Coupons for the weekend of 11/23/2013 that are great for holiday shopping

This post is all about sales , shopping and deals, cause if you are a single parent like me then you know we gotta make our money stretch as far as it can go. These are some coupons that I found and sharing with you , print them out and use them this weekend. Happy shopping.

"Misbehavior"? Or Developmental Stage?

Toddlers can be exasperating. Does. this mean they're "misbehaving"?

Sometimes what we condemn as "misbehavior" is simply the child's attempt to have some need met in the best way they know, or to master a new skill. The more parents can accept this, the less they are tempted to shame children into growing up faster. For instance, it is normal for toddlers to be selfish, possessive, exuberant and curious. It is not unusual for two-year-olds to be unable to wait for something they want, as they don't understand time the way adults do. It is quite ordinary for three-year-olds to be sometimes defiant or hostile. If we shame instead of educate, we interrupt a valuable and stage-appropriate learning process, and our own opportunity to learn about the child's needs is lost.

A three-year-old who defies her mother by refusing to pack up her toys - after being told to do so repeatedly - may be attempting to forge a separate and distinct self-identity. This includes learning to exercise her assertiveness, and learning to navigate open conflict. Toddlers can be exasperating. But does this mean they're "misbehaving"?

Sensible limits are essential, but if children are shamed for their fledgling and awkward attempts at autonomy, they are prevented from taking a vital step to maturity and confidence. In the period glibly called the "terrible twos", and for the next couple of years, toddlers are discovering how to set their own boundaries. They are learning to assert their distinct individuality, their sense of will. This is critical if they are to learn how to stand up for themselves, to feel strong enough to assert themselves, and to resist powerful peer pressures later in life. If we persist in crushing their defiance, and shaming children into submission, we teach them that setting boundaries for themselves is not okay.

Even babies are thought to misbehave, such as when they don't sleep when they are told to. How could a five-month-old baby, for example, possibly be "naughty" for failing to go to sleep? Though it can be difficult for parents when babies experience disturbed sleep, it is nonsensical to see a non-sleeping baby as "disobeying" the parent, and to blame the baby for this.

Consider the example of an eight-month-old who crawls over to something that has flashing lights and interesting sounds. He pulls himself up to it and begins to explore. He does not know that it is his father's prized stereo. He finds himself being tapped on his hand by his mother, who tells him to stop being naughty. He cries. At eight months, a baby is unable to tell the difference between a toy and another's valuable property, and would be incapable of self-restraint if he could. Children's ceaseless curiosity - a frequent target for shaming - is what drives them to learn about the world. When a child's exploration is encouraged in a safe way, rather than castigated, their self-confidence grows. Unfortunately, we frequently call a behavior which may be entirely stage-appropriate "naughty", simply because it threatens our need for order, or creates a burden for us.

A flustered mother and her distraught four-year-old daughter emerge from a local store. The girl is sobbing as she is forcefully strapped into her stroller. "Stop it, you whiner!" screams the mother, as she shakes her finger in the little girl's face. Children are often berated for simply crying. Many people believe that a crying baby or child is misbehaving. Strong expressions of emotion - such as anger and sadness - are the child's natural way of regulating their nervous system, while communicating their needs. Children cry when they are hurting, and they have a right to express this hurt! Even though it is often hard to listen to, it must be remembered that it is a healthy, normal reaction that deserves attention. It is tragic to see how often children are shamed for crying.

Here is a further example of what happens when we are unaware of developmental norms. Until recently, toddlers were started on potty-training far too early, before they were organically capable of voluntary bowel control. Many found this transition to be a battle, and toddlers were commonly shamed and punished for what was a normal inability. What was once a struggle for both parents and children has been greatly alleviated through more accurate information about childhood development. Shaming often takes place when we try to encourage or force a behavior that is developmentally too early for the child's age.

We have come a long way in our understanding about child development in recent decades, and made many advances in childcare as a result. Easy-to-read child-development books fill the stores, by authors such as Penelope Leach, Katie Allison Granju, Pinky McKay and Jan Hunt, and these can help parents to have reasonable and realistic expectations of their children. Children and parents are both happier when parents have reasonable and age-appropriate expectations of their child's behavior.

Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids

This is THE book that was missing from my repertoire of gentle parenting resources. This is THE book that I read two times in a row while barely coming up for air. The is THE book that has actually showed me, in a palatable manner, how to be the patient, non-voice-raising mama I knew I could be.

Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids might seem like a lengthy book at first glance but it is divided into three sections which makes it much easier to digest. Each section is broken down further into pointed topics which are designed to help you master peaceful parenting. The division of topics is perfect, giving the reader the opportunity to let the research, the advice, and the real-life application techniques a chance to soak in.

There are so many things I enjoyed about this book. First, while Dr. Laura does not talk down to the reader, she doesn't present information in some esoteric, can't-wrap-your-brain-around-it way either. She is clear and gentle, yet effective in the research and methodology she outlines in the book. Basically, she speaks to your heart in a way that gets it to open up without making you feel horrible about your past shortcomings as a parent.

Second, this book is designed to be used for a long time! Parents of toddlers will benefit just as much as parents of elementary school age children. In fact, the earlier you read this, the more of an opportunity you have to use it as your child grows! Dr. Laura has several sections that she breaks down further based on the age of your child. I love this because as every parent knows, there is NO one size fits all approach to parenting children as they move through various developmental stages. Each age and stage comes with its own unique set of challenges and opportunities. Dr. Laura has given parents the gift of learning how their parenting can evolve alongside their children's growth and development.

My advice is to read the book cover to cover before attempting to implement any of Dr. Laura's techniques. As you go, earmark what resonates with you, perhaps focusing on those areas you really need to troubleshoot within your parenting arsenal. (That is a nice way of saying "earmark the sections that you are having parenting failures with!") Then go back and dig deep. DEEP! Don't take shortcuts. Don't try to rush anything. Take what Dr. Laura suggests and deliberately begin making the changes you feel in your gut you need to make. Then watch your relationship with your child bloom like you never thought it could. Because it will based on my experience.

Acts of Kindness

Let's face facts, we are raising our children in a unkind world. A world where being rude is the new normal and folks have forgotten about random acts of kindness that can brighten up a person's day. I got my girls to write down 10 acts of kindness that they could do throughout the month to make someones day brighter. So far we have given a card to a stranger. Help a neighbor carry her groceries into her home, and held the door open for an elderly couple. 

Arts and Crafts Projects for homeschooling fun

I was just about to throw out some magazines when I saw this picture on tumblr. what a great way to recycle and make a great piece of artwork. Create an outline of whatever you want to make. Then cut your magazine pages into thin strips and glue inside the boundaries.

Don't throw away those left over drink containers. Use them as a neat and drip free way to paint and then throw them away 

Teaching your child to cut and turn at the same time is sometimes a tricky skill. Using stickers can help. Place stickers on circular sharpe and instruct your child to cut through each sticker when cutting. This will teach them to turn and cut. 

I found this worksheet online and we used it as a art project after we read the Hungry Caterpillar. 

Homeschool fun while building English Language skills

Beginning Spelling: use your bananagrams or Scrabble tiles to let your kids practice building words 

Learning To Read: These highlight sticks helps your child stay on track with the words they are reading. These are also excellent tools for those who struggle with dyslexia. Very easy to assemble using only a popsicle stick and a file folder tab. 

Story Blocks with Legos: Creating stories out of sight words and spelling words that your kids can already read or sound out is a great foundational writing skill. Using legos and some simple white stickers is a very cheap and effective way to achieve this. Consider putting opposites on the same blocks (i.e. like love and hate or big and small) and for others put complimentary words (i.e. his and her) so that sentences can be made easily by switching around a block. use longer blocks for introducing new and more challenging words.

Spelling with Legos: A great to practice spelling and a great help for those who are visual learners

Letter recognition: this can also be a great on going art project idea. Draw a letter on a piece of paper or cardboard and place a stack of old magazines , sale papers or newspapers and have your child look for that particular letter . cut it out and glue it on the letter until it is completely covered.

Still have those plastic eggs laying around your house from Easter? Use them to practice with word families. 

Making Math fun while homeschooling

Most kids shy away from math but there are ways to make math fun while homeschooling.

Styrofoam cups can be a great math manipulative and are very inexpensive. They can be used to understand place value, practice counting forward and backward, learn the names of large numbers, greater than vs lesser than and decomposed numbers to expanded form. 

Most parents who homeschool don't like for their kids to using their fingers to count. As for me , I don't mind if they do. and here is a simple trick that I found online to use your fingers when doing the 9x tables, I wished I knew about this when I was a child 

Human Anatomy Projects that made homeschooling fun

Edible DNA, made from twizzlers, colorful marshmallows and toothpicks. this is a fun project that can also be a snack time treat in teaching about DNA . The kiddos enjoyed building DNA MODELS and at the end they had a tasty treat 

Fat Test: This experiment got a lot of reaction from the kiddos. we got a stack of brown lunch sacks and a collection of snack foods. We drew a circle using a saucer on each bag. We started by placing a measured portion of food on the circle of the brown paper bag. The kiddos then made predictions about what they think will happen when the food is left on the bag overnight. The next morning we figured out how much fat was in each snack food based on the grease stain left on the paper bag. 

Watch Your Pluse: insert a toothpick into a marshmallow and watch your heartbeat 

Make a cell model: Great idea for tactile and visual leaners. Very easy to do with things already found in your home. 

       

My Toddler Is A Picky Eater

My toddler use to have a wonderful appetite, he would eat foods with no problem but lately he has become the world's biggest picky eater. I tried everything from letting him feed himself finger foods to even feeding him off my plate to ensure that he would eat. But it was like he was on a food strike. No matter what I need I couldn't get this child of mines to eat when we sat down to eat. I am also not a fan of throwing away food but that is what I had been doing lately with him. He would sit at the table but would just play around with the food. So I did some research online and found out that other parents had the same problem I was having and their was a common solution to this: A simple snack tray to where they can graze on it through  the day.  So that was the answer to my problem. I must say it works. I just left the tray on the coffee table filled with healthy snacks and he would play and do his thing and when he got hungry he would jus go to his snack tray and eat. I still sat him down to eat breakfast lunch and dinner with us throughout the day but I didn't have a panic attack if he just played with the food, cause I knew he had been grazing from his snack tray all day. 

Lunch Box Fun

Most folks think that because my children are homeschool, that I don't really fuss about lunch boxes and packing lunches. Well that is true to an extent. My children are homeschool, and on occasions, I do have to pack a lunch or a snack. I pack a light lunch or snack when we go to the park, children's museum, zoo, ballet classes, summer camp or vacation bible school. As a single parent I try my best to save money and bringing our lunches or a snack with us to the zoo , children's museum or the park is a wonderful option for us. We will sit in the little picnic area and eat our lunch and enjoy each other company.  These lunch boxes are perfect for my children and I can assure that they have a healthy well balance lunch or snack while we are out and about without being tempted to stop and get some fast food.

Now I like to get creative with our food and make things fun. I want my children to remember eating fruit cut into shapes and having their sandwiches not cut in triangles but in planes and trains. How do i accomplish this??? I use large size cookie cutters. I was buying sandwich cutters but I found those to be a waste of money and the large stainless steel cutters work better. So I suggest investing in plenty of those. Also remember it is easier to cut your bread, then your meat, etc ; separately, That is a lot easier and you get cleaner cuts versus trying to cut a already build sandwich. 

I also brought what is called fondant cutters , they are just simply really small cookie cutter type things that bakers used to cut shapes into fondant. I use them to cut shapes into fruit, I have even used them on cheese slices sometimes instead of the regular cookie cutters. 

I don't know about you but I enjoy seeing the looks on my kids faces when they see how creative I got with their lunches. I just don't do this when I have to pack a lunch or a snack , but I do it when we are at the house as well. Somedays I don't have the time do extra special lunches so , on days when I take the time to cut up everything in cute little shapes, the looks on their faces is priceless. 

How much food I put inside depend on the activity , and rather I was packing a lunch or a snack. During the summer my kids went to a summer camp that required me to pack them a lunch for the 4 hours they were there, so I packed a well balance healthy lunch for them with the occasional treat. When they went to vacation bible school which was 2 hours long; it was required that they have a snack sent with them, so I filled their lunch boxes with healthy snack options.