Monthly Archives: April 2019

What’s the Word of the Day? Learning with My Little Girl

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“So Mommy, what was your students’ word of the day?” my little girl inquired. “Today’s word was languish,” I told her. She perked up and asked what it meant. After telling her, she then longingly said, ” I wish I could learn a word a day.” I then recalled seeing an advertisement for a book that gives children a word a day with pictures, definitions along with other features and thought it would be perfect! I showed the web site for Mrs. Wordsmith and samples to my soon to be six year old and asked her if she would like me to order it for her to which she eagerly replied, “Yes, please!”

I decided to order the word a day along with the story dictionary for children ages 6 – 12. (There’s one for 3 – 6 year olds too). Quinn checked the mailbox after school everyday. Finally, after almost two weeks, the materials had arrived! I was just as eager as my daughter was to tear open the package.

She asked, “Mommy, can we keep my word a day at the dining room table so that I can read the word and definition when I’m eating my breakfast and then practice again for lunch or dinner?” With a smile on my face, I nodded, “Of course!” “Since she’s in kindergarten and not quite six yet, I wasn’t sure if the materials would be too advanced since it is up to age 13, so I thought the dining room table would be the perfect location so that she may get assistance from her father or me with the words.

Thus far, I’m very impressed with how well Quinn is doing with sounding out and reading not just the words but the definitions and explanations too. The pictures are so colorful and nicely detailed to help not just children but adults who might not know some of the words. Something else that I love is that she is making an effort to create sentences using the words or making associations with the words.

There was, however, one word Quinn associated with me that caught me off guard. When I came home from work after not seeing Quinn in the morning during breakfast and asked her about the word of the day, she said, “Today’s word is describing you, Mommy. It’s conceited!” I tried to convince her that I wasn’t conceited, but then she showed me the illustration. “See, conceited is someone who likes to take a lot of selfies, just like you!” (Interestingly, when I was younger and even in early adulthood, I was always shy and self conscious about taking pictures.) I blushed and thought to myself, I guess I better cut back on all of the picture taking some.

If you are looking to help your child not only enhance his or her vocabulary but possibly yours as well, I strongly suggest purchasing the Storyteller’s Word a Day and Illustrated Dictionary. Quinn’s only been using it for a little over a week and loves getting her word a day!

All the best,

Tanya

STEM Fun: Dyeing Easter Eggs with My Little Girl!

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Two years ago, I did a blog entry about how much fun it was to dye Easter Eggs with my little girl. Now that she’s almost six, the activity is not only fun but an absolute learning experience involving STEM, or shall I say STEAM. Quinn was eager to do just about everything from start to finish. She organized everything on the counter and even suggested that we organize the cups in the order of the rainbow colors.

When it was time to add the tablets, she recalled from last year that her fingers should be dry so that none of the dye gets on them. Without me informing her, she remembered that the vinegar would go to the first measurement line, and the water would go to the second line.  “Alexa, set a timer for one minute,” she said after the eggs were in the cups.  We took a look, and she said let’s leave them in a little longer so that the color will get darker.

Since we had one egg that cracked as it boiled, we decided to experiment with it. “How about we dip it in blue first and then dip it in red so that we can get a purple eggs?” she suggested. I love how she’s always thinking and experimenting. Then came the artistic component. She designed each colorful egg and made them look so cute, almost too cute for me to eat! I felt like the one I had was begging me not to eat her with those big jiggly eyes.

Even if you don’t celebrate Easter, doing this activity is a great way to teach children colors, how to do measurements,  how to have patience, trial and error and how to get creative. Another bonus is that it’s a wonderful bonding experience that results with a treat to eat.

All the best,

Tanya

The Importance of Kids Helping Kids: My Little Girl Reading and Raising Money for the Ronald McDonald House

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A little over a month ago, I posted about my little girl reading for a good cause: raising money for sick children at the Ronald McDonald House. A few weeks after that post, we were notified that she was one of the top fundraisers at her school and would be recognized at a special event sponsored by the Philadelphia Eagles. She also received a congratulatory packet with a certificate, shirt, stuffed animal and a free happy meal. This was such a proud moment for us both.

At the event, we got to interact with people from multiple schools, run around on the football field, take pictures with Swoop, the Eagles mascot, and hear wonderful stories about how the funds raised will help children in need. The children were also rewarded with books to keep readers, which I thought was awesome.

“I can’t wait to raise even more money next time. I think it’s great that I’m a kid helping kids,” Quinn told me. It makes me feel so good that my soon to be six year old, only in kindergarten, is so thoughtful and cares about others.

All the best,

Tanya

It’s All Downhill from Here! Life Lessons from My Little Girl.

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“You know what the best part about going up a hill is, Mommy? Getting to have fun going down it really fast!” my little girl informed me as we traveled the neighborhood on our bike ride. You know what else, if I’m using my scooter, I can just put both of my feet on the board and save my energy. When we’re on the bikes, we don’t have to pedal as much either! While this may seem obvious to most adults and even some older children, what’s not so obvious is the deep rooted lesson my soon to be six year old shared with me.

How often do we focus on the difficulty of  a task or how it’s going to be an “uphill battle” to achieve our goals? As we climbed a very steep hill on our bikes, Quinn was already thinking about the fun part of coasting along and enjoying the ride down the hill we managed to climb. One hill was extra steep, and I struggled with my sweet girl hooked up to the bike trailer to get us up the incline. I even asked her, “Are you pedaling back there, Quinnie?” “I sure am mommy! We’re almost up that hill. Then we get to go down!” she said happily.

Then, we made it! It seemed like we’d never get up that one hill, but once we did, a weight was lifted, and we both were eager to speed quickly down the hill with the sun shining and breeze blowing in our faces.

Upon making our way home, she couldn’t wait to inform her dad about our struggle. She chuckled and said, “Mommy could barely make it up one hill, Daddy! But we made it. Then we got to go down the hill really fast. It was so much fun!”

Most of us have heard the phrase “Life is filled with hills and valleys.” However, most people view the valley as a negative place and the hills as the positive climatic moments in our lives. I’d like to think that the hills give us that challenge we need to thrive and be successful, and the valleys or declines from those hills give us the wind in our faces, time to rejuvenate and to simply enjoy the coast.

All the best,

Tanya