Tag Archives: School

There’s Value in Brain Games! My Daughter’s Estimation Proves It!

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As technology and artificial intelligence becomes more prevalent, it seems that people feel the need to use their brains less. Why use critical thinking when you can ask Alexa or Siri? Why compose an essay or your own original thoughts when ChatGPT can do it for you?

There’s something rewarding about using and exercising your brain, and clearly my daughter’s school knows this! Yesterday, they had a fun-filled evening of brain games for kindergartners up to fourth grade and encouraged parents and guardians to participate as well. I was so excited to see 24: one of the math games I loved playing as a child.

Quinn initially made a beeline for the estimation station where there were jars of different items, and the children were to guess how many were inside. Today, she found out that she was the winner with her guess on the amount of lollipops in a jar. When I asked how close she was with her estimation, she said, “I was exact!” I then followed up with how she came up with the number, and she told me, “I had a strategy,” which she proceeded to explain.

I told her how proud I was of her for using her brain and strategizing and how cool I think the event was, and she agreed.

Here’s to hoping the future generations will continue to embrace brain games, critical thinking and strategizing.

All the best,

Tanya

The Big Reveal! Appreciating My Daughter’s Art

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A couple of weeks ago, I received a letter from my daughter’s art teacher that her work was among the selected few from her school to be on display at the Cheltenham Center for the Arts, our local community art school.

Today was the big reveal, and we were all so excited to see my fourth grader’s work of art. Then, we quickly found ourselves admiring and appreciating the art in many mediums of the other artists ranging from kindergarten up to eighth grade.

We were so impressed, and it was wonderful to see so many proud family and friends excited to celebrate their children’s masterpieces.

All the best,

Tanya

Life Lessons From Playing Bingo

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This past Friday, my daughter and I attended bingo night at her school. It’s been quite some time since I played bingo, and it was all new to Quinn, but she quickly got the hang of it.

When B12 was called, Quinn shook her head and said, “Why couldn’t they call B13?!” One of her friends at our table was “lucky” enough to win. After a few more rounds, another friend at our table won shouting out “Bingo!”

Quinn just knew she would be next when we got to the last and tenth bingo card. But that didn’t happen. 🥺 Even still, she learned and I was reminded as we heard a person shouting out “Bingo” from a neighboring distance that sometimes you can be so close to “winning,” just one space away, and have someone win ahead of you. Sometimes it’s pure luck, sometimes it’s just in the cards, but either way, the excitement of playing and possibly winning was enough to eventually put a smile on Quinn’s face.

All the best,

Tanya

The Triple “A” Call I Love Making: Celebrating My Daughter’s Hard Work

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Most people associate triple A with vehicle troubles, but I learned this past Friday that that’s not always the case. My fourth grader came home excited to share with me that she was the first of the school year to earn the triple A: All Achievement Award for classroom focus, effort, and desire to learn.

Though I am proud of Quinn, I’m not at all surprised. She loves school and learning so much. But even still, I don’t take her focus, efforts and desire to learn for granted, especially as I struggle to keep many of the college students I teach motivated and encouraged to learn.

I can only hope that she continues to have the intrinsic motivation to learn and put forth her best efforts as a student and person well into adulthood.

All the best,

Tanya

Last Day of Third Grade: Appreciation for an Awesome Teacher

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When I picked Quinn up from school, she and her classmates were all crying as they came to the realization that their time with their teacher, Mrs. Smith, was ending 🥺. I’m going to miss her too and am appreciative of how awesome, caring and generous she was. These last few years have been overwhelming, to say the least, but she made Quinn’s third grade experience a memorable, wonderful one for which I’m grateful.

All the best,

Tanya

I Can’t “State” It Enough! I Represent My Daughter!

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Today, my daughter along with 57 third graders did presentations on the United States of America. About a month ago, each student selected a state to investigate and find out facts to share for this special day. Quinn excitedly told me, “I picked Michigan because Daddy went to University of Michigan!”

Though she worked on the project independently in school, my husband and I occasionally asked her random questions about Michigan to make sure she was prepared. We discussed ideas for her outfit, she helped locate images for me to iron on her shirt. Her dad let her borrow his University of Michigan hat and “Michiganopoly” game.

We both proudly came wearing our navy blue and gold to support Quinn, and she did not disappoint. I noticed that quite a few parents stopped by to hear her presentation as I circulated around the room to hear about other states from different children. I’m so proud of Quinn and so glad my husband and I were able to be there for her.

All the best,

Tanya

Spotting My Daughter’s Smile in a Crowd Makes me Happy

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I love that my daughter’s school uses Class Dojo to share events and classroom memories. But last week’s memory was extra special. For the first time in two years, I spotted Quinn’s smiling face immediately. She didn’t blend in with the sea of children wearing masks where I had to zoom in to find her. I immediately spotted her in the middle of the third grade crowd holding with a peace sign in the air with a huge smile on her face.

Most recently, her school made the difficult decision to make masks optional. Since Quinn is vaccinated, my husband and I allowed her to determine if she wanted to keep wearing a mask. She opted not to but said she wants to carry one with her just in case.

Though I blurred out the faces of the other children for privacy purposes, they all looked so happy, and it practically brought tears of joy to my eyes to see all of their smiles. Is the tide officially turning? I hope so! These children are so resilient and been through so much. They deserve to have some fun without constantly worrying about all that came with the pandemic. We all do! Here’s to seeing everyone smile big in the weeks and months to come! 😁

All the best,

Tanya

Never Too Young to Learn the Art of (Penny)War Through Supporting, Sacrificing and Strategizing

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The talk of war, especially with the current and tragic events of What’s going on with Russia and Ukraine, is all around us, and at my daughter’s school is no exception. Luckily, their “war” is all in fun and for a good cause to raise money for the classes and school through the PTO event of “Penny Wars.” When Quinn was in kindergarten, I helped as a volunteer of the PTO and collected buckets and helped kindergarten classes decorate theirs. Unfortunately, this annual tradition did not happen when Quinn was in first or second grade due to the COVID restrictions, so she and I both were excited to see it being advertised on Class Dojo.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that my eight year old went to her own bank container of coins to gather pennies to support her class rather than asking her father or me if we had pennies. Once the status came out in the middle of the week, and she found out her class was in the lead out of all of the third grade classrooms, she was ready to do whatever it took to maintain that lead.

The wheels were turning, and she began strategizing, so this time around, she was collecting quarters, dimes, nickels and even dollars to increase the gap between her class and the others. She told me her classmates planned on doing the same. As I saw all of the dollars in her ziplock bag, I informed her that she didn’t have to contribute all of her own money and that I could see if I had some coins too, but she still insisted on using her own money even with the contribution from her father and me. She informed me that she really wanted to give it in not just to help her class win the pizza party but because the money will go to the school and help when she graduates from fourth grade.

Even if Quinn’s class doesn’t win the pizza party for her grade level, I celebrate her willingness to support her class, to make sacrifices by contributing her own personal savings and even taking the time strategize to help her class win.

All the best,

Tanya