Stories are so important. The author gets to express themselves, and the readers can feel seen! One fantastic thing about storytelling is that there’s a story for everyone. There are so many stories out there, and they all celebrate different things. You can find...
In a rapidly changing world, empowering children with strong character traits is crucial. Character development goes hand in hand with academic success, emotional well-being, and life success. Beyond the development of literacy skills, reading has the incredible...
Summer can be a really fun time for kids and families. Filled with sun, cookouts, beach days, and movie nights, it can be a much needed break from all the stress that the school year can bring. However, summer is also a really important time for continuing a child’s...
Summer is the time to be outside and enjoy the beautiful sunshine. That is until stormy days roll in and keep everyone cooped up inside. I like a rainy day once in a while. The noise is soothing while I sit on the couch and read a book or watch a movie. However, it...
When you read your books, what kind of annotations do you do? Are you the kind of person that likes putting in tabs and sticky notes with all of your thoughts for you to find at a moment’s notice? Or are you maybe someone who writes down everything directly on the...
Tips for Families Living in an RV and Traveling the United States Our family is about to embark on an exciting (and somewhat scary) adventure! My husband, twin girls (Kenna & Layla), two mini Goldendoodles (Riley & Lucy) and I will be moving into a fifth wheel...
The sun is shining and kids are getting out of school to enjoy a well-deserved break filled with fun and joy. Some of my favorite memories from my childhood were made during the summer. Whether it was spending all day at the beach or riding my bike everywhere with my...
When you’re looking for new books to read, how do you search for them? Do you talk with your friends and ask them what their favorites are and what they’re currently reading? Do you find influencers you trust and have similar tastes to yours and see what they...
When you were a child, what did you want to be? I’ve heard the most common answers were things like astronauts, actors, artists, and the like. For me, I was part of a group of friends who were afflicted by the 2000s Disney-induced craze of people who wanted to be...
As parents, caregivers, and teachers, we try to encourage kids to take creative risks and understand that mistakes are a good thing. We called mistakes “growth spurts” in my classroom because we grow from them. I announced to my students on the first day of school...
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,...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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,...