A friend of mine stopped me today after helping to run the Thanksgiving party in my oldest son’s (4.5yo) preschool class. She just couldn’t stop laughing after talking with our M… Mrs. J: So M, are you excited for Thanksgiving? M: Yeah, I’m excited for the turkey. But we have to kill it first. Mrs. J: (confused) Does your daddy go out and hunt for the turkey? M: No, he doesn’t shoot it. We catch it with a butterfly net.... Read more

Cranberry sauce is a highlight of the Thanksgiving meal. Making it couldn’t be simpler: with a basic recipe of 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water and a 12 oz bag of cranberries, it basically makes itself. The taste couldn’t be better: tart and sweet, it moistens and enlivens every other Thanksgiving dish on the table. Great texture. Great deep ruby color. My toddler eats it by the spoonful. I do too, in private. This year, my brave sister-in-law (“Queen Hospitality”),... Read more

We are taking the week off to enjoy Thanksgiving. While we have done our traditional Handprint Turkeys, we are also reinforcing several weeks of reading from our Thanksgiving book basket by doing Narration work. This is a Charlotte Mason technique where the children tell back what they have read or learned. Try it with your children, the results can be cute or surprising, they remember such interesting details. I used a few prompts and had the children dictate to me... Read more

We have been chatting about how to help our children build routines, including getting ready to go in the morning and handwashing. B-Mama told us that her boys are reminded to wash hands well because she posted the instructions that they made in school near the sink. Handwashing is a great example of a Montessori practical life activity. Appropriate, child size tools are provided and the child is taught to do some real work (wash hands) that does matter to... Read more

You Montessori homeschooling supermoms (and everyone else too) will enjoy this coverage of a wonderful new Montessori innovation for dental students. Montessori School of Dentistry Lets Students Discover Their Own Root Canal Procedures Read more

The Good: The Waitress at the diner where I had breakfast with my two younger children this morning. She brought the children extra crayons and coloring sheets and hot chocolate with cream as soon as we walked in. I was on the phone getting a car maintenance quote when she delivered our breakfast order. Without being asked, she sat down, buttered bagels and cut them into bite-sized pieces, moved all the hot drinks and knives, started the kids on their... Read more

Lately, I am getting the sense that everyone is on facebook. You can stop laughing now, yes I am internet savvy, I have a blog, after all! However, until the last six months, I thought that facebook was just for people about 5 years younger than me, or for those who were really into online networking. Then I found out that my mom is on facebook. Frankly, it struck me as a little bit lame, I mean, really, who is... Read more

1. They make a size newborn diaper, which my sweet baby just outgrew. Yes, Claire is my 4th newborn.   And yes, I just learned that they made a size newborn diaper. I have never before had a child small enough to fit into a newborn diaper. That cut-out thing for the umbilical cord is really cool–and beats the heck out of folding the top of the diaper down! 2. Just because my first three children are blond, doesn’t mean... Read more

Living Books Curriculum, a great Charlotte Mason resource, has free “Holiday Helper” packets for several holidays throughout the year. I like them because they include beautiful poems, stories and art for a picture study. Beautiful and enticing first-person accounts for a young child. By all means, go ahead and make a hand print turkey, but try reading a beautiful Thanksgiving poem, too! You can download the Thanksgiving Helper at CurrClick for free. Read more

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