I love to give my kid’s teachers $5 Starbucks gift cards for a holiday gift. Here are a couple of projects the kids and I made to go with the gift cards.

These are stockings made out of two pieces of construction paper glued together on the sides and bottom. The gift card will fit inside the stocking. Then, my son glued buttons to the front of each one.

These are popsicle stick sleds with foam hats, boots, and ear muffs that my son cut out and glued on the sled. The string to pull the sled is yarn hot-glued to the back, which doubles as a great way to hang the ornament on a tree.

I hope you find these as simple and fun to make as we did! They can be for your child’s teacher, grandparents, any special person, or for your own house.

~Carrie

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If you’re wondering where a great place to tutor is, I would recommend your public library. I have tutored both in my home and at my local library. I definitely prefer the library.

My top 7 reasons to tutor at your public library, counting down to 1.

7. Less distraction than in a home

6. Fairly quiet atmosphere

5. Tables are readily available (I tried to find a table in the children’s area first, but if those were all taken, we’d find a table in another area)

4. You can check out books, DVD’s, and other materials often because you are visiting the library every week when you tutor (no late fees)

3. Books are easily found to match what your student is interested in

2. Parents can easily wait in a nearby area

And, the #1 reason I’d recommend tutoring at your library…

1. Other families see you tutoring there, so they may ask if you can tutor their child

I found my very first student via craigslist. But, after that, I found several more students from parents who asked me to tutor their child after seeing me at the library tutoring. They are going to that library, so they most likely live nearby. It’s a great, easy way to find more clients!

Where have you tutored?

~Carrie

I found these simple stocking ornaments on Oriental Trading Company’s website. They come in a set of a dozen and are priced at about $1 per ornament. I loved writing people’s names on them with gold Sharpie and using them as gift tags.

I also used them as part of the gift we gave to my children’s teachers. The kids wrote their teacher’s names on the stockings and we wrote the year and who it was from on the back.

I ordered more for this year because they make an easy addition to any gift! Or it can be a gift on its own, especially if you or your child personalize it!

~Carrie

p.s. you may be able to find free shipping coupon codes or deals, etc. from Oriental Trading. Try searching “Oriental Trading coupon codes”, etc. UPDATE: Order online by 11:59 p.m. CT, November 30, 2013, to get free standard shipping on any order within the contiguous U.S., APO, and FPO. Additional charges apply for Express Shipping. Gift cards not included. Enter promo code BFCY13 during checkout.

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Are you looking for a fun way to remember baby’s first year? You can use wooden blocks to spell out the months for your child’s first year. It’s a great way to see how they change and it’s a great excuse for a monthly photo shoot with your little babe.

Here are a couple of outtakes, which I love just as much:

~Carrie

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Independent reading is always my favorite part of the day as a teacher. It’s a meaningful activity that your class can do every day. Once the kids have the routine down, it’s a great time for you to pull a guided reading group or do a running record, etc.

 

At the beginning, I set these expectations:

1. Everyone picks out 4 books to read and sits at their seat.

2. Don’t open the books until the teacher starts the timer. If you’re a student waiting for others to get their books, look at the cover and back of your books.

3. The teacher sets the timer for 7 minutes the first time (or whatever time you think your class can handle to start). I usually start with 7 minutes. Then, I work up to 10, 15, and 20 minutes as the kids improve at being able to sit and read for that length of time.

4. You can say “go” or “ready, set, read,” or whatever you’d like as they get started and you set the timer.

5. There is no talking during this time, but they’re more than welcome to whisper read.

6. If they finish their books, they need to reread until the timer goes off.

Later, once I start adding more time, I allow the kids to trade books with others at their table, as long as they trade without talking. You’ll probably need to model all of these tasks until the students understand what’s expected.

Also, a few weeks later, once they’re doing well with the independent reading routine, I give them a couple of minutes to talk about their books with a partner after the timer goes off.

Hopefully this time of day ranks near the top for you as well!

~Carrie

 

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