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12 Surprising Benefits of Play by parenting guru Dr. Michele Borba

Posted on October 1, 2011May 29, 2024 by Pragmatic Mom

I actually found this post on The 12 Surprising Benefits of Play (and really, the crucial importance of unstructured play time for children) through The Goddard School and asked her for permission to post. Her exact words, “Thanks for asking. Please post. Trying to get the word out – poor deprived kids. Sigh.” You just gotta love a expert that is so easy to relate to! I met Dr. Borba on Twitter and she’s my “go to” for all things parenting and education including cyberbullying & bullying, special education, and hot button issues including biting, tantrums, cheating, bad friends, inappropriate clothing, sex, drugs, peer pressure, etc. What is different about Dr. Borba from other parenting and education experts is that she’s grounded in the real world talking constantly to parents about the issues they face every day.

Best Baby Shower Gift Ideas

Posted on September 16, 2011May 29, 2024 by Pragmatic Mom

I am partial to coordinating a group present and buying one big ticket item for expectant parents. It’s not easy to pull off but I remember how daunting and expensive it was to get ready for a new baby. This is not to say that I am not buying cute outfits with matching socks and hats — this is my only chance to buy those these days and it’s so much fun to pick it out! But if I think back on what I really needed; items that are impactful, special, unusual, and thoughtful, this would be my secret fantasy list of what I would want.

How about you? What gifts do you particularly treasure?

Teach Me Tuesday Guatemala Pragmatic Mom PragmaticMom

Guatemala: kids books, recipes, weavings and more

Posted on July 15, 2011June 8, 2024 by Pragmatic Mom

I landed in Guatemala because I actually had no idea of what to post on but I keep an email folder of “books that I want to read” from all the blogs that I read and Libertad came up and that was it for me. I don’t know much about Guatemala though my oldest just did a unit on the ancient civilizations of South and Central America but I always get the Aztecs mixed up with the Mayans. I think she had the Mayans, though.

10 Books You Were Forced to Read in School that You’d Read Again

Posted on July 11, 2011June 8, 2024 by Pragmatic Mom

Yep, I was forced to read these books as a kid also. Must be a rite of passage. A few I read on my own, but many of these were assigned reading. Check out this list from Time Magazine online to see if you had to read them too! And more importantly, will you make sure your kids read them too?!!

Best Books for Tweens by Middle School Boy

Best Books for Tweens by a Middle School Boy

Posted on June 10, 2011June 9, 2024 by Pragmatic Mom

Capability:Mom gave me her summer camp newsletter because there is a boy there who all the kids go to when they need a good book recommendation. The kids think he is a kind of genius boy wonder that knows pretty much everything on the planet. I believe he is in middle school. He was kind enough to write up his book recommendations for the newsletter and I have retyped it for you. I love peer to peer book recommendations. Who better to know what you will like than your friend?!

11 Great Books for Tween Summer Reading

Posted on May 23, 2011June 9, 2024 by Pragmatic Mom

If your elementary school is like my elementary school, kids entering grades 3-5 need to read 5 or so books during the summer (and do a book project on one of the books). It’s not normally a struggle to get my kids to read 5 books during the summer except for the selection of the books because the summertime reading has to be especially engaging to compete for their time! These 10 books should do the trick. And if your child reads 5 books and fills out a form from Borders Bookstore, she or he can get one of ten selected books for free.

Top 5: Using Electronic Devices to Get Kids Reading

Posted on April 28, 2011June 9, 2024 by Pragmatic Mom

As a parent whose youngest (and only 6-years-old!) is already attempting to spend every waking hour in front of a screen, I thought I’d suggest some ideas for getting reluctant readers excited about reading in the vein of “if you can’t beat them, join them.” Or a corollary: “Let’s be sneaky and use electronics as a Trojan horse to present reading in a different light.” I’ve been blogging about these ideas that I’ve discovered over the past year and I’m pretty excited about them. Let me know what you think and if they work for you.