Category: Education

Coronovirus 2020, Education, Kids, Parenting

Family Fun at Home with Great Wolf Lodge – How About Easy Paper Crafts?

Erin Sluka

If you are adding to your list of family at-home activities I wanted to feature the blog for Great Wolf Lodge. This blog brings family activities, topics and tips for at home, on the read and at the lodge.

New content is added regularly and currently there are several fun activities you can take advantage of being home with your children. You can do paper crafts, build a wolf costume, make Grilled Cheese Soup Sliders and more.

All the activities, including the science experiments are geared to all ages. We love Great Wolf Lodge for weekend getaways, but now we can also visit online and connect with them until the park reopens and you can too.

Visit Great Wolf Lodge Blog for all the fun at home!

Coronovirus 2020, Education, Giveaways

At Home Learning 20 Minutes a Day with Teach My – Giveaway (2 Winners)

Erin Sluka
Teach My giveaway

Teach My recommends 20 minutes a day at home with their learning kits to give your children a learning advantage. Now that you are home with them this is the perfect time to start Teach My at home learning kits if you have not experienced these kits yet.

Teach My has 4 kits: Baby, Toddler, Preschool and Kindergarten. They also have some supplemental at-home learning tools as well on their site. It is more than a learning kit, it is play and reading all bundled together with easy-to-follow guides. Teach My is award winning kits that provide everything necessary for learning the basics, all in a portable and storable case.

TeachMy Preschool

I used Teach My with my son when he was younger and was my favorite learning tool by far! He still remembers using our Teach My kits today at age 11. He took his case everywhere we went.

Connect with Teach My by visiting their website and follow on Facebook and Twitter.

Buy Teach My Kits

The Giveaway!

Teach My giveaway

For this giveaway feature Teach My will give (1) Preschool learning kit and (1) Kindergarten learning kit away so there will be 2 winners total. What is in these 2 kits?

Teach My Preschool contains unique and coordinated tools to teach reading, printing, numbers to 100 and early math. This is done with a magic drawing board to flashcards, posters and counters, the kit is full of learning toys to give your mini scholar a head start. Teach My Preschooler promotes kindergarten readiness, fine motor skills, hand eye coordination, parent-child interaction and self-esteem

Teach My Kindergarten will teach spelling, money, telling time and the year. Your kindergartener can master 100 spelling words, counting money, analog and digital time as well as days of the week, months of the year, dates, years, weather and seasons.

This giveaway is sponsored by Teach My and proze fulfillment is of the sponsor. Open to US and ages 18+. Enter below! Giveaway ends on April 3, 2020. Good luck!

Books Reviews, Coronovirus 2020, Education, Parenting

The 5 Children’s Books To Read While in this Coronavirus Pandemic

Erin Sluka

Guess what? We just all became homeschool parents! What does this mean? What exactly do we do? This is a hard question and many of us are still waiting on resources and word from Teachers as they scramble to make sense of all of the learning effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

There are obvious steps we can take now that they are home for a while. Get them moving and keeping a ‘PE log’ is one thing we can start. Signing up for online learning portals and reading books or mini book reports for the older children.

Here is a list of the 5 children;’s books to read about this coronavirus pandemic.

Something Bad Happened: A Kid’s Guide to Coping With Events in the News – by Dawn Huebner

Provides comfort, support and action plans for children learning about troubling world events. Available on Amazon

How Are You Peeling? Foods with Moods by Saxton Freeymann

This is a book that asks all the right questions. And leaves you feeling great no matter what the answers are! Available on Amazon.

The Way I Feel by Janan Cain

The Way I Feel uses simple verses to help children connect the word and the emotion. Available on Amazon

What To Do When You’re Scared & Worried: A Guide for Kids by James Crist

This is a book kids can turn to when they need advice, reassurance, and ideas. Available on Amazon

Is a Worry Worrying You? by Ferida Wolff

This book addresses children’s worries with humor and imagination Available on Amazon

Coronovirus 2020, Education, Healthy Living, Parenting

Social & Emotional Learning Resources – Covid-19 Resources for Kids & Teens

Erin Sluka
Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Resources - Covid-19 Resources for Kids
Photo Source: Brainpop.com

With school closures and stores a mess, perhaps the kids are getting a tad anxious or asking questions. I have a brilliant sister who is an Elementary School Counselor who has put together this amazing resource sheet below (Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Resources – Covid-19 Resources for Kids) for this epidemic as well as any other social issues that could arise with your child.

This download has mini lessons and book recommendations that you can share with your family while home from school and to add to their home studies.

Hopefully you will find it helpful! Keep scrolling for tips for teens too. The links are not clickable directly from the image below, so at the bottom is the download button. Click that and you will open up clickable links.

SEL-Resource-List

[wpdm_package id=’38257′]

Download created by: Katherine Epstein, School Counselor (Wa State)

What about the teens?

Global leader in Neurodiversity and CEO of The Miracle Project, Elaine Hall, works with neurodiverse teens, young and older adults provide tips and affirmations on how parents, coaches, colleagues, and friends to help calm the mind, ease emotional tensions and promote overall well being amongst those who lack the abilities to do so on their own. 

Below are her tips on How to Ease the Anxiety of Children Throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic

  1. Breath 
    • Implementing a short but powerful breathing meditation helps calm our minds, focus our attention and operate from a place of peace and support for one another. Start by closing your eyes. Take a deep breath as if you are breathing in health and wellness from the Earth. Let this breath travel all the way up from the bottom of your feet up your spine to the top of your head, visualizing that you are filling up every muscle, organ, blood cells with radiant gold healing light.  
    • Then imagine a radiant white light from high above your head beaming into every muscle and cell of your body – keeping your body strong, healthy and vibrant.  Breathe deeply and exhale any fears and anxiety. Continue breathing in this healing white light for five long breaths. When you are ready, open your eyes and notice your health and well being.
    • Affirm: I am strong, healthy and glowing with energy
  2. Logic – Learn the Facts
    • Yes, COVID-19 is a bad virus and we need to protect ourselves from it but this will not last forever. It is important to not get caught up in the hysteria of the moment. There have been bad viruses and diseases in the past and yet we continue to combat them. And while the number of cases of COVID-19 continues to climb each day, so too do the number of people who have completely recovered from the virus. It’s important to know the facts and stay calm because anxiety can flood adrenaline into the body and weaken the immune system, making you more vulnerable to viral infections.
    • Affirm: This too shall pass
  3. You’re Not Alone
    • Know you’re not alone. Call, text, or facetime a friend when you’re feeling scared or alone. Discuss what you’re feeling out loud. Ask them what they do to feel calm and take those practices into consideration. Do something fun together to distract your mind from worries.
    • Affirm: I am understood and supported 
  4. Look outside & inside for what’s right in your world
    • Remind yourself what is good and calm in your life right now. Science has found that gratitude actually strengthens the immune system. Notice when the sun is shining, listen to the raindrops, doing something you enjoy, notice a positive feeling. Express gratitude for some of the things we most often take for granted. 
    • Affirm: My body is healthy, strong and vibrant. I am grateful for…. And list 5 new things you’re grateful for every day
  5. Stay Close to those you love
    • Although it’s important to distant yourself in public from others, it’s still okay and important to stay close with your family. Give your Mom, Dad, sibling a hug or cuddle your pet. Did you know that hugs actually strengthen the immune system? Hugs help stimulate the body’s production of white blood cells that fight off diseases. 
    • Affirm: I am loving and loved