Short and Sweet Bit of Advice

Hi Everyone!

I don't know what the weather's been like in your neck of the woods the past couple of days, but here in Northern Utah, it's felt like spring!  We're still a long ways from looking like spring, but the temperatures have been heavenly.    

Don't ignore that if you have a nice day.  This time of year, they may be fleeting.  Bundle up the kids and get them out of the house; outside to play.  If you don't have a yard, take them to a park and let them run and swing and jump and slide!  Take them for a walk to a park, or around the block.  Just get outdoors and breath in some good, fresh air.  It will be great for both you and your children!  Put an end to those winter time blues by taking every advantage of the nice temperatures before they've soared from too cold to too hot!  Being outdoors is a rejuvenation to spirit, mind, and body.    

:@)  Be Happy!!!

Doreese 

Valentine Reading for Pre-schoolers!

Here's a really fun way to get your child to practice their reading by using Valentine's as the bait! 

With the valentine's I have written here, they are to say the name of the letter; but, if the letter is in parenthesis, they are to say the sound of the letter.  You can print out a copy of the ideas I've written here, or create your own valentine's and write them on it.  And, of course, feel free to make up some of your own letter/sound/picture combinations to come up with more fun Valentine reading.  

I said this is for pre-schoolers because it's on their reading level, but it's fun for all ages.  Have your older kids try to come up with some valentine's of their own.  IMPORTANT:  Be sure to tell your little ones that this is not the way you would read these words in a book.  It's just a fun short cut for the words.

Happy Valentine's everyone!  I LOVE this holiday of love!

Doreese

Winter Homeschool Conference

A few days ago, my friend and I took See abc's to a Homeschool Conference in Ogden, Utah.  It was the funnest booth I've done yet!  There were a lot of people.  We had a great corner spot, and it was wonderful to have two of us there.  (Myself and Monae)

We sold a few programs and Bingo games, but mostly got a lot of fliers into the hands of people as they went by.  At conferences like this, people are in a rush to find their next class, or, there are so many booths that they can't stop at all of them.  So, while Monae explained the program to those who wanted to know more, I gave most everyone who passed by a note with information they can look up later if it sounds like something they would be in need of.

I'm surprised at how many families are choosing to homeschool their children now.  I have to respect the mom's especially for being able to do that!  I had a hard enough time teaching my kids one subject, piano.  It would really take good time management skills, and I definitely do not have those!  But, whether you're homeschooling or not, a parent can easily teach their own children how to read with See abc's.  And I have to admit that teaching them this most important skill is a thrill for a parent or a grandparent!  See abc's makes it so easy that the child doesn't get frustrated.  They, in fact, love doing it.  And, by teaching them yourself, you know they are getting the one on one attention they need and derserve!

Doreese

It's puzzle time? It's PUZZLE TIME!

HAPPY 2014!!!!  I hope for it to be full of joy and success for all of us; you and me and all the children we work with!

Over the holidays our family had a "puzzle-a-thon."  We have lots of puzzles that mostly just take up cupboard space.  For everyone's Christmas Eve, I gave them each a puzzle.  The whole family really got into the spirit of it.  My two married daughters and their children did lots of puzzles at their homes.  My three single kids and my husband and I did a bunch here.  It was a lot of fun!

Why do puzzles?  Or, rather, why should you do puzzles?  Well, I've heard that it's very good for our brains.  Cognitive thinking and all.  It greatly strengthens the focusing ability of both young and old!  But this blog focuses on the young.  

These winter puzzles were a hit.  They're 100 pieces each.  Even my rambunctious 6-year old grandson could do these with very little help!  The following puzzles are great for children ages 2 - 6.  All five of my grandkids who have been or is in this age group loves doing them.  Now the 3 and 5-year old grandsons are in to these.  As soon as they walk in the door, I hear, "Can we do puzzles?"  Just night before last, the 3-year old sat at my feet after our family dinner and wanted to do one of these puzzles, while the older kids were in the kitchen doing these winter ones.  He did one with a little help.  I knew he didn't believe he could do it himself.  After we finished the puzzle, I had him do it again, and he figured it out all by himself.  It was so much fun to sit and watch him discover that he could look at a puzzle piece, picture in his mind where it would fit either along the edge or how it aligned next to another puzzle piece.  "Oh, hey, this can go right here by that!" he would say with that same sparkle in his eye that children have when they realize they can read a word!  And now he can get out the puzzles and entertain himself for a long time.  Do you know that little 3-year old boy sat there and did at least ten puzzles mostly by himself!

Doing puzzles seems to be a tradition for many families over the holidays.  If your family didn't do any, may I suggest that you do some during the dark and dreary month of January when kids can't get outside and play much.  It really seemed to keep everyone motivated when I told them to keep doing puzzles and take a picture of them all to show what they had done for the "puzzle-a-thon." The dollar store has a lot of good 16 - 66 piece puzzles for kids.  Give it a shot!

Doreese

A Letter to MRS. CLAUS

For hundreds of years, children have carefully written their letters of wants and needs to Santa Claus.  But, what of Mrs. Claus?  She is Santa's greatest support.  It seems only fitting that she should receive some letters too, right?  But we never think of doing that!

This year, I would encourage you to encourage your children to write a letter to Mrs. Claus.  It will be fun and interesting to see what they would say in a letter where they are not asking for stuff.  I would guess it would be more of a letter of gratitude!



Well, I won't be talking to you again until next year!  So, I'm wishing you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS full of love and warmth, happiness and plenty of chocolate!  

Doreese

Bring Christ to Your Christmas Morning

With all of the excitement over the anticipation of wonderful and many gifts, Christmas trees and lights, candy canes and Santa Claus, it's very easy for children to forget the main purpose we have a Christmas holiday.  It's pretty clear to show them who it's all about; just underline the first syllable.

Oh, many of us have Sunday School lessons about baby Jesus during December.  We sing songs about him and have Christmas programs about him.  Many of us recite the telling of his birth from the New Testament on Christmas Eve.  But, what happens on Christmas Day at your house?  As I think back on it, it was all about Santa Claus!  And, it's fun and exciting to see what Santa brings us, but on Christ's birthday, there's nothing that brings our focus back to Him.

If you would like to change that, it'd be easy enough.  There are many children's books on The New Testament.  Give each child their very own.  Then for that moment, when they open that gift, they will think, "Oh, yeah, it's Jesus's birthday today."  If they all ready have a story book about Him, give them some other object to draw their attention to the Savior.  Have it there with the rest of their gifts.  When my kids were older, I gave them a calendar that had different pictures of Christ for each month.  There are hundreds of beautiful pictures of Christ you could give them.

A good motivation for reading their New Testament books would be to have them set the goal to be to the Easter story by the time Easter comes around.  Then they can have a Christ-centered Easter too!

Doreese

Thanksgiving - Get Your Children to Think About It

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

"See abc's" spells Thanksgiving . . . C H I L D R E N

At this Thanksgiving time of the year, let's sit down with our kids or grandkids and teach them some things about Thanksgiving and what gratitude means and why the world needs this virtue so desperately.

How much do your children really know about Thanksgiving?  Do they remember much from that one or two years in school where they learned the facts about it?  The little ones need to understand it too.  Now it seems to be just the holiday that needs to hurry past before we get out the Christmas decorations and presents!  So, this year how about having an "interesting factoid" discussion about Thanksgiving with the whole family and ask questions about it to see how much they know about this wonderful holiday, and provide a teaching moment for the things they don't know?

Here's a few questions you could ask:

1.  Who was at the first Thanksgiving?    Pilgrims and Indians
2.  Did they eat turkey?  No
3.  Were the Indians friendly?  Yes
4.  Were the pilgrims friendly?  Yes
5.  Where did the pilgrims come from?  Plymouth, England - across the Atlantic Ocean
6.  What was the name of the ship that brought them?  The May Flower
7.  What did they call the place they settled?  Plymouth Rock
8.  Where is Plymouth Rock?  In what now is the state of Massachusetts
9.  What year did they hold the first Thanksgiving?  1621
10.  How long ago was that?  392 years . . . almost 400 years ago!
11.  Which Indian tribe shared in the first Thanksgiving?  The Wampanoag Indians, and they taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land.
12.  What President made Thanksgiving a national holiday?  Abraham Lincoln
13.  Are Pilgrims and Pioneers the same thing?  No.  The pioneers are people who crossed the plains, moving from the Eastern states to what are now the Western states.  This didn't happen until the 1800's.

Ask your children to tell you yes or no if they think the pilgrims and Indians ate these foods.  Mix up foods from the two lists:
*  Food they did not have:  Mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, popcorn, milk, corn on the cob, and cranberries 
*  Food they could have had:  Lobster, rabbit, chicken, fish, squashes, beans, chestnuts, hickory nuts, onions, leeks, dried fruits, maple syrup and honey, radishes, cabbage, carrots, eggs, and goat cheese 

My daughter's family's gratitude tree.  Something they are grateful for is written on each leaf.  Great idea!

End your discussion with the traditional telling of things you are grateful.  And, I would write them down in a long list.  I also encourage all of you to make sure that your gratitude/blessing lists are ten times longer than your Christmas lists for Santa!

Doreese

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