Search Results for: blog stumped at school

When Your Child Doesn’t Want to go to Preschool

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Your child has been happily attending preschool for a while now. He or she always comes home with a smile and a story about something fun that happened that day. Now, suddenly, your child has started to resist going to preschool. What happened? Here is a quick checklist for parents who are baffled by their child’s declaration of “I don’t want to go to preschool!” Keep in mind that it is totally normal for a child to decided that he or she no longer wants to attend preschool. There are days when you don’t particularly want to go to work, … Continue reading →

Being Adopted at School

As children settle into the new school year this week, some will encounter curiosity from classmates. Younger children may be asked, “is that your real mom and dad?” If they are from a non-diverse area, they may have comments about skin color or physical features. Older children may have teachers ask if their parents speak English. One middle-schooler found that her teachers’ attitude toward her changed when they met her white mother. The teachers had assumed that the girl was an illegal alien and that they wouldn’t be able to communicate with her parents. One of our blogger’s wrote about … Continue reading →

How to Encourage Creative Thinking in Your Preschooler

Thinking outside of the box is a useful skill for anyone to have. It goes hand in hand with creative problem solving, an ability that is highly valued by both schools and employees. Creative problem solving can lead to all sorts of successes in life, from basic survival to an abundant life. Encouraging creative thinking should start early. Even toddlers can come up with a bit of creative thinking. By the time a child is of preschool age, you should foster an environment that offers plenty of opportunity for creative thinking and problem solving. So how can you create this … Continue reading →

I’m Still Sort Of Really Qualified to Homeschool a Gifted Child

A big thanks to Andrea for letting me share our adventures with Alex over the past year or so. In case you’re just joining us. . .Alex is our son and he is a little bit smart. This is part 2 of a series about choosing curriculum for him. I hope you find it helpful if you’re just starting to navigate the road of homeschooling a gifted child. Mom Panics I left our story last by describing the first leg of our journey–where I panicked. Last year, Alex flew through three whole grade levels of curriculum. But it was the … Continue reading →

Adoption and Heritage Presentations at School

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In my last blog I wrote about questions from classmates that have been bothering Meg. I wrote about how I had worried that making a class presentation on adoption would just call extra attention to Meg and make adoption seem like a big deal. In my experience the only parents who came and made a presentation to the class about their child were parents whose child was newly diagnosed with Type I Diabetes. They came to explain to the other kids why their daughter was in the hospital and what she’d be able to eat when she returned. I don’t … Continue reading →

Stumped at School

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Okay, I admit it—although I agree that it’s best to talk about issues rather than stick your head in the sand, it’s awfully hard to put that into practice with my own kids! I’ve heard lots of people say that our kids hear remarks about race and/or adoption that they don’t tell us about—but of course, my daughter and I are so close that she would naturally tell me right away, right? I feared that if we did a whole big presentation on adoption at the beginning of the school year—as some experts advise–we’d make it into a bigger deal … Continue reading →

The Heritage Report, Continued

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In my last blog I shared that my eight-year-old has to write a report on a country in our family heritage. Our family contains seven different ethnic heritages (that we know about), but Meg herself is Korean. She’s talking about doing Canada for the report. While my husband’s family name is French-Canadian in origin, his family moved to New England generations ago, and of all the heritages Meg could choose from, that’s probably the one we have the least family ties to. (I guess she could write that my Yankee in-laws can distinguish half a dozen grades and shades of … Continue reading →

Tips to Build ‘Number Sense’ in Your Children

What is number sense and why would you want to build it? Number sense refers to the general understanding of numbers. Kids (or adults for that matter) who have good number sense see patterns and relationshps in numbers easily. Kids who struggle with math probably have poor number sense as well. Is your child stumped over understanding that 2+3 is the same as 3+2? Spending some time just working on building number sense might just help you! 1. Memorize those math facts. Gone are the days when you have to do flash cards or drill sheets to memorize math facts. … Continue reading →

A Man with a Plan?

Monday night I had my end of the season tournament for the volleyball league I play on. It can be a long night, depending on how many teams are playing and how many points each match goes to. However, I enjoy it because I get to catch up with friends. Such as my friend Chris. We met at the beginning of last summer on Tuesday nights, when a bunch of us get together and play sand volleyball in one of the local parks with a group called Team Green. Chris and I hit it off right away. He’s easy to … Continue reading →

Media Review: The W.I.S.E. UP Powerbook—a Workbook for Children

Kids are curious about adoption. Adopted kids will naturally be asked questions by their peers. Some of these questions are appropriate and some are not. Some the adopted child may just not feel like answering. We may tell our children the facts about adoption, but often it is hard for children (or any of us) to come up with a response when put on the spot. The W.I.S.E. UP Powerbook is aimed at empowering children to decide how they want to handle adoption questions. This book is published by the Center for Adoption Support and Education, a non-profit family support … Continue reading →