Little Kids Archives | Sleeping Should Be Easy

12 Ways to Prepare Your Child for Kindergarten

Jul 23, 2021

Kindergarten is a big change kids will face. Learn 12 ways to prepare your child for kindergarten that will help her adjust to a new school. Even if your child had been going to preschool, transitioning to kindergarten can still feel nerve-wrecking. She'll meet new friends and teachers she'd never seen before. The school will have a different schedule than what she'd been used to. And the campus itself—already so big compared to preschool—can feel intimidating. No wonder preparing for kindergarten can feel daunting—for both parent and child. 12 ways to prepare your child for … [Read more...]

How to Respond to Your 5 Year Old Starting to Poop in Pants

Little Kids

Jul 05, 2021

Is your 5 year old starting to poop his pants, whether on purpose or not? Learn how to respond to your child suddenly having accidents again. Your 5 year old had been fully potty trained for years now—so long that you can't recall a recent single accident. But now he's starting to soil his pants out of nowhere (and doesn't care one bit, either). Usually this happens when he's playing and gets caught up in what he's doing (ahem: screen time). Or he doesn't want to stop playing with his toys or crafts, afraid that they'll get cleaned up and put away. But considering that he had always … [Read more...]

5 Homework Mistakes You Should Definitely Avoid

Little Kids

Apr 28, 2021

Take a look at these homework mistakes you should avoid. Learn what to do instead to get the most out of your child's homework time. I'll admit: Homework offers many benefits. Kids practice what they learn at home, and teachers are able to see how students are faring. And homework can be an opportunity to make learning natural and even fun. That said, I've had plenty of days when I secretly breathed a sigh of relief that the kids didn't have homework that day. And with the pandemic this past year, homework was nearly non-existent, especially since all the work was done at home. Now … [Read more...]

9 Ways to Keep Kids from Getting Sick at School

Little Kids

Apr 27, 2021

Don't want your child catching germs from other kids? Discover 9 ways to keep kids from getting sick at school. Kids getting sick at school seems inevitable sometimes. You enroll your child in preschool, but he misses half the month because he keeps getting sick. Or you can't seem to go a week without someone catching something from school. Maybe you picked your child up from school and realized half the kids have snot running down their noses. With the pandemic this past year, getting sick at school has been a bit different. For one thing, most kids spent the majority (if not all) … [Read more...]

Cool Science Kits for Kindergarten Kids

Activities

Apr 17, 2021

Looking for cool science kits for kindergarten kids? These toys are perfect for this age and encourage curiosity about how things work. With three kids, we've had our share of science toys. From experiments to magnets, each one incited plenty of "oooh's" and "aaah's." They're fantastic gifts to give, whether your own or loved ones (in fact, many of these were given to my kids for birthdays or holidays). Everything is a science experiment as they try to figure out why and how something works the way it does. And of course, they love the process, from mixing elements to building a … [Read more...]

10 Ways to Encourage Fine Motor Skills for 5 Year Olds

Activities

Oct 20, 2020

Fine motor skills activities for 5-6 year olds are important as kids enter kindergarten. Encourage hand dexterity—even with an active child—with these fun activities! If you're like most parents, how your child holds a pencil may not be top of mind. But once she enters kindergarten, you suddenly notice how well the other kids hold theirs in comparison. You also realize that she can't write her name well, much less cut with scissors (and forget about pulling a zipper). Come to think of it, you don't even know what her dominant hand is yet. Or perhaps it's the opposite: you're well … [Read more...]

6 Ingenious Strategies for Teaching Sight Words

How Kids Learn

Sep 01, 2020

Is your child struggling with sight words? Learn fun and effective strategies for teaching sight words without stress and pressure! We've all seen it: the list of sight words our kids are supposed to master by the end of the year. For some, sight words can be a challenge for parents to teach. Maybe your child isn't able to read or spell this week's sight words, making both of you feel discouraged. Getting her to practice at home feels like pulling teeth. If she doesn't know the word or finds it too hard, she might even start crying. And other times, she just might not be interested, … [Read more...]

Top Children’s Books to Get Ready for First Grade

Children's Books

May 06, 2020

A selection of top children's books about first grade. Read these picture books with your child as you get ready for the new school year! At our old school, the kindergarten lot was separate from first grade and up. Here at our new school, kinder kids are on a different schedule, getting picked up much earlier than the rest of the kids. And this made sense: Kindergarten is the first time many children experience a school setting—the first time they play with other kids in a learning environment. But after kindergarten, they now have yet another big change: the first grade. For my … [Read more...]

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