Good Behavior For Gems & Jewels

Every house has its rough patches, right? When one (or both) of the kids is behaving like a little monster poorly, I can usually figure out what’s causing it. It’s usually a change in sleep, a change in diet, or that we are too busy! Monday we started an intentionally calm week, and it has worked wonders.

Besides slowing down, the other trick to pleasant days in our house is rewarding positive behavior. A few moths ago we implemented a great system that I saw on Teach Mama.

The kids earn Gems and Jewels for good behavior. We call the little beads gems, and the larger ones jewels. They can earn them in tons of ways, like helping someone, putting away toys without being asked, remembering to clear their plate from the table, etc. It’s been a really simple way for us to consistently recognize good behavior.

The goal is to reach the line in their bowl. When it starts getting close we talk about what they would like to earn as a reward. After filling his bowl a couple weeks ago, Ryan had a movie night with Dad . We have a rule that they can’t ask for gems or jewels (that could get really annoying in our house). Sometimes Ryan will point out that he did something the first time that I asked, or was helpful. They both can also lose beads for poor behavior, but we don’t do that very often since we rely on 1,2,3 Magic techniques . I picked up the containers and the glass beads at the dollar store.

This system has been working great for a few months in our house! Ella’s bowl is almost full so we will soon be enjoying a family trip for frozen yogurt :)

Why we are homeschooling…

Today was the second day of our school year and we spent the day “country schooling” at Grandma and Grandpa’s.

	We feasted on the first ripe blackberries of the season.
	We learned that even though deer poop looks like black beans- the similarities stop there…
	Ryan got a tractor driving lesson with Grandma.
	We played elaborate games with our cousins and their plastic animals.
	We took a break from playing outside and played Rainbow Race with our cousins.
	Ryan found a drowned lizard that he ‘loves’ so much that it just had to come home with us…
	Time with Grandma wouldn’t be complete these days without some painting! We discovered secondary colors and used watercolors to make beautiful rainbows.
	After that long hard day the kids didn’t fall asleep on the hour-long trip home! Probably because we were repeating our Spanish lesson from the trip there. Ryan wanted ‘just one more game’ before bedtime books.

The idea of this being a ‘school day’ is absolutely joyous to me!! We put a lot of thought into what to do for school this year (far too much if you ask my husband and close friends…) Ryan absolutely loved and thrived at his preschool last year, but his teacher isn’t sure if she’s going to be open this year. Ryan thrives learning at home too. He technically is supposed to start Kindergarten next year, but is very comfortable in all of our Kindergarten curriculum.
Ella is only two. She loves to play and isn’t really interested in many of our tot school activities.  Both kids get tons of social interactions everyday with friends. SOO, to make  a very longwinded decision short- we’re using this as our ‘trial year’. We’re working on establishing a daily rhythm and cherishing our time together. I’m focusing everyday on being the kind of mom I want to be and trying not to think about how way too soon our kids will grow up and we won’t have the luxury of spending all of our time together.

**As you saw- we had a good day, which makes me confident in this current decision. However, I reserve the right to plead temporary insanity and ship them both off to preschool if  we drive one another nuts ;)

A Realization...

As you can see, I've struggled to find time to blog his week (but that's a whole other story...)

I had a realization this morning and wanted to quickly share it with you. It happened as I was walking to the kitchen to let the dog out, Ryan asked me to turn on his bedroom light. Normally I would tell him to wait a second and finish what I was doing. Then I realized, how often do I do something the fist time my kids ask?

I always want them to do what I ask, the first time. And, I don't tolerate them telling me to wait. My husband and I parent by modeling good behavior.

I'm going to work on this! But now I must go, they've asked for five things in the two minutes it's taken me to write this...

Losing TV Time

In the past few weeks Ryan has fallen into an old habit of getting out of bed constantly both at bedtime and during the night. We typically prefer to reward positive behavior, but a mama's gotta sleep!! So, I created this chart for Ryan. The 3 tv's are attached with velcro. Each time he comes out at bedtime or wakes us up during the night we will take a tv. If he doesn't have any tv's left in the morning he doesn't get any television time for that day. I'll let you know how it works...

Vitamins and Supplements for Kids

I frequently get asked by friends and family about vitamins and supplements. I thought I would put some recommendations here. Let it be clear- I am not a doctor, I have no medical training. I just put a lot of research into what I give my kids and thought it may be helpful. I have started buying all of these products on amazon. It is WAY cheaper and easier than trekking out to Whole Foods or the Co-Op. You can check out the products and buy them at my amazon store. Here's to a healthy family!