Favourites Archives | Raising A to Z

How to Host a Poetry Teatime

June 18, 2020June 19, 2020

Last summer, I asked Alexie what she wanted to learn and do in her homeschooling this year. She had a few suggestions. One of them was to have more tea parties.

That’s certainly an idea I can get on board with.

Poetry teatime was an idea from “Brave Learner” author Julie Bogart. The concept is simple. Host a tea party with your kids and share some great books and poems.

If this is an idea that you think your kids would love, let me walk you through how to host the perfect poetry teatime.

1.Make Some Snacks

We love to make some food for our party. We often make some kind of baking, whether it’s cookies, muffins, or loaf. Because of Alexie’s food sensitivities, we usually have to make 2 different recipes, but it’s just a normal thing for us. We also like to make seasonal choices or to connect with a book or poem that we will read. By doing a little baking we are adding some math and science to our teatime.

2. Set the Scene

It’s important to take some time to set the scene for our tea parties. We set the table with our nice china, little plates, and cute napkins. We light tealight candles, arrange some flowers, and make it a pretty place to sit. It’s also a great idea to set the ambiance by playing some soft music in the background.

3. Serve the Tea

Serving the tea is very important and how we kick off our tea time. Feel free to serve whatever liquid you would like. Favourites at our house include pink lemonade, iced tea, and hot chocolate in the winter.

4. Start Reading

Julie Bogart started poetry teas as a way to foster a love of poetry in her children. And while we often read poetry from one of our Shel Silverstein books or others, we’ll also read things other than poetry, too. We’ve read Christmas stories during the holidays, picture books by some of our favourite authors, or even a chapter or two from a chapter book the girls were already reading.

While the idea of poetry is nice, I also love the idea of teatime just being a time to read and share a love of literature. And when the girls get older, they’ll be able to take turns reading aloud and might even take the opportunity to read one of their original stories or poems.

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Homeschool Supply Haul – Back to School Supply Shopping

September 10, 2019September 10, 2019

There’s a little nip in the wind and there are a single tree here and there who’s leaves have started to change colours. That means summer is winding down and that in a few weeks Stéphane will head back to work and we will return to our “school year” routine. And while we will miss having dad home everyday, I’m certainly starting to crave the return to routine. It’s “back-to-school” time here and we are gearing up for a busy fall.

I love back-to-school time because I love back-to-school shopping. I’m a bit of a stationary junkie, and I look forward to all the sales. The pens, the notebooks, the colouring pencils…I love it all. And so do our kids.

I took Alexie for a little shopping trip and we picked up a few things to help fill our shelves for the upcoming months. Here are a few tips for back to school/homeschool supply shopping.

Take advantage of the Sales

Back to school sales are the BEST sales for supplies all year. From pencils and paper to shoes and backpacks. So now is the time to pick up some great things that you will need throughout the year. If you’re stocking up, stock up on the basics or things you will need.

But if you want to avoid the crowds either shop early or late. We went early about 3 weeks before school. Or you can wait until school in your area starts. By the end of the first week of school, the sales are still on but everyone else has finished shopping.

Do An Inventory

Before you go shopping, check what you already have. We had some watercolour paints, construction paper and a few other things. By checking and seeing what I had, I didn’t over buy. I was able to stay in budget and focus on what we needed. It also meant that I had a few extra bucks to splurge on a nicer notebook or new pens.

Get the Kids Involved

I took Alexie shopping with me. She loved picking out her different supplies. Letting them pick out a special note book for journaling or a new pack of markers makes it more exciting for them. If they are excited about the coloured pens or pink note books, they are more likely to be excited to use them.

Back-to-school Supply Shopping for Homeschool

Hopefully you have as much fun supply shopping as we did. Do you have any tips for Back-to-School shopping? Share them in the comments. We can use all the help we can get!

Educational Kids Shows on Netflix

April 7, 2019April 8, 2019

Sometimes you just need to watch a movie. Maybe it’s rainy outside. Maybe the kids are a little under the weather. Maybe you’ve had a busy week and everyone is tired. Or maybe you just really want to watch a show.

Well, those are all valid reasons to watch a show. We personally don’t have cable or satellite, so Netflix is our main form of T.V. and movies. It’s great when you can find something that is not only fun and entertaining, but also educational.

Here are some of our favourite shows that we find on Netflix that our kids love and teach them something along the way.

We personally love:

Planet Earth
Planet Earth II
Blue Planet
Growing Up Wild (or anything from Disney Nature)
Magic School Bus
Magic School Bus Rides Again
Ask the Storybots
Storybots Super Songs

Shows for kids on Netflix that are educational

What are some of your favourite educational shows? We’d love to add to the list…especially for a rainy day.

Painting with Papa

March 23, 2019April 8, 2019

It takes a village to raise a child. Luckily, we aren’t afraid to ask for help.

The other day, Alexie wanted to do some painting. And she decided to call her grandpa, a retired art teacher to come over and paint with her. He happily agreed.

While he was over, he and the girls got busy painting. Papa talked about watercolor techniques. He showed them how to pick up the paint with their brush, how to use water properly and how to use color in a their art.

Watercolor Lessons for Preschooler with Papa

We’re so happy that Papa could come over to visit and I’m sure that he’ll be back to teach some more art lessons.

Flashback Friday: Winter Memories

March 23, 2019April 8, 2019

In this Flashback Friday, we’re looking at our favourite winter memories. We live in northern Ontario where we have snow and cold for 6 months of the year.

In this video, you’ll see see the fox that visits Mémé and Papa’s house, our awesome horse-drawn sleigh ride and the EPIC sliding hill, we’re still trying to keep secret.

It’s important for us to get out and enjoy the snow and cold as much as we can. If you can’t beat it, then join it!

Friday Fun Day: Building a Fort

March 22, 2019April 8, 2019

It was a cold, snowy day and we had no interest in heading outside. So we stayed inside and got to work building a fort!

We usually get dressed every day, but every once in a while, we like to have a PJ Day and just relax. But that doesn’t mean that the learning stops.

Fort building is a great activity for little kids. It fosters creativity and imagination. It has all kinds of engineering aspects and it’s a great way for them to build something life-size.

Forts are a great way to make other activities exciting, too! Want to know what’s more fun than reading? Reading in a fort, of course! A fort is a great place to do puzzles, read or colour.

Friday Favourites: Our 5 Favourite Alphabet Books

March 22, 2019April 8, 2019

We love books and reading. The girls constantly have their noses in books. Not that we have a problem with that. We love that they love to read because it’s a great way to learn!

Alexie has a goal of learning how to read this year, which means we need to learn our letters first. So we’ve been reading lots of alphabet books lately. Here are some of our favourite letter books.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom – A fun book that goes over the letters not only once but twice. The letters climb the tree, fall out of the tree and then start again. It’s bright, colourful and engaging which is a win for us!

Animalia – This book is beautifully illustrated. Each page features a poem using words with only that letter, and the illustrations are filled with things that also start with that letter. The challenge is to find all the words that go with the corresponding letter, and then you still have to find Graham (kinda like “Where’s Waldo?”).

ABC of Canada – We love a good Canadian book! This one is filled with Canadian landmarks and icons. It’s bold lines and colours make it a fun read and it’s just a super patriotic series.

Dr. Seuss’s ABC – A classic, that cannot be forgotten. This book is silly and fun and it’s a classic.

The Awful Alphabet – This book is so funny. They find the worst possible thing that start with each letter. It’s disgusting, gross and amazing. It’s a different type of alphabet book which makes it a fun alternative to other alphabet books.

These are some of our favourite alphabet books. We’ve read each of these numerous times and I’m sure we will read the again, because they are really that great.