is a Harris’s Hawk resting on the keeper’s glove.
This lovely bird is a Red-tailed Hawk. It was simply stunning.
After attending the bird show, we walked over to the Butterfly Center. It was an unforgettable experience. Inside the center, there are live butterflies and moths flying around everywhere!
This one landed right on my shoulder and Christopher Robin snapped a pic before it flew away.
We grabbed a snapshot of the kids in front of the center’s waterfall.
Piglet relaxes with Christopher Robin before leaving the center. She wasn’t too sure about the flying insects, as you can see.
Right before we left, we walked through the Azalea Bowl down to the Sibley Horticultural Center. We were so glad we did.
The kids got a kick out of the topiary.
Then we walked through an enclosed garden and it was truly breathtaking. We passed under a waterfall and down to this garden where we took a brief break on the benches before walking back.
On the way back to the car, Piglet perked up a bit. I guess she knew we were heading home!
We had a wonderful time at Callaway Gardens. Everyone was helpful and attentive and we got a chance to enjoy looking at the wonders of God’s creation and marveling at the “works of his hands”. (Psalm 19:1) We’ll definitely be back!
Have you visited a botanical garden with your family? How did you enjoy it? Let us know in the comments.
Keep on learning!
It’s almost summertime and a lot of families are getting ready for their annual vacation.
We’ve gotten a chance to go away for the last few summers. With four kids, that is no small feat.
Along the way, I’ve picked up a few traveling tips for summer travel with kids that I thought I’d share with you today!
Bear in mind – these are just based on our personal experiences.
But I have a hunch that most of these will apply to all parents, even if your family is smaller or larger than ours.
Keep reading to see the full list of family travel tips. Plus, grab a free printable travel bucket list for easy vacation planning with the kids!
Want some awesome summer activities to try with the family? Don’t miss my list of 50 summer crafts for kids to make!
I didn’t grow up in a large family. It was just four of us and my brother and I are ten years apart.
So I didn’t know any tips for summer travel with kids when I started having children of my own.
I hope these can help some of you avoid the less than pleasant early travel experiences we had to deal with – since I had no idea what I was doing.
You will run out of something halfway through the trip and I promise it will be the thing you thought you’d need the least of.
We pack twice the amount of kids’ clothes we think they’ll use. They always end up needing it all somehow.
Remember when you and your spouse could get to your destination with just one or two stops along the way?
Those days are long gone.
Whenever Google Maps tells us we can get to our destination in six hours, we add at least an hour and a half to that for stops.
Someone (or more than one someone) will spill something in the back of the vehicle.
Someone will also have an “accident” and will need to change clothes at some point.
The shopping bags and wet wipes will come in handy more often than you think.
One of the problems you run into when you have a large family is that most hotels only allow you to have two kids in the room.
I know some families just book the room anyway and double up the kids in the bed, but I’ve found it best to just tell the staff that we have four children.
They’ve often given us discounts on suites or larger rooms that had more space and better facilities.
This is one of those tips for summer travel I wish I had known earlier.
Always, always, always have your children bring their jackets with them on a trip.
They’ll end up feeling cold somewhere – in a store, in the car, in a movie theater, or a restaurant.
And you won’t have to run to the store to pick up a blanket.
On a couple of family trips, we found that eating out ends up costing more than the hotel room, especially if we’re gone for an entire week.
We wised up a few years ago and started booking rooms that have full kitchens and refrigerators. The money we save on eating out more than covers the cost of the larger hotel room.
Since you’ve chosen a hotel room with a full kitchen, you’ll have room to store actual groceries.
We stick with simple, low-cost meals like spaghetti, salads, cereal and milk, tuna sandwiches, and snacks.
They’re affordable. I know the kids will eat them. And they don’t take much time to prepare.
At least once during the trip, we go out to eat at a nice restaurant. But most days, we just have what the kids would normally eat at home.
Bonus: They can make most of these meals themselves.
If you go to a family-friendly destination (think: Orlando, Myrtle Beach, Pigeon Forge), you may think you have to add tickets to a popular attraction like Disney, Dollywood, or Ripley’s Aquarium.
And those are fine.
But if you’re on a budget and your kids are fairly young, you can get a lot out of the on-site attractions at the local resorts.
We usually choose one that has a splash pad and a water park. Then the kids can just walk down to the park and we can hang out by the pool. Win.
This is one of those tips for summer travel with kids that I didn’t pick up on until our second family vacation.
On that trip, we had taken the time to put together an itinerary that we were sure the kids would love. We even booked a room that had a themed kids’ suite with bunkbeds.
They still found a reason to be unhappy with it. (I think it was that the room wasn’t big enough to play in or something.)
But that’s just kids being kids. If you can weather their initial complaints, you’ll probably end up having a great time. We did.
And, to round out our list of tips for summer travel with kids, try to visit at least one kid-friendly spot while you’re away.
There are a ton of low-cost and even free places to visit in the United States that are definitely worth a visit and may even be on your way.
Need some ideas for kid-friendly attractions to visit in the U.S.? Pick up our free U.S. Landmarks and Attractions travel bucket list!
This printable is packed with 250 different sights to see in the United States (five for each state).
Choose a couple in the state you plan to visit and let the kids check them off as you tour them all.
You may even come up with some new vacation ideas along the way!
To get this printable family travel bucket list, click the image or the link below to have it sent directly to your inbox!
You’ll also get our weekly newsletter – coming to your inbox this weekend!
Do you have any tips for summer travel with kids? Feel free to share them in the comments!
And if you need some learning activities to keep your kids happy on the road, check out some of these printables for kids!
