These kids are the best!

Passionate about pluots :)

Farm animals are his favorite, upside down or not!

Shapes and Colors

Collaborating on how to build their structure!

A view of the activity area

Learning to Clap!

He LOVES his milKKKKKK!

Book Enthusiast :)

I'm not sure who loves banging on the pots and pans more: me or the kids...

Books Worth Reading

I am a big fan of the Montessori methods of teaching so I want to share two books that I really love. (See above pictures). How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way, Tim Seldin. Basic Montessori, David Gettman. Amazing Child is a great book for light reading. It has multiple images on every page so you really get a great idea of what they are talking about. It is really geared towards parents (not providers so much) on how to use Montessori in the home. It has creative activities for the children and again is a super easy read to get you started in Montessori. Basic Montessori is dense and packed with information and in tiny font. So, I wouldn't recommend it for night time reading (it has put me to sleep many a time while reading in bed). It has SO much information in it, though, and really makes me feel confident in how I am using Montessori in the home. I'd say it covers the bases when it comes to studying Montessori.

Happy Reading :)

A toothbrush subscription!

My UPS guy (not the one I am married to, the one that delivers everything I order) and I have become familiar over the years. I'd say he, more than anyone, realizes that I hate having to go to the store and I order EVERYTHING via amazon. Sidenote- Amazon Mom is amazing, free two day shipping or $3.99 for next day delivery, and discounted disposable diapers. I love Amazon but this isn't the intent of this post. We tend to go through toothbrushes a lot at our house, and I tend to dislike having to go shopping (remember, amazon junkie)… So, here is a company that has a toothbrush subscription option!! Plus, their toothbrushes are BPA free, made in the USA, and are completely recyclable :) The plastic they are made from (made from recycled plastic) is one that rarely gets recycled- #5. When you are through with your toothbrush you can mail it back to the company to be recycled again or toss it in to your recycling bin. Some recycling centers don't recycle #5s so that would be the situation that you choose to mail it back. You can check Earth 911 to see where you can recycle certain items by zipcode (I like it for batteries and cfl bulbs :)).

I don't mean to get on a rant about recycling but I do want to share a quick line that has stuck with me. In the movie  Waste Land (I LOVE documentaries and this was a remarkable film) there was a waste picker that would say "99 is not 100". His meaning behind it was that there is always something more that you can do. This man loved his job as a picker in the trash mound and saw that every piece of recyclable material he pulled was one more piece that didn't remain buried in the mound. No one is perfect but if you try to look at yourself and try to have a mindset that even though you do recycle or compost or whatever you might do to "do your part" you can easily always do more.

Happy brushing :)

Be Prepared!

September is National Preparedness Month: "A time to remember, a time to prepare". This year is the 10 year anniversary of 9/11! I really am in disbelief that so much time has passed, it really seems like such a recent tragic event. Nonetheless, the goal is to be reminded of the profound impact that disasters have on children and to be prepared for them! Natural disasters are not new to any of us but for some reason when they strike there always seems to be so much to critique about people not being unprepared! The tornado in Joplin was a huge eye-opener for us but across the nation (and world) we have experienced natural disasters, one after another. 

I ordered some Family Safety Guides, which came in last week, to give to the other parents in my life, the information seems basic but most of us just aren't prepared! It has been a lengthy process for me (the research involved) but I have created disaster plans ranging from illness to natural disasters, household chemical and hazardous material preparation to biological and chemical threats. Whew, I feel a lot more prepared now! 

My advice- be prepared in some way. I am not suggesting every family devise 100 different disaster plans for their household. But, perhaps put together an emergency pack- flashlight, radio, batteries for both, first aid kit, bottled water, non-perishable food, blankets, keep a cell phone in an easy to grab location, know how to shut off your utilities (but NEVER turn them back on yourself). Take a CPR course and if your don't necessarily have time to run your family through drills, devise plans in your head (at the least) to get your family to a safe location when disaster strikes. Some more information that I really liked (because I have animals) is to keep the animals records in your emergency pack and store extra food for the pets in your shelter area. 

If you are reading this and haven't yet done anything to be prepared for disasters- PLEASE DO! I have some links to share to help you get ready! You can also join the National Preparedness Coalition to commit to do some kind of preparedness activity or event in September. http://ready.adcouncil.org/

Resources to help you prepare:

FEMA

AAP

Ready in 3

Ready Plan

Citizen Corps
Kansas City's Evacuation Plan (all 88 pages!)

Outdoor Play

being outdoors=happy baby!

Lately I have been working on creating an outdoor playland that encourages exploration and mess-making, allows the children to be as expressive (loud) as they want, and incorporates many sensorial activities. Oh, and a safe place to be. I have drawn inspiration from Let the Children Play, and most importantly from the little ones in my life. Observing the littles just gets my head churning- what can I do to enhance their play.

I also want to share this article that sums up why outdoor play is important. This article is one of many published by Community Playthings (a company I have put a link to in my side bar under Toys and the like). I adore Community Playthings, and I look forward to incorporating more of their furniture into our program. Well, to not stray from my topic too much, I want to outline some of the topics covered in this article.

Physical Exercise- "Children need to develop large motor and small motor skills and cardiovascular endurance."
Enjoyment- "Children need opportunities to explore, experiment, manipulate, reconfigure, expand, influence, change, marvel, discover, practice, dam up, push their limits, yell, sing, and create. Some of our favorite childhood memories are outdoor activities. This is no accident."
Learning about the world- "In the outside playground children can learn math, science, ecology, gardening, ornithology, construction, farming, vocabulary, the seasons, the various times of the day, and all about the local weather. Not only do children learn lots of basic and fundamental information about how the world works in a very effective manner, they are more likely to remember what they learned because it was concrete and personally meaningful."
Learning about Self and the Environment- "To learn about the physical world, the child must experiment with the physical world. Can I slide on the sand? Can I roll on grass? What happens when I throw a piece of wood into the pond? Is cement hard or soft to fall on? An essential task of development is appreciating how we fit into the natural order of things—animals, plants, the weather, and so on. To what extent does nature care for us by providing water, shade, soft surfaces, and sweet-smelling flowers? And to what extent does it present problems, such as hard surfaces, the hot sun, and thorns on bushes? We can discover this relationship with the natural world only by experiencing it as we grow up, develop, and interact with the natural environment."
Health-"One way to reduce the spread of infection is through lots and lots of fresh air. Outdoor play enables the infectious agents to spread out and be dissipated; it also enables children to get fresh air and exercise and be less constrained than they are in the classroom. Outdoor play also enables children to enjoy the natural environment and learn to seek out exercise, fresh air, and activity. There is something fundamentally healthy about using the outdoors. Thus outdoor play develops disposition for the outdoors, for physical activity, and for care of the environment. Children who engage in lots of physical activities at school tend to engage in more energetic activities at home, while children who have childcare and school experiences that lack active physical activity, engage in more sedentary behaviors at home, such as watching TV and computer use (Dale, Corbin, & Dale, 2000). Children who learn to enjoy the outdoors have a much higher likelihood of becoming adults who enjoy hiking, gardening, jogging, bicycling, mountain climbing, or other outdoor endeavors. This is critical as obesity becomes an ever-greater national concern and as we must all learn to care for and protect the environment."
Encouraging Physical Play- "Although it is important to encourage specific motor skills such as fine and gross motor development, it is more important to support the development of the brain and nerve functions and growth. Thus rolling, crawling, running and climbing, and swinging on swings are all absolutely critical activities for young children."
Sociodramatic Play- "A good playground must have playhouses, forts, and other structures that children can change, adapt, reconfigure, impose their own meaning on, and use to expand their imagination. These structures encourage rich sociodramatic play; further, they are an ideal place for the playground to reflect the cultures of the children who use it."


All in all, outdoor play is a huge part of what we do here. We have gardens for vegetable growing- there is just something so special about watching a little water the plants or pluck off a vegetable and bite into it! We have a sensory garden (a gutter garden!) with lavender and mint to touch and smell the plants. We have sand play, a playhouse, a climber, and a music board made from repurposed kitchen ware! The kids can picnic outdoors, kick balls, collect treasures, roll around… they simply can be kids :) Plus, being outdoors gives me the fresh air that I NEED!

grass soup coming right up

grass collection coalition

yum!

flower child

master gardener

music board fun!

fill 'er up

teamwork!

Souns

My sister, currently in grad school for speech pathology, recommended that I look into Souns for my children. It is being adapted in many countries primarily in libraries and early education programs. What I like about it is that is designed to be introduced to infants and toddlers (5 months to 24 months is the opportune time to introduce it). Here is a summary of the approach taken from their website-


Souns places specifically designed and sequenced letters of our phonetic alphabet into the hands of infants and toddlers at the most crucial age, between 5 months and 24 months. The hand reaches out to hold, play with and explore the letters. Since each letter is given only one name - the most common sound of that letter - the child slowly builds a base of phonics for the early stages of reading. Learning becomes incidental, natural - and fun. Souns is about early learning, and the hand is essential to this process.


Current early literacy materials for infants and toddlers are almost entirely based on auditory and visual learning. The eye and the ear are clearly important, but the hand is at least as important, particularly for early learning. Considering that special needs children are seldom identified by 5 months of age, and that research determines there are windows for learning that, when missed, cannot be reopened, Souns needs to be in the hands of every infant.


To me, it seems very similar to the Montessori moveable alphabet (except much larger) but with Montessori you typically start with sandpaper letters and at a later age. I plan to start using the sandpaper letters with the children at age 2 and up. From what I understand, though, many Montessorians are adopting the Souns approach into their curriculum! 


Hooray for Early Literacy!

Yoga Mondays!

Joy, a children's yoga instructor and owner of Songbird Yoga, will be joining us on Monday mornings for a yoga session with the littles!

I couldn't be more excited for her to work with us- she has a great background working with children (a degree in Early Childhood Education, yoga instructor of the kid's yoga class at Darling Yoga, and works with many childcare programs offering children's yoga classes). She has a beautiful plan designed for our little ones to work on poses, breathing, peace, patience, stability, and handling emotions. She will send home a note to parents each week to outline what we worked on so that parents can continue the techniques at home.

My goal is that through practicing yoga the children will be able to handle the emotions they feel but can't quite express yet. Instead of using a "time-out" to punish our children for any behavioral mishaps they will get the opportunity to relax in the quiet area and encouraged to practice some of the poses and breathing taught to them by Joy.

I am just SO happy to get to do this with our children!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Songbird-Yoga-LLC/215105235187497

Family Style Dining

I wanted to share an image of the chairs I just ordered for the littlest of our littles-

These are the mealtime chairs from Community Playthings. I am so anxious to get them in so that the infants can partake in sitting at the table with the toddlers (vs eating in a high chair). 

I also want to share my reasoning as to why we practice family style dining here. The children will learn and practice social skills for example- taking turns serving themselves from a dish, passing food items, using please and thank you, and helping set the table. The little ones feel like they are taking a big role in preparing the table and our meal and will be more inclined to eat something that they partook in preparing!

Door to Door Organics!

Good news! Every Wednesday will be our delivery day from Door to Door Organics! We are getting the large mixed box of fruits and vegetables, all organic and local when possible! In addition to our fruits and veggies we are getting Farm to Market bread, snacks made by Annies, and locally roasted organic coffee (for me!). Honestly, I will be spending just as much as a typical trip to the grocery store but I will feel great about the produce we are consuming and all without the hassle of having to go to the store! YEAH!

If you are interested in also getting your groceries delivered and want me to send you an invite to get 50% off your first order or $10 off, leave a comment!

Gutter Gardens!

We (the Both family) love to garden. I can't wait until the children are more involved in the planting and harvesting of vegetables and can fully understand the beauty in it! 

Here is a simple way to garden if you are pinched for space, want to add beauty to your porch, fence, siding, or just plain like the idea!

BTW, I love the multiple uses of gutters aside from being gutters.

aHa! Home and Garden

apartment therapy

Etsy Finds

  
applenamos
These toys are handmade by a stay at home mom wanting educational and natural toys for her son, unable to find what she envisioned she started making them.

I want to feature a few shops on Etsy that have caught my eye! 

asummerafternoon

I love many things about this Etsy shop, one of them being the names of the lovely couple who make these great eco-friendly natural wooden toys- Erin and Aaron. Seriously, how did they manage to marry someone with the same name!  

littlesaplingtoys

This family lives in Sheboygan, WI… and who doesn't love saying Sheboygan! AND, they plant a tree for every toy sold- it's official, I LOVE THIS SHOP. Their teethers are beautiful, I love how on the breastfeeding support teether the head of the infant is a perfect thumb hole for the littles to grasp on to!

Indigo Wild

Today I would like to share another company that holds a special place in my heart- Indigo Wild. I could go on and on sharing a ton of information about the company, the products, and ingredients. But, this is a childcare blog and if I shared everything that I like about this company then I'd just be recreating their website. That said, check it out.

In my home, so far, I use Zum Bar, Zum Rub, Zum Oil, Zum Wash, Zum Body, and anything of theirs that I don't use is not because I don't think I won't absolutely love it, it's because I haven't gotten to buying it (this stuff isn't cheap, but it is the best).

If you haven't seized the opportunity to click on any of the links so far to check out the products then at the very least skim over the ingredients in the products.

I pulled the photo from Indigo Wild's website, not trying to advertise, just sharing a company that I am fond of!

Kalona SuperNatural

Kalona SuperNatural is an incredible company- I am a big fan. I love their yogurt- I LOVE it. It really is the most delicious yogurt I have ever tried. I am anxious to sample more of their products and I have high expectations that I presume will be met. If you care for your milk to be non-homogenized, organic, grade A, with no added hormones, vat pasteurized, from grass fed cows on a small family farm then you must try some of Kalona SuperNatural's products.

Both images in this post are taken from Kalona SuperNatural, please use this link to make your way to their website!
And, I am not paid to advertise, I am just sharing my thoughts and opinions!

Why Phthalate Free?

There has been much concern over PLASTICS, but why? Well, different components that make up plastics are linked to various health issues. Phthalates are added to plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability and longevity. Though phthalates are being phased out, you will still find their presence in SO many products and children's exposure is greater than adult's. Certain studies link phthalates to thyroid function, adult infertility, breast cancer, autism, childhood obesity, ADHD symptoms, and the list goes on. Phthalates are only one component of plastics that we should be aware of. I am sure everyone has heard of the concern with BPA. I will gather some research together and make a post *soon* to connect my readers to information on BPA and why we should do our best to protect our children from plastics containing it!

It seems impossible to escape phthalates but we can be aware! So, do some research, figure out your stance, and share your thoughts!


Check out the info found on these websites:
Earth Resource
The Daily Green
CBS NEWS
Wikipedia
NY Times