Books and Giggles
Inside: Sight Words vs Phonics – which should kids focus on as they learn to read? This post will help parents and caregivers navigate helping their children learn to read. What ‘Sight Words’ Means A sight word is a word that doesn’t follow normal spelling patterns. These are words like come, who, or said….
Inside: Help your children experience the magic of imagination with these different ways to foster creativity in kids. You’ll love the joy that comes from them! Young children are brimming with curiosity, and when they tap into it, magic happens. The imagination they unleash when they try to figure out their own answers or learn…
Inside: 5 library visit tips for parents of toddlers and preschoolers. In today’s busy world, parents sometimes forget the hotspot in their community. Yes, play places and museums provide great ways to spend time with your family, but you probably also have an AMAZING free option nearby: the local library. Today I”m sharing five library visit tips for parents of little kids. How to…
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #TheNewFanFavorites #CollectiveBias My daughter had a burning question. “When’s kickoff, Mommy?” I’d never heard those words from her lips before, and I knew my plan was working. I’m excited that the Big Game will be here in Texas…
Sometimes it’s really hard to figure out what your child is learning in school. We’ve all heard it – “What’d you do at school today?” “Nothing.” You can work on your conversation skills, but there are also other ways to figure out what your child is learning at their public school. Start With the Standards It helps to…
We’ve all been there. Your child goes to pick out a book for you to read aloud, and you cringe. Not that one again, you think. You’re sure you’ve already read it 97 times. Why do kids want the same books over and over? Is it meant to drive you crazy? It sure feels like…
You open up your child’s take-home folder, and inwardly groan. There it is — another dreaded school project to complete at home. What are teachers thinking in assigning these things? How much should you help your child? How will they be graded? And how on earth are you going to get your child to complete it on time? As…
Books and Giggles is full of screen-free, educational and fun activities for kids. Sometimes you also find parenting insights and tips. Today we’re recapping the top five non-seasonal posts of the year, all in one place. The most popular post by far was 10 Instant Fun Car Trip Activities Your Kids Will Love These are ideas that you…
We were stuck in traffic on the way to soccer practice — ten minutes from home, ten minutes from the soccer field. Suddenly, I realized I hadn’t reminded the kids to bring their shin guards. We’ve arrived at soccer without shin guards before. Once, one of the kids arrived without shoes. You can manage to practice without shin guards,…
I caught myself once, telling my kids, “No doing the chicken dance in the middle of dinner.” Yes, life can get crazy here. When the kids were babies I dutifully recorded their first words and sentences. I documented every milestone. Once we were out of interesting milestones, I decided to start jotting down funny…
When my son started kindergarten in our local public school, I felt completely shut out of his school day. I sent him off on the bus each morning, and he was sealed up inside a locked, secure building all day. Parents couldn’t just drop by and peek in like you could at our little preschool. I was desperate…
As a mother of three, I should have known that you can never be prepared for everything. While the kids happily ate pizza, I suddenly noticed that Sophie was missing a tooth! And by missing, I mean we had no idea where it was. Losing a Lost Tooth It was still morning, but it had…
We have three loose teeth here, that I know of. My sweet Twin A has two loose at once, and little Twin B is working hard on wiggling one too. There’s nothing like the increasing waggle of a first loose tooth to get a mom scrambling for tooth fairy pillows! I like to sew every…
If you have a strong-willed kid, homework can be a family battleground. The nagging and avoiding . . . the last minute rush . . . the yelling . . . the child who “forgets” to turn it in to the teacher . . . As a parent and teacher, I’ve seen all of these and more….
Putting your kids in organized sports is a lot more involved than just paying your fees and showing up. When we signed our now-8-year-old up for T-ball at age 4, I had no idea how much my life was about to change. With all three kids in sports now, we have definitively left the playgroup…
Books about storms can help calm children’s anxieties. Here we’re sharing the ten best books we found about rainstorms, thunderstorms, and hurricanes. Rumble, crash, boom! Thunderstorms can be scary for little kids. If your child is afraid of thunder, being calm and empathetic can help. So can reading books about storms. Storm Season Here in Texas,…
I saw this display in my grocery store last summer, and I couldn’t decide how I felt about it. On one hand, I was glad to see that they are supporting literacy in young children. On the other hand, I was kind of offended. Only 3 times a week? Why not 3 times a day?…
Realizing you can skip pages or parts of pages when you read aloud to your little kids is liberating, even if you do feel a little deceitful about it. There’s really no reason to feel guilty. In our house, we did plenty of book shortening until the kids got old enough to catch on to…
Whether you’re on a long family road trip or just shuttling kids around town, no-prep car trip games can save your sanity. By “no-prep” I mean you can start them from the driver’s seat while still driving safely. For longer road trips, you can find cute printable activities, carefully select special toys, and even give in to the DVD…
Do your kids ever get stuck on Repeat with a book that annoys you? Maybe you even liked it the first five or ten times, but the 97th time? Ugh. We have a few books that I flat-out won’t read anymore. (We have plenty of other choices.) Is that mean? I figure I’m teaching…
Do you ever worry whether you’ve made the right choice about being a stay-at-home-mom? On good days, you don’t, right? But other days, well, it’s easy to second-guess your decision to stay at home. You see Facebook posts from friends who are “leaning in” and feel jealous of their professional lives. You miss the respect and intellectual stimulation. You miss…