My Little Poppies’ Picks
If you missed some of this week’s wonderful due to the post-holiday craziness, here’s a little bit of what I’ve shared on Facebook!
Links from around the web:
How My Daughter Explained Her Sensory Overload When I Couldn’t ~ Lauren Saccone
Parenting a Child with Anxiety ~ Shaun Groves, The Art of Simple
Everyone was an Artist in Kindergarten ~ James Hamblin
Did I love you enough today? ~ Kristen LaValley, Huffington Post
20 Chores Your Preschooler Should Be Doing ~ Real Life at Home
How Growing Up in Poverty Rewires a Child’s Developing Brain ~ Kayt Sukel, Good
When We Fail Our Children ~ Not the Former Things
The Science of Why You Should Spend Your Money on Experiences, Not Things ~ Jay Cassano
New from My Little Poppies:
Falter-Filled Days
Parenting is tough stuff. We all falter. Some days, we falter more than others. Here’s my story. File this under: #keepingitreal
Pants Are Non-Negotiable
Here is a letter that I wrote to my 3-year-old about pants. Yes, pants. This can also be filed under: #keepingitreal
Finding and Forging Gifted Friendships
This week, I was blog hoppin’ with Hoagies’ Gifted Education Page and this month’s topic is gifted relationships.
Leo’s Lounge!:
Why I Want CHICKENS
For Brain Chase this week, Leo was asked to write a persuasive essay. His choice of topic made me laugh because, as you’ll see below, chickens were a hot topic this time last year!
This time last year:
I thought it would be fun to take a glimpse at what we were doing this time last year. Looking back made me smile, and I hope it does the same for you.
The Tooth Fairy and the Naughty List
You know when you are in a moment and you think to yourself, “This will make a really funny story one day, just not right now”?? This is a story about the boy who risked Christmas morning for the sake of a grand, elf-based experiment.
Persistence and a Chicken Coop
Remember the day that Leo really wanted chickens? Update: he still really wants chickens.
Asynchronous development (not your typical shell collector)
This is a story about an asynchronous boy collecting shells on Cape Cod.
What have the little poppies been up to in real life??
If you hang out with us on Instagram, you already know what we’ve been up to!
Schizz and I love what we find when we check on the kids at night. Is there a better way to fall asleep??
Three cheers for pen pals! We received a letter from NZ this week and it made us smile- big time!
This would be a stuffed boogie that Leo made himself. Does this count as home economics?
A love letter from my sweet girl.
This summer, my children have been dabbling in Sign Language, thanks to Dawn Sign. Stay tuned for a post!
There’s nothing like a little Brave Writer in the morning!
My children are newly-obsessed with the Usborne 1001 Things to Spot series.
Does this surprise anyone??
This week, Leo passed his swim test and can now use the diving board. His best buds are so proud!
One month shy of 37 and I’m rocking bifocals.#gettingold The kids’ responses were as follows: Leo: I’m not good at making compliments when I don’t totally like something. T: You look beautiful. S (belly laughing): You look really FUNNY!!
This week, we started on one of our History Unboxed kits! If you are interested in this program, you can use the code mylittlepoppies to get a discount.
We have been having a blast with yoga from Playful Planet.
A quiet moment after a fun summer day.
We are obsessed with this baby goat.
Imagnets are one of those fantastic quiet time activities that kids never tire of, at least in my house!
My sweet T with Linda, ready for the pool!
Recommended by My Little Poppies this week:
Brave Writer
Are you looking for a writing curriculum that meets your children where they are at? One that can be individualized to suit your family? One that celebrates arts, music, poetry, film, and play? We are in love with Brave Writer.
Usborne Illustrated Fairy Tales
We LOVE Usborne books over here, folks. Here is Miss T’s FAVORITE at the moment. Stay tuned for a post that incorporates both Brave Writer and this little book.
Sumoku
Looking for a way to make those math facts more automatic? Children can’t resist these colorful numeric tiles. This is like Bananagrams but with numbers!
Magnatiles
What toy has been the best investment in your home? This is our pick. We held off getting Magnatiles for several years due to the cost but I haven’t regretted a penny since our purchase. They are played with every single day, by boys and girls of all ages.
Snap Circuits
Snap circuits are educational, fun, and they keep kids QUIET. That’s a major win in my book!
One Zentangle A Day
Do you zentangle? My family has been obsessed for quite a while now. I love how calming zentangle is, and guess what? You truly do not need to have any artistic ability. You just have to be willing to try. You’ll be amazed at how calm and relaxed you feel after a little zentangling but … be warned… it’s addicting!
Indigo Dreams (CD)
Are you looking to incorporate some mindfulness into your family’s routine? This is an amazing CD that has worked wonders for all of our children but especially for Leo. Learning to calm yourself down and reset is such an important life skill and this CD helps you do just that.
Song School Latin
Are you looking to add Latin in at home? We love this program! There’s something to say for learning a language with music- it sticks!
School House Rock!
C’mon, who doesn’t love School House Rock? My children adore it- especially Seuss! I love that it a show featuring music, and that the music is jam-packed with fun facts. I can honestly say my children have learned a great deal from the DVD.
Compose Yourself!
Are you looking for a fun way to add some music appreciation to your homeschool? Our family loves Compose Yourself by ThinkFun. Stay tuned, folks because I have a Compose Yourself review coming out next week and I have a ThinkFun giveaway scheduled for August, just in time for back-to-school!
My Little Poppies elsewhere:
Raising Poppies: Supporting Parents of Gifted and Twice-Exceptional Children
If you or are the parent of a gifted or 2E child, you should head on over and check out this group. Just be forewarned: it’s tough to leave once you step inside because it kinda feels like home.
Granite State Gifted
If you know of gifted and 2E children in NH or MA, please send them my way! Granite State Gifted is a growing community of parents just like you! And, if you’re having trouble finding your community, don’t forget that you can take matters into your own hands!
Tell me, folks… what did you find wonderful this week? Share in the comments!
Caitlin Fitzpatrick Curley
Cait co-hosts The Homeschool Sisters Podcast and is co-founder of Raising Poppies, a community for parents of gifted and twice-exceptional children. Cait is also founder of the Family Book Club at My Little Poppies, a fantastic community of book-loving parents and the Gameschool Community at My Little Poppies, a vibrant community of gameschoolers.
Cait is a contributing writer for Simple Homeschool and GeekMom. Her work has also appeared on The Huffington Post, The Mighty, and Scary Mommy. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram
and G+.
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Looks like a great week Cait! I loe the links you’ve suggested too. Thanks for sharing.
*love
What a great idea, to put everything together in one place. I’ve been awful at blogging this year, but I think this is a great start for getting back into it!
I had been getting comments on how people miss stuff because of FB being FB 🙂 I figured that, as long as I can keep this up, it’s sort of a neat way to see the weeks. We will see how I do with it, though 🙂
So excited that the letter arrived! The boys had so much fun putting that one together!!
We loved it, Jo! Now let’s see how long it takes us to get one back to you 🙂
My kids all thought the pants post was hilarious.
It’s a hilarious chaos over here some days, Ticia! 🙂