Here's how to Explore Nature in The Woodlands with Your Child

The outdoors are open and beckoning for you to visit! You and your child can enjoy the beauty and wonders of nature by exploring just outside your front door. All you need is some observation skills (tips below), and you can add in a notebook and field journal if you’d like!

Even if your child is an infant confined to a stroller or baby carrier, he/she can still benefit from nature – there’s a lot to see and hear, and plenty of fresh air to breathe!

Use your senses to observe the world around you. Lizards and June bugs are really showing out this season, but what else can you see that isn’t immediately noticeable? What can you hear? Stand still, wait, and watch.

Let's start homeschooling!

Have you been wondering about what to do with your child for the upcoming school year? As guidelines roll out and school districts share plans for conquering the upcoming months, many parents are starting to grow concerned.

THE OPTIONS:

School resumes in August or September this year, and we’ve got options to consider! Many of our local districts, including Conroe ISD (Woodlands-area schools), Klein ISD, and others, have detailed an On-Campus learning option for students (with the requirement of wearing masks, social distancing, etc.), as well as a Virtual / Online learning alternative (which doesn’t exactly equate to “homeschooling” in the general sense. The virtual learning option will most likely require your child to be enrolled in the school, be available for daily attendance, possibly plug-in for live virtual classes, follow the scope, sequence, and lesson plans of the teacher/ school, and submit work for grading, etc.)

What’s a parent to do? Send your child to school where he’ll have to adhere to new COVID-19 guidelines, or keep him home and try to navigate the waters of the school’s newly-formed online learning program?

Read more …

Summertime Projects: Chalk Board Table

I've always wanted to try chalkboard paint! You too? Well, you'll be happy to know that it's quick, easy, and from what I've read, foolproof. This old worn play table I purchased from Pottery Barn Kids 12+ years ago became my first project, and I'm pleased with the results. Here's a quick "before" photo plus DIY instructions, followed by a couple of photo of the finished table.

BEFORE:

How to Celebrate Memorial Day at Home with Kids

You were planning a fun-in-the-sun, social-distancing type of Memorial Day, but the forecast calls for rain beginning at noon. Need a new plan? Try these ideas:

Watch the PBS Video of the Arlington National Cemetery. Explore the history, mission, and daily operations of this final resting place for 40,000 Americans.

Have a family feast. Too wet outside for firing up the grill? Try this delicious recipe for Mom's Oven-BBQ Ribs by Taste of Home.

At-Home Learning Throughout Summer: Tips for keeping your child sharp over the long-haul

No doubt many of our readers have been feeling the stress of taking more active roles in their children’s education. As time away from the classroom extends into summer, we're also facing the challenge of helping our children maintain what they’ve learned through a summer of uncertainty.

This year’s shift to at-home learning has provided plenty of resources you can use to keep your children’s minds engaged and actively learning. The shift has also prompted families to create new routines and healthy learning habits. Continuing these best practices over the summer may prove beneficial in setting your child up for success when he/she returns to the classroom.

Get Outdoors and STAY! Here's how to prolong your time outside

It’s starting to get HOT outside already, but there’s no reason why we should stay cooped up in the house. There’s so much fun to be had outdoors at your own abode, but if you’re like us, sometimes the kids (and even the adults) are ready to go back inside all too soon. Here’s our short list of supplies you can have on hand for prolonging everyone’s outdoor time and keeping the crew content.

No guests, No problem. Your child can have a Happy Birthday at home, even on lockdown!

birthday party at home

Did you have big plans for your child’s birthday, only to be disappointed with the news that your favorite venues would be closed for business when the time came to celebrate? I’m with you! Two of my children have birthdays in April, and our plans for celebrating at Urban Air, Sakekawa Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar, and The Woodlands Mall have all been crushed. There’s hope for me though, because since I have a larger-sized family, everything we do together seems kinda like a party. But what about those of you with a single child? How do you celebrate at home, in a big way, without the cousins and friends around? Try one of these ideas:

9 Categories of Ideas for a Super Productive Week!

Need ideas for a productive day at home? Cover items in each of these categories each week, and you and your crew will feel plenty satisfied.

Music

Gather the family for an all-out jam session using any instruments at your disposal (metal spoons on pots and pans, oatmeal container drums, bean shakers, etc.). My teenager likes to pull our her guitar or ukulele, while the rest of us use toy instruments.

Special Events Calendar - Life at home in The Woodlands just got more interesting!

Are all the days starting to look the same for you and your crew as you honker down during this Coronavis crisis? That's certainly the case at my house. With the exception of our streaming church service on Sunday, our daily routine is pretty identical. We homeschool Monday - Friday, and sometimes even that spills into the weekend. There are no extracurricular activities - running to dance lessons several times a week, sewing class, speech therapy - to help us keep track of which day it is. Even my husband, who usually travels extensively for work, is passing his weekdays at home with us (which we are loving, by the way). The only time we leave the house lately is to visit the grocery store or to take a walk through the neighborhood. And the kids aren't included in the grocery runs, so they are literally home ALL the time with the exception of our evening walks.

Enough of the "homeschooling" kerfuffle! These projects ideas are WAY better than academics!

Coronavirus is giving us (and the rest of the world) the business! We’ve seen so many articles to the effect of “welcome to homeschooling”, and, while clearly it’s time for us parents to get in the driver’s seat when it comes to educating our kiddos (at least for the time being), we don’t recommend switching into high gear with a new homeschooling routine and brand new curriculum just yet. Trust us, we value academics, but they aren’t going anywhere. How often do we really get to take our time and relish in working together on special, memorable projects with our kids? When you look back on this time after life is back to normal, do you want to say “We did a great job maintaining and keeping school going” or would you rather say “Boy, what special things we did!”?

Fun At-Home Ideas for Spring Break

Many schools are closed due to Coronavirus, and travel plans are being cancelled too. Even the Disney Parks are closed now, guys! Are you chilling at home, scratching your head for ideas on what to do? Here are some fun ideas to put to use!

Plant a raised garden bed – Now’s the perfect time to plant cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes!
Ride bikes / scooters around the neighborhood
Backyard camping – Set up a tent, pop popcorn, enjoy s’mores around the firepit, read books, and have root beer floats
Play board games – or card gam,es – or Jacks – or charades
Do puzzles – Sharpen you mind with jigsaw puzzles, Rubik’s cubes, brainteaser, and riddles.
Have a movie marathon! Surely you’ve ordered Disney Plus by now?
Hike the trails – We love the George Mitchell Nature Preserve.
Play on the front lawn with hula hoops, sidewalk chalk, bubbles, jump ropes, and remote controlled cars.
Have a tea party – with stuffed animals, tea cakes, finger sandwiches, and fake accents
Put on a puppet show! Or a dance show! Or a play! Have fun learning the lines and creating all the costumes and backdrops.