Parenting is Heart Work: Teaching Kids to Listen and Follow Directions

Parenting Is Heart Work by Dr. Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller is  wonderful new resource about parenting that my husband and I are reading.  For the next several weeks we are also hosting a home group with some video instruction.  Today I'm going to share a few thoughts from our session and hope that entices you to return to learn more.

Teaching Kids to Listen and Follow Instructions: 

*One thing we want to do is teach our kids to cooperate.  We do this by showing them how to listen and follow basic instructions.
*There are 5 steps.  In each step there is something for the child and something for the parent.
Step 1- For the parent...get close to the child---For the child...learn to come when called
Step 2- For the parent...consider the timing---For the child...always be ready to receive instruction
Step 3- For the parent...give the instruction---For the child...the child answers
Step 4- For the parent...wait expectantly---For the child...do the job as if on a mission
Step 5- For the child...report back---For the parent...inspect and release

Questions-
*Which one of the 5 skills do you need to work on first with your child?
*Which of the 5 skills would you like to see improved in you, as a parent?

From the book-
"God is interested in hearts because that's where real and lasting change takes place."
"When you see a behavior problem, ask 'What's the heart issue?'"

Next time: Reaching Deep into a Child's Heart (come back in 2 weeks)

Brightly Beaming Resources Week #24: Dogs

The week we learned about dogs.  We don't have a dog (we have a cat and chickens) so we went out to find dogs.  We looked for them on our walks and watch as many pass by our house with their owners.  We also went to a pet store!  Before we went to the pet store we made this little My First Pet Care Riddle Book from First School. We counted 24 "dog bones" (craft sticks) and dropped them in a bucket.  We made an X-ray for X.  I cut out the white bones and he already knew they were bones!  The books we read about dogs were super cute.  Check out my list below.  Our nursery rhyme was Old Mother Hubbard.

Visiting the pet store

24 "dog bones"

We dropped the "dog bones" in a bucket.  Take aim!

X is for X-ray

Cute dog puppet- Shrade did all the gluing!

Our lesson about dogs comes from Brightly Beaming Resources.
Art project for letter X- No Time for Flashcards.
Our dog puppet project came from Enchanted Learning.

Books we read:








We also watched a few cute videos:
*Angus Lost- non verbal real life retelling of the book
*Bark, George

Change the World; Pray for Your Sons - May 1-21

For those of you who have read my blog know that I am passionate about raising my son to serve God and I'm passionate about praying for him. I have prayed with Warrior Prayer Challenge two times and we are going to have another challenge May 1-21, 2012. I HIGHLY encourage you with sons to take those 21 days to PRAY fervently with me and the rest of the MOB Society for our sons. There is no better way to raise our sons than to be on our knees in honest prayer. The Warrior Prayers ebook is the best resource I have found because Brooke (the author) has chosen 21 areas to pray for our sons and created 10 prayers for each area using Bible verses. You actually pray Bible verses and insert your son's name. Powerful!!!

Also, be sure to SIGN UP to pray for May 1-21.  See details here: 21 Days for Sons

Get your Warrior Prayers ebook today!

Free and Fun Friday: Tacoma Nature Center

Yesterday, it was a dreary day, so I decided to take the kids to one of the park centers called Tacoma Nature Center. They have indoor and outdoor learning areas.  We spent all of our time indoors over in the play area where they had books, puzzles, puppets and  huge log with places to peek out of.  Shrade had a lot of fun especially when a few other kids showed up.  They also have a nature preschool, alphabet days and summer camps that I want to look into.

Do you have a nature center in your area?  Send me the link.  I like to look at where you like hang out!

What's on our Bookshelf? Dog's Colorful Day by Emma Dodd

Dog's Colorful Day: A Messy Story About Colors and Counting by Emma Dodd is about the cutest dog book ever!  This little white dog goes on a walk and gets colorful spots from red jam, blue paint, a green grass stain and much more.  Each time adds one more spot until there are 10 spots.  At the end he gets all washed off.  This book has big and colorful pictures that engage a child through the whole story.  There are so many learning points too with colors and counting.  Hmm, I just might have Shrade make his own book someday!  I recommend you check this one out from your library today.

Brightly Beaming Resources Week #23: Snow

With this beautiful spring weather we are having it is hard to talk about snow, but we did and it was fun to reminisce about the fun winter we had with snow.  Since Shrade already experienced it, we pretended to build a snowman and throw snowballs at each other while listening to a song about snow.  Look at what else we did and made.

Also, our Nursery Rhyme was Little Miss Muffet.  Stay tuned to my blog for some Phonemic Awareness activities with nursery rhymes!

Hexagon

Making a Hexagon with pens

Learning Letter W

W is for Winter

We use No Time for Flashcards uppercase alphabet craft ideas.

Also, I was a K teacher for many years and I went up into the attic and found this great teaching tool that I'm going to start using.  It's a flipchart with song, sung to familiar tunes, for each letter of the alphabet.  It's called: ABC Sing-Along Flip Chart & CD: 26 Delightful Songs Set to Your Favorite Tunes That Build Phonemic Awareness & Teach Each Letter of the Alphabet

Our song for this week: Sung to the tune of Mary Had a Little Lamb

Willy would not wear a hat, wear a hat, wear a hat

Willy would not wear a hat, it made his hair too flat.

We talked about rhyming words, and even made up some other articles of clothing in place of hat.  Ta-da!  Phonemic Awareness!

Snowball Fight: Studying #23

We counted and threw 23 "snowballs"

We had a blast!

Our snowman craft came from Busy Bee Crafts.  Love this site!

I use Brightly Beaming Resources as my base, but I add many of my own ideas as well.

January Snow- Shrade's first snowman with daddy's help

Books we read: