Everyday Teachable Moments

My Kids Watch TV – Mommy Teacher Spotlight

For the last couple years I always sat back amazed at my sister Becca who would dissolve problems between our oldest children who are not even two days apart in age.

When our kids would fight over a toy she would start singing “You can take a turn, and then I’ll give it back” and they would almost immediately jump in singing and taking turns became a game.

When they got mad she would start singing “If you’re feeling mad and you want to roar… take a deep breath and count to four – 1 -2 -3- 4.” And they calmed down and started counting.

When we were about to leave the park she would sing, “It’s almost time to go, so choose one more thing to do. That was fun and now we’re through.”

I learned techniques similar to this in my under-grad and my teaching experience so I always sat back amazed that she would handle guidance in such an age-approriate way!

After about six months of enjoying her little songs, we finally discovered “Daniel Tiger” (The PBS TV show)  I finally made the connection, calling my sister on the phone saying, “BECCA! Hahah I am just now figuring it out!  I love it!  You stole (“borrowed”) those guidance techniques from the show – you are so smart!”

It’s funny because experts help write kid-friendly series to make them educational and some people treat TV like it is the devil. Or, you feel like you are a bad parent if your kids watch TV – NOT TRUE!  There are plenty of shows (especially on PBS kids) that are beneficial for kids – especially when you watch them, pause them, discuss them, dialogue with your kids about them, and even use some of the same tips in your parenting.

I tell Sean Patrick all the time not to take things out of someone else’s hands because he doesn’t want to be a swiper (Dora).

Swiper No Swiping

Or if he wants all the toys to himself I tell him to share like Jake not to be greedy like Captain Hook (Jake and the Neverland Pirates)

Don't be Greedy

Here is a guidance song that I didn’t know as well, but it is something we experience every day with our little ones:

And here is another on feelings:

Are there any quotes/songs from TV shows your kids watch that have helped your parenting?

Breakfast Choices

Every single morning my kids want to eat goldfish for breakfast.

I didn’t say that it happens, I just said that that is what my kids want…every.single.morning.

I do like to let my kids make choices about what they would like to eat for breakfast and for lunch (not-so-much dinner), but I typically like to give them a variety of options to pick from.

Telling my kids, “Goldfish is a snack, pick something that you want to eat for breakfast: cereal, oatmeal, eggs, etc.” just wasn’t cutting it, so I decided to make a visual.

My printable functions kind-of like a menu for the kids.  It shows them what they can pick from when we are in a hurry (which is a lot), and of course I will make the take-your-time printable when I have, well, time.

breakfast choices.001

I got this idea when Casey wrote a post in August and she set up some breakfast options in a basket…

breakfast basket

I am including the Breakfast Choices PDF Template with both “on-the-go” and “take-your-time” templates that you can glue the box-top images that you would like to use in the spaces, draw/color your food choices, or take pictures and add them to the templates. (When I update this and complete it, I will be adding it to the member’s page).

I would love to see what you come up with!

Share pictures with us on Facebook if you have any morning solutions of your own.

How A Non-Artist Paints Murals

I have always admired artists and dabbled in some pitiful attempts to paint, draw, and the like.

My husband actually found a painting that I did and thought his sister gave it to us and said “This is by far the ugliest painting that Kelsey has ever done.”  Yeah, I’ll probably never let that one go.

But, that same sweet husband helped me paint words on the walls of our new business, and he isn’t an artist either.

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After my years in the classroom, I was gifted an overhead projector from my superstar mother-in-law.  This came in handy.  I printed the words (in the font that I wanted) onto transparencies (at Office Depot), and then simply projected the image onto the wall.

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We then just painted over the shadow of the letters and it nearly looked like someone with art skills had something to do with it.  Murals can also be done this way.  My friend painted the sportsman fleur de lis onto my son’s wall using our projector too.

sportsman fleur de lis

Get inspired y’all!

How To Survive The Waiting Room {Printable}

You know those days when you walk back to your car after an all-day-event of check-ups or appointments and you feel completely drained?

I have had plenty of those days.

But, I *think* I cracked a little code the other days when I went to the doctor with all three of my three and under to get flu shots and I walked out of the office wishing I had passed out business cards haha.

There are plenty of factors that marked the success of that day:

1) God’s good grace 🙂

2) Going early enough in the morning that I wasn’t torturing tired children

3) Bringing plenty of snacks to keep my little ones tummies happy

4) Staying Calm and Positive

and

5) Being Prepared!!

I was wearing my baby in the moby wrap, and I packed clip boards and a small dollar tree container of crayons in the diaper bag.

While I was filling out paperwork I put the clip boards and crayons on the floor and said something like: “The doctors need to know who we are and why we are here so we are going to write it down for them.”

Preschooler Activity for Waiting Room

While I was writing my information down I would just ask my preschooler questions like:

“Okay, they want to know your name.  What is your name?  What are the letters in your name?”  Simple questions.

He would answer me and then scribble his lines and circles.  But lines and circles mean that he is learning that we can communicate through print so every little moment counts.

This little waiting room success moment inspired me to make this for our next visit:

Waiting Room Printable

I know the whole space to draw a picture for why they at the doctor leaves room for T.M.I. but I am so curious to see what your kids “think” they are at an appointment for.

Please share on our Facebook Page !!

Displaying Art Work

I took my son to see the doctor for his routine “return-from-traveling-with-a-cold” visit.  After asking the typical questions about his diagnosis, “Is he contagious?”  “What can I give him to stop the whining pain?” my next questions were, “Can I take a picture of your art work?” and “Can I blog about it?”  From the look on her face, this was the first time she had gotten asked that question at an appointment.

You see, I fell in love with how she had her own children’s artwork displayed in her patient rooms.  After she agreed to allow me to take pictures and blog about them, she showed me around the office to see all of her kids’ art!  I just loved it all!  It’s so hard to not just love a painting or drawing done by a child… even if it’s just lines and dots.

The ways that she had the different projects displayed turned simple child art into masterpieces… framed and hung as if they belonged in a gallery.  What child wouldn’t feel so special to have their artwork displayed so prominently in their home?

This is the one that especially caught my eye:

IMG_20140108_142508_413 She took her kids to a local art class and this was the project they did with water colors and crayons.  I love this because she framed the same project done by all three kids.  It’s beautiful and so cheerful!

These paintings could have easily been placed in their baby boxes and forgotten for years until re-discovered down the road when the kids are heading off to college.  Instead, my eyes were immediately drawn to them when I walked into her office.

Arts and crafts stores such as Hobby Lobby and Michaels do custom framing, but you can also just bring them an old frame and whatever artwork/pictures you want to frame.  They will cut a matte to fit (that’s the purple part you see between the frame and the picture).  The matte is what makes this look so polished.

I also love how she had each of the kids sign their names under their artwork.  Real artists in the making!

Here is my other favorite from another of the patient rooms:

IMG_20140108_144332_118 What a great idea to allow your child to use his or her own picture in his/her painting!  I can’t wait to do something similar soon!

This also made me think of my friend’s house and how she displays her kids’ artwork:

1502687_10100239984196982_181946402_o 1. I love the wall decal with one of my favorite quotes and 2. I love the fact that this is interchangeable, but still clean.  (You can purchase a similar wall decal here on Amazon and the wall mount with clips here).

These ideas are all way better than how I have most of our artwork displayed (I’m pretty sure the whole alphabet will not fit on our back doors):

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And obviously my kids now think they can stick anything on the doors since they are now covered in stickers as well.

Here are two other ideas from my house:

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Jessica also sent me these two amazing pictures and I am totally going to steal this idea because I love it so much!  Let the frame-collecting begin!

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How do you display your child’s masterpieces?  Please share with us on Facebook @themommyteacher!

 

 

 

 

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