An Advent Calendar for Kids PLUS Activities

Rachel Peachey
November 23, 2016
Blog / Crafting

One of my parenting goals this year is to teach my oldest about advent. What better way than through an advent calendar for kids plus daily activities? The combination of reading a bible verse and doing some fun holiday activities such as making decorations, baking cookies and setting up the nativity scene not only teaches about the meaning of Christmas, but will also bring us closer together as a family.

Make Your Own Advent Calendar for Kids

We had lots of fun making the advent calendar together. The basic idea of this calendar is that each day we’ll break open one of the numbers. This is very appealing to Peanut…he can’t wait to punch through the paper to see what’s inside! I also find it quite tempting, I must admit. Inside are 2 slips of paper, one is a Bible verse and one is an advent activity, and a small piece of candy for each of my kids.

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How to Stop Hitting, Biting, Kicking and Throwing: Practical Techniques for Teaching Little Ones How to Handle BIG Feelings

Rachel Peachey
November 17, 2016
Blog

First of all, relax. If you want to know how to stop hitting, biting, kicking, etc. you’re on the right track.

Second of all, it’s highly likely your precious little one WILL stop hitting, biting, kicking and throwing soon. As a very wise school counselor once pointed out to me, “How many adults do you know that hit and bite?” So, yes, there will be an end to this.

Third, know you’re not alone. All experts seem to agree that hitting and biting are common in young children. Although it can be tiring and frustrating to deal with, it is relatively normal.

But…there’s always a but…

What will also happen is that your child will learn other coping mechanisms for dealing with big feelings. One big factor that will help your child leave these behaviors behind is improvement in their ability to communicate. Language is often a point of frustration for little ones who can’t say what they feel or what they want. As language skills improve, so does behavior.

It’s also likely that your child will adopt a coping mechanism learned from you or other influential adults in their life. Some common coping mechanisms for big feelings such as anger, fear and frustration include:

Bottling it up (which can often result in a tummy-ache, stress, headaches, etc.)
Aggressive behaviors such as yelling
Positive outlets for feelings such as taking deep breathes, exercising, etc.

I think most people would opt for teaching their child positive outlets for anger, fear and frustration, but maybe you’re not sure how to do this. Luckily, teaching these techniques goes hand in hand with eliminating hitting, biting, kicking and throwing things.

Now, let’s discuss those techniques for teaching your little one how to stop hitting and handle strong feelings:

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I’m an Author! Montessori At Home Guide: Self-Care For 2-6 Year Olds

Rachel Peachey
November 15, 2016
Blog / Writing

The book’s been out for awhile, but I’ve finally gotten around to sharing it here! Sterling Productions approached me to write this ebook on self-care for 2-6-year olds and I was thrilled to accept the opportunity.

This is a short, basic guide to help parents show their children the way in learning self-care. Through self-care, independence is encouraged and children learn to take care of many basic tasks on their own. The lessons cover everything from hygiene and dressing to eating, safety and manners. The book is structured in a user-friendly way so that you can pinpoint exactly what you’re looking to teach and find some creative, helpful, Montessori inspired ideas for working with your little one.

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How to Follow Your Child, Even When It’s Tough: Montessori Parenting Techniques

Rachel Peachey
November 10, 2016
Blog / Education

Children always show adults what they need. Their natural curiosity and interests lead them to engage in activities that help them learn and grow. Even in misbehavior and acting out, children communicate what they need. It is our job as parents to observe, analyze and follow our children to meet their needs and help them grow.

Montessori on Following the Child

Many parents would love to better understand their children. Following the child is a great way to do this. However, this pillar of Montessori education is often misinterpreted. People think the child is in charge and allowed to do whatever they want. It’s a bit more complex. Let’s take a look.

Montessori said:

Respect all the reasonable forms of activity in which the child engages and try to understand them.

Take baby girl for example. She’s 14 months old and likes to go to the bathroom with me. I allow her to so that she gets used to the idea, and she always tries to put her hands in the toilet. Rather than scolding her, I try to understand her. This is a way to follow her. I search for meaning in her actions. She’s clearly interested in learning about water and the sensory experience it gives her. So, without allowing her to play in the toilet, I offer her an opportunity to play with water outside the bathroom. I set a limit and offer an alternative to fulfill her needs.

Simple enough…but what about those more difficult behaviors?

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Thanksgiving Stencil Painting – A Sensorial Activity {Free Printable}

Rachel Peachey
November 7, 2016
Crafting

Paint + homemade paintbrushes + stencils + 2 kids = FUN! and some lovely Thanksgiving stencil painting art!

Because painting is so much fun, I decided to focus our Thanksgiving craft on using some simple stencils. I drew some simple designs, a pumpkin, two leaf shapes and a turkey of course. So, ready to have fun? Here’s how you can repeat this Thanksgiving stencil painting activity with your own little ones.

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Top 5 Thanksgiving Crafts to Do with Your Kids

Rachel Peachey
November 4, 2016
Crafting / Education

Crafting and food are the two most essential pieces of holidays for me. Without crafts and decorations, I can’t quite get in the mood. And food, well, I think that goes without saying! Since our family lives in Guatemala, I have to double up the Thanksgiving celebrations and crafting efforts because I’m the only one who celebrates it! So each year I push forward, make a big meal, do Thanksgiving crafts and decorate to spread the festive feeling to our extended family.

I’ve scoured the internet and Pinterest for some new Thanksgiving crafts to add this year. Since Peanut is 3 now, he’s getting pretty handy with crafts and seems to enjoy them quite a bit! The challenge is now to keep my 1-year-old baby girl from destroying everything. She’s getting quite handy with scribbling now, so hopefully the new crayons we bought will keep her busy.

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Tips for using descriptive praise

If I Shouldn’t Say “Good Job”, What Should I Say?

Rachel Peachey
November 2, 2016
Blog / Education

Our children want to show us everything they can do, from doing a crazy jump off the curb to tracing their letters, getting an “A” at school, completing a beautiful drawing and more. They want to be seen. And we want them to feel great! Unfortunately, too often, we get stuck in a rut of saying “good job!” which sounds great in the moment but can create problems if you use this popular phrase too often.

Saying “good job!” is a form of evaluative praise, which means children’s actions are judged as good or bad. This can be damaging to your children and even result in narcissism!

But, most people are so used to saying “good job!” or a similar form of extra positive “woohoo!” response to their kids that you may start to wonder…what should I say? Don’t worry, helpful answers are on the way.

The alternative to evaluative praise like “good job” is descriptive praise (learn more about it here!). The short version is that descriptive praise, well “describes” what your child has done rather than evaluating the action. This means when you’re 4-year-old says “Look at me! I can jump up to the sky!” you say “You’re right, you are jumping so high!” instead of “good job!”.

Yes, it’s hard to get in the habit of using it. After all, most of us grew up with parents, teachers and other family members who enjoyed praising our every move. For others, it’s the opposite. Maybe there was a lot of negativity growing up and now you’re making the effort to be extra positive with your kids, but don’t want to go overboard. The thing is, old habits are hard to break. So, I’ve come up with some guidelines for using descriptive praise and a list of alternatives to “good job” so that you’re no longer fumbling for what to say.

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A Dinosaur Quiet Book for Peanut

Rachel Peachey
November 1, 2016
Crafting

Peanut has a ~~small~~ BIG obsession with dinosaurs. We have lots of little model dinosaurs around the house as well as some skeleton models we’ve put together. Don’t even get me started on the number of dinosaur books we have. It’s an impressive collection for a 3-year-old.

So, when thinking about creating a quiet book for Peanut, the obvious theme was dinosaurs. Roar! I hope you enjoy seeing what I came up with! It was a lot of fun, and took FOREVER to finish. I started the book just before my daughter was born and didn’t finish it until much after…like at least 6 months later.

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Why “Good Job!” Doesn’t Cut It: A Montessori Perspective On Praise

Rachel Peachey
October 28, 2016
Blog / Education

First of all, who doesn’t say “good job!” to their kids? It’s a catch-all sort of praise that you can easily blurt out while you’re also skimming the news, chopping vegetables or peeking out of the bathroom to watch your child do some sort of jumpy twirly move that he’s obviously very proud of. Yet, praise can do so much more than prove that you’re watching what your child does. How?

Use Descriptive Praise

Rather than evaluating our children and defining their whole worth around one task or action, why not describe the positive behavior and encourage them? This is called descriptive praise.

A comparison of evaluative and descriptive praise helps clarify:

Evaluative Praise	Descriptive Praise
“Good boy!”	“Thank you for helping me. We finished cleaning quickly between the two of us.”
“What a fantastic drawing!”	“You worked very hard on that drawing. I like the colors you picked.”
“Good job!”	“Wow, I didn’t know you could hop on one foot. That takes a lot of balance!”

In the left hand column, evaluative praise is used. Here, you can see how the words determine whether the child has done something “good” or “bad.” There is judgement in these phrases. Especially with “good girl!” and “good boy!”, the child as a whole is evaluated for one single action.

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Story Retelling with Clifford {FREE PRINTABLE}

Rachel Peachey
October 26, 2016
Education

The Clifford books have got to be some of my favorite children’s books out there. Luckily, my son is also a fan. Norman Bridwell nailed it with the big red dog, his antics and constant efforts to do the right thing with a side of “oops!” These are great stories. If you haven’t read them with your child yet, I recommend you head to the library and check out a few. Then, you’ll be ready for story retelling with Clifford!

Story Retelling with Clifford

Because we enjoy so many Clifford stories at our house, it seemed like the perfect choice for story retelling work. This time, rather than paging through one of our Clifford books to retell the story like Peanut did with Swimmy, we made (drumroll)…..puppets!

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