Making Lanterns out of Twigs and Moss
There is something so warming and lovely about candles and lanterns— especially in the Autumn and Winter! I love this tutorial on making a lantern out of twigs and moss from Twig and Toadstool!
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Making Crowns from Autumn Leaves
I love this tutorial from Twig and Toadstool on making crowns from Autumn leaves!! We love making crowns!
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Top Ten Playdough Recipes…
I can’t wait to try these playdough recipes! Lavendar Playdough! Blueberry Sparkle! Herb Playdough! Great activities for the upcoming chilly days!
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Making Math Fun
I am not a fan of math worksheets, but show me math in the world around me and I’m hooked! I am constantly on the lookout for ways to make learning math more fun for children. I think math is best learned in an interdisciplinary method: the physical body, the natural world, in art, music and science… any way but a worksheet! Can you think of a more fun way of learning multiplication tables than jumping on a mini trampoline…
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Napping
When I taught preschool, naptime was an essential part of our daily rhythm. After lunch, the children would pull out their mats and get their stuffiess and snuggle in for storytime. Throughout the year I told different fairytales: Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Elves and the Shoemaker, The Three Bears… The children loved this time of day, and after the story would usually fall asleep or play quietly on their mats before we went out for our afternoon playtime. After…
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Top Ten Ways to Motivate Children to Achieve Academically
This article called the “Effort Effect” by Stanford Alumnus Marina Krakovsky really resonated with me and my work with children. I studied Learned Helplessness at Harvard as a response to trauma, but it was really interesting to think about it as an ongoing response to learning. I am often asked how to motivate older children–teens–to achieve and not give up when the going gets hard. I have created a list of my Top Ten ways to help motivate children to…
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An Excellent Fusion of Science and Art
Music is an excellent and effective way to teach any subject and to learn any subject. Check out this brilliant piece by 23-year old Physics student, Timothy Blais. He sings about Physics and String Theory to Bohemian Rhapsody–an excellent fusion of science and art, because physics and art are different sides of the same coin.(And if you’re having trouble remembering scientific terms, try putting them to music! Click here.
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How Schools Kill Creativity by Ken Robinson
My all-time favorite TED talk– a classic. You may have already seen it (it has nearly 18 million hits!) but if not, it’s worth watching. Ken Robinson is a funny speaker with deeply profound things to say about educating our children. If you have a few minutes to watch, click here.
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The Letting Go…
This article by Michael Gerson was so beautifully written it made me cry! He writes about the heartbreak of dropping his child off at college. I have felt this heartbreak so many times with my own children–and they’re only 7 and 9! I call it the “cruel dialectic of parenting.” Creating and raising these little beings I love so deeply and profoundly– I want to keep them in my arms forever, to protect them from pain and hurt, to make…