Gina Ogden

Hosting Thanksgiving With Preschoolers

Hosting Thanksgiving With Preschoolers

By / 6 minutes of reading

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time, setting off the holiday season with family, food, and those iconic holiday moments. But if you have a preschooler at home, it can also feel like a really long, taxing day. For our kids, there can be a lot of change, whether we’re hosting or visiting someone else’s home. There could be new faces, later meals, and different rhythms than what they are used to. Even with these challenges, we can enjoy the day with our preschoolers with a little planning and a lot of grace. So let’s look at some ways to plan a …

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savor slow moments

Savor Slow Moments Before the Holiday Rush

By / 4 minutes of reading

Well, it’s November. The calendar is filling up, and we know the holiday season is right around the corner. Our to-do lists are growing longer, and we know there is going to be a lot to do. But before we get caught up in all of the preparations, let’s enjoy the last couple of weeks before the real rush sets in. The first part of November can be a quieter time, and it’s a perfect time for us to slow down a little. Let’s look at some ways to savor slow moments before the holiday rush sets in. The Gift …

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help our kids handle halloween fears

How to Help Our Kids Handle Halloween Fears

By / 5 minutes of reading

Halloween can be so fun and kind of magical for adults and older kids, but sometimes it can be a little too scary for little ones. While many of us can enjoy the spookiness, it’s often too much for preschoolers. There are strange decorations, loud and creepy sounds, and people in scary costumes. For a toddler or preschooler, these things seem very real. If your child suddenly seems afraid of trick-or-treating, masks, or even their favorite character, it’s a totally natural response to all the creepiness. So let’s help our little ones enjoy the fun of Halloween without the fear …

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fun snacks to enjoy this Halloween

Fun Snacks to Enjoy This Halloween Season

By / 3 minutes of reading

When we think about Halloween food, we tend to think of sweets and candy. And while these sweet treats are part of the fun of the Halloween season, we can do so much more to have some Halloween fun with food. Our fun holiday food could even be a little bit healthy to balance out all our sweet treats. So let’s look at some fun snacks to enjoy this Halloween season. We parents really do want our kids to be healthy, even in the middle of a candy season, so let’s start with some relatively healthy snacks. Yogurt with creepy …

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celebrate dictionary day with your preschooler

Celebrate Dictionary Day with Your Preschooler

By / 3 minutes of reading

If you have been with the Signing Time crew for a while, you know we’re all about words. October 16 is Dictionary Day, and it’s a perfect reason to celebrate the joy of words! You might not want to sit down with your preschooler and read a big hardcover dictionary. But you can take this opportunity to spark their curiosity and help them develop a love for language in ways that feel fun and natural. So here are a few ways to celebrate dictionary day with your preschooler! The Magic of Words for Our Little Ones Every day, our kids …

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inspire curiosity in our preschoolers

Let’s Inspire Curiosity in Our Preschoolers

By / 4 minutes of reading

Did you know that October 9 is Curious Events Day? We all know that preschoolers are naturally curious. After all, they are known for their constant questions about how things work, why things happen, and what will happen next. Parents and teachers have probably heard a million “why” questions, and that endless curiosity might feel tiring some days. But this curiosity is actually one of our kids’ greatest strengths. Curiosity leads to learning, creativity, and problem-solving. In fact, curiosity is the way that children make sense of the world and discover their own abilities. So even when it feels infuriating, …

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celebrate the teachers in our lives

Let’s Celebrate the Teachers in Our Lives

By / 3 minutes of reading

Every October 5 we celebrate World Teacher’s Day. It’s a day to honor the incredible teachers in our lives for their work in our communities and with our kids. Teachers fill many roles in their efforts to educate our children. For young kids, teachers end up becoming storytellers, cheerleaders, comforters, and adventure-leaders. They help our children build block towers, share toys, and feel proud of new discoveries. For us parents, teachers are partners who walk alongside us in helping our kids to thrive. And when we celebrate World Teacher’s Day, we show our children both that learning is worthwhile and …

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using math storytelling with our preschoolers

Using Math Storytelling With Our Preschoolers

By / 4 minutes of reading

Did you know September 25 is Math Storytelling Day? It’s actually a day to celebrate a different way to work with numbers, shapes, and problem-solving. Storytelling with math is a great way to introduce mathematical concepts to preschoolers in a casual, fun, unpressured way.  For our preschoolers, math can come alive through imagination, pretend play, and the way they experience the world. So on this day of celebrating math stories, or really on any day, let’s use math stories to show our kids that math isn’t just about counting. Through stories, our kids can discover patterns, solve little mysteries, and …

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Early Literacy in Everyday Life

Early Literacy in Everyday Life

By / 4 minutes of reading

When we think about teaching preschoolers to read, our minds often jump to letter flashcards or reading programs. While it is important for kids to learn the letter sounds and to sound out words, early literacy is about much more than that. It’s about sparking curiosity, building understanding, and helping our kids to enjoy language and words. So to build early literacy skills, we don’t need special tools or a curriculum. Opportunities to grow our kids’ literacy skills are tucked into the small, everyday moments of life. So let’s look at a few ways to work toward early literacy in …

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let's encourage each other as parents

Let’s Encourage Each Other as Parents

By / 4 minutes of reading

Parenting is one of the most rewarding journeys, and at the same time, it’s also one of the most exhausting. There are those early mornings filled with questions and then the late nights where we need just one more drink of water. While the toddler and preschool years are a little crazy, they are also beautiful. Since September 12 is National Day of Encouragement, we thought it was the perfect time to encourage all of you parents. You are doing important, meaningful work, and your efforts mean the world to your kids, even if they aren’t the best at expressing …

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