Cultivate Gratitude
How do you cultivate gratitude for God’s blessings? Cultivating gratitude should be a regular occurrence for you, not just a November activity. Read through Psalm 103. Pay attention to all the ways David expresses his thankfulness to God. Consider writing your own Psalm of thanksgiving and gratitude. You can mirror David’s psalm if you want. This might make a good activity for your household as you recount God’s goodness to your family. God is good all the time! All the time, God is good! Both gratitude and ingratitude reveal the state of our hearts. Gratitude is not a natural tendency. We have to cultivate it. We can begin by listing the things we are thankful for. We are commanded to thank God for his blessings in all circumstances. When we grumble, we are telling the world that we do not think God is good ALL the time. When we are grateful, we show that we know He is good and His will is perfect. Above all, the most important thing we have to be thankful for is our salvation that came at the cost of Christ’s life of the cross. Do you know Christ as your Lord and Savior? Do…
Waiting Games
What waiting game can you easily play while waiting in line? Waiting games are invaluable resources for every parent and teacher! Waiting is part of everyday life. We wait in lines at amusement parks, at appointments, and in traffic jams. We wait for events like ball games, symphonies, and movies to start. My list was curated when I was a 4th grade teacher and we went every year to the North Carolina Symphony. Our students had to dress up, ride the bus, and sit quietly waiting on the performance to start. Kids get restless! And unless you give them resources, restlessness can easily turn into ruckus! I created a list of ideas my students could quietly use with their seatmates. Soon, other teachers wanted to know my secret! Why were my students pleasantly occupied without me having to fuss at them? High expectations and tools they could use. This also became helpful when I took high school students on service trips around the world. They could entertain themselves in airports and vans. They could also entertain younger children waiting for Vacation Bible School to begin or parents to pick them up at the end. Most of the games require little…
PreK Play Makes Learning Fun
What is your favorite activity for creative learning at home with preschoolers? Need some ideas to make prek play fun and educational? I’m often asked for tips for homeschooling preschoolers, from a teacher’s perspective. While most people are looking for workbooks and curriculum advice, I’m giving hands-on fun ways to incorporate learning into everyday life. Play and adventures are two great ways to experience learning opportunities and have fun at the same time. Look below for five fresh ideas for educational activities for preschooler play. Read Aloud. Read silently together. Read books. Read kids magazines. Go to the library. Designate a colorful blanket as a reading spot but occasionally move it around the house, yard, and city. Let your child read to a row of stuffed animals, retelling a favorite story, with or without the book. Go to the library regularly. Read new books and old favorites. (Tip: Put kids magazines on the birthday wishlist when grandparents ask for ideas.) Act out a Favorite Bible Story. You can do hand motions, use stuffed animals, or dress up. You can let your child take the lead on how you can act out the story. Have the Bible or story book open…
Tips for Homework Time
Are you looking for a few useful tips for homework time or is it time to hire a tutor? Homework Tips Set a regular schedule and routine for homework time. (Read Homework Help for more homework tips, too.) Be available but do not hover. Set a work timer if needed. Some students work best on homework right after school, some after dinner, and some at breakfast. Ask your student’s opinion of this and maybe try something new. Be consistent and kind. Encourage the student to help come up with solutions rather than just doing it yourself (most students CAN ask their teachers a question in person or via messaging and take responsibility to follow through). Listen more than you talk. Use an agenda system to record work and break projects into chunks. Use a paper or project management system even if school is online. Write reminders to talk to teachers or turn in work. Have your student write down tasks like “read slide show” or “do attendance” if your student struggles to remember daily tasks other than rushing to complete the “due” work. Mark off completed work with a highlighter or check box. Using an agenda will help both student…
Let Your Light Shine
Who do your good works glorify – God or man? “Let your light shine” is a familiar quote that got me thinking. I am always asking my students to give evidence of their answers. In reading, I want them to go back to the text and give me evidence for their thinking. When they are answering a critical thinking question, I want evidence to see from where their thinking stems. I want to be able to follow their line of thinking, whether or not I agree with their answers. This got me thinking more about my own life. Does my life give evidence of my faith in God alone? Can people follow my path of thinking when they look at how I come up with solutions to life’s problems? Do they know that I live for an audience of One and pray to God for wisdom in the big and small things of my life? I’ve had people ask me questions about how I can be so peaceful in the midst of a life storm or detours. Honestly, it’s not about me. I rest in the knowledge that God alone holds the universe together. I can have peace and joy…
Thrifty Mama
Would you rather buy one brand name clothing item or several “gently used” clothes at a thrift shop? I’m a thrifty mama! I don’t see myself as a fashion influencer nor do I feel very influenced by having to keep up with all the trends. Instead, I like to save money to spend on travel or to give away to help others. Money was pretty tight growing up so we were not accustomed to splurges on the latest trends. Our needs were met and some of our wants, too. I started thrift shopping when I was outfitting my first place as a newlywed. I STILL have my $2 ironing board, which I spray-painted silver. I discovered thrift shopping at the Kids Exchange Sale twice a year for kids clothes and toys when my girls were little. I saved SO much money by consigning items and buying “gently used” items in their current sizes. (Ok, I’ll admit. I did buy kids winter jackets a size or two larger to get extra wear out of it!) I also discovered local consignment shops and the Goodwill. I am not surprised when I get compliments on articles of clothing, including the $18 Banana Republic…
Build Belonging
Remember that time you were in a meeting or classroom and you just didn’t feel like you belonged? The energy and motivation for learning can come from a sense of belonging. When students feel connected in a classroom community, we can activate their cognitive learning. When they feel they don’t belong, students spend more brain power being on edge than on higher-order thinking. When they feel it’s a safe environment to share their emotions, their struggles, their celebrations, they will begin to build each other up and encourage the success of their classmates. When we treat students with kindness and high expectations, they will respond well and learn together. The more we value them, the more they will respond in kind. Some students need much more support than others, but it does not mean we need to lower our expectations. We can build belonging, connection, and community into our classrooms. The same goes for the home and boardroom. Valuing a foster child, a distant relative, or a college intern goes a long way to helping create a sense of belonging. My motto “Love God Love People” reflects my understanding of our deepest need to find true belonging. In Christ, we…
Weekly Meal Planning
Is weekly meal planning too complicated or the lazy way out? Recently, a friend told me that she was too lazy to do weekly meal planning. I told her that I did weekly meal planning WHEN I was too busy or too lazy to think up new foods. For me, it’s a quick way to get 5-6 meals planned out with recipes and a grocery list. I have a few favorite go-to sites that I use and even one that’s vegetarian. On the weekend, I print out a weekly meal plan that includes recipe links and a grocery list (such as this one here). I open my calendar and match up meals to our schedule for the week, crossing out or replacing any that don’t fit our week or our taste buds. I then modify the grocery list to eliminate any items for recipes I’m not using. Lastly, I cross-check the grocery list with my fridge and pantry marking off any items I already have on hand. All that should take less than 15 minutes depending on how many rabbit trails I took when skimming the recipe links or reorganizing my pantry. My kitchen wall holds a menu board that…
Learn to say YES
Do people automatically expect you to say NO faster than you say YES? “Learn to say yes easily” was a piece of wisdom and parenting tip I came across as a young wife and parent. The wisdom behind this was that when you did need to say “NO”, it would be taken well knowing that it was not your usual answer just to avoid extra work or expenses. If possible, say YES to your kids asking to have a friend over, your students occasionally asking for more time on an assignment, your coworker asking you to lunch, or your spouse asking to play soccer one night a week. Then, when there’s a good reason to say NO it will be less of a shock or disappointment because you are known for saying YES to reasonable requests. Because our usual reason for saying NO to things with our children was typically due to scheduling conflicts, our children learned to check the family calendar before asking. This led to fewer conflicts and whining in the middle school years because it was not us saying NO because we were annoyed but because it was a schedule conflict. It also helped our children learn…
Save your NOs
Have you ever wished for a good parenting tip so your child would obey right away when you say “no” or “come”? Most parents and teachers of young children struggle with this daily until you learn to save your nos. One wise parenting tip I learned early on when my children were young was to save your NOs. It is as simple as using “please don’t” and “no” for different things. Use “please don’t” when you want your child to stop poking her sister or yelling at the cat. Save your nos for when you want your child to stop running in the street or touching a hot stove. NO can be reserved for imminent danger or direct defiance. Sure, you will probably use them interchangeably some of the time, but if you will restrict your NOs for when your child must obey immediately, you can teach your child to obey right away when you say “NO!” Delayed obedience is disobedience no matter how you phrase your request, but that’s for another blog post. When you do have to say NO, make it a teachable moment. Take time shortly afterward to talk to your child about what the danger or…