Who doesn’t love a good holiday? It’s fun to look forward to special days and to plan special celebrations. But don’t limit yourself to the BIG holidays; pick some unusual, lesser-known holidays and observances and incorporate them into your 2023 plans. HolidaysandObservances.com offers hundreds of suggestions, but we’ve listed a few of our favorites for […]
Advent calendars are more popular than ever! You can find calendars that count the days to Christmas with socks, chocolates, pet treats, and Lego figures. But you can start one of the best advent countdown traditions at home with a story advent calendar. First, decide how many days you want to count down to Christmas. […]
Have you ever been without internet and needed a way to entertain the kids for a few minutes? Google Chrome’s No-Internet Dino Game to the rescue. The 16-bit game only appears when you’re not connected to the internet. If you try to find a website through the Chrome browser when you’re disconnected, a jumping T-Rex […]
Simple morning and nighttime routines can reduce stress for everyone and help your pre-teen feel more confident and secure. Routines don’t have to be rigid to be effective. Talk with your middle-graders about what tasks must be accomplished every morning and evening, and brainstorm how they want to organize and achieve those. For example, you […]
August means back to school, and the start of a new academic year means changes for the whole family. So we’ve read several expert posts and condensed the best of the best advice into five back-to-school prep tips. Don’t wait for the first bell to start your school-year schedule. First, ease the family back into a […]
Make reading a destination in your home by creating a space designed just for enjoying books. Make it warm, creative, and screen-free. Here’s a list of things to consider when creating your reading nook: Location. Your reading nook doesn’t have to be large. It can be a corner, some unused space under a stairway, a […]
When my kids were in later elementary and middle school, we’d mark the start of summer vacation with water balloons. I’d spend the last day of school filling and tying (my fingers were so sore!) water balloons so they’d be ready when the kids got home. I stationed laundry baskets filled with water balloons around […]
Parent’s often want to know if their children are reading at or above their grade level. Another critical question is how interested my child is in reading. Young middle-grade readers (ages eight to ten) should be transitioning from learning to read to reading to learn and be reading independently. They should be able to read […]
With ubiquitous tablets and phones, a child’s first introduction to reading may be audiobooks. But does this help or hurt kids in the long run? While audiobooks are no substitute for reading aloud with your children, they can supplement that time. Audiobooks can help build imagination and reading skills. When a child is learning to […]
When measured before the pandemic, Americans’ average one-way commute time was just more than 27 minutes.* As we inch back toward ‘normal,’ we once again find ourselves spending more time in the car. So let’s explore some creative ways to use that almost one hour in the car with our kids every day. Build Vocabulary. […]
Have you discovered WORDLE? The online word game gives you six chances to guess a five-letter word. It gives you clues by showing if you’ve guessed a letter in the word and if it’s in the correct position. There is a new WORDLE to solve every day. It’s a great game to play with the […]
Many of our readers know that Night Buddies adventures grew out of bedtime stories Sands created with his son. They dreamed up Crosley, the red crocodile, then thought about all the adventures a boy could have when he couldn’t go to sleep. Next time your kids say, “tell me a story…” go with it. Start […]