Newsletter Love them, leave them alone: encouraging independence in children "Miss Independent, Miss Self Sufficient" Miss Independent by Kelly Clarkson Yesterday I learned that parents spend double the amount of time with their children today compared to parents in the 1960s. This statistic surprised me because it's so common for both parents to work now. But,
Videos 5 Things Your Child's Teacher Needs To Know About Your Divorce Divorced? Co-parenting? Single Parent? Something more complicated? Your child’s teacher NEEDS to know! Natalie breaks down the essential information to share about your divorce to keep your child safe and thriving in elementary school. A lot of parents hide information about their parenting setup, but it can cause a
Videos 5 Tips to Stop your Kindergartener from Having Meltdowns Is your child having meltdowns at home or in school? This video looks at what is developmentally appropriate for a 4 year old, 5 year old, or 6 year old so you can support them with techniques that work. Natalie shares 5 tips to build empathy so your child can
Newsletter Is it bad that my child writes numbers backwards? "And if it looks like this, then you're doing it right" Mambo #5 by Lou Bega Today's newsletter is inspired by two subscribers that wrote in asking about number reversals. Thanks for submitting! 😊 "My child reverses numbers when they are writing. Sometimes it
Videos The BEST Way To Get Your Kids Writing Writing is one of the hardest subjects to teach. It is so complicated and for many children leads to tears and frustration. So how can you get your child to enjoy writing? How can your child become a confident writer? Natalie shares her secret weapon- the family journal to get
Newsletter 🙋♀️ The secret to getting what your kids need "I've been trying hard to reach you, 'cause I don't know what to do" Talk by Coldplay Wishing everyone a very Happy Father's Day and Juneteenth! A few years ago, I had a student whose parents were concerned she may have
Videos 3 Ways Parents Can Stop Summer Slide Summer Slide, also known as Summer Learning Loss, happens to all children, but their families can help prevent it. In this video, Natalie explains what summer learning loss is and 3 ways parents can prevent the summer slide. Primary Focus was founded by a former kindergarten teacher to guide parents
Newsletter Improve your Child's Vocabulary "I wish you well with your weapon of jargon, you've got a double-sided lexicon. I've got to try to keep your attention, gotta write using less emoticons." Coyotes by Jason Mraz You may have heard that reading with children and speaking with children can
Videos The Do's And Don'ts Of Teaching Your Kid The Alphabet Natalie shares essential tips for teaching your child the alphabet. Perfect for parents of 4, 5, and 6 year olds. Learn what to really focus on when teaching the ABC's and what is a waste of time. Primary Focus was founded by a former kindergarten teacher to guide
Newsletter A book club for kids? "Summer breeze makes me feel fine, blowin' through the jasmine in my mind" Summer Breeze by Seals and Crofts I hope you had a happy and safe Memorial Day Weekend! Now that summer is here, academics will take a natural step back as the kids enjoy some
Newsletter Kids vs Standardized Tests "Help me if you can, I'm feeling down" Help! by The Beatles We are inching closer to the end of the school year- but there's one big obstacle between students and summer break: and that's testing 😳 If your child is in public
Newsletter Ask THIS before summer break "Summertime and the livin' is easy" Summertime by Ella Fitzgerald ...and famously covered by Sublime 💕 Happy belated Mother's Day 💕 Summer break is on its way! This is a time of year where teacher communication can dial wayyyyy back. Just like parents, teachers are focused on
Newsletter 🍎 3 free ways to appreciate teachers It's Teacher Appreciation Week! I've got three free ideas to celebrate.
Newsletter ❤️ Learning with Love & Logic Last week I told you why my students used to hate me. It all changed when I read Teaching with Love & Logic.
Newsletter My students used to hate me Last week I explained intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. It may seem like one is better than the other, but from my experience in the classroom, the reality is somewhere in the middle.
Videos End of Year Gifts for Teacher Assistants | Teacher Aide | Para Professional 🖍️ In this video, Natalie compiled a list of the best gifts for teacher assistants that are sure to show your appreciation for their hard work and dedication. She's got some amazing ideas for you, including practical gifts that will make their work easier, sentimental gifts that will touch
Newsletter How do you motivate kids? There's a lot of philosophies out there about how to motivate children. So whether you're team #gentleparenting, teaching with love and logic, or just winging it day to day all these approaches come back to one debate: Should we use intrinsic or extrinsic motivation?
Videos 3 Surprising Ways My Life Has Changed Since I Quit Teaching | Former Teacher Vlog | a day in my life It was a really hard decision to leave teaching...so was it worth it? In this video I share 3 surprising ways my life is different that I think others teachers could relate to. I also explain what I do now and compare my life last year to this year.
Newsletter 💐 Spring Fever Spring is here and soon most children in America will be waltzing back into school from spring break. Suddenly the days are longer, the weather is warmer, and just like that spring fever is here!
Newsletter So, how'd I do? Quarter 1 just ended, so I've been reflecting on how content has performed.
Videos What Would Happen if the US Abolished the Department of Education? Should the United States Abolish the Department of Education? It's all the rage in the republican party- but would that really mean? This video takes a look at the big picture of what the Department of Education does, what it does not do, and what would happen if
Newsletter 🪧 LAUSD went on strike: what does that mean for us? LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) is the second largest school district in the United States. They also have one of the most powerful teacher unions in the country. So, when they strike the rest of the country listens...
Newsletter 🎉 4 FUN AI tools to try Here's a few interesting AI tools I found- some for you and some for kids
Videos ChatGPT in K-12 Schools: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know Now | release of GPT-4 ChatGPT by open AI is here to stay. And with the release of GPT4 we need to be even more vigilant of this technology in schools. As the adults in the room we need to understand what ChatGPT is and how we can use ChatGPT as this technology becomes more
Newsletter Does ChatGPT belong in schools? OpenAI's ChatGPT will chat with you about anything you can think of...and maybe even get some work done for you too.
