A couple of years ago, I made a chart that my oldest son, then three years old, would use to keep track of his television time. He was allowed to watch two, half-hour shows each day and one movie each week. Whenever he watched a show or movie, he would color in a square on his chart that coincided with the current day and type of screen time.
This system worked wonderfully until his younger brother became old enough to also want to choose his own shows. At that point, we tweaked the system so that each child was allowed to choose one show each day that both children watched, and together we would choose one movie each week.
Again, our idea worked for awhile. However, I began to grow concerned about the amount of screen time they were getting since they were following the “TV Time” rules but were now playing video games for short periods each day in addition to the original screen time. I have since developed a new, easy to follow system to keep track of all types of screen time.
I have one, small coffee can for each child. On each coffee can, I had my children attach twenty-one clothes pins. Each clothes pin represents thirty minutes of screen time, and they begin each week with all twenty-one. Each time a child watches a show or chooses to play a video game (with a timer set for thirty minutes), a clothes pin is removed. If he watches a movie, three clothes pins are removed, one for each thirty minute increment. Each child may use up to five clothes pins each day. However, once the pins are gone, they do not receive any more until the next week begins.
The first week we implemented this system, the pins were gone before the last day of the week had arrived. They were forced to endure an entire day with no screen time (which was actually a wonderful day!). This is our second week. We have two days left, and there are still twelve pins on each can!!
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Written by Laura on January 27, 2012
When I look out my window here in Pennsylvania, I see bare trees with snow on their branches. They are barren, yet beautiful. My children have come to learn that “the trees are sleeping for the winter”. As spring approaches, the trees will “wake up”, and buds will fill the branches until soft, new leaves emerge. In the summer, these leaves collect the sunlight and rain.
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Written by Laura on January 23, 2012
When my four-year-old began to express a sincere interest in completing home-school activities of his own, I figured it was time to order him his own curriculum from the same cyber school that my older son attends. At first , he was very excited to being learning like his big brother, but now I feel ...
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Written by Laura on December 30, 2011
While taking a long car ride as a family, my six-year-old came up with a game that we now play almost anytime we are in the car for more than fifteen minutes. It is a simple guessing game, but it helps children learn and reinforce beginning letter sounds. It also gets them concentrating on a topic for a long period of time (Much more than the usual five minute attention span), and gets the creat
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Written by Laura on December 21, 2011
I wasn’t sure how my four-year-old would react to seeing The Nutcracker performed on stage. Although this was actually his second viewing of the production, I don’t think that at two-years-old he really understood what he was seeing. As it turns out, my preschooler was able to understand much of the story in Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece.
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Written by Laura on December 16, 2011
As your child is learning to recognize various shapes, challenge her to find them in her world around her. Here is an easy to make game that your child will enjoy at home or in the car.
Create a set of Bingo cards using the generator available at http://www.mathworksheetwizard.com/kindergarten/shapes.html. Each time you click on “Make Worksheet”, the program will create a new Bingo c
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Written by Laura on December 14, 2011
In our family, we have a list about about a dozen or so chores that our children help with when assigned to them for the week. One of the chores our kids actually fight over is setting the table. Our boys love this job because, if they are table setter, they get to decide which color plate each child receives and who gets which color of cup. These are very important decisions in the lives of yo
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Written by Laura on December 12, 2011
Here is an easy, long term activity you can do with your child to practice identifying letters and the sounds they make all while strengthening fine motor skills. My own son is very tactile and this has proven to be the best method for him to learn his letters. He enjoys working on this project a little bit at a time and seeing his work displayed when he is finished.
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Written by Laura on December 9, 2011
Most often throughout the day, I am very focused on all of the wonderful things my preschooler has to tell me. In any given day, I may learn about his new friend at preschool, a piece of artwork he just made, or why he is going to be a superhero, named Jack, when he grows up.
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Written by Laura on December 7, 2011
I can remember my own mother telling me that she was about to “hit the end of her rope”. I never really understood the analogy. But now, as a mother as well, I have found myself using the same words, and I am pretty sure it has something to do with the unravelling of nerves.
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Written by Laura on December 5, 2011
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