• Home
    • Beauty
    • Kiddos
    • Lifestyle
    • Fashion
  • About
  • Contact
  • Home
    • Beauty
    • Kiddos
    • Lifestyle
    • Fashion
  • About
  • Contact
LIFE OF A BOY-MOM

Kiddos

Mom-Ing Mondays: E-Learning Tricks

8/31/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
I have two kids that are doing pre-k virtually until who knows when. I’m grateful for the schedule, teachers and plan--but it is TOUGH getting these kids going in the morning when we don’t have to physically leave the house.

It has been an interesting week and a half of e-learning and I’ve been trying a few things that I’m finding helpful so far in getting the boys to cooperate (for the most part!) It is difficult to have kids sit on zoom calls for such a long time. We luckily only have about two hours being pre-K and a lot of built-in breaks come with that! Still, getting the boys ready and dressed and moving along in the morning has been tricky and with the help of our OT’s we have developed some visuals to help out!

These might be helpful for your younger kiddos too, so feel free to recreate or use any of the  visual tools! I will link the GoogleDocs to this post so that you can save a copy and print or adjust it to make it your own!
Picture

Visual Daily Schedule

Kids thrive on structure even though they seem resistant to it at first! We have found that showing the boys what to expect really helps get them moving and cooperate. We put some pictures along with the words so that they can understand what they need to do at each step. This is especially helpful for a morning routine when we need to be ready by a certain time! Also, set a timer on your Alexa, put a visual countdown timer on your phone or computer so that they know when the transition is coming!

Come up with your own daily schedule or follow ours!
Daily Schedule

Picture
Picture
Picture

Break Time Activities

Whatever your student’s age, they are going to need a break and need to get away from screens during this time of e-learning! With Pre-K and I’m sure with the majority of elementary school classes, we get built in music and dance breaks, but I think even before and after school the kids will need some movement also to really get them reset and ready to transition to the next activity! Even just looking at some fun books on their own might be a welcomed activity!

We’ve been doing some music and dancing prior to class starting (when we’re not running late) and making sure we play outside (while it's still nice out) to really get them moving and some fresh air! Making sure kids get some time to themselves and away from technology during this e-learning time is going to be super important in the grand scheme of development so break out the dance parties, fun books, art supplies, Playdoh and get outside while you can!
Picture

"I am Working For..." Chart

Each of the boys have a chart where they earn a train or PJ Masks picture to put in each of the four empty spaces. Each space represents a different part of our morning: 

1) get dressed & ready for school 
2) School Segment 1
3) School Segment 2 (usually includes independent work)
4) School Segment 3 (game or specials usually in this part)


If the boys each complete their tasks, they get to put a picture in a square and if all four spaces are filled, they earn the reward they are working for! For us, it has been watching a couple short YouTube videos streamed on the tv or watching an episode of PJ Masks after school is over! But I’m sure it will change into other forms of rewards once the lustre of that wears off!

Use our chart, or replace the pictures, adjust the number of sections to fit your child’s specific needs and interests!

"I am working for..." Chart


I hope you’ve found these two ideas helpful! Are there any tricks you’ve learned in your e-learning experience so far? Share them in the comments!

Good luck to all that are navigating this, teacher, parent or babysitter! We got this!
0 Comments

Mom-ing Mondays: Scheduling the Week

8/24/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
As with most families, we are constantly trying to figure out how to best integrate parent & kid schedules to make it easiest on everyone. Todd came to me with an idea a while back about planning out every hour of the day--including meals, chores or weekly tasks we wanted to accomplish. That way, we could take a look at where everyone would (or should) be for the day, I would know when I could get a break or get a work out in, etc.
​

We actually planned out most of the past few weeks to some degree, but when things got hectic or we got lazy and forgot, we felt it! It feels good to know the plan, especially for kids! It seems daunting when you think about it at first, but once you get a feel for things and even establish some regular items in your daily routine, it really isn’t bad. So here is how we are continuing to try to Schedule the Week:
Picture
Picture
GET A PLANNER
I found a cheap one on Amazon to make sure that I would really commit to using this strategy before investing in a more expensive and fancy planner that I’m used to! (I’m a huge fan of Erin Condren Teacher Planners and Life Planners!) But this one does the job at a fraction of the cost and just gives me incentive to invest in a nicer one next year!

GET MULTICOLORED PENS
I’ve always been a color-coding type when it comes to planning and organizing. I pick one color for each of us (me = pink, Todd = orange, kids = blue) and other colors for meal plans or whole-family events. My favorite ones to use in planners are the PaperMate Flair pens--they come in so many colors and don't usually bleed through paper!
Picture
PLAN THE WHOLE WEEK
Todd and I try to make time each Sunday night to look at the entire week. We do end up adjusting things here and there as new plans arise or different work tasks for him, but for the most part we are able to outline the week all at once and have a good feel for what is ahead! I put each item at the time it begins and drag and arrow down to the time it will be over to give myself a visual to block off that time.

MEAL PLAN -- AVOID DECISION FATIGUE
This one is tough, especially when I never know what I want to eat even until the very moment we are eating, but at least for the kids, we have been planning out the daily meals. We stick to the same items for breakfast and lunch for the most part, but for dinners, it is one less thing to decide or figure out at the end of the day! This has also been helpful in our weekly grocery shopping by figuring out what we will need ahead of time instead of a bunch of random trips (which we have been avoiding doing during the pandemic especially!)

WEEKLY TASKS
Plan in a few tasks that you want to accomplish around the house. Our chores get done pretty sporadically these days--essentially whenever I have a moment, feel the urge to clean or have our babysitter here helping with the boys. But writing down a few tasks that Todd and I can accomplish between the two of us has helped. I of course also write down when I plan to work out, write a blog or Instagram post, or have any work to do with Young Living.

DO YOUR BEST--DON'T STRESS!
As with anything, this is something to get used to and get in the habit of. We did really well with it the first week, not so well the next week, and so on. Now with school back in session and e-learning to manage, I wanted to really get back into the habit of trying this out. I’m never going to get down on myself if something doesn’t get accomplished or if we get lazy and slack off on planning a week here and there, but I am going to try to make this a habit and something that makes life easier!
0 Comments

Mom-ing Mondays: Whining

8/17/2020

0 Comments

 
Picture
It is a myth that raising boys allows you to avoid whining.

 I was told “oh you’ll have to deal with rough-housing and wrestling, but at least you won’t have constant whining!”

Wrong. So wrong.

The whining is never-ending around here. And it is whining about everything you could think of! Wanting certain toys, hunger or thirst, not getting their way...the list goes on.

I was listening to a podcast episode about whining on “what Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood” and Amy mentioned a study that was done that showed whining as being the worst distraction for adults trying to complete a set of math problems—worse than a baby crying or even the screeching of a table saw! That is some power that these kids hold!

It has seemingly been worse the more that we’ve been stuck at home and constantly around each other through the pandemic! I find myself losing it right away before breakfast is even on the table.

So here are a few ideas that I got from the podcast and through others advice that I’m going to try implementing:

  • Acknowledge Feelings (but don’t necessarily validate them): say “I know you’re frustrated that it isn’t your turn for that toy”. However, don’t coddle or make the whining ok. Just explain that you hear them.
 
  • Don’t Yell “Stop Whining”--(it accomplishes nothing): While it feels really good for the few seconds it takes to yell, usually this only fuels the fire. I need to try to stop letting my own frustration get the better of me and go to the other options of responding listed here.
 
  • Positive Reinforcement: recognize when they don’t whine and say “I love how you just asked me in your own, strong voice!”

As frustrating as listening to the sound of whining is, I am really going to try to focus on doing these three things. I’ll keep you posted each week on how my efforts fared!

Do you have any tips on dealing with whiny kids? Share them in the comments!
0 Comments

    Archives

    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.