Tonight the entertainment industry will assemble in Hollywood to celebrate this year’s nominees for the Academy Awards. Since it’s an exciting night for families who love movies, it can also be a great time to have some timely history lessons about the Oscars, seize upon teachable moments to have conversations about winning and losing, and…
Education
Virtual Field Trip: Testing Corning® Gorilla® Glass at the Corning Incorporated Sullivan Park Research & Development Campus
This post is sponsored by Corning® Gorilla® Glass “I’m really sorry, Mom,” Emily said as she carefully picked up pieces of a drinking glass from our kitchen table. “When I knocked it over on the table it just broke. The glass must have already been abraded.” Abraded isn’t usually part of a teen’s vocabulary but on…
5 Components of Successful STEM Programs for Middle Schoolers
Thank you Capital One for sponsoring this post. How do you introduce kids to coding in a way that will keep them interested in learning the meaningful skills that they need for the jobs of today and tomorrow? You invest in their education like Capital One has done with its Future Edge initiative. Last week,…
4 Reasons We Love Books from National Geographic Kids (w giveaway)
My mom used to always say that she didn’t care what we were reading, as long as we were reading something. When we were little, she celebrated us reading the comics as much as she did books we got from the library because she knew that by letting us read what we wanted to, would help us…
How to Create Effective Routines to Teach Middle School Study Habits at Home
This sponsored post is written in partnership with Workman Publishing Middle school. It’s a completely different ball game from elementary school. A new school where multiple elementary schools converge on a larger campus with more students, having lockers for the first time, figuring out bell times and how to get from one place to the…
Why Young Makers Will Love littleBits Gizmos & Gadgets Kit, 2nd Edition
It’s no secret that we love littleBits! We collect sets like they’re trading cards, adding new bits to our collection each time that add to the possibilities of what we can make and couldn’t be more excited about the brand new littleBits Gizmos & Gadgets Kit, 2nd Edition. Usually when we get a new set of…
Free Teacher Resources for Teaching Fire Safety to Elementary Ages
This is post is sponsored by the National Fire Protection Association and Sparky.org. When I taught first grade, I had a folder for every unit organized by month. This was the time of the year I’d pull out my National Fire Prevention Week folder and flip through my lesson plans, worksheets, and paperback picture books…
Boolean Girl Project Introduces Boolean Box, a Tech and Engineering Discovery Kit for Kids
How do you get girls interested in computers and coding? You make it accessible. Even if you’re not so tech savvy, finding ways that empower girls to learn these important skills through engaging methods that don’t talk down to them is important. And that’s what the new Boolean Girl Project aims to do with The…
Why My Kids Are Going Back to School with Glasses to Protect Their Eyes from Digital Eye Strain
This is a sponsored post written in partnership with VSP “Mom, my eyes hurt when we were taking the test today,” Thomas admitted during our dinner table conversation after a day of computerized standardized testing. Thinking that his eyes were fatigued, we went through strategies to prevent digital eye strain. Yes, he tried to lower the…
Back to School with Netflix: Reinforcing Academic, Social, and Emotional Skills #StreamTeam
As summer ends and school begins, each child confronts a new grade level that brings with it new challenges and learning, including social and emotional learning that occurs at each age. But not every child learns the same way. Some kids may excel at paper and pencil tasks while others need visual representations and sit…
