GiveAway - The Mommy Teacher

Art Table Giveaway! {New Design Launch Party} -Winner Announced

Winner Announced:

Thank you to everyone who entered!! If you entered and would like a FREE link to my “Turkey Art Templates” then e-mail me jessica (at) themommyteacher (dot) com, and I will also send you a link to my next Thanksgiving activity that I will be posting on Sunday (to those who entered and would like these printables). 😉

So, in a small way, everyone is a winner, but only ONE person could win the Art Table, and Rafflecopter randomly chose “Lisa Wilson!” Congratulations Lisa W.!

Spread the word about The Mommy Teacher because when we reach 200 “Members” we will be doing another big item giveaway!

Casey and I have been SOOOO eager to launch the new design of The Mommy Teacher that we just had to celebrate with an awesome giveaway!

We are giving away one of our favorite things… a wonderfully kid-friendly art table!

We went back and forth about which one to give away and after a close Facebook poll, we decided to let the winner pick!

Yes, if you win you get to PICK whichever one of these art tables you would like:

Oh, and before you enter… read about two quick updates we want to share:

1) You can now submit Mommy Teacher Spotlight submissions,

and

2) We have a Membership Page! I post so many printables so often these days that we wanted to bundle them all together for just $5.50 a month….

Yes, you get them ALL for that unbelievable price – and I add to this collection often.

Okay, now enter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

November 22, 2013 by Jessica | 65 Comments

My 5 Favorite Dot Paint Activities

“I want to paaaaaaaiiiinnt mom” was all I heard from my little Mckayla yesterday haha. I encouraged my little girl to re-phrase with “Mom, can we paint please?” and then of course we headed to the playroom (like 5 times yesterday). We hadn’t pulled out Dot Paint in a couple weeks so I thought it was time to re-visit it. My kids treat the dot paint sticks like drumsticks sometimes and just bang on the table, but there are plenty of uses for this art experience. So, I wanted to share some ideas with you. 🙂

[Click HERE to become a member for just $5 a month and get unlimited access to ALL The Mommy Teacher Printables!

OR CLICK HERE to purchase any one of these Bubble Letter Printables individually from my TeachersPayTeachers Store.]

There are definitely days when I simply put all different types of paper on the art table and just let my kids jump around from one new creation to the next. Other days I use the printables I make specifically for these activities, and we focus on a few skills at a time. Today I’m all over the place y’all haha so bare with me… I felt like sharing my five favorite dot paint activities AND because one of those five activities involves using my home-made printables I am also going to share my five favorite dot paint printables!

So, my five favorite dot paint activities are:

1) Making faces using the dot paint on paper plates – this can be a great tool for discussing emotions.

2) Decorating white paper bags (you can teach your little one to make a pattern around the edge of the bags).

3) Practicing Number Recognition with my Simple Number Search Download.

4) Decorating one of my calendar templates (practice one-to-one correspondence by marking only one square at a time with only one dot).

5) And number 5 of course is filling in any one of my FIVE Bubble Skill Printables!

I have an upper case alphabet, lower case alphabet, numbers 1-20, color words, and number words set.

Here is a glimpse for you:

And the momma in me “needs” to share the pictures of my kids in action:

October 4, 2013 by Jessica | 8 Comments

“Desperate” Winner(s) Announced

I used random.org to pick a winner and I think this is the first time I have seen NUMBER ONE get picked! Yay for the number one comment “I would love to win this book!” – EARLYMI ! You won THREE copies of my new favorite book!

And as suggested in the title of this post I actually picked one other winner that I will be sending one copy of this book to because I was so encouraged by the following comment: “I would love to use this book to mentor moms in my apartment community.” – Terri!

Congratulations winners! I will contact you by way of email 🙂

Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe

September 29, 2013 by Jessica | 1 Comment

Sometimes it’s not the Pinterest-Worthy Pictures…

As “The Mommy Teacher” you might assume that I fill my days with pinterest-worthy activities and crafts that I display for all to “ooh” and “ahh” over…. but nope, thats actually not my gifting, and it is not something that I feel guilty if I don’t achieve. Sure, I may have my MOMENTS of presentable glory, but yikes if I try to maintain that level of self-inflicted pressure on a regular basis. I started to think about why I am so secure in my simple but intentional ways and I came up with the fact that it is because I value the old-fashioned experiences of my own childhood: exploring my neighborhood, playing at parks, climbing trees, playing “house,” playing sports, singing, dancing, putting on skits, and just lots and lots of dramatic play… experiences that make life and learning FUN and enjoyable.

Sometimes the teaching opportunities that go unseen or unnoticed are the most instrumental in shaping the cognitive, emotional, spiritual, and physical development of our kids.

You may not always share the richest conversations you have with your kids, the bedtime stories, the imaginative moments, the nature walks, the giggles over nothing in particular, the amount of words you introduce your kids to on a daily basis, the outdoor playtime, etc. And it doesn’t have to be broadcasted to make you a mom that is thriving in your motherhood calling.

Encouraging imagination, teaching your kids to love learning, and simply introducing vocabulary on a daily basis are three things that you can’t really exactly “pin” but have such long-term benefits.

And so, today, for all of the moms out there who need the reminder to live FREE (from guilt, stress, pressure, expectations, comparison, any every other distraction that occupies us from ENJOYING and investing in our kids), I am giving away 3 copies of the book “Desperate” by Sarah Mae and Sarah Clarkson to ONE person. Why one person? So that one person can start a small group to discuss the book 🙂

All you have to do is SIMPLY comment on this post that you would like to win this giveaway. It’s just that simple 🙂

Desperate: Hope for the Mom Who Needs to Breathe

This isn’t a “book review” and it isn’t sponsored. It is simply my new ABSOLUTE favorite book that I want to share.

Some of my favorite highlights from the book are reminders to

1) Explore hobbies that interest you and allow yourself the joy that comes from experiencing them with others.

2) Know that in parenting there aren’t formulas that fit each family.

3) Value the time in your every day life “simply” telling your kids (and showing your kids) how much you love them.

Mentoring is a theme of this book as well – which is a HUGE part of my life. I value my mentors and soak them up like a sponge 🙂

I will announce the winner Sunday night 🙂

We look forward to HEARING from you!

September 25, 2013 by Jessica | 15 Comments

Trades of Hope Giveaway (Winners Announced!)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Rafflecopter has randomly selected the winners…. And they are:

Claire Kenney

and

Julie Briscoe

We will be sending you your beautiful Aqua Nepali Scarf soon after we touch base! Enjoy it 🙂

For some unknown reason, we have not had a giveaway in far too long!

So, I was thrilled when Stephanie Ehlers contacted me and informed me about Trades of Hope.

Wow…. What a cause! The company was founded to rescue women around the world who are such victims of poverty that they are in the midst of trafficking or they orphan their children because they cannot feed them and they believe that is it their only way to survive…. What hope is there for people enslaved by their poverty ?
Unless, organizations like “Trades of Hope” are founded to step into communities to empower women out of hopelessness and into a promising future of honest work.

Here is a little of Stephanie’s story:

“I was able to go to Haiti in February and visit/work alongside our 3 groups of Artisans there. It was beyond amazing to experience the various workplaces, meet them and get a glimpse of their culture. We believe people want an opportunity, not charity. By teaching them a skill that helps them make a living, we believe they will succeed longer, both financially and emotionally. These women get to be the heroine in their family, instead of teaching their children to beg, they are modeling for them that they can work, be proud of themselves and have self esteem (that doesn’t come when you are forced to beg or sell yourself to survive).”

Stephanie learning to make beads for the Trades of Hope bracelets while in Haiti.

When I hear about organizations like Trades of Hope, I think about the children who will no longer be witnesses of and products of that lifestyle… thanks, in part, to all the people who support the cause.
So, support those women, and moms, by entering this week’s giveaway!
There will be two winners!

One winner will receive the beautiful Aqua Nepal Scarf…

and one will receive the Hope blooms scarf…

Check out other items in Stephanie’s Trades of Hope Store because you may want some earrings or a bracelet to match 🙂

You can also contact Stephanie if you are interested in learning more about how to join the team!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

July 1, 2013 by Jessica | 6 Comments