4 Games for Multi-Step Direction Practice
How often are you frustrated that your child cannot remember all the things you asked them to do at bedtime or breakfast? Skills for Following Directions Multi-step direction practice can positively impact the skills needed to follow directions. Executive functioning development begins at a young age and continues into the 20’s and 30’s. Executive functioning skills, simply put, are the ones that work together to help people process and follow directions to complete simple and complex tasks in daily life. These skills include working memory, attention, planning, and time management. It is very normal for children to have difficulty remembering multi-step directions, especially if their attention is focused elsewhere including another task they are working on. There are a few activities you can do to make a game of improving a child’s ability to follow short verbal multi-step directions such as getting ready for bed or following the steps to complete an assignment in the classroom. Verbal Directions Some verbal directions are simple (hang up your coat and wash your hands) and some are more complex (for your homework agenda – your test is on the 19th and your book report is due the following Friday). Playing games to…
4 Strategies to Achieve Goals
Why is it so hard to achieve New Year’s Resolutions? I recently read this headline “Studies Show 91 Percent of Us Won’t Achieve Our New Year’s Resolutions. How to Be the 9 Percent That Do Four Strategies That the 9 Percent of Successful Goal-Achievers Do Consistently Well” and immediately wanted to read the productivity article on how to achieve goals. Not only have many people already given up on their goals, but it’s a chronic problem EVERY January. So how do those of us who set reasonable and realistic goals achieve them? If we want to declutter our house or change our eating habits this year, how do we set ourselves up for success? According to the article by INC, these are the four strategies to achieve goals. Set specific and challenging goals Set goals you want to pursue with relentless drive and passion Get a support system Focus on smaller goals to hit your big goal It makes sense. Make good goals. Be passionate about your goals. Get some accountability. Divide your big goals into smaller, achievable ones. Whether you made New Year’s Resolutions or not, you probably have some goals you’d like to accomplish in the next year…
10 Read Aloud Books for Babies
What is your earliest memory of read aloud books? It’s never too early to start reading to your kids or grandkids, but you may not know where to start. Here are a few tips on how to read books to babies and a book list of 10 read aloud books for babies. Some of my favorite book memories include my mom reading aloud to my kids on vacations and my daughter asking for books at her baby shower. Reading is such an important skill to model and teach. Children who are read aloud to have a head start on learning language skills and vocabulary. It is important for little ones to hear the language and the rhythm and rhymes of read-alouds. It helps establish routines, emotional learning, and bonding. Babies’ attention span might only be a page at a time but do not give up the practice of read aloud books for babies. How to read books to babies Choose books that have large and simple pictures of familiar items. Books designed with stiff, thicker pages are easier to handle at this age or can be propped up at tummy time. Books that are vinyl or cloth are also good…
Hard is not the same thing as bad
What moments of parenting feel overwhelming to you? Book Review: Hard Is Not the Same Thing as Bad If I were to sit down to a coffee chat with new friends, I’d include Abbie Halberstadt on the invite list. While I do not actually know Abbie, her humor, advice, and encouragement would make us easy friends who could laugh and cry together before we even finished my first cup of coffee and her hot chocolate. Reading her book Hard is not the Same Thing as Bad felt like sitting in on a weekly book club with Abbie. #hintstab I have been following Abbie Halberstadt, author of M is for Mama, for a while and looking forward to her latest book Hard is Not the Same Thing as Bad. She posts on social media about the miraculous and messy world of motherhood. She and her husband have 10 children (including 2 sets of twins with identical birthdays) and their story can be found on her parenting podcast and blog https://misformama.net/. Abbie’s down-to-earth honesty is refreshing as she shares her parenting experiences through the lens of hard is not the same thing as bad and her hope in Jesus Christ. So many…
15 Answers to Mom I am Bored
What is your quick answer to “Mom I am bored”? “Mom I am bored” is an anthem that will be sung throughout many households over the next few weeks of winter break. Have you already heard it at yours? Just as much as we look forward to a break from school or work, we dread hearing the “I am bored” phrase that is sure to pop up within hours or days. Here are 15 answers to Mom I am bored, whether you are mom, dad, grandma, or babysitter. You can skim the blog post titles and click on the ones that fit your situation. A little boredom never hurts, but reading these ahead of time will help you have an answer for school break boredom when the question comes. If you are new to my blog, here is how I reference the different stages of childhood. Younger years: babies and preschool Middle years: elementary and middle school Launching years: high school and college https://www.tailorjoy.com/10-ideas-for-indoor-fun-on-hot-or-rainy-days/ https://www.tailorjoy.com/digital-escape-rooms/ https://www.tailorjoy.com/chore-charts/ https://www.tailorjoy.com/10-reading-questions-to-ask-your-child/ https://www.tailorjoy.com/home-for-the-holidays/ https://www.tailorjoy.com/four-in-a-row-game-board/ https://www.tailorjoy.com/20-read-aloud-books-for-the-middle-years/ https://www.tailorjoy.com/table-talk-2/ https://www.tailorjoy.com/product-review-youscience-aptitude-discovery/ https://www.tailorjoy.com/10-life-skills-for-the-launching-years/ https://www.tailorjoy.com/the-middle-years-calming-the-chaos/ https://www.tailorjoy.com/smooth-transitions-from-college-to-home/ https://www.tailorjoy.com/math-conversations-with-preschoolers/ https://www.tailorjoy.com/prek-play-makes-learning-fun/ https://www.tailorjoy.com/learn-to-say-yes/ And a bonus– Download this printable list of waiting games and put it in your car or backpack. Having a…
Yoga Pretzels
What is a quick and easy way to help kids stretch their bodies and increase their patience and confidence? Product Review: Yoga Pretzels Years ago as a young teacher, I purchased a pack of Yoga Pretzels: 50 fun yoga activities for kids and grownups. This card deck has traveled with me to my various classrooms and tutoring sites. It has helped my students and children stretch during those silent 3-minute stretch breaks while testing, gave us fun activities to do during indoor recess, and helped calm the minds of tutoring clients as they transition from school to tutoring sessions. Now my grown-up daughter is borrowing them for her pediatric occupational therapy sessions. Yoga Pretzels are a quick and easy way to help kids stretch their bodies and brains while increasing their patience and confidence. These Yoga Pretzels have definitely been worth whatever I paid for them 15 years ago! A quick search shows they are still available in stores and on Amazon today. The sturdy cards have a picture of the yoga pose on one side and step-by-step instructions beautifully illustrated on the other side. There’s also an instructional booklet enclosed. I briefly talked to my students and clients about…
6 Time Management Tips
What type of calendar or time management system do you use? Time management is much harder for some people than others, yet it is a very useful stress management tool and life skill. Here are 6 time management tips to help you plan and balance your time. Time Management Tips Use a calendar or agenda system to manage your time. Having some type of system other than your head is a very helpful habit. Block time for important things. Use your calendar to block time for more than just appointments. Block time for work, school, appointments, commitments, hobbies, self-care, fun, family, etc. Blocking time will help you easily see where you need to include more balance and where you can fit in the urgent things that arise. I am much less stressed if my week has a starting point. When urgent things pop up, and they do, I can look at my calendar to see where I have an empty block or time or what I can rearrange rather than feeling overwhelmed in choosing between the important and the urgent. Plan, then pivot. Finding balance may mean color-coding your commitments (easy to do on Google Calendar) so that you can…
10 Analogy Types to Improve Thinking
How would you finish this analogy – roots are to trees as _______ is to learning? Analogies provide a good way to practice critical thinking, but knowing the common types of analogies will help you avoid just guessing the answer. Analogies focus on word relationships to explain two things by showing how they are alike. Analogies can help map familiar relationships with new information. There are numerous types of relationships, but the most common 10 analogy types are antonyms, synonyms, part/whole, cause/effect, tool/action, category/example, intensity, characteristics, pairs, and object/user. The benefits of understanding analogies are developing flexible thinking skills, enjoying the powerful nuances of literature, and excelling at job interviews and homework help. Below are 10 common analogy types and examples. Analogy Types and Examples Antonym – hot : cold :: wet : dry Synonym – nice : kind :: mean : bully Part/Whole – leaf : tree :: petal : flower Cause/Effect – stove : burn :: rain : flood Tool/Action – keyboard : type :: phone : call Category/Example – clothes : shirt :: silverware : spoon Intensity – freezing : cool :: boiling : warm Characteristic – fish : water :: bird : air Pairs – …
Shop Small Business
What if you made every Saturday, small business Saturday? What if you shopped small, local, independent businesses every Saturday for a year? An American Express study in 2022 found that “ $0.68 of every dollar spent at a small business in the U.S. stays in the local community and that every dollar spent at small businesses creates an additional $0.48 in local business activity as a result of employees and local businesses purchasing local goods and services.” Small Business Saturday was started in 2010 to encourage shoppers to shop locally on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It has since grown to #shopsmall which encourages people to shop small businesses year-round. Since I’ve become a small business, I greatly value supporting other small businesses, especially local ones. I also love it when a client gives me a teacher appreciation gift or gift card that’s from a local business! It’s a win-win for everyone! As you are shopping this month, shop local and shop small. Of course, I love the convenience of big box stores and the quick delivery of Amazon, but there’s something to be said about knowing a shop owner and giving back to the community. Drop into the comments below…
Finding Purpose in Midlife
Is the empty nest a syndrome? Guest post by Cindy Stumme of Back to You and Me, a blog for finding purpose in midlife. “What am I going to do with myself after all the kids have left the house?” This was the question that popped into my mind when I waved goodbye to my third child and only daughter as she began her freshman year of college. And then I googled “empty nest syndrome.” The internet is loaded with information about almost everything, and the empty nest is no exception. In fact, one of the most common myths floating around cyberspace is that there is some sort of syndrome associated with the empty nest. Did you know empty nest syndrome is not an actual psychological diagnosis? It’s just an expression, and I think that the addition of the word syndrome has created some negative expectations for what can be a really great stage in our lives. Yet, there is no denying that many of us struggle as our children leave the home. My own experiences led me to ask, “If the empty nest is not a syndrome, why is this so hard?” Here’s what I found: Midlife and the…