Being more than just a mom~priddymomma

Hey guys!  Hope you all are having a fine week.  I'm late posting again!  Sorry!  I’ve put in long hours catching up on some long neglected yard work.  I also found some poison ivy.  Happily, I didn’t discover it with my limbs.

This post is for the ladies.  I’ll be discussing being more than just a mom.  Sorry to all our male readers.  I would love to give you some advice on being more than just a dad, but unfortunately I’m not qualified, gender-wise.  Hopefully you will find that some information in this post pertains to you as well. 

Parenting is one of the most rewarding experiences in the world, arguably the MOST enjoyable.  It is also one of the hardest.  Just like any activity in life, you can overdo it and burn out.  You must take breaks to recharge if you expect to perform at your maximum potential.  It is a very important job, and you do your best if you are relaxed, recharged, and refreshed. 

The trouble is that modern parents are often so busy that they struggle to find time to spend with their kids, let alone finding time for a break.  It just isn’t a priority.  My number one piece of advice is to MAKE time.  Jot it down in your appointment book and keep it as faithfully as you would for one of your kids’ appointments. 

My second tip is to get enough sleep.  Being tired adds to frustration and chaos, and your body needs time to repair itself and to fight off illness.  Yes, moms notoriously have little sleep, but what I’m telling you is that if you have the opportunity to sleep, seize it.  Being well rested will make a huge difference in your life, and in your kids’ lives.

 

SO not a mom...

“But Heather!  This is great advice and all, but I thought this post was about being MORE than just a mom!  You are just giving me parenting tips!”  Am I?  If you have a spare moment to yourself and you are exhausted, what are you going to do?  Uh-huh.  You bet your booty you will be napping.  “Me time” does not equal “sleep time.”  And new mothers, it doesn’t equal “shower time” or “pee time” either.  You need real legit “me time”. 

After you have cleared room for yourself in your schedule (and even an hour a week will do wonders), do something that makes your soul sing.  Taking a fitness class might be your idea of joy or maybe your idea of hell.  Don’t force yourself to do something you won’t enjoy.  That is a crappy way of giving yourself love.  Take the opportunity to do something worth it for you. 

Here are some suggestions:  bake, cook, garden, read, take a long hot bath, sing, swim, bike, run, play with your dog, go for a walk, hike, draw, play a video game, dance, sew, craft, meditate, go bird watching, try a new food, shop, hang out with a friend, play a sport, scrapbook, grab a coffee, watch a movie, catch up on your favorite tv series, plan your dream vacation, paint, check out an art exhibit, visit the fair, assemble a puzzle, etc.

In order to be more than just a mom, you have to learn to know yourself outside of being a mom.  It is perfectly okay if you have no idea what you enjoy anymore.  Great!  It means more experimenting and intrigue as you take yourself on dates to get to the bottom of who you are when you aren’t surrounded by children.  Yes, your kids may be everything to you, but that doesn’t mean they are everything you are.

Home-school vs. public school~priddymomma

Hey guys!  I’m a little late posting this due to the weather.  Yesterday, it was marvelous!  My family spent as much time as possible outside; running around with the dog, roasting marshmallows on the fire, and playing badminton.  I didn’t get to do much writing during that time, as you can imagine.  Today, the weather further complicated things by being horrible.  Thunderstorms are passing through the area, and my satellite internet is finicky when it comes to storms.  Excuses excuses.  (Also, I forgot until today.  Shh!)

The topic this week is home school vs. public school.  I know, I know!  We’ve done this before.  (If you’d like to read what I had to say however long ago, look here http://thecaseofthemissingcheerios.blogspot.com/2013/03/fanatics-and-superhumanspriddymomma.html  and ignore the typo that I only just caught -_-)  It’s a hot topic though, and I promise not to bore you with the same things (mostly).

Homeschooling isn’t for everyone, but anyone can do it.  Different states (or

countries for you international readers) have different rules and regulations for the homeschooling parent.  Fortunately for us, we live in Indiana.  Indiana is probably the most lenient state in regards to requirements for home-schools.  We are required to keep attendance records and to attend at least 180 days each year.  It is also compulsory for kids to attend from the ages of seven to eighteen.  That’s it.  The superintendent can theoretically request to see attendance records, but I don’t see that actually happening often.  We aren’t required to do any type of testing, nor are we required to learn any specific subjects or file any forms. 

Here are my reasons for homeschooling my kids:

• No one knows my kids like I do.  I understand them and their learning styles better than anyone else, because I have been around them more than anyone else.
• They don't fall behind if they are sick.  In fact, they can't fall behind ever as everything is adjusted to their learning pace.
• My son has ADHD as well as having mild autism.  He is really advanced in some subjects (like reading and math), but struggles with other things (social skills, listening).  I don’t believe he would have reached his full potential in public school.
• My kids can wear whatever (even pajamas).
• I love homeschooling my kids.  They learn, I learn, we bond.
• We aren’t in love with our school system.  The local district isn’t the best, and we don’t think any public school is terrific.
• Curriculum- We always have the final say in what our kids learn.  We can change it, we can cut it, or we can add to it.
• Bullying-We are a four-person household.  Any bullying is always noticed and never tolerated.
• Threats- There have been awful things in the news in the past ten years concerning schools.  Our kids don’t have to ride the bus or walk the hallways in fear.
• Diet-Our kids ate good foods when we started homeschooling, but now they are on a more selective diet (gluten free).  I would consider homeschooling also if your child has something like a life-threatening peanut allergy.
• We can travel and continue to learn without being tied to a school schedule.  Any time of the year can be vacation time.

There are more reasons, but these are the biggies.  If you do send your kids to public (or private or charter) school, that’s great as long as you are pleased with the education they are receiving.  Your ultimate decision should take your family’s individual needs into consideration.  

As always, thanks for reading and feel free to comment or make topic requests below.  :)

Childhood hobbies~priddymomma

Hey guys!  Hope you have had a lovely week.  My family had the opportunity to visit the State Fair on Monday.  Fair season is definitely one of my absolute favorite things about summer.  My husband and I met during high school marching band, and every time we visit the fair, it takes me back to a time when we were first falling in love... 

 

Our band uniforms were sexy.  You can say it.

Enough of that mushy stuff!  You didn’t come here for that, I’m sure.  You came instead to read about what hobbies I encourage in my kiddos!  (Sure you did.  No arguing.)

I home school my kids, and I don’t currently have them enrolled in anything like dance or karate (though I’d like to enroll them in both eventually). 

 

 

My son loves to read and learn facts.  One of his more recent interests centered around pumpkins.  I thought it was kind of strange and out of season, but go for it!  We ended up working together to plant a pumpkin patch, which is doing really well and should yield 24 or so pumpkins eventually.  He can tell you all about the life cycle of a pumpkin, and all without me teaching him a thing.  I love the library.  

My daughter is interested in bugs and being outside.  When she isn’t looking at plants and insects through a magnifying glass, she’s trying to convince me to take her outside so that she can do just that.  She’s very observant (and argumentative).  She also loves to draw. 

 

I believe that kids will pick up on what their parents really love to do as well as going on to develop their own interests.  Cheerio Champ has lately developed a keen interest in the music of Andrew Lloyd Webber.  He can blame me for that, and my latest interest in “Jesus Christ Superstar”.  Both of my kids enjoy yoga (blame me) and tai chi (all hubby’s fault).  They have music and reading in their blood.

 

exercising with dad in our home gym

I guess to summarize:  I encourage my kids to follow their hearts.  That’s a great hobby/life goal.  If they get it into their heads they want to be acrobats, while I’ll probably have a heart attack, I will encourage their dream and do the best I can to support them as they pursue it. 

To be fair, they DO often fight over our hula hoop...

What hobbies do you encourage in your kids?  What hobbies have they picked up that they can blame you for?

See ya next week! 

Teaching your children to read... ~Tori~

Sorry for the long absence. You guys are probably wondering what happened to me on here, and whether or not I ditched the blog! Just to clarify, I didn't. There's been a lot going on lately, not just for me, but for all of us on The Case of The Missing Cheerios.
My own personal thing has been I recently found out I'm pregnant! Hubby and I have also had side business things going on, and we've been crazy busy with getting back into the school routine (and all that comes with it). But hopefully I'm back for good now.
Anyway, now it's on to the actual post for this week. LOL

First on to reading success is of course learning letters.

The alphabet is important and you can start working with your children on the alphabet early on. For my kids they both started learning at the age of two. With books, flash cards, games, etc. My oldest son learned all his capital letters with ease. The lowercase were a bit more difficult for him as he did (and sometimes still does) gets his b's and d's mixed up. But we've been told that's pretty normal. For him reading doesn't come as naturally. He has speech trouble and so pronunciation of words comes pretty hard. For this reason we got him a reading tutor, his school works on reading, and we work on reading at LEAST 30 minutes a night at home. I can't even tell you how greatly he has improved in just a year's time by doing this. And he's only been in tutoring for a few months. But working closely and constantly with your children is the key to success. Read them a book and give them the option to read it for you. Don't always expect your children to pick up a chapter book and read it to you right away. Every child is different and it's important to pick what level your child is at and not try to go way over-board. That will lead often to frustration and hate for reading. Lucky both my children love to read, and look forward to it.

My youngest son can already read some of the more basic words. He is 3 and knows words like: it, and, the, he, she, is, etc. He also knows all his capital letters, and most of his lowercase. He also needs some help with speech but mostly it hasn't affected his reading in a bad way. He just has trouble with his lower i's and l's getting them confused sometimes. But we are working on it, and just like his older brother he loves reading regardless.
We all spend about 20 minutes a day as a family taking quiet time to read also. It's not always easy to fit that in to our schedules. Sometimes we don't get around to all of us getting to read, but for the most of the week we try to fit that time in daily. We believe it's important for the kids to see us turn off the televisions, radios, computers, etc, and sit down with a book. In a technology filled world books can often go unseen these days. It's pretty shocking if you ask me but sadly true.
So after all my prattling my best advice is to work with your children daily on reading. After all we are our child's most important teacher. Start with the alphabet, go to sight words, beginner books, progress from those to your child's level as you go. Have your children help you read the books, let them read to you, have them express their thoughts on books. Let them identify with characters, explain the setting, tell their favorite parts, etc. Play word, letter, and even book games. (Pinterest is filled with ideas for these if you need some).
And eventually it will come. Be patient, make it fun, and your children will learn to love books. Even though my boys have some trouble they LOVE books. They love reading time, and they get really into it. It's wonderful.

Teaching your children to read~priddymomma

Hey guys!  Sorry this is late, but at least I’m actually posting this week.  I’ve had a ton on my mind and on my plate (and I don’t mean overeating, though I’m sure there was a bit of that too).  My best female friend is getting married tomorrow!  (my best friend is my husband, just to clarify.  I always feel like I’m a liar or cheating on him or something if I call her my best friend, so I call her my best female friend.  I’m weird like that)  I’ve been helping her out, getting nails done, crafting on my dress, freaking out a little about being in front of people while wearing said dress, putting candies in tiny tin hearts, etc.  It’s been interesting. 

So…on to it then!  This week we’re teaching kids to read.  By “we’re teaching kids to read,” I mean “we’re talking about the steps to reading success.”  And by “we’re” I mean “I’m”.  Just in case you didn’t figure that out.  As I mentioned, I’m weird.

Cheerio Champ could read by age three.  By two, he had mastered the alphabet, but he’s out of the ordinary in that regard.  Princess Cheerio knows most of her letters and is two years old.  I had an extraordinary advantage with teaching my kids to read.  Cheerio Champ just loved mastering the alphabet, and it was quite literally all

he did for at least a month.  In fact, his second birthday was alphabet themed, as he wasn’t interested in anything else.  Because Cheerio Champ is an excellent reader, he has taken to reviewing the alphabet with Princess Cheerio at least once a day with letter magnets.  He gets something out of it too.  We have two sets, and he likes to spell out words with them. 

• Suggestion 1:  obtain one or two sets of magnetic alphabet letters.  We like the nice ones offered by Melissa and Doug.  Totally awesome company.

Kids should be exposed to many different sources that have the alphabet.  Books that focus on individual letters are great.  “Richard Scarry’s ABC Word Book” and “Dr. Seuss’s ABCs” are great examples.  Cheerio Champ really liked flashcards.  Princess Cheerio enjoys alphabet blocks.  We even have a wall hanging toy (purchased by my mother.  I’m not sure why I felt the need to clarify that) that has Velcro letters and pictures.  The best way to conquer anything is by repetition.  Try watching Sesame Street!  Draw letters in the sand!  Anything!

• Suggestion 2:  repetition by many different sources

After children master the alphabet, the next step (or to teach simultaneously if you are ambitious) is to learn the phonetic sounds each letter is responsible for.  http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/index/play.htm?f is a great website for you and your child to play around on.  There are really cute songs available for teaching phonics, as well as videos on the market.  I highly suggest Rock N’ Learn DVDs for phonic sounds. 

• Suggestion 3:  teach phonics

Teach sight words next.  I really like Preschool Prep Company products.  “Meet the Sight Words” 1 and 2 are great for beginners.  (The next couple DVDs teach digraphs and blends, which can be worked up to and are great for kids that can make out simple sentences and just need help pronouncing combinations of sounds)  Cheerio Champ loved flash cards.  Sight words flashcards are widely available at supermarkets, convenience stores, and dollar stores.  They are usually to be found near the books and magazines, but occasionally near art supplies.

• Suggestion 4:  teach sight words

After that, work with your child on simple sentences that contain sight words they have learned.  Move on and slowly introduce more complex sentences and gradually work up to paragraphs. 

• Suggestion 5:  teach simple sentences, working up in complexity towards paragraphs

• And now, my number one suggestion:  READ TO YOUR CHILD EVERY DAY!

 

To be fair, this is a song book and I think they are singing, but STILL!

I’m not saying you are the worst person in the world if you miss a day or two.  I’m just saying that the more they are exposed to books, the more they will learn to love them.  Show them that words have meaning, pointing to pictures in the book as you read the words that describe them.  Read simple books and more complex books.  They will enjoy either.  Don’t feel like you have to read every page if they lose interest.  Let them skip around in the book.  Talk about pictures even if they are not an essential part of the story, “That man has a big blue feather in his hat.  Isn’t that silly?” Read yourself and invite your child to sit near you with a book of his or her own.  If you show them that reading is fun and important to you, they will be more likely to pick up on it and read for a lifetime. 

Alrighty folks, that’s it for me!  If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them.  And I’d love to hear if you have any other suggestions for teaching kids to read or requests for topics.  Don’t forget to like us on facebook!  Have a great week, everyone.  :)