A Blog By Maria Dismondy
Supporting Your Mental Health as a Parent
You wake up in the morning, and your first thought is something along the lines of, “I need to get up and move in order to get the kids up so they’re on time for school,” “I have to pack them lunches and snacks,” or, “I need to make them breakfast.” During the day,...
What if you could fill your child’s attention bucket in just 10 minutes?
The thing I hear most from parents is, “I feel like I’m not connecting with my kids. They don’t listen or cooperate. We’re stuck engaging in power struggles and I feel terrible about our interactions, especially after I yell and lose my cool.” The truth about...
Beyond the Read Aloud–How to Get Your Child Engaged in Reading
Have you ever found yourself opening up a brand new book and ready to read, only to get through about twenty pages of the story when you realize that the whole time, your mind has been elsewhere? I experience this rather frequently. Though I read the words on the...
Four Ways to Make Reading With Kids More Interactive
I miss reading picture books with my kids! They’re both teenagers now and prefer reading on their own. Which of course, was always the goal. The great thing about reading with young kids is that it’s so interactive. There’s more to it than just the story. You create a...
Creating inclusive bookshelves: why diversity matters
“She looks like me!” exclaimed 6 year old Anisha excitedly, on first seeing the character Rocket in Rocket Says Look Up. “This is my favourite book now!” That is the power or representation in books. Positive Representation Every child should have the right and the...
What I’m Doing For Random Acts of Kindness Day
Have you ever been in one of those pay-it-forward car chains when you’re in the drive-thru line? It gives me quite the mix of emotions. First, there’s the delight and shock of something being taken care of for you, and then the guilty dread as you realize that you...
Word of the year 2023
It’s been 12 years since I began the practice of having a word help guide me through my year of life experiences and lessons. Each year I like to recap how it went and predict my intentions with the newly chosen word! Last year when I selected the 2022 word, Rise, I...
Fun Activities to Do as a Family on New Year’s Eve
Can you believe the end of the year is just around the corner? Sheesh! It feels like the years keep getting faster and faster. Well, don’t let the passing of time stress you out because we’re going to check out some ultra-fun activities to do as a family on New Year’s...
Who Are My Characters?
I am Melanie Adkins, and I am a Picture Book writer and illustrator wannabe! I am hoping that one day I will reach my goal and see my work in print. Today, I am here as a guest writer to think about character. It always amazes me to think of how all the characters...
All Reading is Beneficial Reading!
Now that Halloween is in the books for 2022, it’s time to start thinking about turkeys, holiday shopping, and the important contributions of Native Americans. November is Native American Heritage Month, which emphasizes celebrating diverse cultures and is a perfect...
INTENTIONAL CONNECTION WITH YOUR CHILDREN
My mom is amazing at reciting poetry, memorizing phone numbers and birth dates. She also has an amazing gift to remember stories of growing up in rural Honduras. There is one particular story she tells of going into the city riding on Macho, the mule, with her dad, my...
Connecting With Your Community As Autumn Approaches!
Ah, it’s that time of year again. One thing I have noticed about the topic of Autumn is that people either love it or can’t stand it! I can imagine Autumn is a particularly difficult transition for those that are their happiest in the Summer. There are still...
Game Time
Nothing is quite as serious at our house as game time. And while football reigns supreme in my part of the world during this crisp time of year, I’m referring to another kind of game. The board game. My family loves a good board game. Whether it be one requiring skill...
Classroom Resources for New Cardinal Rule Press Titles
Last month, I spoke with you all about the new titles that Cardinal Rule Press has released recently or will be released within the last third of the year. You might remember that I briefly mentioned that the best part about Cardinal Rule Press’s titles is that they...
Purple Hues of Heroism and Inspiration
Being a differently abled mom, I know firsthand what it is like to feel different. Right before my high school graduation in the year 2000, I was a passenger in a head-on collision, leaving me an incomplete quadriplegic. After years of physical therapy, I regained...
New Titles at Cardinal Rule Press
Ah, August, the best (worst) month of the year. The month of feeling stress and anxiety over running out of time to finish the work that must be done while September looming over your shoulder. Back-to-school season is lingering around the corner like some ghoul from...
Activities to Stop the Summer Brain Drain
I’ve spent my fair share of time in classrooms. I once spent copious amounts of time and effort learning trigonometry, studying hard in hopes of doing well. Once the class ended and summer started, however, I promptly forgot everything that I worked so hard to learn,...
Kids Can Do Big Things
What are the expectations for kids nowadays, besides attending school and getting good grades? Kids have more voices now than before when I was a child. Today children have essential roles in society. They become activists and can impact the world in different...
Five Simple At-Home Community Service Projects for Kids
With summer now being in full swing, many homes are now full of children that are bursting with energy with the new free time they have until September rolls back around. However, being out of the classroom doesn’t mean that learning doesn’t have to stop entirely– in...
Academic and Social Emotional Pandemic Gaps
Ever since March 2020, we’ve all been doing the best we can. Parents, caregivers, educators--we’ve all had to make enormous adjustments to our lives and how we support our children. With changing guidelines, ever-shifting goalposts, and the daily stresses that have...
How to Spread the Love of Reading to Kids of All Ages
Storytime is a critical foundational step for developing strong family bonds. However, this fun activity helps foster much more than healthy relationships. It helps instill lifelong skills and passions that children of all ages will carry with them well into...
Child-Directed Study—How to Encourage Education and Independence
Think back to when you were a kid. What fascinated you? What were you passionate about? How much time were you able to devote to those topics? For many of us, the act of pursuing our true interests was relegated to small pockets of time in the evening after...
