Age-Appropriate

Plate ART

I threw out the uppercase A-R-T in the title of this post because even though my friend and I had a blast decorating plates with our kids, the following images do NOT show plates that you can eat from or really even wash. They will be on a plate stand in the kitchen most likely 😉

My friend Allie and I are both 24 weeks pregnant, we both have a two year and a half year old, and we both have a one year old (this was not planned by the way). So, we have had a sleepover this weekend to let our crazy worlds come together for a few days. It has been so sweet, and funny, and crazy of course. We decided it would be fun to let the little ones do an art activity together.

We found some pefect small, white melamine plates at Target and purchased some colorful sharpies, we headed back home to let our little ones decorate away. (PS – we learned the hard way that the bamboo melamine plates we found at Big Lots were a NO GO! Just trust me on this one.)

My friend Allie can write really cutesie and I can NOT write cutesie at all so she personalized all of the plates for us. Thanks Allie ! 🙂

We threw aprons on the little ones and let them color on their plates….

Then, we threw aprons on the one year olds and let them color on their plates (without their names on them), and we found out that this actually worked better to write the name AFTER coloring.

This next low-quality shot is just showing that I traced my little ones’ hands on the back and wrote the date.

I had originally intended to make dinner plates, but it didn’t quite workout that way. And after researching melamine and the process of making dinner plates, I was even more happy with the final product as a keepsake. We wanted a fast and funky activity to do so this was perfect for the weekend. But I found this if this is your kind of thing….. http://www.ehow.com/how_6913770_paint-melamine-dinner-plates.html – I’m sure I’ll make this happen in the future too 😉

Once again…here are my two kiddos plates…..up close and personal:

I am happy with the way they turned out!

February 24, 2013 by Jessica | 5 Comments

A Mommy Teacher Shares a QUICK AND EASY ABC lesson

I LOVE LOVE LOVE when a mommy teacher shares something with me that they are doing with their little one at home. If every follower shared one picture, writing sample, or video we would have the largest idea bank EVER for moms to browse…. or we could add them to the large idea bank that exists aka pinterest haha.

My co-worker was showing me this video of her child in passing and I asked her to send it to me for lots of reasons:

1) I love quick and easy mini-lessons that can be done at home.

2) I love teaching tools like this wand and others:

3) I love that she is only introducing a few letters at a time.

4) I love that this is so hands-on.

5) I love that it is active-child friendly 😉

Share your quick and easy ideas too please here, via email, or facebook!!!!

February 3, 2013 by Jessica | 0 comments

Adding Can Be Sneaky

Hmmm…. I have a child napping and one at a birthday party that my husband brought him to. Adding those little nuggets together equaled getting my fingers to the keyboard and writing a long overdue post. You know me, I am SIMPLE. An idea can go a long way.

One idea you can take today and run with it (in your own way) is introducing the concept of addition if you havent already. You can start with language as simple as “You plus mommy equals happy together” OR “One cookie and one more is two for YOU!”

Addition sounds scary, but it is so important when kids start realizing that two groups of numbers can be put together to make one new number. And there are so many fun ways to practice…. drawings, crafts, and it gets really fun when you incorporate food 🙂

I usually start out by introducing the language for a while, like I mentioned earlier (examples are: and, is, more, plus, equals, together).

I cant help of think of that cheesy song “You (plus sign) Me (equal sign) us” that I’m pretty sure was one big joke and I actually cant believe I am bringing it up in this post…. don’t judge hah 😉

Then I simply incorporate all of this into every day learning opportunities like….

“Daddy has a fishing pole AND Sean Patrick has a fishing pole. How many fishing poles do we have all together?”

If he doesn’t know then I would say “Let’s count!” and then, “So, one and one is TWO.”

After there is familiarity with the language, I bring it to a more concrete level by adding our snack time foods together or adding two groups of blocks to one tower.

Finally, we might draw pictures to represent adding, and then introduce word sentence in writing (one and one is two) and then the symbols (+,= ).

Your turn mommy teachers…. how do you use addition in your every day home environments…. send pictures for me to share and post ideas for other moms to see! jessica (at) themommyteacher (dot) com.

February 2, 2013 by Jessica | 0 comments

Don’t Pass Up The Chance to Teach SOMEthing today…

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day y’all! Today is packed with purpose, historical and monumental.

So many great discussions can take place in your house on Inauguration Day; AND, who could pass up the chance to celebrate the day that we remember such a powerful figure in the Civil Rights Movement…. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I had to pass along one example of a teachable moment from today to inspire you…. my friend Casey with Kidspired Creations…. writes on her personal blog… about her teaching moment.

It is a quick read, but I mean, if this doesn’t inspire you I don’t know what will!

I didn’t snap pictures from today, but with my two year old I mostly introduced vocabulary today while we watched the Inauguration…. like “President” and “Speech.” etc.

I shared the following picture on my facebook page but I wanted to also share it here. My kindergarteners made these simple books (from an idea on pinterest) and it is a beautiful depiction that we are in fact created equal.

(She wasn’t finished coloring but I think the way she colored the clothing too is adorable )

God Bless America!

January 21, 2013 by Jessica | 0 comments

Here Is My Secret Math Weapon

Okay, so today I am going to reveal one of my GREATEST math resources for little ones…. it is an OLDSCHOOL book that is still relevant and always will be for teaching number concepts.

Developing Number Concepts Using Unifix Cubes

WHATEVER YOU DO…. DO NOT BUY A NEW COPY OF THIS BOOK! Buy a used one….. it is an old book and there are TONS of afforable copies!

If you are a homeschooling mom then you do not want to pass this up, but whether you are, or aren’t, this is a great activity book.

It is informative, and extremely hands-on. If you worked on one “game” a week from the book and did it every day by the time you get through the progression of the activities your child will truly understand the foundations of math, and I wouldn’t be surprised if your child embraced math from then on.

This book is outdated in appearance but NOT content. There are more updated books broken up into Book 1, Book 2, and Book 3, but they are just visually more appealing. If you get the cheaper old school book you wont regret it.

Oh, and I guess you will need some of these:

Unifix Cubes; Assorted Colors; 100 Piece Set; no. DD-225

January 13, 2013 by Jessica | 0 comments