Fun Educational Activities For Kids

I been doing a lot of things lately to prepare my daughter for school this coming August. She's never attended Daycare or a Mother's Day Out program to start her off which has turned into a challenge for us both. I think that as parents one of the toughest jobs is making sure we are helping our kids learn and grow in their education. Building a strong foundation at home to prepare your child exceed in school is important. These skills are vital to their success in school. I have learned that if I keep it entertaining and fun my kids are more eager to learn. Lately we been working on it while munching on Goldfish Crackers as we practice letters and number sentences. 

As a working mom I value the time I get during the week at home to spend time with my kids and be able to take advantage of this one on one moments with all three. My kids are always on top of it when its time to do "school work", they get their snacks ready and Goldfish is our favorite top pick because not only do we get to eat them at the end but we use them for our learning activities. My oldest tends to seek for help when homework time comes around. Now that he is in 1st grade he's expected to be at a certain level in reading and we have been striving to get him there before the end of the school year. I believe working with him on his sight words has helped him tremendously. One of the main reasons is the fact that learning sight words is just a jump away from reading fluently. Just the simple simplicity of recognizing them by sight has given him a better chance to expand his word count when it comes to reading new books. 

I have created a list of all the top words needed (which are quite a lot) to become a fluent reader. The fact that my son easily remembers them by sight makes it so much easier on him. An easy fun way to practice sight words is by

• Making colorful flashcards- cut the cards out and focus on repetition until the word is memorized
• Word of the Day- focus on one word only. It could be one word a day or one a week
• Play Sight Word Bingo- use a Goldfish every time a sight word is called and see who wins first
• Sight Word Match- match the words together

These fun educational activities with Goldfish Crackers are an entertaining way to get them involved and eager to learn. They been mom - approved for me since Ryan was old enough to snack on food. And I love Goldfish because not only do they taste good, they are air baked, made with real cheese. There are no preservatives or fillers added, plus the colors are plant sourced. 

With my daughter our primary focus right now is getting all her alphabet letters down, right now the letter of the week is "O" and so far she has mastered writing her name (I'm so glad Elyse is short and easy to write down) she only struggled with her "s" until I reminded her it is sort of like a snake and that stuck to her ever since. 

Also if you to the Goldfish Pinterest and click on their boards you can find so many easy activities that are easy, crafty and countless of productive and helpful learning activities. I found this one for Elyse as she is learning to count and practicing her addition.

For more fun ideas go to the Goldfish Pinterest page right here

or watch on YouTube right here

SUMMER LATELY PART 1

Just like that July is almost coming to an end. And I'm sorta feeling like where did this summer go? I don't want it to end without at least doing one road trip with the kids. I mean even if it's a simple short trip to Austin or San Antonio. I hesitated in planning a summer vacation with all 3 kids. I am carrying that mom guilt, I know! But let me just say.. I really struggle admitting it to myself and more so with others because part of me knows I should just go for it but I am not ready.. or at least Luke isn't yet. These terrible twos are hitting me hard and fast. 
I would like to know as mothers what are the signs that are there for you that made you confident you could survive a long trip with all kids? 
But until then here's a little of what we have done so far this past month.  For one this month is a big deal since my best friend is getting married and I feel honored to be her Matron of Honor. We did a Bridal shower for her along with family and friends and it was small but perfect because that's exactly what we wanted. Sweet Paris at the City-Centre location is a great spot for a small sprinkle showers. Her little sister did an amazing job hosting this event.

We have also done a lot of eating out as well this summer. You know summer is all about eating good, forget that summer bod! (I know I did) I'm talking about eating out multiple times out of the week here. This picture here is from Father's Day at Texas Roadhouse. We got to spend it with my parents and celebrated my husband and dad together. My dad is always working, he has been the best provider all my life. Growing up I felt that we had it all thanks to his hard work and perseverance to get far as a young dad. Unfortunately the downside was we didn't get to spend much time with him and that is one thing I wish could had been different during my childhood. Sundays are his only days off so it was so nice to have him for the day and spend it all together, even if it was for a short couple of hours. 

We had more crepes this summer then I'll like to admit. It was perfect excuse to celebrate my mom's birthday. So it was a total acceptable reason to satisfy our sweet cravings. We had a night out in town to treat her out the way she deserves.

4th of July was not the usual as we didn't have Ryan since he spend it with my parents. We normally do some BBQ at our place and my parents come. Living in Cypress everyone always goes over the top crazy with fireworks. So that is all we heard all night long. But I guess nothing beats being with the ones you love.