Back to School– Boosting Independence

Happy New School Year! It's a hectic time for those of us with school-age twins or more– we have a lot of little people that need to get out the door on time each morning. I'm always looking for ways to help my kids take personal responsibility and "help themselves" with household tasks. Our twins are now in the 1st grade (sniff, sniff), improving their skills reading analog clocks, and applying that sense of "time" to their everyday lives.

The twin goals of time proficiency and the practical matter of timeliness inspired me to post a reminder by the clock in our entryway (pictured above). The project took me about 5 minutes start to finish, just right for a busy parent! I used a "How to Tell the Time" children's book that had a "clock" with moveable hands within the book. I moved the hands to the appropriate positions and made 2 separate copies to illustrate the times we get the party started each morning, so to speak.

If your home is anything like ours, you might find yourself repeating similar messages each day to a little crowd of kids. Use your imagination to tackle some of the more common themes, while boosting your kids' independence at the same time.

School Backpack Mayhem!

Our twin boys are in two separate pre-Kindergarten classrooms, and our oldest is in first grade.  Our daughter doesn't start preschool until next fall, and thank goodness for that, because Mommy's already drowning in paperwork!

What to do with all the beautiful drawings, paintings, crafts, and more that come home in your kids' backpacks?  Families with twins have two [or more!] kids bringing plenty of artwork home; the sheer amount of projects can quickly become overwhelming.  How can you preserve those sweet childhood memories without cluttering up your home?

These are the strategies we're using in our house this year to preserve memories [and not feel guilty when we throw away yet another construction paper turkey]:

1. Taking digital pictures of each child holding their special creation or project
2. Posting extra-special projects on our rotating, always updated "Wall Of Fame" [a series of clips mounted to a wall in our playroom]
3. Scanning special artwork.  Digital space is much more plentiful than physical space!  [More affordable than you may think: when our home printer went kaput last year, my wise husband suggested checking out the combo printer/fax/scanner models.  We were pleasantly surprised at the attainable cost, and I was actually happy that our printer had kicked the bucket so we could upgrade!]

Using these methods, you can boost your child's self-esteem by honoring their work, and you won't feel guilty when said work is thrown away.