My daughter loves to climb things.  Even before she was able to walk, she would climb on small things.  She quickly mastered the feat of climbing the stairs and has recently learned, with great efficiency, who to go down the stairs as well.  I knew that she would climb the stairs and that she would probably climb on things, but I never could have anticipated the extent to which my daughter has learned to climb. Unlike her big brother who was not much of climber at all, my daughter is very adventurous when it comes to height.   Beyond stairs climbing, … Continue reading →

I am of the opinion, especially after teaching for five years, that learning should occur in the context of everyday living spurred by curiosity and creativity.  Learning should be fun and easy and never forced … if it can be helped. From the moment I found out the I was pregnant with my first baby, I was thinking about how and when I would start to introduce guided learning.   The most important and paramount concern that I had was finding a way to make learning fun and avoid the sense of dread and boredom that tends to come with formal … Continue reading →

A couple of months ago I added yoga to my weekly workout routine in an effort to ease the strain from my typical high intensity cardio workouts and to help my husband strengthen his core since he refused to do anything but yoga.  Aside from the obvious struggles of exercise i.e. motivation, commitment, follow through, balance, endurance etc., there is the added difficulty of exercising with young children who basically demand mommy’s attention twenty four seven.  My three year old son has gotten really good about playing and getting a snack or drink of water for himself while I exercise … Continue reading →

The acquisition of language skills in infants is more than a little bit difficult to predict.  Babies develop in a wide and varying “normal” range.  While some vowel sounds and simple consonant sounds seemed to be mastered in baby babble,  it is nearly impossible to determine when an infant is going to use those sounds to communicate in words with deliberation. In an effort to aid communication with our babies, my husband and I introduced to our children at around six months an array of simple signs. The hope was that the combination of sounds and the signs would helps … Continue reading →