Count those Granola Bars!

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,11,14,18,19...30! 

(I think my 3 year old needs more practice!)

Young children are notorious for counting. They count their fingers, how many ducks are in the pond, how many skittles Mom dishes out, how many "plops" end up in the toilet, the number of presents under the Christmas tree, how many grapes in their bowl, or the number of pennies in a coin purse.

A few weeks ago, my five-guy sat down at the kitchen table where a big box of granola bars was sitting. He randomly asked, "Mom, can I count the granola bars?" My first thought to myself was, "No, they will get scattered all over, opened, smashed, or eaten." However, after he asked again, I thought, "Sure - count, count, count. Why would I discourage counting - the foundation for good math and number skills? Count those granola bars!"

He proceeded to count to 44. He needed a little bit of help here and there but he had fun and it kept him busy for ten minutes or so. It was a learning activity that strengthen his number and sequence knowledge. Who needs fancy counting toys when you have a box of granola bars lying around? (However, the box of granola bars doesn't stay that full for very long!)

44 Granola Bars!

Let's do it again!

Other thoughts for counting practice:

1. Counting Money - you can never have too much practice with this vital exercise. Use pennies to learn to count by 1's, nickles to to count by 5's, and dimes to count by 10's. Get out a jar of coins and let them go to town!

2. When reading stories, incorporate counting. How many dogs are on the page? How many balloons are in the air? How many children are at the beach? Encourage the counting and eventually it will come naturally. 

3. Number recognition - I love the large number shaped magnets for the refrigerator. They will have them numerically lined up in no time.

4. Counting and food preparation go hand in hand. Engage your children in food prep and they will be counting how many cups of flour for the dough, how many eggs have been cracked, how many pieces of potato went into the pot of soup, or how many slices of banana were added to the fruit salad. Making cookies? Give out a handful of chocolate chips but no eating until you've counted them first!

Counting - vital preparation for perfecting time management, financial success, getting A's in math class, making meals, leadership skills, musical excellence, and usefulness in the workplace.

While he's busy counting granola bars and chocolate chips, I'm busy counting children to make sure they're all in the car, counting Weight Watchers points so I can keep up with the children in the car, and counting my blessings that I have all these experiences in the first place!

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!

Change your Underwear!

Warning: Discussions about underwear

Note: Names and gender withheld to avoid embarrassment

From Day 1, I have reminded my children to change their underwear every day. I'm sure I've said it thousands of times. Wearing the same pair of underwear for multiple days in a row absolutely grosses me out! 

Today, one of my children was out of clean underwear. In response, another child says, "I never run out of underwear. I have tons in my drawer." This got me thinking. Why do they always have "tons" of clean underwear. Now, if I didn't have anything else to do but keep up on the laundry, I could understand that. However, that is not the case, so I asked... "Are you changing your underwear every day? When was the last time you changed your underwear?" The response about killed me: "Oh, every time I take a shower." What???!!!??? How many times have I reminded you?

Ok, so the picture is cheesy but I needed a visual, and I'm not going to take a picture of my child's dirty underwear. However, I think I need a more stern look on my face!

Back to the above response. In the summer time when we do showers every single day (because I cannot stand sweaty and stinky children), I can go with the "every time I take a shower" reasoning. But, winter time is a different story. Three or four showers a week means only three or four clean underwear changes. Ouch! We quickly had a discussion about changing underwear every day. "Haven't I told you to change your underwear every day?", I asked. 

Child: "I don't remember you saying that." 

What??? Selective listening! I am a true believer in this concept. 

What do I learn from this? 

1. Check the supply of underwear in your children's drawers :) If there is a healthy supply but your dirty laundry is piled high, you know there's a problem!

2. Make sure they really know by formally discussing.

3. Realize that even with my consistent reminders, the child has to internalize and buy into the concept for it to really happen.

The reward for the day? The child without any clean underwear wore half-dry but clean underwear to school because the thought of wearing dirty underwear is "FOUL"! Yes, it matters! 

There you have it: wet but clean underwear shows buy-in and internalizing. Dirty but dry underwear equates to "I don't really care." 

Hopefully the I don't care attitude will dissipate and the dryer will perform faster next time. 

More to Come...but until then, Stick-to-it!