Summer Enrichment: The Good & The Bad

Over the summer, I have tried to keep a routine for the children. I didn't want school to sneak up on us, and come to the realization that we hadn't practiced math, writing or comprehension questions.

With children in elementary school, middle school and my youngest entering pre-school this fall, finding something that worked for everyone was a bit of a challenge. We've tried iXL and ABC Mouse and I wasn't sold. iXL was great for enrichment and following up skills with repetition. However, it didn't move quickly enough, and the process for completing a level was daunting and often times lost the child's interest and resulted in careless mistakes. ABC Mouse on the other hand, I hated it from the beginning. We tried a year long subscription a few years ago, and I felt the website wasn't user friendly. While this may have changed,  I can't imagine they have drastically changed their program enough to make me comfortable with my 2/3 year old using it.

With all that being said, I couldn't find one thing to work for everyone. For my Middle Schooler, we are using Read Theory. I really like this particular website, it's free, and has a very in depth scoring method, and allows you to see how your child is answering comprehension questions, and at what reading level the articles are written for. For reading, I've also found Newsela to be a fantastic way for children to learn about current events at a proper reading level. You can select an article of interest, and decide if you'd like to read that article at a 3, 5, 7 , 9 or a 12th grade reading level. It's also quite interesting to have your child read at varying levels to see the different ways authors write to inform their target audiences. My son began a foreign language in 6th grade, and will continue on with the foreign language this year. To keep him up on his Spanish, we used a website his teacher recommended, duolingo. For Math, this was the one area I struggled with finding the perfect resource. I found Khan Academy to be the best at allowing a child to refresh old skills, but still have the ability to learn new information.

For my rising 2nd grader, I really like the Complete Curriculum series. I enjoyed how the books are broken down into skills; Reading Skills, Spelling Skills, Math Skills, Language Arts and Writing. At the end of the book are a few tests that can be given to evaluate the child's progress, but also allows the parent to glimpse into their child's test taking skills a bit. This book at almost 800 pages long wasn't something I planned for my daughter to finish over the summer, but instead be used as enrichment throughout the year, on weekends, days off or days she doesn't have homework, but her brother does. I have been happy with this book thus far, and would definitely purchase the 3rd grade series for her next summer. However, with my son, I've used Summer Bridge Activities in summers past and was very happy with the series, and will likely revert back to this when my daughter enters 4th or 5th grade. I didn't find these books to be as fun as the Complete Curriculum series, so they are better geared towards older children. I'd also like to mention, for days when we are on the go, I have an app, XtraMath, that I use for Math Facts just to make sure she stays caught up on her skills.

Lastly, for my youngest. At 2 1/2, keeping her quiet and occupied while the older kids complete their activities is quite the challenge. I've found the MyPlayHome and TocaBoca apps to be both enriching and engaging. However, If I am saving screen time for later, I like Paint with Water Activity Books, and Kumon First Step Books. A few of our favorites are Sticker & Paste, Let's Cut Paper and Let's Color. Although the workbooks are targeted at 2 & up, I definitely think they are geared more towards 3 year olds.

I'd like to know, what have websites/apps/books have you found helpful?

New Mom Must Haves

With a new baby on the way in just under 90 days, I've begun going through my baby items and figuring out what items can be replaced, what items can be reused and which items need to be re-stocked.  For my youngest, we had had the britax b-ready stroller and carseat system, it hasn't expired, so I will be reusing it with our newest. I loved the ease of this particular car seat/stroller duo and the safety britax products provide in general.

This time around, I will likely still use my old diaper bag, but have been on the hunt for a diaper backpack to help keep my hands a bit freer. I think this one fits the bill, the size, and style are exactly what I've been searching for. Also, for the crazy first few nights, whether at home or the hospital, I found a comfortable nursing bra to be a must have, as well as these lansinoh breast pads, I've been using them after the birth of each of my children since 2003. I also received this cardigan for Christmas last year in two colors, which would be perfect with a tank and leggings for chilly hospitals, and ease of breast-feeding and skin-to-skin contact with your newborn baby. Of course, the baby boppy pillow has been a staple for me for the last decade as well; I've found it useful for nursing and assisting a baby during their learning to sit stages.

For diapers, I have sworn by honest & co diapers for the last 2 years. For $85 a month, fun printed diapers arrive at my door within 1-2 days of ordering. If for some reason my daughters have outgrown a size, I can simply exchange for the next size up without a penalty. The delivery dates are also extremely flexible. If I find that I have a surplus of diapers, I can easily bump back the date of my next delivery. Fortunately, we haven't had many cases of diaper rash, but when it strikes (especially around teething time) I've been found Dr. Bodreaux's butt paste to be the perfect tool for soothing baby's discomfort.

A few more items that I found extremely helpful were a bedside bassinet; baby eats many times during the first few weeks, and having her close to me helped the feeding/sleeping process go much smoother for the two of us.  I've also found the Aden & Anais swaddle blankets to be a little costly, but very versatile.  They make swaddling a breeze with their large size, but have played double duty multiple times when I've needed a nursing cover-up, a baby blanket or mat. Of course, a baby bath and hooded towel for baths. Again, I've used this tub with all of my children, and love the mesh sling, it has helped with sponge bathing newborns, but easily transitions to a much larger baby, as they grow so fast, it really is great to find a product that adapts to the different stages.

The last few items on my list; this is my absolute favorite story. Just such a sweet tale, my favorite line from the story is "or notice the bears asleep at the zoo. Its because they've been dancing all night for you." Just sweet sentiments about how important each child is. We've never had a rock n play before, but with my youngest, I used a few friends and did see the benefit, but a little too late to purchase my own, so for this baby, it was at the top of my list.  There are a few different models, a manual, and two automatic, one controlled by a switch on the unit and the other can be controlled by your smartphone.  I've opted to go with the standard automatic model. And finally, baby monitors. Our last baby monitor bit the dust, this time around after some research, we will be trying this one which runs about $80 on Amazon. We have an old iPad I plan to use to monitor, but like that I have the capability to still view her from my cellphone. From my initial research, the camera quality appears to be great, and set-up sounds like a breeze.

What are your new baby must haves? I'd love to know.

New Mom Must Have's by laurenscorner featuring cardigans

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Simple Chicken Salad

A quick summer lunch recipe. I threw this together based off of this recipe last night for a playdate today. I love how quickly this can be prepared, and how adaptable the recipe is. You can substitute with items in your pantry, don't have raisins? Use another dried fruit. I didn't have celery, but felt like the apple that the recipe recommended would add the crunch we were missing from the celery. I also upped the miracle whip and curry amounts to make a currier, wetter mixture.

Fruity Curry Chicken

Shredded Rotisserie Chicken (about 2 cups)

Onion (1/2 chopped, I used vidalia)

Apples (1 small, chopped)

Raisins (1/8 cup)

Purple/Red Grapes (1/2 cup, slived)

Black Pepper (1/4 tsp)

Miracle Whip (3/4 cup)

Curry (1 tsp)

Combine all ingredients into a medium bowl and mix well, refrigerate overnight and serve on toasted croissants. Enjoy!

Easy Summer Dinner

Allrecipes is my go to for delicious, reliable recipes. Yesterday evening, I was looking for a quick meal that could be completed on the grill, was relatively healthy and quick. I found this Marinated Grilled Shrimp and was pleasantly surprised with the flavor. I followed the recipe to a T, and found this 8 ingredient recipe to be easy and flavorful.

Marinated Grilled Shrimp

3 Cloves Minced Garlic

1/3 C. Olive Oil

1/4 Tomato Sauce (but I bet ketchup would substitute)

2 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper

2 tbsp Basil

2 lbs Shrimp Peeled

Mix all ingredients (minus shrimp) in a bowl, once well mixed, add shrimp, and marinate for 1 hour.

Skewer shrimp, and grill.

I served this with summer squash, drizzled with olive oil, salt & pepper and a starch of pearlized couscous.

Organizing Life...

In the past, this blog hasn't quite been the outlet that I expected, but I'm hoping for a fresh start; to use this as a way to simply organize my life.  I hope by writing out what has worked for me, and kept me on track, I can reflect back when things get a little out of hand and unmanageable. I want to make myself accountable for being the best partner and mother that I can be, but most importantly I want to make sure I am taking care of myself.

I've found that I am my most productive when I wake up early. By doing this, I have a few moments to myself where I can unwind with a  cup of tea, check e-mails, unload the dishwasher, finish a load of laundry.

On a daily basis, I am trying to not touch items more than once and put my phone down more. By not touching an item more than once, I mean when I am finished with that item, it gets put away, either away in a cabinet, or a room; a dish in the dishwasher, instead of dirtying up the sink. By doing this, I know where everything is, and I'm not wasting time "looking" for something because everything has (or should have, this is a work in progress) a place.

I'm trying to meal plan, to not only save money and stick to a budget, but to keep my family healthy. Making foods that both nourish our bodies and our souls.

I've also learned with the craziness that comes with 30's and three children; I must write everything down. This helps in a few unexpected ways. The obvious, I don't forget what needs to get done, but unexpectedly as well, I can list items in order of priority, this means I always having a running list for the day. It gives items a sense of urgency, I try not to put them off until later, which only creates a panic. Lastly, checking an item off sure feels liberating.