Mindfulness is defined as the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and not overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us.
It requires practice! Here are some awesome links with more info and resources!
I think I am going to stop posting daily ideas to go with the themes, like Make Something Monday etc., and start posting some other information I think might be helpful to parents who are stuck at home and suddenly charged with educating their kids. Today, let’s talk about anxiety.
Love this video about learning to calm down and breathe from the point of view of children.
Happy Monday! I hope you had a great weekend at home! Back to the home school game! I ended up making Logan a binder and printing out the assignments from his teachers so he can see them every week. He also has a notebook he keeps at his “desk” (our kitchen table) and I make him a TO DO checklist every day. He also has a weekly TO DO checklist from his PE teacher and his Music teacher, so I add “one PE thing” and “one Music thing” to his daily list. I find it helpful to keep me organized and he likes being able to see what he has left and what he has completed. How are you organizing your homeschool?
For Make Something Monday, I thought it would be fun to make something springy. We have a lot of animals in our backyard that we notice every day when we are distracted from our school work. Now that the snow is melting and it is warming up, I’m hoping to spend some time doing yard work. This might encourage Logan to spend time in the yard with me.
Here’s a fun bird feeder from The Resourceful Mama. Logan spotted a blue jay in our backyard the other day so he will be happy to feed our birds. But not our magpies. Not a fan.
Check out this post with core strengthening exercises for kids from The Inspired Treehouse. Logan and I have had fun doing some workouts together. He doesn’t have very much patience for yoga, but I’m just happy if he is moving!
Brain breaks are so important for kids – even if they don’t struggle with attention issues. In the bookScatterbrain by Henning Beck (great book by the way) Beck suggests that our brains have a limited ability to focus. He says that a good measure for time is age. So a five-year-old can focus for 5 minutes before they are distracted, a 10-year-old, 10 minutes. Design activities that keep this in mind – your children will not be able to sit at the table for hours on end. This is a sure fire way for discontent and poor quality work. Change up activities often – even if it is as simple as reading to writing to computer work to a hands on activity. Logan and I have been having “recess” with snack. Body breaks can be a great way to get your kids to reset, regulate or just get them moving.