Here's a thought...

When you're feeling motivated and things are going well getting household tasks and the kiddos seem to be in a groove with you. What happens when, the very next day, the kiddos are NOT in a groove, wake you up at 2 and 5 and 7...leaving you with that I've-just-been-hit-by-a-bus type feeling?! Oh, and I don't drink coffee.

Do you just throw the towel in on the days plans or do you try and pick up the pieces and get on with "regularly scheduled programming"?

Book Nook!

We love books in our house and, as a teacher/lover of books, it's important for our family to have the spaces to read!

I was doing some research for posting about setting up a classroom for reading and came across this giveaway! What PERFECT motivation for me to take pictures of our reading spaces! Of course, this puts my classroom setup post on hold! *giggle* Here is a picture of a few of our "Book Nooks"!

In Baby's Room:

The basket and oversized animal pillows are there for the Toddler, when I need to get stuff done in Baby's room. I wasn't able to capture a shot of her reading to her sister...she was having a day! ;)

In Toddler's Room:

On her bed...

Her bookcase...

Her box for the overflow and easy pick-up...

In our "orange room":

Even in the bathroom:

;)

Art.

I love art. If I were to go back to school and specialize in an area, it would be art. I dream of having my own art studio for kids, similar to thisone. Amazing. There are a few kids' studios in the area but, they're a little bit of a hike and, in my opinion...don't seem to compare! For now, we continue to have our own little explorations with materials here at home! I'm sure that I'll have many more posts of some of the different activities that we do, if there's interest! ;)

I'll leave you with a few fun books to check out! We found all of them at our library!

Growing Artists: This one is a text book so, it's super expensive to purchase. However, it gives a nice philosophy about teaching art. I think it's a great one for anyone because, it teaches you how to have open-ended projects and how to give non-judgmental praise. I think this is crucial to raising a child with no boundaries to their creativity!

first art: Another book that focuses on the PROCESS, not the end product. It has a lot of variety as far as different mediums go. Who knew that there were so many different types of paste!

What Your Preschooler Needs to Know: These books are great. However, I know that some parents can become a little obsessed/overwhelmed with everything that's covered. So, like everything else, if we practice some balance and use it for IDEAS/SUGGESTIONS...it's perfect for that. Just understand that your child is NOT going to FAIL preschool just because you haven't exposed them to EVERYTHING in the book!

The reason I wanted it in this post is because, I like that it has a few artists and their work. Then, it gives suggestions on how you can talk to your children about it. It gets them thinking/interpreting art! Several art museums have programs like this, too! Check out a museum (or museum website!) and see what resources they have for parents!

What books, websites and/or projects can you share?

Achieving Goals is not easy for many people in my life.  myself included.  

I've accomplished many goals for myself and I'm proud and blessed to be where I am today.  

I feel like the easiest way to achieve a goal is to think of what you'd like to do TODAY and figure out ONE thing that you can do to achieve that goal...TODAY.  For example, you want to apply to college but, are overwhelmed by the cost, taking classes, failing, etc.  How about signing up for 1 class (or an online class!)?  You could even try something a little less costly by signing up for a community offered class.  Like art?  Sign up for a drawing, sculpting, painting or photo class.  

What are some other suggestions?

Cluck, cluck, cluck

Sometimes I have a hard time committing to a certain way of thinking or lifestyle that I think I would want to live.  For example, I was a vegetarian from the end of my sophomore in high school to the beginning of my sophomore year in college.  Now, I did eat fish often (making me a pescevegetarian) and even went back to chicken.  I stayed away from red meat for the whole time.  So, now that I look at it, I never really WAS a true vegetarian (though many will argue otherwise...maybe to justify).  

I became a vegetarian because of a nutty woman, invited by our even nuttier Chemistry teacher, who came to visit our school.  My chemistry teacher made the comment to ultimately move me to my decision not to eat red meat or chicken for some time.  However, this woman was from PETA. Thinking back, this was a horrible way to take advantage of our impressionable and radical, teenage minds!  I remember meeting in our town annex and eating veggie dogs for the first time.  She spoke very passionately about her cause and handed out buttons, brochures, bumper stickers, etc.  Asking us young people to deface government property and get our younger siblings involved and even revolt against our parents at the dinner table!  Hilarious.

She ended up only conducting a few meetings because she was arrested a few weeks later for dressing up as a chicken and protesting at a Perdue conference of some sort.  True story.

Anyway...I just think it was a bit extreme.  Which I understand is there whole mission. What do you think about the fact that they got us involved at such a young age?

Evolution

It is important to me to be an open-minded individual.  For this reason, I know that some ideas that I post about may change over time.  Therefore, I may be inclined to repost about my new ideas when new information is brought to my attention by things that I've read or heard.  Reading and having conversations with others, is something that I do EVERY day to keep my mind going!  I'm sure all of us tend to do this.  This means that, I would hope, our ideas are going to evolve.  The world around us evolves so, how can I afford to be stuck in one way of thinking.  That is the beauty of education, my friends.  

Your thoughts?