The first school where I taught had a mentoring program where a group of volunteers from local businesses would come and read with our elementary school students every Wednesday. I loved walking by the library to see adults sitting with the same child week after week sharing a story over lunch and spending their recess…
Education
Ohanarama: Safe Online Site Designed to Bring Family Together Through Game Play
We all know that we are supposed to limit screen time and do our best to unplug but when technology has an educational component and helps us build connections to our children, then it has a value and a purpose. I recently learned about Ohanarama, a site that is an online destination designed to bring…
LeapFrog LeapSchool Reading Game Makes Reading Fun
Learning to read is engaging and interactive with the LeapFrog’s LeapSchool Reading cartridge game. As a former first grade teacher who taught kids to read, I know how difficult it can be for young children. Concepts like letter recognition, phonics, rhyming, word families, sight word recognition, and more need to come together to read fluently. While…
Macy’s Classroom Makeover Sweepstakes (ends 9/15)
When I first started teaching, I did my best to make my first grade classroom look as bright and cheery as possible with the limited resources I had. I brought my hand-me-down rug from my grad school apartment, repurposed plastic shelving, went to the dollar store religiously to score book bins for $1, and spray…
Tomorrow! Fill the Backpack Twitter Party with $2000+ in prizes! RSVP here!
Tomorrow— Tuesday, September 6— Splash Creative Media is hosting the Fill the Backpack Twitter Party and we hope you’ll clear your schedule for a fun evening with tons of prizes! Join us from 9-11 pm EST for the opportunity to win some of the $2000 in prizes that we’ll be giving away throughout the evening as…
Hey JCPenney…It’s great to be a smart girl!
Update: A reader shared that according to NBC’s Today Moms, JC Penny is pulling the shirt from its site and issued an apology which can be found at the bottom of the Today Moms post. As a teacher and mom of a 7 1/2 year old who loves school and learning, I am livid about this…
Marble Jar: App Now Free for Back to School
Did you ever have a marble jar in one of your classrooms? I remember our marble jar from second grade quite well. We eagerly anticipated a single marble to be dropped in to reward stellar behavior and for it to be filled for a class reward. Now there’s an app for that! Marble Jar…
4 Quick Breakfasts for Healthy Children & Healthy Minds: Our Fill the Backpack Motto
Weekday mornings are hectic and can leave us scrambling to get out the door but that’s no reason to miss breakfast, the most important meal of the day. This year’s Fill the Backpack theme of Healthy Children, Healthy Minds theme resonates with me because of having the experience of trying to teach kids who came…
Dinosaur Train’s Dinosaur Big City Premieres Today on PBS
If your kids can name all of the dinosaurs and the prehistoric time periods thanks to Dinosaur Train, then chances are they’re looking forward to Dinosaur Big City, the Dinosaur Train movie that will air on PBS Kids today. Check your local listings to determine what time you will be able to join Buddy and…
Fill the Backpack Back to School Giveaway Worth Over $750!
We’re back from vacation and with only two short weeks left until school starts, we’re planning to enjoy the last of our unstructured days. I could be lamenting the fact that our youngest is starting kindergarten or that our oldest, now 8, is going to be a big second grader as I race to the…
