Parents Talk = Meet Danielle from Mommy and Me Book Club

Today we're hosting another parent who also happens to be an educator in "real world". Like so many others, she uses her knowledge in her own home with her child but, in this case, she has gone a step further and shared it with others as well...

How an idea for Mommy and Me Book Club was born?

In 2004, I left my kindergarten classroom to stay at home with my first child.   I loved being a stay at home mom, and sharing all of the fun activities I had done at school, with my own child.  I found myself creating fun “book inspired” activities and lesson plans for the two of us to enjoy together.  I could do so much more with him one on one, than I had been able to do in the classroom.  And we were having a lot of fun!  So much fun, that I wanted to include other moms and their preschoolers to join us.  

When he was 2 and a half,  I extended the invitation to several friends to form a Mommy and Me Book Club, thinking maybe two or 3 would say yes.   I was shocked  that very first year, when over 20 families wanted to participate!  We divided into three groups.  I wrote the curriculum for all 3 groups, using my favorite children’s books as our inspiration.

I hosted a group again for 2 years when my second son turned 3.  And now, here we are several years later, and I am getting ready to begin our 6th year of Mommy and Me Book Club with my youngest daughter and her wonderful friends.  

Our group is a co-op.  I have never charged anything for the families to participate.  We just all pitch in and take turns being responsible for the snack, art, or games.  I love the special time I get with my daughter.  I love the chance I get to create curriculum.  And I love the wonderful friends I have who are part of this fun adventure.  It would not work without them!  I am blessed with wonderful friends who are also inspirational mothers!

How do you choose books for the Club gatherings? What guides you in your choice?

Choosing books for our Mommy and Me Book Clubs is my very favorite part of the year! Some books are beloved friends from my own childhood or classroom days.  I also feature books that are new to me.  I spend all summer reading everything I can get my hands on. I go to the library, to the bookstore, and search online.  I ask the moms in our group to send me a list of their children’s top 10 favorites.   I am currently going through the process, trying to narrow down my top 30 favorites for this year!  (If anyone reading this has a favorite to share that we have never featured, please let me know)!

I have found that there are lots of wonderful children’s books that are not the best fit for Mommy and Me Book Club choices.

1 - I look for books that are short enough and engaging enough to keep a group of preschoolers attention. I find that my daughter who can usually listen to stories for over an hour on my lap,  when I add 5 of her best friends to the room (and all of their mommies),she and her buddies are able to focus on a read aloud  for perhaps 10 minutes.

2 - I also look for books that are good, quality literature.  Books that I would be willing to own, and to reread 50 times in one day. I am pretty picky about what I recommend.  

3 - I look for books that portray kind and respectful behavior from their main characters.  I try to avoid books that use words, behaviors, or attitudes that I would not want seen in my own home.

4 - I look for diversity in the books I share throughout the year. I plan a year at a time.  I include some that will make the children giggle.  I look for books that teach valuable lessons.  And even a few that will include things like shapes, colors, and letters.

Can you draw parallel between setting rules for these gatherings and inside our own homes?

As the group leader, it is important to always have a plan!  We follow the same flow and format each week at Mommy and Me Book Club.  We have all materials ready to go when we begin.  We move based on the children’s interest and not the clock.  This keeps you from having down moments between transitions, which is when a lot of difficulties arise.  We meet at the beginning of the year as just the moms, and establish a clear vision of what we expect from each other during the time we are together. The first day of Mommy and Me, and throughout the year, we go over the rules with the children in a fun and happy way.  

At home, when I have a plan, things go so much smoother.  When we follow a schedule, when our materials are ready for the next day, and when we watch our children and not the clock, we are so much happier and productive.  And if you are blessed to be parenting with someone else, I think it is important to sit down together, without the kids, and establish a vision for our family life together.  When you are on the same page, it makes parenting so much more enjoyable. Then as a united front, share this vision with your children in a fun and happy way.

Share your tips for achieving successful cooperation between kids.

1 - Create activities that foster cooperation and NEVER activities that encourage competition with children of this age.

2 - Model. Model. Model. Achieving successful cooperation between kids is simple when you have a one to one ratio.  I have found that Mommy and Me Book Club is the perfect place for our children to learn to share and take turns.  Each child has a loving parent next to him to help navigate this tricky new territory.  When a child wants to take a toy that another child is playing with, becomes impatient waiting to be last to play the game, or  frustrated with sharing art supplies, he has a role model to demonstrate how to handle the situation.  A parent is there to validate his feelings and to encourage positive behavior.  That is the true beauty of Mommy and Me Book Club.

Top 5 gatherings / books from the past?

That is like asking me to choose my favorite child!!! Can I at least do 6????  :)

A Ball for Daisy

http://preschoolbookclub.blogspot.com/2012/05/ball-for-daisy.html

Mouse Paint

http://preschoolbookclub.blogspot.com/2010/09/mouse-paint.html

There’s A Bird On Your Head

http://preschoolbookclub.blogspot.com/2011/03/there-is-bird-on-your-head-by-mo.html

The Three Little Pigs

http://preschoolbookclub.blogspot.com/2012/03/three-little-pigs.html

The Big Red Barn

http://preschoolbookclub.blogspot.com/2011/10/big-red-barn.html

I Stink

http://preschoolbookclub.blogspot.com/2011/02/i-stink.html

Parents Talk = Meet Amanda from Dirt and Boogers

Today's interview is with Amanda who happens to be a play therapist by profession. We've asked her few questions regarding her own experience as a mother and co-relation with teaching (among other things). 

Quiet unusual name for a blog - Dirt and Boogers. I'm sure there is an interesting story behind it. Care to share? :)

Yea, I've gotten a few comments about the blog name (some good some bad). Before I started blogging, I took a picture of J with a snotty nose and dirt on his face.  I sent it out to family and titled it "Boys are Filled with Dirt and Boogers".  When I decided to start the blog a few months later, I wanted a name that was original and memorable.  This pic kept jumping in my head, and I decided that Dirt and Boogers was very memorable, plus it made me laugh.  I asked a few friends about the title and I got smiles and "YES! You have to!"...so there ya go....Dirt and Boogers!

What PLAY means to you?

Oh man, play is the most important part of childhood!  It is the most natural thing a child does, it's their most important work!  It's how they figure out and understand the world around them.  Kids learn basic skills and concepts through play.  They also use play as a medium to work out troubling things that are going on in their lives.  Being a children's therapist, I've seen children play through some really difficult stuff in their lives.  Play is how children process tough situations and difficult emotions.  It's really cool to see a child learn to cope through play.  Play is even important in adulthood too!  Being creative and playful is an emotion regulator and mood booster.  People learn concepts so much better when they use their whole bodies!  So being creative and using your body is a great way  to learn new skills and make them stick!  Truly, my favorite word is PLAY...it's not just for kids!

Do you think that being an educator helps you in raising your own child? Did it prepare you for parenting? 

It absolutely did!  Already having a background in child development and knowing the basics of taking care of a child really helped as a new parent.  I had already changed thousands of diapers, taught parenting techniques, and already had a working knowledge discipline techniques and how to handle tantrums.  However, taking care of other people's children is nothing like raising your own.  There are way more emotions involved which makes it harder to think clearly sometimes!  Plus, I can't hand off my son to someone else to care for after a difficult day.

Day to day organization of activities and space - how you do it at your home?

We used to do activities the same time every day (between lunch and nap time).  Things are a bit more flexible these days so I just do one when inspiration hits!  A lot of our activities are done on the kitchen table because I just find it easier to set thing up there.  We do have a small playroom for J that I'll set up activities that need to be done on the floor.  I also really like to do activities outside on the deck.  There is just something about creating and playing in the sunshine that is so nice!

5 must have toys for toddlers (either store bought, handmade or found objects) you would recommend?

I love having basic, open-ended toys that grow with a child. A good set of wooden blocks, a baby doll or stuffed animal, a play kitchen and food, and playdough are toys I wouldn't trade for anything.  For the 5th, I'm saying water.  Seriously, we play in water so much around here, it's crazy!  We dye it, make ice, fill and dump containers, and swim in it too!  Seriously, it's J's favorite thing!

Few more things we recommend to look up on Dirt and Boogers blog:

31 days of play

25 Sensory Tray Ideas

Thank you Amanda for an awesome interview!

Parents Talk - Meet Jane from MamaPeaPod

We're bringing back another feature on this blog - interviewing influental bloggers who also happen to be parents and many of them are real life educators, who share with us their best parenting tips for toddlers and preschoolers. This week we have prepared interview with Jane from MamaPeaPod.

Introduce Mama Pea Pod in few words:

I am a mother of two girls aged 5 and 2, a teacher, and an endorser of playtime. I want to savour the time I have with my little peas by playing, creating, and getting outdoors with them. Mama Pea Pod is where I blog about creative play ideas mainly for preschoolers and toddlers, but there's also a bit of creative play for babies and mamas, too. 

Toddler and Preschooler - 2 years apart is a big difference at this age. How to pick activities that will engage them both?: 

My girls are nearly 3 years apart. For the most part, this has been relatively easy for me, since my little one wants to do whatever the bigger one is doing, too. So we usually do our activities all together. If it's something that is not age-appropriate for the little one, I set up a modified version for her. For example, this morning my 5 year old and I were playing with symmetry by challenging each other to copy exactly a structure out of blocks. Of course, the little one wanted to keep knocking them down. So we set up her own structure next to ours that she could build and knock down to her heart's content. 
Most of our art play is process-based, so they can both freely explore as they wish. If we're doing a special piece of artwork with a particular product in mind, like our mermaid painting to decorate for a mermaid party, I made sure to include the little one as much as possible by helping her to make a mermaid, too, but also had separate paper and a paint tray set up for her, so that she could paint freely on that as well and not upset her sister by 'ruining' the mermaid painting.

Recommend few essentials / boredom busters to always have in your bag where ever you go:

I'm terrible at this! My kids are actually really easy to entertain, they can turn anything into a game. They will spend half an hour at the dinner table or in the bathroom making their forks or toothbrushes talk to each other and creating elaborate imaginary play from that. Even without any props, they'll use their fingers as 'people'. So I actually rarely carry anything for them in my bag for a regular outing, except occasionally some figurines if I expect a long waiting time. I generally prefer toys that are open-ended and likely to spark creative play. I have some creative toys ideas here. For travel, I always pack way more than I anticipate using, as you never know what will interest them at the particular moment you need them to be engaged. I have a post of travel toy suggestions here.

Ideas for 5 hands-on play mediums for outdoor play:

I am a huge believer in the importance of outdoor play (I cohost a biweekly Outdoor Play Party where you can link up any outdoor play ideas you may like to share). Some things we love to do outdoors are play with ride-on toys (bikes/motos/cars, etc.); play with bubbles; explore and engage with nature (even in our own back garden); do art outdoors; and play with water. Also, my girls are currently really into playing games that involve running and/or chasing, like this leaf islands game or this coloured eggs game.

5 tips for teaching toddlers and preschoolers etiquette. And is it really necessary at this age?:

Etiquette....hmmm, I think it's important that my children are polite and kind to others and that they make others welcome in their play. My oldest is very sociable, so this isn't really a problem. I used baby signing with them both, and 'please' and 'thank you' were some of their earliest signs, so they've learned from a very young age to use those words in their interactions with others and they became a natural part of their communication early on. Mostly I teach them politeness by modeling it in my interactions with them. I really think modelling is far more powerful than reminders. I recently read somewhere that you shouldn't make your child say thank you or sorry to others, instead you should say it on their behalf as a way to model, and eventually they will start doing it, too. I think that's a good tip, and I'm making an effort to stop reminding them to say it and to just model it instead.

Thank you for answering questions for us Jane! It's always a pleasure to read your blog! 

Parenting - Q's & A's from the Past

We don't have weekly interview ready for this Monday, hopefully we'll be having something new to publish next week, so this week, we'll share some of past questions we asked some of the most influential bloggers / parents / teachers and their answers about playing and generally parenting toddlers and preschoolers.

Question: Keeping kids, specially younger, focused on a project can be tempting sometimes. Any tips how to make crafting successful, fun and completed with toddlers?

Answered by Michelle from A Mommy's Adventures: I find that the fewer expectations that I have for the completed project the more successful it is. When working with toddlers more open-ended projects that focus on a process rather than a product are often the most fun and rewarding. Giving your toddler more control over their project and understanding that they may have a much different plan than you originally set out is important to keep in mind. I love setting out paint and brushes and letting them create, or glue and collage materials and seeing what happens. If you use washable paints, markers and glue then you really don't have to worry because the mess with be able to be cleaned up with some water and soap!

Read complete interview!

Question: As an early year educator, you have bunch of kids on your hands. Could you share with us couple tips how to establish discipline (order) within a group of younger kids?

Answered by Nataša from Leptir - Montessori Blog: First of all, I must emphasize that the discipline is not achieved by intimidating children, as some people think. Discipline can be achieved if you give your child the freedom of choice -  they are intrinsically motivated, interested in what they do. And that leads to discipline. It is also very important that a parent / teacher has confidence in children. Children are aware of that and appreciate it so much. It is not necessary to put in front of them many restrictions, but insist on the agreed rules. If the rules are agreed upon together with children, they will be more willing to follow them then if we try to impose rules to them. And most importantly of all, be consistent in everything you do. If parents / teachers are not consistent, children very quickly sense that the same rules do not always apply and they test and push the limits.

Read complete interview!

Question: What are 5 Montessori principles that we (parents) can use to ease our worries about our toddlers (3-4 year olds)?

Answer by Deborah from Living Montessori Now: There are a few Montessori principles I find especially helpful for addressing common worries:

1) Follow your child. That’s an essential Montessori principle and helps ease worries about whether you’re doing enough educationally. If you’re following your child’s interests and responding to his or her needs, you’ll be helping your child at any age.

2) Give your child real, child-sized tools whenever possible. Parents often worry that their children will get hurt if they let them use tools that aren’t child-safe toys. Maria Montessori felt it was important for young children to work with real, child-sized tools. Obviously, you wouldn’t give a real hammer to a 1-year-old, but with a demonstration and supervision, 3-4 year olds can learn to use a real, child-sized hammer. 3-4 year olds can also do a lot with food preparation, including peeling and slicing foods.

For Small Hands/Montessori Services is a great source for child-sized tools. If your child doesn’t handle a tool carefully, though, I’d recommend saying that you’ll need to put the tool away until he or she is ready to use it carefully. Once you feel your child is ready to handle the tool properly, demonstrate how to use the tool again before allowing your child to use it.

3) Allow your child to complete a work cycle and repeat an activity. Many parents have worried that there’s a problem if their child keeps repeating an activity. But it’s actually a very good thing.

If you don’t interrupt your child but allow him or her to repeat an activity as many times as he or she wants, your child will develop a longer attention span and will meet the needs of a particular sensitive period. Repetition is a very good sign that your child is working to meet an inner need – and is nothing to worry about! It’s wonderful, in fact!

4) Give your child freedom to explore indoors and outdoors. Maria Montessori emphasized the young child’s need to explore both indoors and outdoors. Even infants and young toddlers can be given opportunities for exploration. I have a number of posts about infants and young toddlers that give lots of ideas for Montessori-inspired exploration while still keeping your child safe.

5) Emphasize practical life and sensorial activities during the early years.Parents often worry about what sorts of activities to provide young children. Should you emphasize early academics or free play? While your toddler needs lots of time to just play and explore, the most important structured activities to provide are simply practical life and sensorial activities.

Let your child help you in the house or yard whenever possible, give plenty of opportunities for your child to develop eye-hand coordination, and try to give hands-on experience with concepts such as colors, shapes, textures, sizes, sounds, smells, and tastes. Every Monday I have an Activity of the Week with activities that are helpful for preschoolers, often including toddlers. Many of those posts are practical life or sensorial activities.

Read complete interview!

Parents = Toy Experts. Meet Michelle from A Mommy's Adventures

This week we're hosting another teacher turned stay at home mom. For our previous interviews, you might want to dive in into our archives and collect tips and ideas to help you out with your own toddlers!

Share a story about Michelle.

Here is a funny story about me and how expectations can really change your taste for something!!

When I was teaching one very generous mother brought in bagels for all the teachers for Teacher Appreciation Week. I was SO excited because I love bagels! I was even more excited because this mom was extra sweet and got all different types of cream cheese and I love bagels with specialty cream cheese even more. Of course my favorite type of cream cheese is Strawberry Cream Cheese which caught my eye right away. I spread the yummy pink cream cheese all over my Cinnamon Raisin Bagel and brought it up to my classroom to enjoy it. After I had everything set up for the day I finally sat down to take a bite of my favorite bagel combination a yummy Cinnamon Raisin Bagel with Strawberry Cream Cheese...and it was HORRIBLE! Instead of sweet strawberry cream cheese my mouth was filled with an unexpected salty taste. To my surprise I had covered my bagel in Lox Cream Cheese, which would have been delicious (well maybe not on a Cinnamon Raisin Bagel) if that is what I had been prepared for, but instead surprised me! At first I thought the cream cheese had gone bad, until I realized what it really was. My 4th graders and all of my friends had a great big laugh at my bagel fiasco that day. In fact whenever I get a bagel my husband will still tease me about it. So there is a completely random story about ME :0)

What things you learned as an elementary teacher helped you with your own kids the most?

As an elementary school teacher I learned that all children are different and learn at their own pace and in their own ways. As a mother I try to give each of my children opportunities to learn and explore so that they can discover new things in the way that best suits them. I also learned to be patient, if at first they don't succeed try and try again. This was helpful in everything from feeding and trying first foods to learning colors and numbers to now even beginning to read. Learning is a process that takes time and exposure and should be fun!

Share with us how you came up with an idea for StART. And why you picked co-relation between story and art?

I LOVE doing art projects with children and I love reading books. I came up with the idea for stART when I noticed that many of the projects or activities we were doing were related to a book that we were reading or have read. So it kind of just came naturally.

Keeping kids, specially younger, focused on a project can be tempting sometimes. Any tips how to make crafting successful, fun and completed with toddlers?

I find that the fewer expectations that I have for the completed project the more successful it is. When working with toddlers more open-ended projects that focus on a process rather than a product are often the most fun and rewarding. Giving your toddler more control over their project and understanding that they may have a much different plan than you originally set out is important to keep in mind. I love setting out paint and brushes and letting them create, or glue and collage materials and seeing what happens. If you use washable paints, markers and glue then you really don't have to worry because the mess with be able to be cleaned up with some water and soap!

What are you kids favorite toys? Or books?

My kids favorite toys are Duplos, both Emily and Juliette could spend hours building a creating with their huge collection of Duplos. They often create a structure with their Grandpa and will keep it together for the week and use it to play with their Little People (another favorite toy). Emily really likes her doll house and as she has gotten older likes setting up the rooms and making up stories with the dolls. Juliette loves to play Perfection and Zingo. Both of these games were purchased for Emily, but Juliette constantly asks to play them, and she really does play them!

Wow, trying to think of our favorite books, there are so many I could go on forever. Emily really loves to read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Go Dog Go!, The Giving Tree and most recently any of the books in the Little Critter Series. Juliette loves word books. She likes to point to the pictures and say what they are. She also likes the board books by Karen Katz, such as Where is Baby's Belly Button.

Thanks Michelle for great tips!

Make sure to stop by A Mommy's Adventures blog and join in the StART project! :)

Parents = Toy Experts. Meet Deb from Living Montessori Now

Next two interviews with parents / bloggers / educators will give us, parents, a little insight into different kind of teaching approach - Montessori preschooling principles. This week, our guest is Deb from Living Montessori Now who shares some light about this learning approach.

Introduce Deb in a few words. Who are you online and offline?

I think that I’m pretty much the same online and offline. I’m a former Montessori teacher, former Montessori preschool owner and director, and former homeschooler. I homeschooled my children through high school, so I ended up with experience teaching early childhood through high school! Now I’m a Montessori writer and mom of two adult children (ages 21 and 26). You can find out more about me on my blog’s “About Me” page.  

Why you decided to specialize in early education (toddlers and preschoolers)?

In college, I started as a special education major because I had worked with children and adults with developmental disabilities for two summers and absolutely loved it.

My next job (after my freshman year of college) was at a daycare center. I think it was when I started using Montessori principles in my daycare classroom in 1975 that I really fell in love with early childhood education.

After that, I trained to be a Montessori teacher, specialized in Montessori Early Childhood and Elementary Education for my B.A. degree, and (more recently) completed my M.A. degree in Early Childhood Studies. Even though I’ve enjoyed teaching at all levels, early childhood is still my favorite. 

What are 5 Montessori principles that we (parents) can use to ease our worries about our toddlers (3-4 year olds)?

There are a few Montessori principles I find especially helpful for addressing common worries:

1) Follow your child. That’s an essential Montessori principle and helps ease worries about whether you’re doing enough educationally. If you’re following your child’s interests and responding to his or her needs, you’ll be helping your child at any age.

2) Give your child real, child-sized tools whenever possible. Parents often worry that their children will get hurt if they let them use tools that aren’t child-safe toys. Maria Montessori felt it was important for young children to work with real, child-sized tools. Obviously, you wouldn’t give a real hammer to a 1-year-old, but with a demonstration and supervision, 3-4 year olds can learn to use a real, child-sized hammer. 3-4 year olds can also do a lot with food preparation, including peeling and slicing foods.

For Small Hands/Montessori Services is a great source for child-sized tools. If your child doesn’t handle a tool carefully, though, I’d recommend saying that you’ll need to put the tool away until he or she is ready to use it carefully. Once you feel your child is ready to handle the tool properly, demonstrate how to use the tool again before allowing your child to use it.

3) Allow your child to complete a work cycle and repeat an activity. Many parents have worried that there’s a problem if their child keeps repeating an activity. But it’s actually a very good thing.

If you don’t interrupt your child but allow him or her to repeat an activity as many times as he or she wants, your child will develop a longer attention span and will meet the needs of a particular sensitive period. Repetition is a very good sign that your child is working to meet an inner need – and is nothing to worry about! It’s wonderful, in fact!

4) Give your child freedom to explore indoors and outdoors. Maria Montessori emphasized the young child’s need to explore both indoors and outdoors. Even infants and young toddlers can be given opportunities for exploration. I have a number of posts about infants and young toddlers that give lots of ideas for Montessori-inspired exploration while still keeping your child safe.

5) Emphasize practical life and sensorial activities during the early years. Parents often worry about what sorts of activities to provide young children. Should you emphasize early academics or free play? While your toddler needs lots of time to just play and explore, the most important structured activities to provide are simply practical life and sensorial activities.

Let your child help you in the house or yard whenever possible, give plenty of opportunities for your child to develop eye-hand coordination, and try to give hands-on experience with concepts such as colors, shapes, textures, sizes, sounds, smells, and tastes. Every Monday I have an Activity of the Week with activities that are helpful for preschoolers, often including toddlers. Many of those posts are practical life or sensorial activities.

For someone totally new to Montessori principles, can you share a startup point? Where to go, what to read or watch, to get the "feel" what this kind of learning is all about?

I wrote a post titled “How to Set Up a Montessori Space at Home” to give ideas any parent or grandparent can use. In the post are links to my two favorite introductory books about Montessori. I also wrote a post called “Top 10 Montessori Principles for Natural Learning” which gives ideas for using Montessori principles at home whether or not you have Montessori materials.

Share with us 5 objects every parent can repurpose (found in their own homes) that fit with Montessori teaching principles.

1) Lower shelves in kitchen cabinets can be reserved for your child’s practical life activities (such as food preparation, spooning grains, or any activities for care of self, care of the environment, control of movement, and grace and courtesy).

2) Put educational materials and activities to help with eye-hand coordination on trays and/or baskets on shelves so your child can choose work independently.

3) Tweezers can be placed on a tray with small objects to be transferred from one container to another.

4) Kitchen tongs can be used to transfer cotton balls or ping pong balls from one container to another.

5) Grains or beans can be poured from one small pitcher to another small pitcher or from cup to cup.

Thank you Deb for sharing your expertise and experiences with us! :)

Parents = Toy Experts. Meet Anna from The Imagination Tree

It's always a pleasure to host and interview our parents / bloggers! Some of them are even professional educators like this lovely lady you'll get to meet today - Anna from the Imagination Tree! They share their knowledge, experiences, expertise as both parents and educators with us, helping us raise our tiny tots in happy, learning and fun environment! Sit back and enjoy all the  wonderful ideas! :) 

Share with us little bit of who is Anna online and offline.

I am a Mum of 2 year old and 1 year old girls from the UK. I am trained as a primary teacher with a specialism in early years education and art. After having my children I decided to stay at home with them full time to give them the best of myself during their formative years. But I needed some kind of creative outlet and place to keep a finger in education, so the blog was born! Offline I'm interested in art, photography, books and dabbling in my own creative projects, but mostly I just dream of being accomplished at those things one day! This post sums up the way I feel about play based learning and the need to celebrate childhood (and therefore what my blog is all about!): The Central Importance of Play

As an elementary teacher who turned stay at home mom, what can you use from your teaching days and apply to your kids at home? 

I use my experience of loads of play activities, knowledge of picture books and tolerance of a lot of mess with my own kids at home! I am so grateful for the time I have had teaching and I realise that it gives me lots of ideas of the best way to approach a play-based learning style with my own two, and not to put any pressure on how or when they learn. They will learn in their own way at their own pace and my role is to provide the materials, the environment, some excitement and then step back! It's wonderful to watch the learning process take place and I feel very blessed to be at home with them. My 5-a-day Book challenge comes directly from my experience of teaching and the training I have had in the real importance of using repetitive and rhyming books as part of literacy development. 

What are similarities and what are differences in teaching other people's kids and your own?

I find it much harder with my own children in some ways in that I am with them 24/7 and am so invested in them emotionally (of course!) But it is also so wonderful to be able to share ideas and play experiences with your own children after a decade of working with other people's children. I was so thrilled to have my own children and couldn't wait for their first paintings, play dough and sensory play experiences! Here are some of our ideas for sensory play.

Now, one maybe silly question: what have you learned from your kids?

Oh no, that's probably the best question, not at all silly! I have learnt from them how to love in a way I didn't know was possible. And they have taught me a valuable life lesson - that I don't know it all and still have so much to learn about being a Mum, but that it is worth everything to keep on trying to improve and to give so much more of myself to everyone around me. They taught me that just by being here.

And last but not the less important... what are your favorite toys?

Ooo, now we're talking! I love everything wooden. I think wooden toys look and feel beautiful and can last a lifetime and are 100x nicer than plastic junk. I think every child needs wooden blocks, a play kitchen, Playmobil 123 (oh how I LOVE Playmobil!), homemade play dough, and free access to lots of "real life" objects to be freely creative with. The Discovery Boxes that I put together for my girls are a form of natural, heuristic play and are designed to be open-ended and to promote thinking skills. They are also virtually free to produce!

Thanks Anna for sharing! :) 

Make sure to browse through her blog for more learning and fun ideas!