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Tag Archives: Parenting
3 Tips for Planning a Baby’s Nursery
“If you are a couple who is just starting off together who have agreed that you want children in the future or a single person who knows you want to raise children even by yourself, begin your strategies to make your house a home immediately so your future children can feel comfortable and safe (McGowan, 2010)”
Parenting Strategies on the Go p. 1
McGowen, S., (2010). Making a House a Home.. For Everyone. The Exceptional Parent,40, 21-23.
3 Tips for Planning a Baby’s Nursery
- Choose soothing colors for your nursery.
- Choose furniture to grow with your children.
- If at all possible, place the nursery beside your bedroom.
Soothing Colors:
Just a Few Soothing Colors: our “White-Lilac” is bottom right
Ammon and Carter were approaching 10 weeks old for their christenings. Our preacher came to our house for a preliminary “walk-through” on what to expect the day of the christening. He walked into Carter and Ammon’s White Lilac-colored nursery and said, “Wow, this color is so soothing.” BINGO! The color was planned to be both neutral (boy & girl’s nursery) as well as soothing. Too bright (yellow, red, or orange) might be too stimulating aiding hyperactivity. Too dark (black or burgundy) might be too depressing aiding in depression and melancholia. White Lilac was and still is great.
Furniture to Grow with your Children:
One day in the near future, Ammon and Carter will be in their own rooms, and they will choose their own colors and themes for their rooms; however, they will not be choosing new beds. We chose the Cocoon Nursery 1000 Series to grow with our children’s needs. They were first cribs then they converted to double beds. We have no plans to buy new beds, and when Carter and Ammon move out of the house one day far into the future, they can take their suits with them.
Cocoon 1000 Series: Please note this is NOT our nursery LOL
Place the nursery beside your room:
Crying babies with fevers, coughing spells, vomits, and bad dreams have quickly awakened me. I cannot imagine running across the house or upstairs to my children’s rooms. I want to comfort my babies ASAP. I am so thankful that from DAY ONE when we first laid eyes on our future house (some 4 years before Carter and Ammon were born…just a distant thought) we knew our child’s room would be adjacent to our room. At the appropriate time, Carter and Ammon will move to their future, solitary rooms.
Nursery Adjoins Master: Our room does not connect with Carter & Ammon’s; However, our doors are 10 ft. apart
Stress Relief: Counting to 10
“Sean and I had already been teaching our children to count and breath in relaxation exercises that would reduce their anxiety (Fraser, 1996) so I decided to “practice what I was preaching”. (Parenting Strategies on the Go , p. 1).
Fraser, M. (1996). Aggressive behavior in childhood and early adolescence: An ecological-development perspective on youth violence. Social Work, 41, 347-362.
Scenario:
The children are running, fighting, yelling or whatever. We parents with multiple children have all been there. You, the parents, are TIRED OF IT! In your most controlled voice you state, “Sit down and be quiet.” Begin counting to 10 in silence.
Three things Counting to 10 can do for you and your children.
- It is a signal to your offspring that this is serious enough for silence. It builds their schema (the mental map) that their behavior was unacceptable.
- It gives you time to “think through” the exchange of dialogue that is coming up. It may be the children can explain their actions then change those actions through dialogue with you. So, they have the opportunity to correct the problem, or you, the parent may have to correct the problem through positive or negative reinforcements.
- You are the parent who needs to control the situation not the children. You counting to 10 calmly lets the children know that their ruckus did not control your actions where you act inappropriately (yelling, cursing ). Screaming, cursing, and ranting don’t help solve problems. Thinking, discussion, and changing inappropriate actions do.
Parenting Strategies on the Go
“Parenting Strategies on the Go” -Haven Caylor, Ed. D.
Parenting Strategies on the Go
In 2008, life blessed my husband, Sean, and me with two healthy babies. We have an engaging and magnetic tale of parenting with unique learning strategies on the go that all parents can benefit from; however, this book is far more than that. As a professional educator, I saw how both everyday events like planning food and clothing and special trips like a visit to Disney World were gateways to introducing children to life skills and to nurturing cognitive development through learning strategies. With minimal planning time, any parent can use these strategies to inspire their children to learn, and the best part is that the planning and the execution of the plans are fun and exciting.
Each chapter is devoted to exposing children to diverse learning strategies: Strategies to elicit proper behavior in public events, strategies for choosing souvenirs as teaching tools, and strategies to journal your children’s precious life events. The concluding chapter is a strategy unit guide for learning during a special trip—in this case, New York City—and we got to test that guide in June 2013.
Red-Tailed Hawk Unit Plan
Multiple Intelligences Unit Plan
There are 8: Naturalistic, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Intrapersonal, Verbal-Linguistic, Interpersonal, Logical-Mathematical, Spatial, & Musical
(1) Naturalistic- Being outside and watching flight patterns of Hawk. Flying straight looking for food or circling for “entertainment” (anthropomorphic) ….. which leads us to ….
(2) Bodily-Kinesthetic Carter, Ammon, and I try to jog every evening. We turned our our jog into a fun experience with Toy Red-tailed hawks and some hawk-circling moments. It was awesome
(3) Intrapersonal coupled with (4) Verbal-Linguistic)
- – Write a paragraph with an opening statement, 3 supporting declarative statements, and a closing sentence telling how Carter and Ammon feel about red-tailed hawks.
This also took several days as a part of our writing lesson plans. I was so proud of Carter and Ammon’s first, complete, 5 sentence paragraph.
Carter writes his first complete paragraph in 5 sentences.
Ammon completes her first paragraph with 5 sentences.
(5) Interpersonal- Two quick interpersonal interactions with acquaintances based on our book , Christmas Hawk.
Ammon’s Interpersonal Conversation
Ammon’s Dermatologist: “How cool is it that you all helped write a book?”
Ammon: Yes, she calls to us when we call to her. She eats field mice.
Ammon’s Dermatologist: Good luck with your book signing.
Ammon: Thank you
Carter’s Interpersonal Conversation
Carter and our family Friend, Joann
Joann: This hawk lives near your house?
Carter: Yes, she circles above our house, and we wrote a book about her.
Joann: What is the name of the book?
Carter: “Christmas Hawk”….(Carter hands Joann a copy of the book).
Joann: That is beautiful! Congratulations!
Carter: Thank you.
(6) Logical-Mathematical- (A)Cypher and work 4 word problems based on a reading “Cool Facts” from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: About red-tailed hawks.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/red-tailed_hawk/lifehistory
After reading, I created these mathematical word problems.
- A red-tailed hawk can make 1 nest in 7 days. How many days would it take a red-tailed hawk to build 3 nests? (21)
- If 4 male red-tailed hawks each weighs 2 pounds, how much do they weigh altogether? (8)
- If a female red-tailed hawk can lay 3 eggs a year, how many eggs would she lay in 5 years? (15)
- If we have 20 red-tailed hawks and there are equal numbers of males and females, how many male/female pairs would be made? (10)
I am not wasting your time with pics of Ammon & Carter’s answers, but they both made 100s.
(B) Make a fun board game having Hawk fly from start to finish:
- We used coins for game pieces.
- We used two regular dice.
Sorry it’s sideways, but here is our board! I was so proud, and the game was so fun!
(7) Spatial– Color a Red-tailed Hawk
(8)Music- Create a short song about Red-Tailed hawks
It took several days to compose the lyrics then execute the song it was a wonderful experience. It is a combination of both Musical & Verbal-linguistic Intelligences.
Fall Fun 2015
Here in the Southeast Autumn is Awesome! We may not have the spectrum of autumn colors that New England has, but we do have some great colors. To me, the best part is the cool, sunny days that are not too cold! If you notice what Carter and Ammon are wearing, they are wearing T-shirts and jeans. However, at sundown, it got so chilly. I think the low for this night was about 45 degrees.
I love the magical, autumn memories Carter and Ammon have been making during their lives: autumn leaves, beautiful views of Hunter’s Moons in October, the early frosts covering our roses, learning to ride bicycles, and now starting to learn to skateboard. We are so blessed, and I want to share, once again, what our mantel looks like from the First Day of Autumn until the Day after Thanksgiving.
Our harvest angels have graced our home for several years now. During the autumn, they flank our Lladró figurine of Jesus Christ, The Master Teacher. As I turned their faces toward the figure of Christ, I couldn’t help but think of Dante’s Paradiso XXIII 43-45:
Then her eyes turned to the eternal Light
Into whose depth we may believe the eyes
45 Of no other creature penetrates more clearly.
When there are angelic figures or human figures on our mantel, I try to position them where their eyes are fixed on the Eternal Light, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Summer Beach (Mixed Media Artistic Delight)
Ammon & Carter share another Mixed-Media Masterpiece July 20, 2015
Need (Suggested beginning doses: more paint for darker color OR add more water to lighten it up)
1 Plastic Cup
4 tsp. Water
2 drops Watercolor Blue
1 Burnt Sienna Oil Pastel Crayon (Rembrandt)
1 Turquoise Blue Oil Pastel Crayon
1 Light Orange Oil Pastel Crayon (Rembrandt)
1 Sheet Water Color Paper
1 Paintbrush
Beach Scene Stickers (eksuccess brand)
Clear glue ( I prefer Elmer’s)
Step 1: With a pencil, etch the line of the beach and etch a line of where the ocean meets the sky.
Step 2: Make a perfect circle for the sun with the round lid of any container.
Step 3: Color the beach, ocean (sea), and the sun with your oil pastel crayons.
Step 4: Mix your water and drops of watercolor blue and apply it liberally over the sky. Once again, the oil based pastel repels the watercolor, so if some gets on the ocean, it’s okay. It can also add to the different hues in the colors of the ocean. 😉 Allow to dry for 24 hours.
Step 5: Stickers do not go well on the slick oil based crayons, SO add clear glue to the backs of the stickers and place them where you want them. Beach scene is ready for display!
Ornamental Cherry Tree Pastel: A Spring Masterpiece in 4 Easy Steps
Carter & Ammon’s Spring Pastel Painting
Need (Suggested beginning doses: more paint for darker color OR add more water to lighten it up)
1 Plastic Cup
4 tsp. Water
2 drops Watercolor Blue
2 drops Watercolor Green
1 Brown Oil Pastel Crayon (Holbein Oil Pastel)
1 Big dollop of Pink tempera paint
1 Sheet Water Color Paper
1 Paintbrush
Step 1: On the Water Color Paper, lightly pencil the ground and tree
Step 2: With a brown oil pastel crayon, heavily color the tree
Step 3: Trying not to allow the green and blues to mix, saturate the ground with green and the sky with green. Once again, the oil pastel repels the watercolors.
Allow the Painting to Dry for 24 hours
Step 4: With pink, tempera paint dollop out pink. With the child’s finger tips (prints) dabb the tree with pink fingerprints to make the pink, ornamental cherry blossoms then allow to finish drying.
Easter 2015
Ammon & Carter: Easter 2015
Happy Easter Everyone: “He’s alive, and he is risen”
St. Patrick’s Day 2015
My 1st 4 Leaf Clover of 2015 was found on St. Patrick’s Day!!
St. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin, Ireland: June 13, 2011 I’ve always enjoyed all the “wearing of the green” and the leprechauns on St. Patrick’s Day. However, it wasn’t until our day in Dublin, Ireland June of 2011, that I felt a “spiritual conncetion” with Saint Patrick. I had even read several times yet without absorbing much history of Saint Patrick to really know his story.
St. Patrick
He had been taken from homeland in Wales (Great Britain) to be a slave in Ireland. He was approximately 16, and by his early 20s he had made it back to Wales. He then became a minister and returned to Ireland. He writes that he “baptized thousands of people”. He ordained priests to lead the new Christian communities. He converted wealthy women, some of whom became nuns in the face of family opposition. He also dealt with the sons of kings, converting them too.
Carter, Nana, Haven, & Ammon (admiring the vaulted ceilings)
June 13, 2011: St. Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin, Ireland
My favorite building in Dublin, Ireland was St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It had such a warmth and “spirit” about it. It wasn’t like other cathedrals I have been in where it was like a museum instead of a place of worship. St. Patrick’s work was filled with love and giving, and his spirit seems to permeate his cathedral.
Haven's Ideals by Haven Caylor-Brown 