Winners!!!!

I am sorry I am so behind!  We had a family situation that needed my attention, and I had not picked my winners yet and I apologize profusely!  So without further ado:

The winner of the  Lays Package is comment #8 Cheryl F!

The winner of the Mabels Labels is  # 18 Elim who did not leave an email, so please contact me :)

Place Value Teaching Resources

I love this idea for teaching place value from Yearn To Learn!  You can make your own by laminating a piece of construction paper with 3 index cards and these place value labels.  Because it is laminated, your child can re-use it with a dry or wet erase marker.  Simply say a number out loud to your child, such as four hundred fifty three above, and have your child right it in the right place value.  You can differentiate this activity for different ages and abilities by simply adding another section as shown below:

You could even add decimal places for your older kiddos. I love when you can teach multiple levels at once!

Here are some more resources for learning about place value:

100 or Bust Place Value Game

Place Value Color, Cut, and Paste to Ten Thousands

Place Value Color, Cut, and Paste to Hundred Thousands

Place Value Color, Cut, and Paste to Millions

Phone Book Math

Writing Numbers in Expanded Form

Slow Love How I Lost My Job, Put on My Pajamas, and Found Happiness - Book Review

I've always loved the quote by Woody Allen that says, "If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans" because it just fits my life.  Time and time again I have made plans for my life only to find that my life takes a totally different direction - and usually that direction is so much better than what I originally intended.  Slow Love - How I Lost My Job, Put on My Pajamas, and Found Happiness is a story of just that type of life.   Dominique Browning's memoir tells the story of what happened when she was layed off from her job as editor-in-chief of Conde Nast's House & Garden, when the magazine folded.  Her career was her whole focus in life, and suddenly it wasn't.  Her story is not just one of despair due to the loss of a job, but is instead a celebration of her rebirth as a woman. 

One of the things she said that really struck a chord with me was "Slow love is about knowing what you've got before it's gone."  How many times in our life do we forget to focus on the things that really matter, the people in our lives who really matter?  I know in my own life sometimes I spend more time worrying about things that in the long run will mean nothing, but forgetting to stop and take time to really enjoy my family.

I am reading this book as part of BlogHer book club, and will be discussing it throughout the month - be sure to join in!

Math Dice Games

There is something about rolling a pair of dice that makes math so much more fun than filling out worksheets!  I found this large pair of dice (the bigger the better in my boys' opinion) at the dollar tree, and we have been having tons of fun practicing math!

Here are a few ideas:

For the younger ones:

Greater or less than: Roll both dice and determine which number is bigger. You can have the child write on a dry erase board to practice writing the greater or less than symbol if they are ready.

Addition:  Have your child add the dots on both dice together.

Subtraction: Have your child subtract the smaller number from the larger number.

For older kiddos:

Multiplication: Have your child multiply the numbers together.

Fractions: What fractions can your child make with the numbers they roll?  If they use the larger number as the numerator, they can practice working with mixed numerals.

Dice Number Writing Practice

Dice Views Worksheet

Throw the Dice Game

Greater, less than, or equal to game

Nuts about Numbers Game

Butterfly Addition

Dice Addition Games

Active Listening

Last year, someone introduced me to the Chinese word for "listen", and I love using it with my boys to talk about what active listening is.  One of the biggest problems in communication with others is often the failure to listen.  This is how you explain the symbol to your child:

This symbol tells us that in order to listen we must use both ears, watch and maintain eye contact, give undivided attention, and finally be empathetic. In other words we must engage in active listening!

What types of communication or listening lessons do you teach your child?

Twitter Tuesday Link-Up

I always learn a ton from the people that I follow on Twitter!  From links to technology assistance Twitter is the go to place for sharing ideas.  Do you have a Twitter account? Are you looking for more followers or great people to follow? Link up!

AboutOne - Getting Organized

It's that time of year again, fall is in the air, school supplies are on sale, and football practice is in full swing - yes we have officially hit the busy season in the Malloy residence.  And even though I am incredibly busy this time of year, life keeps happening.  There are doctor's appointments to go to, pictures to sort through, events to keep track of, and I was on the hunt (yet again) for how to get organized!

I have tried the traditional paper planners and calendars, but I always miss getting something written down, because I forget to keep them with me.  I can't count on my fingers and toes the number of times I didn't have a planner with me when I was making an appointment, when I got an email football practice schedule change, or when I was on the phone and needed to write something down.

That being said, I am a digital girl- I don't go anywhere without my iphone or my pad!  So, I was excited to find that there was a service called AboutOne that served as a digital filing system and more.

Not only does AbouOne serve as a  calendar/ planner where keep track of my appointments and important telephone numbers, but it also lets me keep track of my family information such as health and education records.  I can also keep track of health information (which with a family of 6 boys is easy to lose track of)!  Now I don't have to wonder was it Parker or Powell who need to have antibiotics before dental treatment? Or which boy HAS NOT had stitches yet (that would be only 2 of them).  It has given me a place to keep track of the names of our medicines we take as well which is very helpful in the doctor's office when they ask you and you can only remember that it starts with the letter A.

I love that in the very same place, I can keep track of household and car maintenance information.  No longer do I have to keep files and files worth of paper.  Since I am always trying to think of how to declutter our house, this is really a big deal!

But... I have to say, one thing that really sets this service apart from other planners I've tried out is that you can easily share items with friends and family.  As you enter the information into the program, it keeps track and simply plugs into various features such as a family newsletter and even a baby book!  With 6 boys, it has been tremendously difficult for me to document all of those important days and first times.  While I was great at it when I had the first baby, each additional baby has a sparser and sparser baby book.  With AboutOne, that is about to change.  I can update a certain event - like Luke's first football game, and it automatically can be posted to a family newsletter to email, tweet, or post to facebook for all of our friends and family to see.  I can also print it out and slide it into a scrapbook for each of the boys and viola - their memory books are all updated!

I haven't even BEGUN to play with all of the features AboutOne has, but here is another one I can't wait to try:

Here is a video overview of even more features!




Now, AboutOne is offering you the chance to try out its program for FREE - and also to enter to win a $500 AMEX gift card and an upgrade to a free subscription to AboutOne.com to 1 grand prize winner + a $250 donation to the school of their choice.  All other entries will receive an email with a code for 25% off a one year subscription to AboutOne.com.

Mandatory Entry:

1. Sign up for AboutOne free trial (absolutely no credit card info required) - and try it out for yourself! You will get a full 17 day trial -17 full days of usage with no expiration date (requires no credit card information). Use each of your 17 days whenever you like. The Yearly Plan gives you a full year of access to AboutOne for the low price of $30 per year.2. Complete the form below.




Rules: One winner will be chosen at random from all entries across all blogs to receive the following prize: $500 AMEX gift card and an upgrade to a free subscription to AboutOne.com to 1 grand prize winner + a $250 donation to the school of their choice. All other entries will receive an email with a code for 25% off a one year subscription to AboutOne.com. This giveaway ends September 9th at 11:59 p.m. ET and is open to U.S. residents age 18 or older.