"KISS for Kids" are part of the team.

In our house we believe that everyone has to play their part in helping our team. That means they clean up for themselves but also do things for others. If they say they don't want to help, I tell them that the next time they ask for help from me, I will say no. This is fairly harsh but works well.

I was tested the other day though when miss 6 said she would not be part of our team. I explained that she would not get any help the next day and actually she would not be able to eat breakfast or put on clothes or use anything in the house because they all belonged to our team. She said ok, she would help a bit so that she could wear some clothes but she would get money out of her own money box and walk the 2 km to our local Coles to buy her own groceries. I ended up walking with her and she made it to the end of our road (about 500m) before she decided that being part of the team was actually not that bad.

So what should kids be asked to do? Here is the list I have come up with, do you agree???

Ages 2-3

Put toys in toy box

Stack books on shelf

Place dirty clothes in laundry basket

Put rubbish in the bin

Fold washcloths

Set the table

Fetch nappies and wipes

Wipe up spills

Use dustpan and broom

Ages 4-5

Feed pets

Put away toys

Make the bed

Clean up bedroom

Water plants

Put plates in dishwasher

Put dishwasher items away

Prepare simple snacks/ breakfast

Use hand-held vacuum

Clear kitchen table

Match clean socks

Put clothes away in drawers

Replace toilet paper roll

Bring in mail

Ages 6-7

Fold towels

Sweep floors

Weed garden

Peel potatoes or carrots

Make salad

Load dishwasher

Put a load of washing on

Dust

Put groceries away

Ages 8-9

Hang out clean washing

Fold clean washing

Scramble eggs

Bake cookies

Walk dog

 

Ages 10-11

Clean bathroom

Vacuum

Clean countertops

Prepare simple meals

Mow lawn

Do simple mending (Button)

Wash/ vacuum car

Wash windows

Ages 12 and up

Mop floors

Trim hedges

Paint walls

Shop for groceries with list

Cook complete dinner

Bake bread or cake

Do simple home repairs

Iron clothes

Watch younger siblings

I have to say I expect my kids to do a lot. When my girls were 4 and 5 they were expected to do 6 jobs every morning.

These were;

            Get themselves breakfast – cereal

            Get dressed

            Brush their teeth

            Brush their hair

            Clean their rooms; beds made, nothing on the floor, everything away. (I would help them with hanging up clothes because they couldn’t reach).

            Sign in; Write their names on a piece of paper for practise.

After me showing them a few times they were very capable. It always amazes me what my little people are capable of. xx

"Keep it Simple, Sweetie" with Cooking, layered Jelly with special treats inside

It's an oldie but a goodie and surprisingly quick and easy when you know a few tricks. Read on to find out more.

 Ingredients:

Jelly in different colours (make sure the colours are very different so they stand out)

Treats to put inside. Jelly babies and chocolates work well. Don't use anything that is citrus based or the Jelly will not set.

Method:

Follow the instructions on the side of the jelly pack. 

This usually consists of putting the jelly crystals into a containing pouring in the hot water. The first tip I have is only use 200mls of hot water at the most. You only need enough to dissolve the crystals then use cold water to top it up. This cools the jelly down straight away and reduces the amount of time needed in the fridge.

 Pour the jelly into the glass cups

 Add one special treat. It will sink into the first jelly.

Put in the fridge. If you have used cold water it would only take about 2 hours to cool. So at about the 11/2 hr mark you can start making the next lot. This will give it time to rest and cool down even more.

When the first jelly is set. Add some more treats. They will sit on the set jelly.

Add the next lot of jelly. Make sure it is cool before you add it or you will damage your first jelly. Use a spoon to pour it down the glass so it settles gently.

When this is set add some more treats.

Add your next layer which you have made and allowed to cool. Make sure you use the spoon again.

 Let it set and you are done.

You can put cream or ice cream on top but we wanted to see the treats or we didn't bother.

YUM YUM









Even though it was easy, it took a lot longer to make then it did to eat. xx

"Keep it Simple, Sweetie" at Reading Time

Do parents really know how to read to their kids to maximise their learning?

I think the only reason I know these things are because I was a primary school teacher and I have since read every parenting book I can get my hands on.

 

There are even different types of reading. There is the reading just for pleasure. Your kids reading or you reading to them, but this type of reading involves getting them into the story and using their imagination. With this type of reading you don’t worry about teaching them the words or even pointing to them. The idea is to be as entertaining as possible and teach them to love books and stories.

But there is also the type of reading where you are trying to teach them to read for themselves. This is known in the classroom as guided reading and in a lot of ways is a really boring way to read books and actually most of the books are boring too. But it needs to be done, so lets do it as well as we can.

Before you start;

Prepare a suitable area for your reading

Remove all distraction including other kids

Give your child your undivided attention for this time in your day.

Orientation to the text;

Look at the book;

Are there any words they already know?

Are there words they don’t know, talk about these.

Discuss the cover, the title and the authors name

Talk about the topic of the book, what might it be about?

Look at the pictures on each of the pages, picture clues are an important skill in learning to read, teach your kids how to use picture clues.

Reading the text;

Read the title page together.

Read the whole book for your child

Point to each word as you say it.

Ask them to read one page and you read the next.

Don’t dwell on words they can not read, try to get them to sound it out but stay positive. Give them a lot of assurance that they are doing well.

Read it through a few times, first with a lot of help, then less as they get to know it.

Talk about which words rhyme or start with the same letter.

MAKE SURE YOUR CHILD IS POINTING TO THE WORDS AS THEY SAY THEM. Kids will learn the book off by heart, this is fine but they need to be looking at the words as they read, so they can also learn the word off by heart and can use it in other situations.

When you are finished, extend them by;

Asking them what might have happened next after the story finished.

Ask them what happened in the story in their own words.

Ask them to draw a picture that relates to the book

Ask them to write down the words that they remember from the story

Give them a lot of occasions to use and see the words they have learnt from their books.

Most kids start guided reading when they start school. I don’t think there is anything wrong with exposing pre-primary kids to this type of reading. I don’t think you should be stressed out about it or read like this all the time, but exposing you kids to this kind of reading can be great if done in a positive way.

xx

Keep it Simple, Sweetie" with cooking - Individual Apple pies

This is so easy. And the kids can do almost all of it themselves.

Ingredients

We made 12 apple pies

2 apples

3 pieces of puffed pastry

1/2 cup of honey

1 egg

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

Peel the apples

Core the apples and cut them into fours.











Then cut the apple into strips.

Cut the pastry into four.

Place the apple pieces onto the pastry. About four on each and only on one side you will be folding it over in a minute.

Do this to all four pieces.

Drizzle a teaspoon of honey on the apple.

Fold them over to make a triangle.

Pinch all the open sides so there is no gaps. No leaks.

Crack the egg into a bowl.

Whisk it.

Brush it over the pastry.

Bake until golden on top. Maybe ten minutes.
Super yummy and super easy.

"Keep it Simple, Sweetie" with Craft; Fluffy paint

I have to say this weeks craft isn't pretty. Not by a long shot. But it is fun, very sensory. So have a go and see if you can do better then us.

 Ingredients

Shaving cream

Craft glue

Food colouring

Snap lock bags

Paper

Method

 Put some shaving cream in the snap lock bag. As much as you want for the end product.








Put the same amount of craft glue in.

Put in a couple of drops of food colouring.








Squish it around until all the colour is mixed. Try and get a bit of the air out of the bag first. Then it will not pop when little hands squish it.

We made a few different colours.

Draw a large picture on a piece of paper.

Cut a small hole in the corner of the snap lock bag and squash out the fluffy paint.

Paint it around a bit but not too much because it loses it's fluff.

We left ours to dry over night.

Waa Laa.

A fluffy ball of blue mess.
Congratulate us. Such gorgeous art. This one goes start to the pool room. xx