Good Behavior Jar

The longer I'm a parent the more I'm realizing I learn toward the attachment/peaceful parenting way of parenting. I want to have open and honest relationships with my children. I want them to know I love them and teach them to have respect for themselves and others. I don't want to have to resort to harsh words or spankings to get them to do what I want. I want them to learn and make the right decisions on their own. Obviously we give consequences when needed but overall we want to raise our kids in a very positive environment. 

Thanks to Pinterest I created something I call a Good Behavior Jar. Although the post I saw the person's child was saving up for something. We have an allowance system in place but there are a few behavior issues with Caden that we're having to really work with. Some of them are: listening, following directions right away, having a good attitude, and staying seated while eating. He's a very caring and thoughtful boy. But he's also very energetic. It's hard for him to sit still. He truly has to work at it. Many kids sitting still comes easily. Not our boy! Also if he's really focused on something he might not hear us. So we're working on listening to mom and dad. 

Okay, so here's our Good Behavior Jar and how it works. I had him think of three things he wants to do. When he displays good behavior he gets a pom pom. Also he gets a pom pom at the end of the day if he completes all of his chores. I wanted some goals to come easily so he sees success. He's someone who takes compliments really well and when he's doing well, tends to continue doing really well. He came up with these three things: See an IMAX, Have a Friend Over, and Go to Chuck E Cheese or Peter Piper's Pizza. He'll probably earn the IMAX this weekend, possibly have a friend over next week, and in another week we'll take him out for pizza and games.Once we fill the jar up, we'll think of three more things and start over again. Eventually we might just have one or two things listed. But for now we want to make sure he knows how much we appreciate his good behavior.

Caden is loving the Good Behavior Jar! He's told me I'm the best mom recently and he likes all of these new things we're doing. I feel like I have not always noticed all that he truly does since Grace was born since she takes up so much of my time. I really want to make a conscience effort to notice the positives he does and let him know I'm noticing them. He responds very well to this kind of thing.

Chore Chart with Allowance

Trying to figure out a good solution for getting your child to do chores can be tough. I bought Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Junior a few years ago and although I liked it, I didn't think my son was really ready to save money. He knew what different coins were but I'm not sure he understood exactly what their value meant. Now that he's almost 6, he gets it. He's also getting to an age where I'd like him to save and buy his own things. He has also started asking to earn money. So now I'm confident he's ready to earn an allowance. 

When he was 4 we tried Accountability Kids. While their system is neat, it consisted of too many things. So for my chore chart, I decided to focus on what I wanted him to improve upon and that he struggles with. I also included something I struggle with, making my bed, which I'm now doing along with him. Things that are expected of him are not tied to getting paid. These things are: bring your dishes to the sink after eating, helping set the table, putting dirty clothes in the right dirty clothes bin, brushing your teeth, etc. 

These are the chores I chose for him.

- Make Bed

- Pick up toys (this includes things his sister got out, although we'll have her help)

- Pick up crafts (he's very creative and will make things with paper and other items and they will spread all over the house)

- Read a book (this is the only educational thing I've added. He needs to read to us anyway but I thought I'd add it because in life, the more you learn, the more you are likely to be able to earn)

- Vacuum kitchen floor (this is done after meals or snacks)

The chore chart I made was basically free. There is no reason to spend a lot of money on a chore system. I used a folder I got with information from a private school we looked at and used an envelope I had on hand. I typed up some chores on my computer, cut them out, and taped them inside the folder. Then I added $1 per day. He has the same chores Monday-Saturday. I made it where I can change the chores up from time to time but for now I want these chores to become a habit. I also didn't want to overwhelm him with chores and wanted him to succeed. At the end of the week we'll divide the money into three categories: give, save, and spend. He'll put $1 in give, $2 in save, and $3 in spend. I'm thinking after he saves some we'll go down to our bank and open a free kids checking account for him. If he wants to save more or give more he's welcome to. At first someone said that $24 is a lot for a 6 year old to earn each month. Well, really, he's only earning about $12 to spend. With today's prices $12 won't get you much. But he also gets money for losing teeth and can make more for helping out with bigger chores. Also birthdays and Christmas he gets money. At the end of the day, we go over his chores and if he completed everything, he gets a $1. There's an envelope on the other side of the folder for him to put the money at the end of the day.

We are finishing up our first week of our new chore system and we are all loving it. In the morning he'll quickly pick up and do some chores and ask for a $1. I tell him at the end of the day because some of the chores he'll have to do a few times a day. Which brings me to another thing we started which we call The Good Behavior Jar.  

Fun Slime Recipe!

I have wanted to make slime with my kids for a while now.  To make sure we made some, I included it as one of the activities in our Fun Jar. Low and behold, it was the first stick my son picked. If you have 5 minutes, you can make this! Allow plenty of time for your child to play with it.

Making slime was really easy and doesn't take very long. Caden made it, I just supervised. He thought it was really neat. And yes, when you first mix it, your hands will turn the color of the food coloring. However, once it's all mixed well we noticed the color no longer stuck to our hands.

Easy Slime Recipe

Here's what you need:

2 bowls, water, glue, food coloring, and borax

1st bowl mix:
1/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of glue
several drops of food coloring

2nd bowl mix: (I just used a Pyrex Measuring Cup)
1/2 cup of warm water
1/2 tsp borax

Once both bowls are mixed well, add the 2nd bowl mix to the first. I had Caden use a wooden stick to stir everything. Mix well then use your hands. You can drain some of the extra water if you want. The mixture will all stick together and create slime. Gracie even had fun playing with it. Just be careful not to let your child put it in their mouth because of the borax and glue. When done, store in a plastic bag.

Fun Jar

I was inspired by this project from something I saw on Pinterest a while back. Since we homeschool year-around but are not as formal in the summer, I like to keep educational things and ideas on hand to do with the kids. If you know me, I really limit television in our house and agree with American Pediatrics that children under 2 should not watch any television. My children get a lot of free play and I love watching them use their imagination. They also, however, enjoy doing fun projects and things with me and their dad. Most of these activities will be easy for Caden to do but we can include Gracie in most of them. 

I'm going to call this project a Fun Jar which is filled with lots fun activities to do with the kids over the summer. I created three categories: (1) Things to Make, (2) Energy Buster, and (3) Quiet Time. Depending on what is planned for the day or my mood, I'll have Caden or Gracie pick a colored stick. Then we'll do the activity. Some of the Energy Buster ones I won't be able to do while pregnant like ride a bike or jump on the trampoline, so Collin can do that with them. Also due to my own limited energy, I didn't create as many energy busters as I normally would. All of the Things to Make and Quiet Time activities are things we have supplies for and can do at anytime. I want to make sure we do everything at least once. Obviously we will go swimming more than one time but I still wanted to include that stick. This morning we did our first activity which was Make Slime. 

All I used for this project was craft sticks, washi tape, permanent marker, and a jar.

This is what is listed on all of the sticks.

Quiet Time:
Play a Board Game
Q-Tip Painting
Build a Marble Maze
Make a book
Googly Eye Drawings
Play with blocks
Crayon Etching
Watch a Movie
Read a Book
Play with Legos
Play with Trains
Play a learning app

Things to Make:

Make Slime
Cloud Dough
Make Chalk Paint
Ivory Soap Clouds
Build with recyclables 

Make a Puzzle
Make Play Dough
Make Smoothies
Make Popsicles
Do a science experiment
Bake Cookies
Build with Marshmallow toothpicks
Make Popsicle Stick Puppets

Energy Busters:
Make a mini golf course
Jump on the trampoline
Build an obstacle course
Go Swimming
Ride Bikes
Jump on the Pogo Stick
Go on a walk

Crayon Etching

I wrote previously about buying some homeschool bundle books, which by the way, these books are awesome even if you don't homeschool. I got this idea from another book called Hands-On Art Activities by Marcia K. Washburn. I was able to easily transfer all of the e-books that I wanted to my Kindle and can access them on my Kindle, phone, or computer.

For our first art project from this book we did Crayon Etching. I gave us each a white piece of copy paper. We colored a shape with different bright colors. Then we covered the shape with a thick coat of black crayon. You have to completely cover the layer underneath. Last we took a pencil and drew a picture or wrote a name, we even played tic-tac-toe. The colors came through the black layer, revealing the colors beneath. Caden loved it! We found that lighter colors worked best such as yellow, pink, and light green.

We talked about the neat color of surprises hiding under the black crayon. Then we talked about how even on the toughest days, God can still bring blessings to our lives. Romans 8:28 (NIV): ^"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Family Bible Bites

One of the fly swatters he made

I'm trying to incorporate more Bible study into mine and my children's daily lives. One of mine and my husband's biggest goals is that our children know about God and Jesus. Our prayer is that they accept Christ on their own and want to do God's will.

This past week I bought some awesome homeschool bundles. The homeschool bundles consist of different category of e-books and audio books for a huge discount. One of the books I got is called Family Bible Bites by Jan May. This was part of the character bundle. The book consists of short devotional activities. I decided to print this e-book from Office Depot to make it easier for me to access.

Each Bible Bite has 4 basic parts: Play, Chat, Pray, and a Memory Verse. Yesterday Caden and I did Christ is Lord of My Thoughts. We played a game called "Swat that fly away!" I added to it since the more involved my son gets in making a game the more successful it is. Rather than using our hands, I had him make a fly swatter and a flower. I also had him make some flies to make it even more interesting. He's a very active child and the more active we can make something the more fun he seems to have. We also made a crown and some jewels to help with our memory verse. 

Flower, fly swatter, and flies

Once we got all of our materials together, I made a list of stinky things and sweet things. If it was stinky I'd throw a fly toward him and he'd try and hit it with his fly swatter. If it was sweet, he'd try and it hit with the flower. He loved it! He especially loved all of the stinky things I came up with. 

Then we talked about how bad thoughts can be like pesky flies or smelly things that annoy us with negative feelings. Negative thoughts produce a negative life. When we have Jesus as the Lord of our thoughts, he fills our minds with good things and helps keep the bad things away. God wants us to read his Bible so we can also keep His Word at the front of our minds and pray to him when we have bad thoughts come to our minds. 

Our Bible verse was Philippians 4:8: "Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable, think about these things."

Memory verse on our crown

To helps us remember our Bible verse we wrote the words: true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable on some jewels and taped them to a crown. Then I'd have him read with me as we pointed to the words. We talked about what each meant. Overall we had a great Bible study.

Grace's Big Girl Room!

A few weeks ago we bought Gracie some big girl furniture! Over a month ago we moved her crib out and started letting her sleep in a big girl bed! We moved the nursery furniture to our guest room to prepare that room for the baby and have transitioned her to a big girl toddler-like bed. It's low to the ground and the mattress comes in three parts. When it's all together it's the size of a twin bed. Her furniture is huge compared to her little size but we love her room and she does too!

Some have asked how she's transitioned. Overall good. She only attempted to sleep in her crib at night 3 times. So she wasn't used to sleeping in her room except for naps. She still wakes up about once a night but is doing better unless she rolls off her bed. Poor thing! She loves climbing into her bed and it's easier for me to put her in her big girl bed than over a crib.

Here are some before and after pictures.

NURSERY:

BIG GIRL ROOM:

CONSTRUCTING HER NEW FURNITURE:

Didn't she do great?! I just realized Collin has the other pictures on his phone. Oh well, I thought these were really cute of her.