My Favorite Pre-K Teaching Tools & Techniques

Welcome to Tuesday talk! Meet your hosts! Becky from BYBMG, Beth from Our Pretty Little Girls, Whitney from Polka-Dotty Place, Elizabeth from All Kinds of Things, Tara from Mrs.Coach Sims, Keri from Living In This Season, Sarah from Abiding In Grace, Lauren from Simply Free , Emily from Morning Motivated Mom, and Jessica & Katie from Sweet Little Ones, Christina from Waltzing In Beauty, Amy from Go Forth and Mother & Michelle from Grammie Time
We are so glad you are here and hope that you will link up with us this week!
This week I am also joining Stephanie from Wife Mommy Me for Mom Talk Tuesdays.

This months theme is: Teaching Tools & Techniques.
As a homeschool mom I am always on board to talk about education on any level but today I want to keep things simple and share some of my Pre-K favorites.

Dot Markers//

Any project that involves dot markers is better than one that doesn't. They are fun, easy to use and free printables are abundant online, like these. Dot marker worksheets offer loads of flexibility as well. If you don't feel like using the dot markers use stickers instead and refine those fine motor skills. 

Scissor Skills//

Scissor skills may be slightly terrifying but under close supervision they are always a hit. What little kid doesn't want to cut thing? They just need some guidance and ground rules on where and when that is okay. I love finding fun and interesting books like Let's Cut Paper. The pages are a bit thicker than regular paper providing the perfect sturdiness for beginners.

You can also find loads of cutting printables online too. 

Workbooks//

Never underestimate a trip to the Dollar Tree or better yet the Target dollar bins. Pres-school work should be simple and fun. Online sheets and printables are abundant but if grabbing some workbooks from the dollar bin is more your style go for it with no guilt. I have been using cheap workbooks for years and I think they are fantastic.

Computer Games//
Nothing makes Emily happier than computer time. We love playing fun educational games on Disney but I try and keep her school games more "business" and less "distracting".

My favorite site to do this is easily Turtlediary.com. They offer a HUGE variety of simple, free games that Emily loves and they even keep them sorted by grade level and subject.

Proper Writing Technique//

As a first time clueless mama I really dropped the ball on this one. I assumed if she was writing letters and they looked decent we were all good (and some may still argue that we were). It wasn't until we began Kindergarten and I started the Handwriting Without Tears book with Marissa that I began to realize just how improper her handwriting formation was. Bad habits were already formed and I spent most of that first year reprogramming her to efficiently and properly write her letters.

If I had to do this all over again (and I have with Emily) I would have done more research on teaching a child how to properly for their letters and supervised those early letter tracing days much more closely. With some work on both of our ends I am proud to say that second grade Marissa has better handwriting than I do when she really applies herself. 

Make Learning Fun//

Most important remember to have fun! Early childhood education should be hands on and exciting. Never underestimate how much a child can learn while playing and when it's not fun any more put it away. Don't worry yourself over what your pre-schooler doesn't know and embrace some of the best years of playing and learning together.

What are some of your favorite Tools & Techniques for Pre-schoolers?!

Now it's your turn.
Grab the button in my side bar and link up!

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Making Time For You

Welcome to Tuesday Talk!
Meet your hosts! Becky from BYBMG, Beth from Our Pretty Little Girls, Whitney from Polka-Dotty Place, Elizabeth from All Kinds of Things, Tara from Mrs.Coach Sims, Keri from Living In This Season, Sarah from Abiding In Grace, Lauren from Simply Free , Emily from Morning Motivated Mom, and Jessica & Katie from Sweet Little Ones, Christina from Waltzing In Beauty, Amy from Go Forth and Mother & Michelle from Grammie Time This week I am excited to also be linking up with Stephanie from Wife Mommy Me for Mom Talk Tuesdays.

This months topic...

First off I want to start by addressing a lie that I have fought and struggled with for years and years.   The lie: Taking time for myself is selfish, bad moms are selfish, I don't want to be a bad mom, I don't need me time.
The truth: Taking time for you does not make you a bad wife or mother.
I remember being a young mom and feeling an overwhelming sense of guilt any time I took a break.  At the time I was working and I already felt awful being away from the baby during the day. The idea of spending more time away from her seemed like such a bad idea. I would convince myself I didn't need any me time until I would near having a meltdown, feel forced to finally take some time away and then I would just start the cycle all over again.
I was so certain that things would be easier when I became a stay at home mom after the birth of our second daughter. WRONG! I faced a whole new set of challenges and the feelings of abandonment and guilt were still there. I didn't want to "burden" others just so I could escape and several of my favorite ways to spend me time were no longer an option since we were now a one income family. 
I was so young, naive, proud and wrong.
Which brings me back to this:
Taking time for you does not make you a bad wife or mother. 
 8 years of marriage later and 7+ years of being a mom and I am still struggling to fully believe the truth. I'd love to say it gets easier and one day it will all just click, but honestly I don't think it will. However, I do think that maybe we can grow wiser.
Wise enough to see that me taking time for myself can make me a better wife and mom.  It gives me a chance to step back and look at things from a different perspective one that sees the big picture instead of that moments current chaos or crisis. It gives me a second to catch my breath, recharge my batteries and to just be Beth. A chance to connect with friends, rediscover something I love or try something new. I can eat an ice cream cone without sharing, read a book without stopping or drink a cup of tea without microwaving it 15 times. Sometimes the little things can make such a huge impact on a weary mama's heart. Never underestimate them.

I love my life. I love being a mom.
 I love staying home with my girls, more than anything in the world. It always has and always will be my dream job.

But why do I so often take something I love and completely submerge myself in it to the point that I feel I will almost drown?
I rob myself of true joy by not taking time to simply rest.
Sharing my heart like this is never easy, but I can't help but feel that I am not alone in this struggle.
Moms, I want to challenge you to take more time for you. I know this may look different for everyone, but let's say once a week for the next month we were to carve out at least 30 minutes of time to get away and do something we love, catch up with a friend, or just sit and do nothing.
How would taking a more frequent time of rest affect us as wives and mothers?
There is only one way to find out.
Why not give it a try?
Do you struggle to make time for you?
Will you accept the challenge?
Now it's your turn! Grab the button on my sidebar and link up for this weeks Tuesday Talk!
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Summertime Outings

Hello and welcome to Tuesday Talk!

Meet your hosts! Becky from BYBMG, Beth from Our Pretty Little Girls, Whitney from Polka-Dotty Place, Elizabeth from All Kinds of Things, Tara from Mrs.Coach Sims, Keri from Living In This Season, Sarah from Abiding In Grace, Lauren from Simply Free , Emily from Morning Motivated Mom, and Jessica & Katie from Sweet Little Ones, Christina from Waltzing In Beauty, Amy from Go Forth and Mother & Michelle from Grammie Time
This week I am excited to also be linking up with Stephanie from Wife Mommy Me for Mom Talk Tuesdays.

This months topic is summertime outings!
We are all about budget friendly activities in the Newman house. Free & inexpensive activities are huge winners out of necessity to keep the budget balanced. Today I want to share 10 of our favorite free/cheap summer outings.  * Library Story Time Schedule a library trip around Summer story time.
* Local Splash Pads Several parks have splash pad areas which means using their water instead of running your sprinkler for hours.
* Summer Movie Express It is hard to pass up a $1 ticket to the movies
* Chick Fil-a Play Place On those hot days the girls and I sometimes make a trip to Chick Fil-a. Free coffee and a treat to share gives us an hour or two of fun for just a couple bucks.

* Swimming Pools By far our favorite way to keep cool. Most pools have free swims on certain days of the week or if you plan to frequent the pool this summer check out a pool pass. 
*Park Trips/ Walks Getting outside to play in the summer is always fun but usually hot. We love to make early morning park trips before it gets to hot out. 
*Sonic Happy Hour Half price slushies in the afternoon or milk shakes in the evening. We love to frequent Sonic during the summer.
*Science Centers/ Museums Check out your area to see what free museums you can find! I have also noticed several science centers offer free times and days to visit.
*Dollar Store Some days a trip to the dollar store is a fun adventure for the girls. I usually give them each $1 and watch them try to decide what they want to purchase. Then we come home and play, craft or color.
*Farmers Markets We are gardeners but we still love to visit and walk around the local farmers market. You never know what you might find there. 
There is so much to do and see during the summer and a lot of it can be done without breaking the bank if your willing to look into the best time to go. 
Our summer is busy, our summer is fun but our summer is very thought out and planned.
I hope this list gives you some ideas of a few summer outing you could plan with your kids!
What would you add to this list?
Now it's your turn, grab the button on my sidebar and link up!
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Tuesday Talk/ Mom Talk Tuesday: Becoming A Confident Mother

Welcome To Tuesday Talk!

 The weekly link-up where you can post about anything, link up, read some great posts and meet some amazing bloggers.

This week I am excited to also be linking up with Stephanie from Wife Mommy Me for Mom Talk Tuesdays

First off I want to say a huge thank you. Last months Mom Talk Tuesday topic was sharing your faith with your children. Your support and comments on that post were so appreciated. I pray that it continues to be an impact in the lives of others for months to come.

If you missed it you can read about how we share our faith with our children here. 

The topic for this month: Becoming a confident mother.

I'd love to pass this off as an easy topic. Give you five quick steps of things that you can do to: increase confidence, feel better about yourself, rock your role as a mom and appear to be "that" mom. You know, the one who is always so put together.

But that would just be me speaking false words of a false hope. Giving the impression that this is easy and can be done alone.

That is something that simply put, I just don't believe.

I struggle with having confidence in motherhood on a daily basis. 

I can recall nights were my heart would break and I would cry myself to sleep out of a fear that I had "messed them up". Days that turned into weeks of worrying about the what ifs. Feelings that consumed me in my entirety that I am failing.

Not exactly the picture of confidence.

There are so many places we can turn to to find confidence. So many ways the world says if you do this, you can achieve that.

I have never found any lasting joy or confidence pursuing the hopes & things of this world.

For me being a confident mother isn't about learning more about my child and how to parent them. It isn't about reading parenting or self help books. It is beyond loving myself, gaining experience and having a good day or week to boost my esteem. It is more than realizing that I am going to screw up but my children are gracious with me just as I am with them.

I am sure all of these things can and have helped so many during times in their life when they needed help.

 But I believe there is still more.

My confidence in being a mom rests completely in Christ. 

I find my confidence in Him, not within myself.
 I know that every good thing in me is there because of Him.

I find confidence being a mom of two beautiful little girls because I know that Christ gave those girls to me to mother. He picked them special just for me . He knew that I would be exactly what they need just like they are for me.

It was a match made in heaven.

I find confidence in my role as a mom when I look to the cross.
When I think of God's grace.

And on those days when life gets hard and my confidence is shaken. I look to the one who is unshakable. I think of His grace and mercy that is continually washing over me if I just rely on Christ, not myself. I think of His calling on my life, the calling to be a mom and I mother my girls for His glory not my own.

Through Him my confidence is found. 

My prayer for you today is that you would find your confidence in Christ.

"On Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand."

Now it's your turn to grab the button and link up!

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Tuesday Talk: Mom Talk Tuesday, Expanding Your Family

Welcome to Tuesday Talk!

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<a href="http://www.ourprettylittlegirls.com/" title="Our Pretty Little Girls"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOU3jyCtgvR030EcMTBBBVn63v2Le7kflGk4Rv0vDNj0gkVgC43rQEfJZhX2MWu9rZIngPtjTa102FgyISCwGQ_yud1D-k6PFXYIlfxpX0IxFLi4Eh3LyL3ypX6rt6X-G_jtULNUz1l43R/s1600/200x200+TT.jpg" alt="Our Pretty Little Girls" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Feel free to grab the button, link up and mingle around

This week I am excited to also be linking up with Stephanie from Wife Mommy Me for Mom Talk Tuesdays

The topic for this month: Expanding Your Family, Baby #2.
I always knew I wanted two kids. I am not sure if it is because I was one of two kids, most of my friends were from two kid families or that I just always knew two would be the magic number. From as young as I can remember I pictured myself married, a stay at home mom and I had two kids a boy (the oldest) then a girl. Obviously things didn't quite work out the way I pictured them.
They turned out even better. 
About the time that Marissa was approaching the two year mark it hit, baby fever. We knew that we didn't want our kids to be really close in age, but we also didn't want a larger age gap either. We decided to try for baby number 2 about the time that Marissa was turning 2 and hope for the best.

We celebrated her second birthday on June 17th, 2010

 

And 4 days later this happened.

What a blessing.

I will forever love this picture. I mean look at that face... seriously. 

It is almost like she knew exactly what was coming.

9 months later we were a family of four, just like I had always imagined us being.

I look at these pictures and I feel overwhelmingly blessed. Blessed to have two healthy, beautiful girls and blessed by the timing of them coming into our lives. 

God has been exceedingly gracious to us.

For us 2 is the magic number. It may have taken me a bit of time to fully process that, check my heart, talk to Russ about his. But now we feel we can confidently say that our family is complete.

What are your thoughts on expanding your family?
How did you know you were ready?

We'd love for you to join us for Tuesday Talk this week! Becky from BYBMG, Beth from Our Pretty Little Girls, Chelsea from The Contented Wife, Elizabeth from All Kinds of Things, Tara from Mrs.Coach Sims, Keri from Living In This Season, Sarah from Abiding In Grace, Lauren fromSimply Free , Andrea from Mitchael Journey, Jessica & Katie from Sweet Little Ones, Mandy from Almond Place, Teressa from Teressa Jane

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Tuesday Talk: Romance & Parenting

Welcome to Tuesday Talk!
I can't believe this wraps up month #2 of co-hosting this linkup. If you have yet to join us I hope you will this week. It is so simple, just grab the button and link up your post. We would absolutely love to have you.

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<a href="http://www.ourprettylittlegirls.com/" title="Our Pretty Little Girls"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUT_eSgTAfTBxKwb4N6kNF2Sjy_MFCDnwP_wDNV217E-c_JhWG5TJdsd2bX9BzG9jml3hBqAkDqge_buaJWBuGtF0fM2HpPIDUPVOEOKMM-P1i2v1wa35O1dbWu0IYn6SW2s6bCGMWVZza/s1600/200x200+TT.jpg" alt="Our Pretty Little Girls" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

This is a special week! Not only am I co-hosting my regular Tuesday Talk link up, I am also linking up with Stephanie from Wife Mommy Me for Mom Talk Tuesdays.  

This months topic is a tough but important one.

Romance & Parenting

First off I feel like I need to say that we definitely are by no means experts in this department.

Romance and parenting are two things that have always been very intertwined in our marriage. We were married in mid August of 2007 decided we would waste no time in starting a family and found out we were expecting in early October about 7 weeks after our wedding. We didn't have much of a "honeymoon" phase.

Over the past 7.5 years we have discovered a few things that work for our family.
Today I wanted to share some of those with you.

* Priorities: God first, husband second, children next. Keeping these in check has a HUGE affect on the quality of our marriage. Especially when it comes to the kids. It is so easy to move them into that # 1 or #2 spot.

* Be creative with finding ways to spend time together: This past Valentines we celebrated at Chick Fil-a. That may not scream romance to a lot of people but we ate together as a family the kids went to play and we had a nice quiet conversation. Sometimes you have to look for the unexpected ways to date your spouse. As our girls have grown older and a bit more independent we are learning to take advantage of these little moments.

* Solo Time away: As rejuvenating as a date night can be some times Russ telling me to get out of the house is even more helpful. Giving your spouse a break speaks volumes of love and sacrifice.

* Hugging: I think people underestimate what a good hug can do. Taking the time to hug and not feel like you have to be rushed is always so good for my heart. Best part is who cares if the kids are watching.
Side note: I feel pretty certain I may have married the best hugger ever.

* Love Notes: This has looked several different ways over the years. Pieces of paper, dry erase boards, mirrors, texts, notes in lunch boxes, I love when Russ leaves me a note. The unexpected affirmation of him thinking about me always makes me smile.

* Favorite things: Picking up a favorite candy bar, beverage, making a favorite meal, watching a favorite movie. You get the point. Something to say I know you and I'm thinking about you. I do this for my kids all the time. Why not my husband to (This kind of throws me back to my first point, priorities).

* I love you: Three little words I never want to take for granted. In a world where sometimes it is so loud, busy, chaotic and just down right exhausting may I always find the time to proclaim my love for my guy.

How do you mix romance & parenting?

Now it's your turn. What are you posting about today?

Thanks for joining us!

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