Sock Snowmen - Tutorial

The snow has been melting today, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make a snowman! Today we listened to this song and made these sock snow men. They were fun and easy, and I thought I would share so you can make them with your own little people.

What You Need:

 

-a white sock (all white is best, but it’s okay if the toe and heel have another color – they won’t show in the end)

-batting to stuff your snowman

-a white rubberband

-white embroidery floss

-a ribbon (any color – for the snowman’s scarf)

-pipe cleaner (orange for a carrot nose – and you could use brown for the arms, but I only had Halloween colors left over from our spider project – it was orange, purple, or electric green – I think you’ll agree I made the right choice)

-black felt (for the top hat!)

-black beads (for the eyes and mouth, and you could use some for buttons – I didn’t have enough big ones, and the little ones ended up in the carpet...thanks to my little helpers)

-black thread and a needle (I know I have white thread in this picture, but I wasn’t thinking straight, and I ended up using black)

How to Make It:

 

1.) Gather the tow of the sock and wrap a rubber band around it. (I put a rock in the toe before I wrapped the rubber band around - Here’s where I would have done something differently – instead of sticking a rock in the toe of the sock like I did - to add weight to the bottom so the snowman would stand up alone - I would have just gathered the toe of the sock and put beans in with the batting inside the bottom section of the snowman. The rock turned out not to be stable enough, and you have to move it around a bunch to make the snowman stand up right)

 

Turn the sock inside out, so the bottom looks puckered in.

 

 

 

 

2.) This is the part where I would have put a bunch of beans in the bottom of the sock, and then started with the batting. Stuff the sock with batting (great job to assign to your little einstein!) – just keep going until you have enough to make a big ball at the bottom. Then tie off the bottom with some embroidery floss. After the first one, I got smart and twisted off a part (like making balloon animals) and had Little E hold it while I tied the floss. That seemed to work better.

 

Stuff some more batting in, tie that part off, then stuff some more and tie off the head. When you’re done making all the balls, cut off the rest of the sock. It will look like your snowman has an 80’s hair do, but don’t worry, you’re going to cover it with a top hat.

   

 

 

3.) Now for the hat. Cut a circle out of the black felt, then cut a circle out of the middle of the big circle. You should have a donut looking piece, and then the “donut hole.” Now cut a strip that is the same length as the circumference of the inside circle. You don’t actually have to measure the circumference – I just cut a strip and then rolled it around the small circle and made sure it was about the same size.

 

The donut part is the brim of the hat, the strip will be the columnar part of the hat, and the small circle will be the top of the hat.

 

Start with the brim (the donut part) and the strip. Put the donut part over the funky 80’s do on your snowman, and then start in the back of your snowman sewing the strip to the brim, as in the picture. You’re going to do a back stitch to attach the hat to the brim and the head of the snowman, all at once. To start, tie a knot in the end of your thread, and go through the sock on the head of the snowman, then up through the brim. When you go back down, go through the strip of the hat, through the sock, and back up through the brim. do this all the way around the hat.

 

After you get to the back of the hat, use the same stitch to sew the strip shut in the back of the hat, then use the same stitch again to sew the small circle on top of the hat. I even let Little E pull the needle through (on a few stitches – it was faster for me to just do it myself...)

 

You can also just hot glue all the hat pieces together and then hotglue the hat onto the snowman, but I think sewing is a little more durable, and I know my kids are going to be playing with these things.

 

4.) Now you can stitch on the eyes. I sewed through the sock where I wanted to put the eye, then tied the thread around the sock (it was easier than tying knots in the thread), then I threaded the bead on the needle, and went back through the bead in the same direction again. Then I stitched through the snowman’s face to the other place I wanted an eye, and threaded that bead on. I did the same thing for each of the smaller beads that I used for the mouth.

 

5.) For the scarf, just tie a piece of ribbon/fabric around the snowman’s neck. I attached the scarf with a little stitch, as you can see in the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

6.) For the nose, I used a piece of orange pipe cleaner and shoved it through the sock where I wanted the nose. It took a little convincing, but eventually I got it through. Then I bent the end of the pipe cleaner that was inside the snowman to make a sort of anchor so the pipe cleaner couldn’t be pulled out. Trim the nose to the desire length. I did the same thing with the arms, and shaped the ends of the arms into little hands.

 

 

There you have it. This is the first time I’ve posted a tutorial on my blog, so I’m sorry if it isn’t very coherent. I usually just post recipes. That’s not as hard. If you find this tutorial useful and make some snowmen yourself with your kiddos, please link up in the comments! I would love to read what you’re doing with your little ones!

Cooking Day

A while ago I read this article that was featured in Simple Mom’s weekend links. I was really inspired by the article. When Little E was a baby, I used to let him do everything with me. Laundry, dishes, cooking, cleaning, you name it, he was “helping” – and loving it. I have a million excuses why I haven’t been letting my kids help in the past year or so – two is harder than one, life got crazy, we moved three times, etc – but none of them are very good reasons for stunting my children’s growth and development.

The article from the Kitchen Stewardship blog was kind of like a slap in the face for me and the motivator I needed to start letting my kids experience the real world through play. Remember when we were kids and work was play? I’d like to capitalize on that right now, while my kids are still young. I feel like I may have soured the opportunity though – it takes more than I thought it would to get Little E (who is only 3 1/2) to empty the dishwasher. And Baby E just likes to take stuff out and throw it on the floor. When Little E was a baby, he would actually help – most of the time. Baby E’s desire to throw stuff around a destroy things I explain with the fact that I haven’t let her so much as touch anything in the kitchen since she was practically born (the moving around had a little to do with that).

As you can see from our pictures, we’ve been trying to remedy that mistake. The kids enjoy helping out a lot more (we’ve got a long way to go!) and I am feeling like their ability to “play” doing “real world” things is making a difference. Little E already knows how to cut vegetables and hold a knife and the veggie so that he doesn’t cut himself. Sure, the chunks come out a little uneven, and the cuts are more often crooked than straight – but Little E is learning how to cook (and not just Mac & Cheese!) when he is 3. By the time he’s 30, he’ll be a gourmet chef, right?

Well, making gourmet chefs is not our goal as parents – but raising children who aren’t afraid to try “real world” things is. We want to expose them to all the wonderful things life has to offer, and not just “shield” them by letting them play with “fake” or “pretend” things – we want them to get down and dirty and figure things out.

Like the article at Kitchen Stewardship said: “Let us also live real lives and teach our children how to do real work, trusting that they, too, were created for more than just pretending.”

Thankful Turkeys

A few days before Thanksgiving, the kids and I made “Thankful Turkeys” – I traced their hands, and then they drew pictures of what they are thankful for on the feathers. I let them glue the feathers however they wanted (and draw their own pictures). Baby E doesn’t talk much, so there was no telling what she’s thankful for, but Little drew some pretty good pictures (one of some airplanes – good stuff). He said he was “thank you” for: lizards, his family, birds, airplanes, water, the sky, family (yes, he said it twice), “all my stuff I put in my drawer”, going to the ocean, going to the museum, hills, and snow.

We also kept practicing our song and after family prayer each night we would all tell something we were thankful for (or, in Little E speak - ‘thank you’ for).

We’ve had a great holiday season, with much to be grateful for. I am especially grateful for the opportunity I have to teach these two beautiful children about the world around them and how to be grateful for the things Heavenly Father has blessed us with.

And now, in the spirit of Thanksgiving:

Wednesday Wanderings – Acord Ice Center

First, a word about Wednesday Wanderings. I started Wednesday Wanderings as a way to talk about the places our family goes, and review them for other families in case they want to check those places out. I rate the outing based on Value (bang for your buck), Location (good neighborhood? easy to get to? easy to find? central?), and Fun Factor (how much fun me and the kids had). I always include explanations for my ratings, too, because not everyone’s family is just like ours.

We use Wednesday Wanderings to get out of the house and explore our neighborhood and community, and to help with our “preschool.” So, if you take outings with your preschooler, then write about it and link up!

Last week we went as a family to public skate at the Acord Ice Center in West Valley City, UT. Mr Einstein and I have our own skates (Mr Einstein plays hockey, and got me skates for my birthday a few years ago). We have two pairs of Babyskates because the smallest size of single blade skates we could find was a size 6 pair from CCM (but apparently Bauer makes one too). The Babyskates are nice, though,  because even the smallest walker can wear ice skates. We took Little E out on the ice with a size 3 pair of Babyskates just after his 1st birthday (he learned to walk at about 10 1/2 months). Baby E had her first night on the ice last week. After LE finished his tantrum, she loved it!

Ice skating is great for your preschooler’s gross motor skill development. It’s also great for them to have a new experience on something other than “dry land.” Exposing them to different “walking” surfaces early I think will help them develop good balance, and help them understand how to be comfortable when the ground under them doesn’t feel quite “right.”

I wish I had checked out some books from the library about ice skating and hockey so Little E would have been a little more prepared. He was really excited to go ice skating, and even did a great job walking around in his skates before we got on the ice, but as soon as we were on the ice, he was freaked out. Next time we’ll do a little bit of talking about how different it feels to be on the ice.

What new experiences have you been giving your toddler/preschooler (or even your older children!)? Do you encourage them to try new things? Do you expose them to different environments so they can learn more about the world and their bodies?

Ratings:

Value – At $3.50 for adults, $3 for youth, and two quarters for kids 5 and under, it’s a pretty good deal. We have our own skates (except for Little E – but he’s getting some for Christmas – shh, don’t tell!) we don’t have to fork over another $1.50 per person for skate rental. And, if we get a “Premium” pass to the Salt Lake County recreation centers, public skate is freeeeee! Since we live less than 2 miles from one of the rec centers, we’re going to get a pass in January.

Location – It’s on a main road, but in West Valley City (which is super far out west of SLC). It’s not too bad for us, so we like it. However, there are several other ice rinks in Salt Lake County. We’ll be checking those out soon. (that pass I mentioned gets you in to ALL the SL County ice centers!)

Fun Factor – Ice skating with little people is hard. Baby E cried because Little E was crying, and LE spent nearly the entire time on the ice flopping around crying on the ice. It was depressing. Once he was okay with it, though, Baby E was okay, too. Weird how that works...

Your Turn! Go write about your Wednesday Wanderings and link up here! Here’s the html for the button to post on your page:

<a href="http://wherelearninghappens.wordpress.com/category/wednesday-wanderings/" target="_blank" title="Wednesday Wanderings"> <img src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/_enTqG9B6DwE/TNLiY9vRmeI/AAAAAAAAQus/3F0xC1xuxt8/s800/wedwandslayers.jpg" alt="Wednesday Wanderings" /></a>

(copy the html inside that ^ box and paste it in your post)

Graças ao Pai Celestial

For our singing time this month, we are working on the first Article of Faith (in Portuguese), and for this week, we’re learning this song – Graças ao Pai Celestial (Thanks to Our Father). It talks about all the things we’re thankful for, and all the things that Heavenly Father gives us. To help the kids learn the words, I made little signs with pictures to go with each phrase.



The kids caught on pretty well. Baby E of course just sings random sounds, but Little E got at least 10-15 words of the song down after the fifth or sixth time through. To spice things up I let Little E be the “leader” at one point. That helped him get into singing. But you can only sing one song so many times before the kids get restless. To keep them sitting still for the first bit, I took their “snuggles” (their ‘special’ blankets) and folded them up to the size of those carpet samples that Kindergarten teachers use. I had them sit on those – and that worked for a few minutes.

We’ll practice this song again after lunch, and then twice a day for the rest of the week. Maybe I’ll snap some audio of the kids singing once they learn the song.

What songs do you sing with your children to help them learn about gratitude? What tricks do you use to keep their attention on the music instead of running around like monkeys?

Wednesday Wanderings comes to Child’s Play!

I had a meme over at my private family blog, but just realized that it would be more accessible over here at the Child’s Play blog. So tomorrow Wednesday Wanderings will make its debut at Child’s Play with the Acord Ice Center in West Valley City, UT! Stay tuned. I’ll explain how the meme works more on Wednesday!

Dainty Little Snowflakes

The snow isn’t fully upon us – yet – but in honor of the imminent snowy weather, we made snowflakes to hang on the front window. (Don’t let the sunshine and Little Einstein’s shorts fool you – I believe it was between 30-40 degrees that day). We listed to Janeen Brady’s Dainty Little Snowflakes and used the guide for making snowflakes out of her book.

Making snowflakes is a great activity to do with your kids – they love scissors, right? Mine do. The kid scissors had a hard time cutting through all the layers of paper, but as long as I was helping, it went fine. And look at those gorgeous snowflakes! (please ignore the dirty window...)

Teaching your kids safe scissor skills is probably one of the best things you can do. I mean, really, who wants their kids cutting their hair (or their sister’s hair! Heaven forbid...) 
   

Little E and Baby E proudly displaying their artwork. And just in time. Saturday night we got nearly a foot of snow, and apparently there is more in store for us! We’ll have to do some more fun snow-themed projects. Of course, there’s also Thanksgiving projects to do this week. The snow will last all season.

Do your kids get to play in the snow in the winter time? Or do you have more mild weather? What kinds of winter activities do you do?

Singing Time

Now that we are back into full pre-schooling (thanks to things settling down on the home front), I have decided to start doing “singing time” every day with my kids. I was raised in a music-centered home, and I’ve always wanted to have music in our home, too. We sing all the time anyway, but I felt like playing some music games, learning new songs, etc would be a good way for me to bond with the kids, and help increase their attention span.

Yesterday was our first day of “singing time” – it went well, the kids were super excited about it, but I quickly realized that “singing time” will require more planning than just singing a bunch of songs. Well, at first. Eventually I want to be able to just pull together some songs to sing – but for now, I will write out music plans for each week on Sundays.

Little E will be attending the church Primary next year starting in January – he’ll be what we call a “Sunbeam” (or “Raio do Sol” in our Portuguese Ward). Each year, at the end of the year, the Primary puts on a special program during our regular worship services highlighting everything they did that year, including singing the songs they have learned. I am hoping to incorporate the Primary songs in our “singing time” as well, so that Little Einstein will have a little head start, and hopefully know all the words by the end of the year. We have access to recordings of the songs, and I have printed music for all of the songs as well (and a piano!) so we should do fine. I’ll probably print pictures to go with the songs, and we’ll play games to learn the music and words. It should be fun, and I think it will really help LE.

Baby E loves to sing, as well, so I am hoping that this will help me help her learn to sing better. She is actually getting really good already.

Today I grabbed a bunch of toy animals from the playroom and tossed them in a bag, then I had LE and BE take turns picking an animal out of the bag and we sang a song about that animal. We had a spider, for which we sang “Itsy-Bitsy Spider,” a lamb for “Baa baa Black Sheep” and then most of the other songs came from Janeen Brady’s I Have a Song For You volume about animals. It was a lot of fun, and I think we’ll do it a few more times before I change things up.

Also, my meme from my personal blog, Wednesday Wanderings will be moving here next week. Hopefully it will get more traffic here (as if this blog even gets any traffic!) so check back and link up next week!

The Swing

Well, there was a big move, a wedding, and a death in the family - so the schooling thing has been put on hold a little. But we're getting back in the swing of things, and I'll be writing more frequently (I hope - ha ha!)

We've found the local library, and we've been walking there for story time. Even though it's about 30 degrees outside and snowing. We just don our snow gear and I equip the stroller with a plastic weather shield and we usually get there in one piece.

Due to the sudden change in weather (one week it was 80 degrees, the next it was 30 degrees and snowing almost every day) we have been reading about snow. So far we've just been reading books about snow - nothing too deep. We've also been talking about leaves and the color changing. On our last walk home from the library, Little Einstein gathered leaves and this week we'll be making a "Leaf Book" with the leaves. We kind of missed most of the leaves changing colors, what with the move and everything, but the kids still love the colors changing, and crunching the leaves with their boots.

This week I want to work on number conservation with Little E. I'll talk more about that in another post - but that's the big goal for this week. And story time on Tuesday.

Guest Post

Not by who you would think. This guest post is by Little Einstein. As part of our play-based preschool, we are encouraging Little Einstein to dictate to us so we can type. He doesn’t know how to write or read, but I believe encouraging him to let me write down things he dictates to me will encourage a desire to learn to read and write. “There’s lizards everywhere in the house. She’s got blue and green and there’s all that colors on that lizard. I like putting him in the basket so she can swim. I put my lizard in the basket and she can swim.”

Well, that went okay. It’s a work in progress, and a three-year-old’s attention span is limited, but we got a lot of creativity out of it! when I asked Little Einstein to tell me about his lizard, he told me that he wanted me to put a picture of the lizard on the blog, so we whipped out the webcam and now you have a picture of one of L.E.’s most prized possessions – his lizard. Then he started singing and dancing (which I should have caught on the webcam for this post, but didn’t – next time!). Then he didn’t really want to talk about the lizard because he had already danced and put a picture on the blog.

We haven’t done this in a while due to a move, but we’re picking back up on things now, so hopefully his ... stories ... will get a little more interesting. (as if they aren’t already!)

We’re headed to the library tomorrow for story time, and hopefully we’ll be able to get a library card, even though we’re only going to be here for a month. This summer has been the worst for us for library time due to some family emergencies.

Reading time is coming back full force! (we would be reading without the library – since we have a huge collection of classic children’s books, but they are all stored for the summer while we’re “in between houses” – we only have two or three with us, but the library fills in the gaps for us.

Won't You Be My Neighbor

The school district I grew up in is currently facing a crisis...

Back in 2003 or so, the State of Arkansas decided that elementary school teachers should be provided with planning time during the school day. (you can find the law here on page 3) Now, that sounds great, right (so now teachers aren't complaining about having to prep for their classes on their own time... or... something like that. I really don't know why they decided this. It doesn't make any sense to me).

Well, in order to compensate for this, the Pulaski County Special School District decided to start elementary schools 40 minutes earlier (which also doesn't make any sense... because younger children actually need more sleep than older kids). Their argument? We don't have enough buses to run separate buses for the elementary schools and the secondary schools, so we have to adjust all the bell schedules so we can still use the same buses.

Well, what they didn't realize was that if a bus is dropping elementary students off at 7:00am, little 5 and 6 year olds will be getting on the bus at 6-6:15am. Yeah. 6:00AM. Which means, if you've got a 5 year old who needs to get ready for school, chances are you're going to need to wake him/her up around 5:00AM to get him/her dressed, fed, and off to the bus stop.

Five o'clock in the morning? For a 5 and 6 year old? Are they serious?

Apparently.

And they have also realized how stupid they've been (they are currently "discussing the situation." But they don't have a solution yet, and school starts in a week.

Well, good luck to them.

Now you may ask "Why are they busing elementary students in the first place?"

Good question, to which I will respond with two words:

Magnet Schools

And now I will refer you to this article at Blue Oregon, written in 2005, but very very "on" for today's issue in the Pulaski County Special School District.

In Defense of Neighborhood Schools by Wendy Radmacher-Willis

What do you think about neighborhood schools? At the very least for elementary students. Should we be more focused on things like math, the arts, science, technology, dance, languages, etc? Or more focused on the values, relationship skills, and other life skills our children will learn by growing up in a strong community?

More Defense

Here is another article I stumbled upon while searching for a copy of the article I posted yesterday.

I like this mother’s defense of play-based preschool, and I am going to be doing a lot more research into play-based preschools. I am guilty of having been nervous that my child will not be reading by kindergarten, and that he’ll be educationally stunted and possibly never catch up (see article).

But the truth is that it’s more important that he learn in age-appropriate ways. The author of this article states: “A wide range of research shows that kids do best — not just in kindergarten, but throughout the later grades — when they're allowed to learn in age-appropriate ways.”

So – let’s try to let our kids learn in age-appropriate ways. I’ll be sharing with you our journey in this learning adventure.

See, already I’ve learned a lot! And we haven’t even started our first week! Although, check out our “lesson plans” for this week. We’re going to be learning about THE FAMILY. I think that’s the best way to start out this preschool blog.

In Defense of Five Year Olds

My mother and I have been going through a bunch of her old papers – trying to scan what’s useful into the computers, and recycling what’s not.

Mom was an elementary school teacher, and is well-read in early childhood education, as well as child development.

As we were going through her papers, we found an article distributed by Frederick J. Moffit, Chief Bureau of Instructional Supervision, New York Department of Education. It was taken from the Association for Childhood Education in February 1946.

Sounds a little outdated, sure – but I agree with the viewpoint. Since I looked all over the web to find a link to this article, or book that contained this article, or ANYTHING, but found nothing, I figure I’ll post the whole article it it’s entirety – with accurate, and hopefully sufficient credit to the publisher – and if someone has a problem, I’m sure they’ll email me and tell me to take it down. Otherwise, I find this piece of writing to be very valuable, and I think more people should read it!

IN DEFENSE OF FIVE-YEAR OLDS

Studies of children show us that three basic needs of each individual are to be competent, secure and active. Experience which meet these needs for a two-year-old would not be satisfactory in terms of specific situations for five-year-olds, not would the five-year-old experiences satisfy children of ten, although for all ages the general basic needs remain constant. This is not to say that children should be considered in terms of age levels, because in some respects a five-year-old may behave like a child of three, of five or of eight years of age. There are, however, certain general experiences that five-year-olds must have if their basic needs are to be met. These needs are fundamental considerations in planning their educational program

FIVE YEAR OLDS SHOULD HAVE PLENT OF OPPORTUNITY TO climb, to run and to carry on group construction projects outdoors with large boxes, kegs, boards and the like. These activities will contribute to the development of large muscle coordination. At the same time, these children like to experiment with small muscle activity in the use of paint, clay or crayons. But such activities as sewing, reading and writing demand too concentrated use of eyes and small muscles, which often results in tensions and impairments.

THESE CHILDREN SHOULD HAVE ALTERNATE PERIODS of quiet and active work and should not be expected to sit still for long periods of time. Nor should they all be expected to do the same thing at the same time, especially when the thing undertaken has no meaning to them, does not meet their fundamental needs and is entirely teacher initiated and directed. The fives are exposed to such harmful situations when they are placed in first grades as usually organized or when they are expected to do first grade work in so-called pre-primary classes. They are not ready for these experiences in their muscles, their minds or their feelings. Superimposing the academic pattern upon them gives them experience with failure and frustration early in their school career. There is no surer way of making hostile, aggressive, with-drawn or tense children. All of these behavior manifestations characterize the maladjusted, incompetent,  insecure child and adult.

Five-year-olds have a wide-ranging curiousity about the world of things and of people in which and with whom they live. To discover the ways materials behave and feel and to learn the skills in controlling them is an exciting challenge to these children. To find ways of playing with one another, to try out each other’s abilities and qualities, to learn success and to make mistakes as individuals and as groups through dramatic play are all vital daily experiences for five-year-old children.

In the traditional first grade such interests are taboo, frowned upon and sternly eliminated. So the child’s curiosity soon vanishes to be utilized only out of school. The give and take with his peers without which social development cannot take place is impossible in a classroom where contacts with other children are prohibited by the furniture, the teacher, and the kind of work to be done. He is again rendered insecure and incompetent with no opportunity for or guidance in gaining skill in satisfying his curiosity or in getting along with others. In addition, where contacts are with the teacher only and not with other children, warped ways of getting on with adults develop. Individual children vie with one another for adult attention and approval, and tattling, fighting, slyness, shrinking timidity and similar harmful behavior appears. The “teacher’s pet” characterizes every classroom as is often snowballed or pounced upon as soon as the school grounds are left behind.

TODAY WE FACE A SERIOUS PROBLEM affecting the five-year-olds. The pressures of administrative convenience, the lure of newly appropriated funds, and the widespread public demand for educational opportunities for the five-year-olds are precipitating the environment appropriate for them. The time has come for the teachers and parents to band together to stop this disastrous practice if the five-year-olds are to have safe, happy and active lives at school.

Taken from ASSOCIATION FOR CHILDHOOD EDUCATION February 1946

I think that I have nearly been sucked into thinking that my three year old should have these kinds of “academic” experiences! No! He needs to run and play and construct, and learn to interact FREELY with other children, without having me interfere and initiate and run his education.

The thing about little children is that they learn what’s in front of them. You don’t need to do a lot of “teaching” – which is nice, because they probably won’t sit still long enough anyway! So we need to simply let them learn.

It’s great to surround them with things to learn – for example, I used to take V to the aquarium all the time – once a month, at least! He has learned all sorts of fascinating things about ocean and marine life. Without having to ever sit in a desk and listen to a teacher.

He has learned a lot about plants, animals, the outdoors – without ever having to do a worksheet, or even read a book.

We experience life. We learn through play.

And that’s what this blog is about – learning through play.

I hope you will join me on this adventure as I learn with my children – and especially as I learn how to play again!

 

Train Up a Child

I believe that learning should happen through play. As a mother, I know that I have a sacred responsibility to teach my children.

So this blog is about how I teach my children - my children learn through play and activities. Every moment of every day can be a teaching moment! This blog will be an avenue for me to share with you the things I do with my children to help them learn and grow.

We are a Christian family (more specifically, LDS - Latter-Day Saints) and our teaching centers around Jesus Christ. We believe that "The glory of God is intelligence..." So this blog will also be about how we teach our children about Christ and His gospel.