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Camp YouTube: 3 Amazing Fine Arts Videos

July 27, 2017 These days, many schools have to cut budgets to the bone and, sadly, the arts are usually the first programs to go. Most parents sense intuitively what studies confirm: learning about and creating art is about much more than making pretty things. Doing artwork enhances creativity, cognition, dexterity, and mental flexibility. If…

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7 Ways to Help Kids With Back-to-School Bullies

August 29, 2017 If your child hasn’t already gone back to school, they will be roaming the halls again very shortly. While this can be an exciting time, it’s often challenging, too.  While it’s true that some conflict between children is normal, don’t dismiss your child’s disagreements with classmates, or complaints about other students’ behavior….

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Celebrate Grandparents Day

September 5, 2017 Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are important occasions for many families, but this isn’t true for National Grandparents Day, a holiday that many don’t even know exists. Set on the second Sunday in September, it was first observed back in 1978, eight years after West Virginia housewife Marian McQuade lobbied Senators Jennings Randolph…

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The Wonders that Wait a Step Outside Your Comfort Zone

September 4, 2017 While traveling during our vacation, we stumbled upon one of the most amazing parks our family has ever seen. Adventure Playground is a throw back to a time when kids could run wild and parents seemed to worry less. The playground is filled with wood scraps, plywood, interesting construction materials, and more….

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The World Has Changed—Why Hasn’t Math Education?

September 19, 2017 This year in school, my son will have timed multiplication tests. They won’t be a problem for him, but not for the reasons you might think. While he’s never bothered to memorize the times tables, he can calculate the answer to the questions fast enough to stay with the rest of the…

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How to Use Myers-Briggs in Parenting

October 23, 2017 The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), popularly known as Myers-Briggs test, has nothing directly to do with family or parenting. Still, I have found that learning about MBTI specifically—and personalities in general—has become a major tool in my parenting arsenal. I have used MBTI  to understand my kids, and to develop a common…

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Holiday Gift and Stocking Stuffer Ideas for Teens

November 29, 2017 Looking for the perfect holiday gift for your favorite teen? From trendy tech gadgets to gifts that will make high school life a little easier, we picked out fifteen amazing gifts and stocking stuffers that are bound to please even the pickiest teen. key2Bme makes for the perfect teen stocking stuffer. These…

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Thanksgiving Ideals Versus Holiday Consumerism

November 19, 2017 Thanksgiving is barely here and stores are already pushing holiday buying. It strikes me that the point of Thanksgiving—the gratitude and generosity—get lost in the shuffle. Parents who take time out to emphasize these important values face the overwhelming tsunami of consumerism that immediately follows. How can we take the beautiful sentiment…

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Helping Kids Overcome Learning Barriers

January 10, 2018 During parent conferences for my middle-schooler, I had an enlightening experience. My daughter’s Spanish Lit teacher made a joke in Spanish about how our families often run into each other out and about. My daughter laughed and answered in kind. Her teacher turned to me with wide eyes and a grin. “That’s the…

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4 Simple Ways For Children to Organize Their Clothes

February 6, 2018 As parents, one of our goals should be to give our children the skills they need to be independent, successful adults. A skill they will need when they move out of the house is the ability to care for their possessions and keep them organized. Organizing and taking care of clothing doesn’t have…

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Winter Olympics 2018: Get Your Children Involved

February 5, 2018 The Olympics are almost here, which at our house means a party with all sorts of thematic fun. Every two years, our family takes advantage of the pomp and circumstance that invites the whole world to pay attention. The Olympics are a great opportunity to learn about other countries, support your country,…

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Bloom’s Taxonomy: A Parent’s Guide to Higher-Level Thinking Skills

March 7, 2018 In the world of education, there is an ever-evolving concept called Bloom’s Taxonomy. This concept addresses the increasing level of cognitive thought and understanding needed in students as they move through education. Bloom’s breaks the progression of concept development into six levels of objectives: Remember Understand Apply Analyze Evaluate Create (formally called…

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Why Are We Sending Them Away? Thoughts on Preschool and TK

March 29, 2018 I sadly learned that a local preschool closed this week. This particular school had wonderfully creative learning activities that students looked back fondly on for years to come. Unfortunately, too many of the students are now heading off to a Transitional Kindergarten (TK) instead and the lack of enrollment caused them to…

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Tips to Help Your Teen Driver Navigate the Roads Safely and Soundly

April 11, 2018 According to a recent report by the National Safety Council, motor vehicle fatalities are up 6% from 2015. And when it comes to teens in the United States, motor vehicle crashes stand as the leading cause of death. How can we improve the safety of our youngest drivers? Here are some tips to…

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Tales from the Trenches: 4 Tips For Raising an Introvert

April 16, 2018 It never ceases to amaze me that my kids turned out so different as far as their personalities. Raising them and learning who they are as individuals has taught me a lot about parenting, not to mention, people in general. My oldest is an extreme introvert. That’s not any sort of test…

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More Tales from the Trenches: 4 Lessons I’ve Learned Raising an Extrovert

April 25, 2018 As I mentioned in 4 Tips To Raising an Introvert, I cannot believe how different my kids are. Raising them has been a Masterclass in understanding people and working with their individual needs. My daughter would be happy in a cave with wifi and a stocked refrigerator, but my son feeds off…

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4 Skills Your Child Needs To Know Before Entering Kindergarten

July 11, 2018 Is your child ready for kindergarten this fall? “While most kindergartens don’t exactly have GPA requirements, for a child to succeed there are a few milestones that should be reached before they toddle through the door,” says Alise McGregor, founder of Little Newtons, an early education center with locations in Minnesota and Illinois….

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Help Your Child Understand and Recognize Sexual Harassment

July 10, 2018 With the influx of the #MeToo movement, this is a good time to talk to your children about the meaning of sexual harassment, boundaries, and ramifications of this behavior. While it appears sexual harassment is happening more frequently in the news and with celebrities, it’s more that the issue is just being…

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Preparing Kids for College in 2018

August 15, 2018 It’s already that time of year again! Presumably, if your child is going away to college, the preparations are already well underway. It can be an overwhelming and emotional time for the whole family but it can also be a great opportunity for transitions and growth. You’ve probably got everything under control…

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5 Tips for Getting Stains Out of Your Kid’s Clothes

August 13, 2018 It’s almost school time again and thoughts have turned to school clothes and getting the kids ready for another year of education. Each year, we go through the kid’s clothes from last year to see what items fit and those they’ve outgrown. We also make sure to look for tears, stains and…

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6 Ways To Encourage Your Teen to Put Down the SmartPhone and Pick Up a Book

October 23, 2018 When was the last time you saw your teen fall into a good book? A recent study published by the American Psychological Association revealed a sad literary fact: 1 in 3 U.S. high school seniors did not read a book for pleasure in 2016. Yet in the same time period, 82 percent of 12th-graders…

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6 Activities for Children Who Don’t Like Sports

October 9, 2018 I remember the moment I realized one of my children was not into sports. Being a naturally athletic person myself (before giving birth to four little people of course), having a child that wouldn’t like sports never even crossed my radar. So when my daughter told me she wanted to quit the…

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6 Easy, Cheap, Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas

October 8, 2018 It happens to everyone at least once in a lifetime: Halloween is here and the costume department is bare. Instead of over-spending money and time searching high and low for an original costume, here are six easy costumes that you can put together in minutes with items available at your local dollar…

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Seven Must-Read Children’s Books On Inspiring Women for International Women’s Day (March 8)

February 25, 2020 International Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8 every year. It is a day to celebrate womanhood and the movement for women’s rights. Take a moment this International Women’s Day to read the biography of an inspiring woman of history to your daughters … and sons. We can all learn from the…