Search Results for: blog preschool what are your expectations

Taming the Preschool Beast

Nothing unleashes a preschooler’s inner beast quite like extracting him from a fun environment without advanced warning. When my daughter was 4 years old she had an epic outburst at a children’s museum in Chicago because I failed to give her proper notification of our departure.  In doing so, I robbed her of the gradual transition I knew she needed in order to calmly exit the building. The fit she threw nearly got us thrown out of the museum. Looking back, my preschooler’s tantrum, which included tossing her shoes down a slide, was simply her way of staying true to … Continue reading →

How to Prepare Your Child for a Real Job

If you don’t want to be the family with the 20-something adult child laying on your couch, then you have to get started early with helping to prepare your kid for his or her first real job, one that can support a basic lifestyle and have an expectation of self sufficiency. Ideally, you have been giving your child or children important money lessons since they were preschoolers, but the most critical time comes when they reach the age of 13 or 14. That is when they need to know that when they become adults, they will be expected to hold … Continue reading →

Preschool Etiquette: Cleaning Up

Playing and making messes are great fun. Cleaning and picking up toys are not. It is no wonder children dislike cleaning up. They use all their energy to play and once it is time to clean up they are tired and bored. Often they are overwhelmed or do not know where to start. Sometimes they just find it plain boring. Well, we do not have to make everything interesting to lure a child to do it. Sometimes a task is boring but necessary. Sometimes you are tired and overwhelmed but still have to get a task done. Is this too … Continue reading →

Teaching Preschoolers How to Breastfeed

My jaw just about dropped. I was watching my local news in the morning and they featured this new doll called, “The Breast Milk Baby.” Yes, it is exactly what you think it is. It is a doll that breastfeeds. The website for this doll features a video that demonstrates how it works. You see this little girl holding the doll up to her chest. The little girl is wearing this cloth halter (which comes with the baby) that has two big flowers where your, well, the nipples would be. The baby actually makes a suckling noise. So what is … Continue reading →

Preschool: What Are Your Expectations?

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When thinking about preschool, think about what your expectations are. Do you want your child to be in a school environment, or do you want them to have some stimulating playtime with their peers? When making a decision to put a child into preschool, we often worry about if our child is adequately prepared for “real school”. Many children want their kids to go to a preschool so that they will know how to read by the time they are in Kindergarten, or so that they can meet some sort of undefined goal of where they “need” to be by … Continue reading →

Get Your Wiggle on at Six Flags

My preschool daughter has never been a huge Wiggles fan. What’s more, she screams like a banchee every time I try to put her on an amusement park ride. And I’m not talking about those baby roller coasters that travel on a flat track, or those crazy toddler swings that spin around with modified reckless abandon. For the past three years my child has unleashed glass shattering, ear splitting, high-pitched shrieks each time I’ve tried to place her on merry-go-round horses (the paralyzed ones that don’t move up and down), baby boats (that barely move in a pool no bigger … Continue reading →

Do Your Kids Need a Manners Makeover?

One of my preschooler’s favorite animated shorts on Playhouse Disney is called “Can You Teach My Alligator Manners?” In it a little boy is challenged with the task of teaching his pet alligator Al how to behave properly. Young viewers help Mikey to instill good manners in his scaly sidekick by answering questions, such as: What should Al do when playing on a slide at the park? A. Shove the other kids off, so he can have a turn B. Sit at the bottom of the slide to prevent anyone else from going down C. Take turns My daughter loves … Continue reading →

And You Thought Your Kid Was Smart

Most parents are constantly trying to educate their children. They read to them, sing to them, and expose them to visually stimulating environments. In some cases it pays off and the child becomes a voracious learner always ready to take on a new challenge. Other kids, not so much. Then, there are the rare occasions when the child surpasses all expectations and reveals that she is smarter than her parents… before she is potty trained. Such is the case with Elise Tan-Roberts of Edmonton in North London. The 2-year-old girl has an IQ of 156 and is rated in the … Continue reading →

Can Your Parenting Be TOO Consistent?

We parents are told over and over again that consistency is one of the cornerstones of parenting—that it is important that we remain consistent in our discipline, our rules, our expectations and how we interact with our children. I took a parenting workshop a couple years ago, however, where the facilitator talked about how with some children and families—a dose of inconsistency can be a good thing. The facilitator said that sometimes we can get in a rut and our children know exactly how to push our buttons and just what to expect. She explained that some very strong-willed children … Continue reading →

Virtue Lessons Made Easy

  Product:  Virtue Flash Cards, Handbook, Butterfly Award, Coloring Pages, and Character Assessment Company:  We Choose Virtues Use:  To teach character development from a biblical or secular point of view. Grade Recommendation:  3rd-5th (older children can help teach and younger children will enjoy the lessons as well) Homeschool Method: Any Rating:  5 out of 5 golden apples Highlights Simple program with minimal prep and maximum results Can be used with to enhance current character or biblical lessons or as a stand alone Takes minutes a day Adaptable to large families with multi-aged children Great for Sunday school or co-ops Affordable What is … Continue reading →