What do your children know about Christmas?  Hanukkah?  Kwanzaa?

As the holidays are upon us, it is easy to get distracted by all of the food, parties and gifts.  However it is important to take the time to teach children about this special time of year.  When I asked my daughter why we celebrate Christmas she said, “So Santa can bring us presents.”  Obviously we need to have the “true meaning of Christmas” talk at our house.

It is also important to take the time to educate your children about other holidays and cultures celebrated throughout the world.  Children today have friends and classmates from a variety of backgrounds and cultures.  Therefore it is important for them to know what holidays are celebrated and why they are celebrated.

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Do you have a fun activity for matching uppercase and lowercase letters?

My daughter has finally mastered all 26 uppercase letters!!!! (of the English alphabet).  Now it is time move on to the lowercase letters.

For the most part teaching lowercase letters is easy since so many of the letters resemble their uppercase counterpart.  However there are the tricky ones of b, d and p that seemed to confuse little learners.

Instead of doing drill and practice with flashcards, try the letter soup activity.

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I hope all of you have a Happy Thanksgiving!

(Photo from Stampin' Up!)

Are you a person who likes to scrapbook?

I love almost everything about scrapbooking.  I love the paper, the fun scissors, the stamps and all of the embellishments.  The only thing I do not like, is trying to find the time to do it.

If scrapbooking were truly a passion of mine, I think I would find the time.  Instead my piles of card stock, rubber stamps and stickers now get used for preschool art projects.  At least someone is enjoying and using the supplies.

I do believe that rubber stamping is a great fine motor activity for preschool children.  It works their finger and hand muscles as they maneuver the stamp from the table to the ink pad and onto the paper.

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Will you be one of the crazy shoppers that get up at 4:00 am to find a great deal? (Of course, I mean crazy in the nicest way possible)

I have to admit, I have been out early on Black Friday a few times.  A couple of the times I did it, it was not as bad as I thought.

On another occasion, I was pregnant and had to wait in the checkout line for 45 minutes.  Standing in place for so long caused my blood pressure to drop (I think I was locking my knees) and I almost passed out.   Needless to say, after that year I took a break.

This year I am considering giving it another try.  Why not?  If I can buy the Lego set that my son wants for $40 instead of $80, I think it is worth it.  We’ll see what happens… Wish me luck!

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