4 Budget Friendly DIY Christmas Decorating Ideas

I love decorating the house for the holidays, and over the weekend, my crafty side made itself known!  I wanted to spruce up the house a bit, but I didn't want to buy any materials or new decor to make that happen.  Therefore, this is what my sometimes resourceful, budget friendly self came up with...

How to Create A Life-Size Advent Calendar!

The holidays are approaching, and if you are anything like me, you love this time of the year!  Attending holiday events, shopping for gifts, preparing holiday meals, decorating the house, and spending time with family, are just some of the reasons the holidays are precious to me.

This year, while I was getting my holiday mojo on, I was inspired to make my kids an advent calendar.  Hmmm.  I didn't know how I was going to make it, but I knew it was going to involve getting rid of an old tv box that had been taking up too much space in my garage for way too long!  So my desire to purge a little, mixed with my holiday mood, resulted in an epic life-sized advent calendar!

Want to make one?  If so, save yourself some money by hitting the dollar store, (at least that's what I did), and pick up these items.

8 Important Manners Every Child Should Know

Teaching good manners to my children has always been a focus in my household.  Perhaps that was due to my mother's influence on my childhood, and her father's influence on her childhood.  

Practicing good manners teaches responsibility, and leads to respect.  When people are polite, they feel good about themselves and others.  When parents see their children behaving in a polite manner, they feel

My Kids' Silver Lining

Adjusting to a new lifestyle isn't always easy...even when changes are necessary.

This is the story of a silver lining that developed out of a somewhat hard transition in life.

6 Postive Ways to Teach Honesty and Trustworthiness

Honesty is defined as being trustworthy, sincere and credible.  Let's not forget being genuine, for that's important too.  Trustworthiness is defined as being dependable, reliable, and deserving of trust.  I might add being consistent in there somewhere as well.   It would seem to me that honesty and trustworthiness are intertwined and complement each other well.

Have you ever had an experience dealing with

6 Ideas for Teaching Good Citizenship

When one thinks of being a good citizen, ideas of demonstrating good behavior in one's school, community, and country may come to mind, in addition to one's rights and responsibilities as a citizen.

The idea of being a good citizen is powerful to kids.  I remember being in first grade, and receiving a "good citizenship" award.  After

7 Steps to Teaching Good Sportsmanship

Kids love to have fun and play, and most kids love sports!  Adults love playing and watching sports too.  Go to any school during recess time, and you will find many children engaged in some sort of sport.  Go to any sports bar, during playoffs, and you will find lively entertainment.  It's clear people of all ages love sports!

Sports aren't just fun to play and watch.  They are also healthy and team building too.  But what happens when good sportsmanship turns into bad sportsmanship, and

Tips for Teaching Listening Skills to Children

Building listening skills is very important for children and adults.  After-all, who doesn't want to be heard?  When we are heard, we may feel validated, connected to others, and understood.  When we are ignored, we may feel forgotten, frustrated, or angry.  So the simple solution would be to listen to others, and act accordingly.  But that may be easier said than done.  For being a good listener doesn't always come naturally to everyone.  So what gets in the way of practicing good listening skills?

The Ultimate Respect Resources Video

I've recently been on a video making kick, so thought I would make a video to show people what comes in a typical character education packet found in my TpT store.  The packet I chose to highlight was respect.  Why respect?  Because respect is an essential social skill, and when people give and receive respect, amazing things can happen.

Sweet Welcome Letter Video

This letter was written from the heart, (my son was my inspiration for writing it).  It may be used by Teachers, Specialists, or Parents due to it's multiple versions and looks.  It works well as a Welcome Letter at Back To School time, or may be used anytime.  It may be displayed or given to a child, and comes in multiple versions.

Character Education - Social Skills Bundle Video

My Character Education - Social Skills Bundle is complete!  This video gives you a feel for what the bundle looks like and includes.  Suitable for multiple elementary ages and abilities, and everything comes in black & white, in addition to color. 

8 Meaningful Ways to Teach Empathy

Empathy.  A good definition for kids may be the ability to understand and share the feelings of
others.  As adults, we know the importance of feeling heard and hearing others.  When we are heard by others, we feel connected and understood.  Empathy takes that one step further, as our feelings are not only heard, but also understood and shared by others.  Empathy is powerful because it can comfort, calm, and diffuse intense situations.  It helps others not to jump to conclusions and aids in people getting along.  If we can teach this skill to our children, we can create

Completed Social Skills Bundle!!!

It's Been Quite a Summer!

Have you been enjoying your summer?  Have you been traveling?  I hope vacations, family time, and gatherings have been filling up your summer calendar.

I have been home with the kiddos, arranging play dates and fun outings here and there.  They are most excited about our upcoming annual family camping trip that will happen soon!  By the way, if you are looking for camping tips, check out these...