Integrating Celebrations: Flag Day, June 14th, 2012

According to Wikipedia, "In the United States Flag Day is celebrated on June 14. It commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened that day by resolution of the Second Continental Congress in 1777.[1] The United States Army also celebrates the Army Birthday on this date; Congress adopted "the American continental army" after reaching a consensus position in the Committee of the Whole on June 14, 1775." By now, your child has been exposed to Memorial Day and will soon be exposed to the 4th of July. So to a young child, this all could be very confusing as the flag is present in every Holiday. I explain to my child that Memorial Day is to remember all those people that fight for us, 4th of July is America's birthday, and Flag Day is well, the flag's birthday. All represent America. Here are some books you can read to your child. I find that even for my older children, they love to hear a quick story, especially in the summer. Pictures books are great for all ages. w a Afterwards, have some fun making a yummy flag treat. I find there are so many places to find recipes, but my favorite is KraftFoods.com What You Need: **3cups boiling water, **2pkg. (4-serving size each) JELL-O Berry Blue Flavor Gelatin **2cups ice cubes, **2pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened **1/4 cup sugar **1tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, **2pkg. (4-serving size each) JELL-O Strawberry Flavor Gelatin, or any red flavor **2cups halved strawberries **1/2cup blueberries Make It: STIR 1-1/2 cups of the boiling water into dry blue gelatin in medium bowl at least 2 min. until completely dissolved. Add 1 cup of the ice cubes; stir until ice is completely melted. Pour into 13x9-inch dish. Refrigerate 20 min. or until gelatin is set but not firm. PLACE cream cheese, sugar and half of the whipped topping in large bowl; beat until well blended. Spoon over blue gelatin layer in dish; spread carefully to evenly cover gelatin layer. Stir remaining 1-1/2 cups boiling water into strawberry gelatin in separate bowl at least 2 min. until completely dissolved. Add remaining 1 cup ice cubes; stir until ice is completely melted. Let stand at room temperature 5 min. or until slightly thickened. Spoon over cream cheese layer in dish. Refrigerate 3 hours or until set. SPREAD remaining whipped topping over dessert just before serving. Decorate with strawberries and blueberries to resemble a flag. Store leftover dessert in refrigerator

Integrating Holidays: Memorial Day- Repost

Due to the business of my job, mom duties, wife duties, and life in general, the month of May flew by. Here is a repost from last year about Memorial Day. I hope that you enjoy this Holiday and have had a wonderful weekend remembering and being with family like I have had the pleasure of. Memorial Day: Repost

Integrating Holidays: Cinco De Mayo

Cinco de Mayo, the 5th of May, is a day celebrated in America as a day of heritage and pride. In Mexico, primarily in a town called Puebla, it is a holiday called, El Dia de la Batalla de Puebla (The Day of the Battle of Puebla).In the state of Puebla, the date is observed to commemorate the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín. It is not Mexico's independence day-that is September 16th. Here are a few books you will enjoy to check out.

So what fun literacy things can you and the kiddos do to recognize and celebrate Cinco de Mayo? How about sing about it? Here are some songs you can read and sing along together to familiar children's tunes. And of course, cook up some Mexican food and enjoy a great meal. All Around Puebla (to the tune of Pop Goes the Weasel) France invaded Mexico In 1862, Thinking they would march, march, march, march Right into Mexico City. But what they had not counted on Was General Zaragoza Who ordered his men to fight, fight, fight, fight, Fight for their freedom. So all around Puebla The Mexicans chased the French, Until the last French soldier gave up – Cinco de Mayo! Cinco de Mayo (to the tune of Are You Sleeping?) Cinco de Mayo, Cinco de Mayo, The fifth of May, The fifth of May Is the anniversary Of a great victory For Mexico. For Mexico. Today’s a Day to Celebrate (to the tune of London Bridge) Today’s a day to celebrate, Celebrate, celebrate, Today’s a day to celebrate Courage under fire. The Mexican Army, they were poor, They were poor, they were poor, The Mexican Army, they were poor, But that did not stop them. They followed orders and charged ahead, Charged ahead, charged ahead, They followed orders and charged ahead, Routing the French forces. A great victory they did win, They did win, they did win, A great victory they did win In the Battle of Puebla. Today’s the Fifth of May (to the tune of The Farmer in the Dell) Today’s the fifth of May, “Cinco de Mayo,” we say, Let’s join hands and sing and play – It’s Cinco de Mayo today.

Integrating Seasons: Earth Day

Today's Google grows on you!

Today is Earth Day. Earth Day, which was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970, is celebrated in many countries each year on April 22. Hopefully the weather is nice and you can get outside. The NY Times had a great article on 10 Ways to learn about the environment. Click HERE to get some ideas. Activities that inspire inspiration and awareness is what today is all about. Go on a walk, plant a flower, look for bugs. And at the end of the day, write about ways you can love the earth.

Integrating Seasons: Spring Games

Last year we talked about a few books you could read for Spring, here is the link if you need some ideas.

Spring 2011

I want to try and do an activity this year, that I cannot remember the last time I did it. If I ever did it. How many of you have ever flown a kite?


This book is for kids learning about verbs. Perfect for grades 1 and up.


This book is perfect for a simple read and beginning readers.

And let's not forget our cute furry frien, Curious George

Integrating Culture: St. Patrick's Day

Thanks to Pinterest, people are getting ideas to do so many fun things and crafts. I hope that these books will help to pair up with the cute green foot prints and green food coloring I spied earlier this week. Getting the little one excited about a tricky leprechaun will be fun!

Last year, I gave a writing activity for the older kiddos. You can see the link here: St. Patrick's Day

This year, here is a baby book, along with a few more picture books.

Integrating Holidays: Happy Valentine's Day!!

Make February 14 a special day with activities that extend Valentine's Day into academic subject areas. You can do counting for math, experiements in science, and of course writing in Language Arts.

The kids can make Homonym Hearts, Synonym Hearts, Ideas to Write from the Heart, and write a short story on "All about Valentine's Day". Just click on the words to see the links. They are free printables.

Of course, you can google all kinds of activities as well. Have fun teaching them why we have a day dedicated to LOVE. There is nothing wrong with that. It's what the world needs now, right? You could even find songs all about it everywhere and then have your kids write their own poems and songs.
Here are some fun books to read with your kids while you make cookies, cards, and decorate card boxes.

I love the stories of a love of child and parent best:





These are oldies, but goodies. I only recommend paper backs for a few reasons:
1. Older kiddos can read them to siblings
2. That's all we parents have time to read and reading is important-to our children as well as for ourselves.
Of course there are chapter books out there, and I will dedicate more posts to those, should you need longer reads for your kids.


Olive, the Other reindeer was a cute book and now she is back!

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!!

P.S- I really wish I could get these posts out to you sooner, so you can order the books, but as a working mom myself, it is close to impossible. I can only hope to share these with you and the local library or book store has them. You don't have to read them on that day, but all year through. Enjoy!!