This weekend my son has learned to swim! It was such a special milestone to watch him launch through the water and punch the air with victory afterwards. We have tried many private lessons but he was not making much progress and never believed he could do it until now. It is a beautiful thing when kids believe they can do hard things. I learned to swim in the elementary program in a different country. It was a tough lesson. They dropped me in the deep end several times and told me to grab a pole when I felt I was drowning. I could hold a grudge for such aggresive approach, but I am still grateful that they have taught me this essential survival skill as well as take my whole class on nice swimming pool field trips once a week. When I arrived in America and had children, I was expecting the very best of education presented to us. I did not know, you had to hunt and look for private classes and extra-curriculum activites to teach kids the elemental knowledge or the desired skills in sports, arts and crafts, music, cooking, virtues etc... I am planning ahead how to supplement our kids education with the subject we believe they should know, but it can feel like an uphill and lonely battle. Can anyone relate?
#swimming #parentinglife #familyfirst #homeschooling #elementaryteaching #parentingchallenge
Back in 2019 Hallmark, USPS and Scholastic teamed up for the last edition of: “Show Someone You Care” - an initiative around National Card and Lettering Writing Month (April) to encourage more handwritting and building connections through sent notes. I have not heard of initiatives like this one since, although throughout Pandemic many independent communities did an amazing job sending caring notes to hospitals and all medical workers. In this busy postpandemic world it is not easy to keep up with letter writing, but it is certainly a beautiful and worthwhile habit to maintain for us and our kids. It's been my dream to participate in a snail mail - pen pal subscription program next school year but since I could not find one that would check all the boxes, I invented my own! I offer a very nice price off for a founding members year. Detail in the comment section and in the next post a tip how to teach letter form to little kids. #postpandemic #pswritebacksoon #hallmark #scholastic #usps #writinghabits #letterform
How to get the kids off the screens and engaged in community life? It maybe a little bit easier to plan fun outdoor things for them in the summer but when the school year starts, it could be tempting to fall into bad patterns again. For me it was offering them screen time right after school, so that they could rest independently and so that I could cook and serve dinner without too much fuss and whining around. Screen works like a charm, but as you probably realize it’s not a good solution at all, it’s dulling and postponing emotional outbursts that are bound to happen anyway. I find that the better remedy is to offer them an immediate and urgent redirection like asking them to fetch mail. This simple task fills up their love buckets: be that an act of service and touch to run the errand, quality time when sorting mail together, affirmation and gift if they happen to find something with their name on it! And the best of all, it gets their energy flowing in a different, positive direction that could lead to some amazing moments of connection and discoveries. You can read more about my experience in the blog post I mention in the comment below.
#parentbloggerr #realparenting #parentingguide #parentingfun #parenting #family #children #artforkids #lovelanguages
Are you familiar with the American pop culture legend Mr. Zip, otherwise known as Zippy? And are you aware that he celebrated his 60th birthday at the start of this month?? In case you have missed it... read more in the comment below.
#happy4thjuly #happyholiday #celebrating #60years #summer #holiday #festival #weloveusps #uspsfunfacts #inspiration #goodmood #change
New letter subscription coming to town! Super excited for this founding members launch that will stay open throughout July for 23/24 enrollment. Join us on this awesome adventure! 🚀💌📫📩 #snailmail #weloveusps #traditionalletters #penpals #letterlovers