Parenting Articles

How to Keep Little Ones Busy When You Have to Work

School is looming ahead for most of us, and for many of us it doesn’t look the same as it ever has.  The balance of working from home, leading virtual schooling or a new home school, and tending to younger children is a problem many of us have not faced on such a long-term basis before. How do we work from home, help our school aged kids with their virtual schooling, and tend to little ones who want our attention or want to be part of what’s going on?  This has typically been an issue for traditional home-schoolers, but with …

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Weekly Routines for Summer

Weekly Routines for Summer Fun

We’re on a routine run for this summer!  With the current pandemic restrictions, closures, and cancellations, we all need ideas for making the summer fun for our families.  My own family has settled into lazing around each day, so I’m inspired to implement more structure to our days. One way to do this is to assign an activity to each day of the week.  Some can be fun and some can be practical.  Either way, having a clear “Taco Tuesday” kind of label helps everyone to know what is happening that day.  It gives your kids something to look forward …

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Music and Routines

We’ve seen movies with scenes where someone is cleaning while dancing away to some energetic song, and then we feel inspired to be so carefree and fun while cleaning. Granted, movies show only the dancing, with the cleaning supplies sitting there as props, right?  But could we be inspired and motivated to action with music?   The Science Studies show that music can cause our brains to release dopamine.  While we tend to associate dopamine with pleasure, its actual function is to regulate motivation and goal oriented behavior. Basically, something that brings pleasure or fun (music) causes dopamine release.  Then …

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Morning Routines in the Summer

  During the school year, we tend to keep it all together.  Mornings can be crazy, but we usually have it down to a science, and everyone knows what’s expected. Then summer arrives – later nights, lazy mornings, less pressure.  Before we realize it, it’s lunchtime, and the kids are still in their pajamas.  Or we face the opposite, with kids who are so excited that there is no school that they will be jumping on our beds and poking us in the face at 5 am. We need routines in the summer just as much as we need them …

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Feelings

What Are You Feeling? – Active Learning

Everyone of all ages have feelings and it is important to be able to express and discuss what we are feeling in healthy ways. Talking about our feelings helps us to connect with those we care about. Being aware of our feelings and being able to discuss them can help us avoid or resolve conflicts more naturally and move through difficult feelings more effectively. Signing Time Dictionary Spend a few minutes a day reviewing the signs for feelings. Watch each video and practice the sign. Parent Resources As parents we must understand our own emotions and be comfortable with discussing …

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What's Next? My Signing Time

What’s Next After Baby Signing Time?

We often get asked what’s next after Baby Signing Time. While all of our shows can be used simultaneously there are also several different options to support your child’s sign vocabulary as well as teaching them the process of learning. Potty Time, Baby Joy Joy, and Signing Time Nursery Rhymes may be used with Baby Signing Time and/or with our preschool programs, Rachel & the TreeSchoolers and Rachel & Me. For Homeschoolers, Preschools, and Child Care Centers we also offer the Signing Time Preschool & Child Care Program that offers a complete curriculum based on the four Baby Signing Time …

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Signing Time Your Way: Integrating Signing with Homeschooling

Colleen Brunetti, M.Ed. Originally Published March 5, 2013. Updated to reflect current information. Families who homeschool their children have a wonderful opportunity to choose curriculum and activities tailored exactly to their child’s needs and interests. Let’s look at some of the ways that signing with your homeschooled child can be integrated into your day. Capitalize on your child’s learning strengths As we well know, children learn in different ways and through a variety of strengths. Sign language taps into tactile (touch), auditory, visual, and kinesthetic (movement) ways of communicating, making it highly accessible for just about any young learner. Further, …

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Teaching Children to Be Grateful

Teaching Children to Be Grateful

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Teaching children to be grateful is an abstract skill. Being Grateful, also know as Gratitude, is a warm feeling of appreciation or thankfulness towards specific items, individuals, actions, etc. Learning how to say thank you is the foundation of showing gratitude. It is also an important sign for good manners and the best place to start with teaching gratitude. You can start teaching your child to say “thank you” through American Sign Language from infancy. Start to teach the sign “Thank you” by modeling it. Whenever your child hands you something say, “Oh! Thank you!” and sign “Thank you”. You …

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How to Stop Your Child from Whining

Why do children whine? Children typically start whining as they develop verbal language. It’s often the only way toddlers express themselves when they are hungry, tired, uncomfortable or don’t want to do something. While whining is very common in toddlers, but by age 3-4, children should be able to use the same words to express themselves with a less whiny voice. Then by age 6-8, children should be able to break the habit completely. Positive Parenting states kids whine, “Because it works!” (For your kids, that is.) When your kids whine and negotiate, they secure a big chunk of your …

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