Happy Thanksgiving to All LLGers

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family filled with thanks and laughter. Don't forget to visit FamilyFun for some great Thanksgiving art projects and recipes for the whole family to enjoy.

Teaching Music with Putumayo Kids

Every classroom needs music. I always had music playing when the students walk in every morning and while they did their morning warm ups. Even though my school had a music teacher once a week, my class learned about different types of music from different eras and cultures around the world through Putumayo Kids.  

I linked Putumaya Kids music to lessons we were learning in other curricular areas. For example, my 2nd graders were studying African myths in Language Arts and reading "How the Guinea Fowl got her Spots." For music time I used the Putumayo Kids "African Playground" CD and their online lesson plans for this particular CD. We discussed the instruments and how African music played a role in their culture. We learned African songs and made noise shakers for Music, made origami paper boats for Art, and studied the continent of Africa for History.

Parents and teachers need to go to Putumayokids.com, listen to the songs, read the lesson plans for each CD, and buy one of the many fabulous CDs they have to offer.

Saturday Saying- Soaring

One can never consent to creep when one feels the compulsion to soar.

-Helen Keller

Instill your child's future with good words, thoughts, and ambitions. The more effort you put into being a good role model and example to your schoolers the more inclination they'll have to want to soar. 



Parent-Teacher Conferences

It is so important to to make it to your child's first parent-teacher conference.

Some parents talk to their child's teacher on a daily basis, some a weekly basis, and others may have made it to Back to School Night. As your child gets older the less you'll be inclined to visit your child's teacher. That is one of the reasons why it is so important to go to your scheduled conference. You'll be able to know, in detail, how your child is doing in class, what his/her strengths and weaknesses are, and ask the questions you've been needing to ask your child's teacher.

Most teachers are on a strict conference schedule and allot 15-30 minutes for each conference (depending on the teacher). If you think you'll need extra time ask ahead of time for it. In the end you get your child's first report card of the year.

Gluten Free After School Snack

Click here for a great after school snack recipe from adventuresofaglutenfreemom.com. These orange wedge jello snacks are sure to be a hit with your little schoolers.

Quick & Easy Mommy Beauty Treatments

Hey moms, too busy today to hit the spa for your biweekly facial? Does your skin and hair look a little dull after yesterday's wind storm?



Well, here are some quick all natural at-home beauty enhancer treatments for an on-the-go mommy.

1.) Shiny, Moisture Rich Hair:

-mash up two bananas and add 2 tablespoons honey into a small bowl, place mixture in hair focusing on the roots, use a shower cap to contain the mess, leave in for 20 minutes and wash as usual

2.) Beta Carotene Face Mask:

-cook one sweet potato and mash it up, add 1/8 cup oats, and a couple pinches of nutmeg, mix and apply to face, then wash off after 5 minutes

3.) Chocolate Bar Skin Softener:
-use one bar of dark chocolate (cocoa rich) and melt it in a small saucepan, let cool, and rub graciously on your body, wash off with water


Get all these mommy beauty tips and more in a fun & creative book by Kym Douglas called The Beauty Cookbook.

Saturday Saying: Prisons vs Schools

More money is put into prisons than into schools. That, in itself, is the description of a nation bent on suicide. I mean, what is more precious to us than our own children? We are going to build alot more prisons if we do not deal with the schools and their inequalities.

Jonathan Kozol

Why Not Sylvan?

Sylvan's easy. So are all those other tutoring places, such as, The Tutoring Club, Tutor Time, and Kumon.

They're easy because they tell you that they test your child and start their program where your child tests. They offer a preplanned educational schedule for your child, in order to go to the next level you need to complete the assignments in the current level. Some of these places employ credentialed teachers, reward good behavior with tokens, and have a comprehensive payment schedule. On paper these educational tutoring chains look like the perfect place for your child to get ahead in school.

What parents don't know is that however well your child does on their initiation test they are placed on the lowest level program. Hence, some children will spend 3 or 4 tutoring sessions completing basic level work that is too easy for them. The worst and most disturbing part of these tutoring facilities is that for the entire hour your child is completing worksheet after worksheet and booklet after booklet while being supervised by a paid adult. There is no specific instruction on what each child maybe struggling in. For example, a child who has a hard time with long vowel spellings will do the same exact worksheet as a child who is having a difficult time recognizing when to use the wh, sh, ch, th sounds in their spelling. Even though these are two completely different problems each child does the same work.

Specialized instruction is always better. Worksheets, computer clicking, and choosing abc doesn't teach a child. Always look into all the options for your child's tutoring needs and choose the best program, company, or facility to help and easy your child's educational experience. Just because you see that car driving around town or ads saying it is the leading tutoring company may not mean it is truly the best for your family.

Learn to Spell Colors Through Song

My little nephew started Kindergarten this school year. He is such a brilliant mind and soaks up information better than a sponge. He has always loved to sing and to have all eyes on him. He now goes around grandma and grandpa's house singing his color songs that jingle to the tune of popular nursery rhymes. These songs not only help him learn how to spell his colors, but also things that are the color he's singing about.

I love these songs so much and it's just so sweet to hear the little ones sing it, so I decided to share them with you.

Red

Tune: Are you Sleeping?

R-E-D, R-E-D

I can spell red, I can spell red.
Firetrucks are red
Stop signs are red, too

R-E-D, R-E-D

Blue

Tune: The Farmer in the Dell

B-L-U-E spells blue.
B-L-U-E spells blue.

Hi! Ho! Did you know?
B-L-U-E spells blue.

The big sky is blue.
The ocean is too.

Hi! Ho! Did you know?
B-L-U-E spells blue.

Green

Tune: Bingo

There is a color we all know.
Can you guess what it is?
G-R-E-E-N, G-R-E-E-N, G-R-E-E-N
That's how you spell green.

Grass and leaves and trees are green
and grasshoppers are green, too.

G-R-E-E-N, G-R-E-E-N, G-R-E-E-N
I like green, don't you?

Yellow

Tune:If You're Happy and You Know It

Y-E-L-L-O-W spells yellow
Y-E-L-L-O-W spells yellow

Like the early morning sun
When the day has just begun.

Y-E-L-L-O-W spells yellow
Y-E-L-L-O-W spells yellow

Like the smiley face who's yellow
He is such a happy fellow

Y-E-L-L-O-W spells yellow

Orange

Tune: 10 Little Indians

O-R-A-N-G-E, O-R-A-N-G-E, O-R-A-N-G-E
Orange is what that spells

Jack o' Lanterns are always orange
Carrots are always orange
Oranges are always orange

O-R-A-N-G-E

Black

Tune: She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain

B-L-A-C-K spells black. Yes, it does!
B-L-A-C-K spells black. Yes, it does!

Some cats are black
Some bats are black
Some boots are black
And I like black

B-L-A-C-K spells black. Yes, it does!

Purple

Tune: Camptown Races

P-U-R-P-L-E
Purple, purple
P-U-R-P-L-E
Purple's what that spells

Purple grapes on the vine
Purple Kool-Aid's fine

P-U-R-P-L-E
Purple's what that spells