Blog - Page 4 of 5 - Integrated Learning Strategies

Common Core Math in the Bath Activities for Preschoolers

Common Core Math in the Bath Activities for Preschoolers By Katie DeGroot This post contains affiliate links. I was contemplating on a topic for an article series that readers would both enjoy and be able to utilize the information easily. Math has been on my mind due to my children being back in school…

4 ways to support your child to be physically active in kindergarten

4 ways to support your child to be physically active in kindergarten Is your little one heading to kindergarten in the fall? There is so much to be excited about, including school supplies, first day of school outfits, and making new friends. In anticipation of this milestone, you’ve probably been helping them to recognize…

Critical Developmental Milestones You won’t want Your Child to Miss

Critical Developmental Milestones You won’t want Your Child to Miss As a parent, there are few things more exciting than watching your little ones learn a new skill. We cheer them on for something as simple as reaching for a toy for the first time all the way to taking those first steps and…

Smart Morning Routine to Beat Morning Madness with Your Child

Smart Morning Routine to Beat Morning Madness with Your Child To give you a taste of weekday mornings at my house, I offer you the image of Prince Phillip fighting Maleficent as the gargantuan dragon in Sleeping Beauty. My house is full of night owls. Waking up any of us is a task I…

Easy Where’s Waldo Pumpkin Spice Play Dough Sensory Activities

Where’s Waldo Pumpkin Spice Play Dough Sensory Activities This post contains affiliate links. Fall is my favorite time of year and also one of the best seasons for getting children involved in more sensory play activities that help them learn and grow. Many of the students at our center constantly need that sensory stimulation…

You won’t believe what this teacher assigned for homework

You won’t believe what this teacher assigned for homework Guest Blog Post Shelley Boettcher Shawn Carr’s daughter, Madison, is a smart kid, who spends plenty of time skiing and camping with her family. But a few years ago, during a parent-teacher interview in elementary school, Carr brought up Madison’s self-esteem. Was she happy at…

Amazing Nutritious Greek Dip: After School Snacks for Brighter Minds

Nutritious Greek Dip: After School Snacks for Brighter Minds Tasty, nutritious, and oh so easy to make greek dip! The perfect after school, before homework snack for the health conscious mama! School is back in session, and one of the challenges we are facing is after school snacking! I don’t know about you guys,…

Smart Ways to Make a Positive Relationship with Your Child’s Teacher

Smart Ways to Make a Positive Relationship with Your Child’s Teacher I think it’s safe to say that the jitters and anxiety associated with a new school year doesn’t just pertain to our kids. Every teacher has their unique way of running things and, as parents, we have to learn their rules and organization methods…

15 Kids Apps for Learning Disabilities

15 Kids Apps for Learning Disabilities We’re guest posting about wonderful apps for learning for kids who struggle with learning challenges on Sunshine and Hurricanes. Since I began working with children more than 20 years ago, the number of children with learning challenges and learning disabilities has not only increased, but the issues they face…

Food ideas for kids with sensory learning issues

Food ideas for kids with sensory learning issues We’re having a great time with Fox 13’s The Place talking about great nutritional options to help sensory learning for kids with new foods, food textures and great meal-time experiences for the whole family. Kids with sensory issues struggle with all types of textures, especially when it…

Online Safety Tips for the Whole Family

Online Safety Tips for the Whole Family By Alyssa Craig As a parent, there are four main concerns as your family goes online or takes part in social media: online predators, cyberbullying, giving out too much personal information, and stumbling upon inappropriate material. In order to keep yourself and your family safe in a…

What the Experts can Help You Understand about a Sensory Processing Disorder

Sensory Processing Disorder Explained By Catherine Wiberg ILS Staff Blogger When this topic came to me, I got excited. I have two children who have been diagnosed with Sensory Integration Processing Disorders. I have not always explained it well to other people. However, I have some experts’ definitions and insights to share with you in…

Fun Kid Food to Help Sensory Children with Textures and Nutrition

Fun Kid Food to Help Sensory Children with Textures and Nutrition You may have picky eaters at home, or you may have been a picky eater at one time yourself, but for kids who have sensory issues or a Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD), they may never grow out of the “picky eater” stage. In…

Fun Kid Food to Help Sensory Children with Textures and Nutrition

5 DIY Sports for Kids You Can Set Up In Your Backyard

5 DIY Sports for Kids You Can Set Up In Your Backyard It’s time to prepare for a backyard makeover. With these fun DIY projects, your backyard will be a sports center in no time! Small Multi-Sport Wall Don’t have a lot of space but still want fun sports for kids to practice your…

5 DIY Sports for Kids You Can Set Up In Your Backyard

Nurturing Emotional Intelligence in Sensory Sensitive Children

Nurturing Emotional Intelligence in Sensory Sensitive Children when Emotions Run High If you’ve spent any time around children, or even your local grocery store, you’re well aware that kids throw temper tantrums. You’ve probably even seen your fair share of adult temper tantrums. And if you have a child that has Sensory Processing Disorder or…

Nurturing Emotional Intelligence in Sensory Sensitive Children

Nurturing Emotional Intelligence in Sensory Sensitive Children when Emotions Run High If you've spent any time around children, or even your local grocery store, you're well aware that kids throw temper tantrums. You've probably even seen your fair share of adult temper tantrums. And if you have a child that has Sensory Processing Disorder or…

Smart Breakfast for Kids: Protein Waffle Breakfast Sammy

Smart Breakfast for Kids: Protein Waffle Breakfast Sammy with Egg Whites and Ham Hi! It’s me, Rachael again, I just love guest posting over here because I get to share something that is so important to me, and that is feeding kids nutritious foods. We enjoy our fair share of treats, goodies, and indulgent meals.…

The Best Hands-on Play Dough Activities to Build Fine Motor

The Best Hands-on Play Dough Activities to Build Fine Motor I am probably biased, but I have the two cutest grandsons in the world and whenever they are at my house, we love getting our hands dirty with play dough. By the time we are done, we not only have great dinosaur and superhero…

The Best Hands-on Play Dough Activities to Build Fine Motor

Alphabet Sensory Activities Series From A TO Z: B is for Bubbles

Alphabet Sensory Activities Series From A TO Z- B is for Bubbles Welcome to Alphabet Sensory Activities! 26 amazing bloggers have gotten together to share a sensory experience based on a letter of the alphabet…think sensory bin, sensory bottle, gross motor outlet, tactile craft or fine motor activity. But these are all guaranteed to be…

Alphabet Sensory Activities Series From A TO Z: B is for Bubbles

Writing for Kids: Is it better for Kids to focus on Writing Concepts or Grammar?

Writing for Kids: Is it better for Kids to focus on Writing Concepts or Grammar? When I say writing, what do you think? Do you think of self-expression, art, creativity, or even fun? Or do you think grammar (cringe), punctuation (who really knows how to use a comma anyway?), and essays (please stop, you’re…

Writing for Kids: Is it better for Kids to focus on Writing Concepts or Grammar?

Yoga for Kids: 3 Fun Animal Brain-Building Activities for Higher Learning Part II

Yoga for Kids: Fun Animal Brain-Building Activities Check out our activities and even more brain-boosting learning games for kids at the Inspired Treehouse. If you have kids like mine, especially boys, I quickly found out that I couldn’t even mention the words “super heroes” or “Star Wars” without them going crazy. When my son…

Yoga for Kids: 3 Fun Animal Brain-Building Activities for Higher Learning Part II

10 Amazing After School Snack Ideas

10 Amazing After School Snack Ideas By Whitney Hollingshead Summer is quickly coming to an end and back to school is on the horizon. As you plan for the coming school year, don’t forget to prepare a plan for after school snacks. Odds are you will soon be searching for some quick, tasty, and yet…

10 Amazing After School Snack Ideas

Outdoor play gives your kids more than fresh air

Outdoor play gives your kids more than fresh air Guest Blog Post Lori Fireman When I was a little girl, for several magical years we lived with my grandparents. Aside from spoiling us with love (and candy, of course), my brother and I had the great fortune to play in their backyard, which led…

15 Important Phrases You Should Say to Avoid Homework Meltdowns with Your Anxious Child

Parent Phrases to Avoid Homework Meltdowns with Anxious Child If you have a child in school, you don't need a study to tell you that your child gets too much homework. Whether you're trudging through times table worksheets and book reports with your elementary aged children or begging your high schooler to do that forty…

Back to Basics with Back to School Goals

Back to Basics with Back to School Goals By Alyssa Craig The summer has flown by and the beginning of the school year is right around the corner. This is a great time to get your family together and make some back to school goals. Your goals can cover everything from healthy eating, to…

How to Keep Kids Quiet in Class – Sensory Activities

How to Keep Kids Quiet in Class - Sensory Activities We're having a great time with Fox 13's The Place talking about getting kids ready for back to school with sensory activities to keep children quiet in the classroom. The right, but surprisingly "wrong" types of activities are helping children to stay focused and…

Use our Skills Builder tool to help your child develop physical literacy

Guest Blog Post Dawne Clarke Use our Skills Builder tool to help your child develop physical literacy Does your child have physical literacy? Should you care? If you want your child to have the best opportunities in life, then yes. What is physical literacy? Simply put it’s a collection of basic movement and sport skills…

7 Sensory Hacks for a Smooth Back to School Transition

Sensory Hacks for Back to School Kids It's that time of year again. The seasonal sections of all the stores are overwhelmed with crayons, pencil boxes, paper, and backpacks. The smell of books and school cafeterias are becoming more than just vague memories. There might be a slight tremor of excitement to see friends…

Development and Learning Risks that may come from Child Ear Infections

Development and Learning Risks from Chronic Ear Infections I think it's safe to assume that if you have a kid, you've dealt with an ear infection at least once or twice. They're by no means fun, but they are a relatively minor incident on the scale of ailments. Ten days of antibiotics and you're…

3 Smart Visual Planning Charts for Unorganized Kids

Visual Planning Charts for Unorganized Kids Oftentimes children who struggle with organization need to break down simple tasks through visualization. When creating visual planning charts, kids may find tasks to be less daunting and manageable as they get ready for school, complete chores, do their homework and find activities to keep them active after…

9 Sensory Tricks to Stop Child Anxiety at Family Theme Parks

Sensory Tricks for Theme Parks I have to be honest, roller coasters were never my favorite, mostly because I get sick on the rides, especially those that spin round and round. Tea cups? Forget it! There is no way I’d make it without getting dizzy and queasy. Ever since I was a child, I…

Auditory Processing: The Secret Behind Why Your Child may not Follow Instructions

Signs of Auditory Processing Disorders As a mom, it's easy to feel ignored. That pair of shoes you asked your child to put away is still in the middle of the living room floor. They ask you where their favorite shirt is when it was on top of the pile of clothes you handed…

How to know if your child has Stress or Anxiety

Is it Stress or Anxiety? Your child seems to have many fears, is anxious and overwhelmed at home, in large crowds, in school, around other children, or in unfamiliar surroundings. Is it anxiety or is it every day stress? Anxiety and stress come in many different shapes and sizes. However, anxiety can be caused…

7 Smart Sensory Tricks for Kids who have trouble Sleeping

Sensory Tricks: Sleep routines to help troubled sleepers Bedtime. It's crazy how one thing can bring insanity and salvation all rolled into one. As parents, sometimes the only minute we get to breathe is that sigh of relief we let out when we know our kids are finally asleep. But man did we have…

Auditory Processing: Understanding your child’s hearing

Auditory Processing: Understanding your child's hearing I think just about every parent has spoken some version of the phrase, "Are you even listening to me?" to their child. It's flat out frustrating to think that they're ignoring us. Is it nonchalance? Is it defiance? Do they have a legit hearing problem? And they're usually…

Sensory learning games that kids will love

Sensory learning games that kids will love We're having a great time with Fox 13's The Place talking about how fun summer activities help kids learn and perform better in the classroom. It was a great experience sharing how we can help children achieve academic success. Fox 13's The Place Activities help with speech and language…

15 Summer Chores for Everyday Kids

Summer Chores for Kids Author: Alyssa Craig For those children who are on break during the school year, summer can quickly become monotonous as they struggle to find ways to fill their agenda. Luckily for you, there are great ways you can put the kids to work that will them fill their time in…

Build your child’s brain by giving them lots of experiences to explore

Guest Blog Post Dawne Clarke Build your child’s brain by giving them lots of experiences to explore Our child’s brain is a most amazing organ. Its structure is established in the early years of life, so how can you ensure that your children’s brains are healthy, well developed, and will last a lifetime? Building…

7 Meal-time Tricks to Avoid Sensory Meltdowns

Meal-time Meltdowns: Sensory Kids For most of us, mealtime is a heaven-send. Food cures cases of the grumps. The varieties of flavors and textures trigger positive chemical releases in the brain. Filling your stomach creates a sense of satisfaction and overall contentment. What's not to enjoy? Well, anyone who knows a picky eater, especially…

Why relationships are so important when building a child’s brain

Guest Blog Post Dawne Clarke Why relationships are so important when building a child’s brain I’ve been writing about how children’s brains are developed, and in particular how physical literacy helps build a strong brain. Building a brain is like building a house, with a strong foundation and four walls of cognitive, social, emotional,…

4 Fun and Simple Games to Build Strong Writing Skills

Writing Skills: A Strong Foundation This post may contain affiliate links which helps us create quality content to share with you. The views and opinions expressed are purely the opinion of Integrated Learning Strategies. As our children grow from toddlers to entering preschool, grade school, middle school and high school, we begin to feel…

Summer 2015 Event Winners Announced

Summer 2015 Event Winners Our summer is already shaping up to be a busy one meeting lots of wonderful families and kids. At each event, we select a winner for a great prize to keep kids learning while staying active. The best part is the activities are always fun and the kids don't even…

5 Fantastic Boredom Busting Activities for Kids

Boredom Busting Activities By Whitney Hollingshead If you are on the hunt for some new boredom busters, give these ideas a try! These simple activities will keep your kids entertained for hours. Better yet, your children will spend their hours developing skills that will help them throughout life. These five ideas combined will help your…

Signs and Symptoms of Struggling Child with Receptive and Expressive Language

Receptive and Expressive Language Have you ever watched as a baby develops language skills? Have you ever studied a language different from your native language? Have you ever stopped to think about how language develops? It can be quite interesting. Understanding how language skills develop helps us understand if our children need extra language…

Articulation and Enunciation: The Mysteries Behind Your Child’s Language Development

Articulation and Enunciation: The mysteries behind your child's language development Other parts in our Language Development Series: Speech versus Language Signs and symptoms of receptive versus expressive language Articulation and Enunciation Late bloomer or language delay? Early language intervention As a review, speech is about how we form words, how we say words, and…

Understanding Your Child’s Speech Milestones

Speech Milestones and Delays As part of our speech series, this article will focus on milestones and delays. Remember, speech is the way we form words, the ways we pronounce words, the way words sound and how we recognize them. Some of it can be seen in different accents from different regions of a…

How to support the ‘air traffic control system’ of your child’s brain

Guest Blog Post Dawne Clarke How to support the ‘air traffic control system’ of your child’s brain If your child is involved in organized sports, you’ve probably noticed that at practices and games some children are focused, listening to the coach, and doing what they are asked, whereas other children seem to be doing…

Nutrition and Learning: How what our kids eat is tied to behavior and learning

Nutrition and Learning: How what our kids eat is tied to behavior and learning Hi guys! It is Rachael here from Eazy Peazy Mealz again, and today I wanted to share some of the changes I have seen in my son's learning and behavior with some diet modifications. My disclaimer is that we have…

The Best Chore Chart for Sensory Sensitive Kids

Chore Chart for Sensitive Kids Unless you are like Monica on Friends, you probably hate cleaning and organizing just as much as I do, which means, battling with our kids to do chores and help around the house is equally as challenging. But, when we can motivate them to help, they not only make…

7 Smart Chores for Sensory Sensitive Kids

Chores for Sensory Sensitive Kids I think we all understand the struggle to get our kids to help out around the house. They dread being asked to do chores, and let's be honest, we usually dread having to ask. We know before we open our mouths that there is a 99.99% chance that we…

Swing N’ Scoop Cup Giveaway Winners

Giveaway Winners Thank you to all of those who participated in our Swing N' Scoop giveaway to celebrate our one year anniversary. We couldn't have done it without you! And, we now have our winners chosen. Drum roll please... Congratulations to the following winners: Alicia Lansing Amberly Lambertsen Rennie D Such exciting news! You will…

Building your Child’s Brain is like Building a House

Guest Blog Post Dawne Clarke Building your child’s brain is like building a house Parents have been hearing for a long time now about the importance of our child’s early years. The preschool years, we’re told, prepare children to be successful in school and in life. These first years also set the habits that…

Top 5 Road Trip Games to Prep Kids for Reading

Road Trip Games with Kids in the 21st Century By Catherine Wiberg Staff Blogger The 21st century is filled with technology. Every child born in this century seems born understanding computers, game consoles, smart phones, MP3 players, and handheld electronic devices of every kind. While these technological advances have many advantages, they also can…

The Learning Secret to Planning the Perfect Family Vacations

Involve Children in Planning Family Vacations What will you do this summer with your children? Will they visit any distant family? Will out-of-state family come to visit you? What will you do for holidays? When do you have work holidays? When does your spouse have work holidays? Whatever shall you do with all your…

Language Development: What to Expect at Different Ages

Language Milestones - Part 2 Series Other parts in our Language Development Series: Speech versus Language Signs and symptoms of receptive versus expressive language Late bloomer or language delay? Early language intervention As you hear little “Johnny” crying from across the room, you are probably thinking to yourself, “is he hungry? Is he in…

Patriotic Foam Sensory Activity for Avoiding Fireworks

Patriotic Foam Sensory Play Activity The 4th of July holiday is right around the corner and we couldn’t be more thrilled! I love this time of year because it reminds me of breakfast in the canyons, parades, fireworks, long summer days, warm weather, family parties, and it gives us a chance to celebrate America’s…

27 Summer Activities to Keep Your Child’s Mind Active

Summer Activities for Learning Summer is upon us! School is ending (or has ended). Do our children need to stop learning, let the brains completely rest, shut down even, during the summer? Do they need to sit and do homework every day to be sure their brains don’t rot before the new school year? The…

Sensory Toys You won’t want to Leave at Home on Your Road Trip

Road Trip Sensory Toys With summer just around the corner, many parents often ask me what they can bring on long car rides and road trips to keep their kids busy and happy while they drive. More importantly, they want to know how to help their children who struggle with ADHD and sensory issues…

The Easiest Recipe for Making Your Own Play Dough

Make Your Own Play Dough Summer is the best time to keep your child's mind and body active. Learning never ends, but we can make it more fun for kids. In fact, we can create opportunities and plan activities that help kids learn without them even knowing it. One of the best ways to…

Celebrating One Year Anniversary with Swing N’ Catch Cup Giveaway

Anniversary Celebration! We have some exciting news! This month we are celebrating our one year anniversary at the Kaysville Sportsplex, and one year ago we also launched our new blog and website! Can you believe time has flown by that fast? It has been an exciting year with many new changes: several new students;…

The Top Key Differences in Your Child’s Speech and Language Development

By Catherine Wiberg ILS Staff Blogger Speech versus Language Integrated Learning Strategies is always trying to give parents new information, new insights, and new ways to help their children. Because of that, we will be doing two blog series: one on language and one on speech. This article will explain the difference so you…

These May be the Best “Wild Things” You’ve Seen for Gross and Fine Motor

Kids Animal Yoga One of my favorite Disney characters growing up was Baloo the Bear from the Jungle Book. My brother and I would walk around singing “Look for the Bear Necessities” at the top of our lungs and when we were bored, we’d quote the vultures saying, “I dunno, what do you want…

Children with poor physical literacy struggle as adults

Guest Blog Post AFL Team Children with poor physical literacy struggle as adults Children who never learn to read or write become adults who can’t read or write. Should we be surprised that children who never develop movement skills become inactive, uncoordinated adults? A recent CBC story and news video suggests that children’s movement…

Smart Breakfast for Kids: Protein Waffle Breakfast Sammy

Smart Breakfast for Kids: Protein Waffle Breakfast Sammy with Egg Whites and Ham Hi! It's me, Rachael again, I just love guest posting over here because I get to share something that is so important to me, and that is feeding kids nutritious foods. We enjoy our fair share of treats, goodies, and indulgent meals.…

11 Great Summer Activities to do with Your Kids this Summer

Summer Activities You all know how much we love kids to be active and take part in fun activities to help them develop their gross and fine motor skills, balance and coordination. Now that summer is finally around the corner, we can start sharing great activities to help your children develop their physical literacy…

Building your child’s brain through physical literacy

Guest Blog Post Dawne Clarke Building your child’s brain through physical literacy In the last article, I wrote about how building your child’s brain is like building a house. The early years are the time to build a sturdy foundation upon which a strong house – that can last a lifetime – can be…

What the Experts can Help You Understand about a Sensory Processing Disorder

Sensory Garden: More then Just a Sensory Tool for Education

Sensory Gardens for Emotional Grounding and Sensory Integration When I was growing up, my mother planted and cultivated a vegetable garden. Some of my favorite memories include helping her plant seeds, add the water, and pat down the dirt. I never enjoyed weeding, but I always enjoyed eating the green beans and the sweet…

Mothers: The True Heroes of Education

Mother's Day Heroes When we are younger, it's hard to understand how much our parents sacrifice for us, especially our mothers. They love us, nurture us, dry our tears, boost our confidence and they do everything within their power to create a brighter future for us. Yes, mother's make mistakes because no one is…

4 No Pressure Keys to Unlock Friendship Building for Better Learning Development

Friends: An Essential Need for Learning Throughout all of our lives we have people come and go, some stay longer than others and some are only there for a brief moment. It doesn’t matter how long or how brief people are in our lives they all make an impact on us and who we…

Find the Hidden Writing Benefits in Your Child’s Art

By Catherine Wiberg ILS Staff Blogger Writing Benefits from Drawing Have you ever watched a child draw? Regardless if the child is a toddler, a preschooler, an elementary school student, in junior high or high school, there is purpose, concentration, method, and fun. Children learn from drawing. They learn colors. They learn what colors…

The Best Guide for Letter and Word Recognition

By Catherine Wiberg ILS Staff Blogger Word Recognition - Early Age Have you ever noticed that kids learn to recognize their favorite places and favorite books without knowing how to read the words or the signs? Yes, sometimes it’s the pictures, but consider: words are pictures, too. They are a system to recognize the…

Fun Star Wars Sight Word List – May the 4th be with You

Star Wars Sight Words We know all you Star Wars fans and your kids are excited for the new movie coming out this year and what better way than to celebrate on May 4th! If you have early readers, it's a great day to get them hyped up and learning at the same time.…

You’ll never guess what these doctors are prescribing to kids

Guest Blog Post Emilie Roy This morning, just like every other morning, I was reading the news on the web when I had to take an extra sip of coffee and wipe my glasses. The headline read: Quebec doctors prescribe more exercise. This is an historic moment. Prevention prevails over treatment. Physical activity, not pills. Monkey…

$Math games in the Kitchen to improve math facts, math concepts, and fractions$

Math Games in the Kitchen: How do Your Kids Measure Up?

How to Use Math in the Kitchen Before my children were school-age, I tried to find fun ways to introduce math to them on their levels. As many parents, I worked with them counting toys, toes, fingers, snacks, and so forth. This began what I hoped would become a love for numbers and math.…

Breastfed Babies Leads to Smarter Kids

Staff Blogger: Catherine Wiberg Benefits of Breastfeeding This article is about breast feeding and how it supports brain development. Before I share the information from studies, articles, and textbooks, I want to say that breastfeeding is not every mother’s experience. Personally, I was unable to breastfeed my children. I tried with each child. I…

Berry Granola Popsicles to Satisfy Your Child’s Sweet Tooth

Berry Granola Popsicles - Kids Nutrition A healthy, sweet, treat, these berry granola popsicles are an excellent way to curb a sweet tooth without adding sugar to your diet. Hi, It's Rachael with Eazy Peazy Mealz again. Today I wanted to talk to you about dessert. It doesn't have to be sugar packed or…

Who’s that Celebrity: Channing Tatum

Channing Tatum Channing Tatum has become one of the most well known actors of our generation and has made a good life despite the odds against him. Tatum grew up with ADHD and Dyslexia, struggling to pass his classes. Tatum mentioned that he would be put in classes with kids like himself and knew…

Vision Development, Not Glasses May be the Answer to Reading

Child Vision Development I'm sure we've all heard the random facts about our infants' visual capabilities. We hear things like they can't see color, they don't see very far, they only recognize outlines of faces. We can also take these facts a step further to several that you may not have heard before. Newborns…

When it comes to playtime, it’s no risk, no reward

Guest Blog Post Lori Fireman If you ever see that mother who appears to be deliberately not watching her child as the kid leaps and darts dangerously around the park, don’t judge her too harshly. She might be trying to encourage her daughter to take risks because she knows the benefits of those daredevil…

Secrets to Building Your Child’s Vocabulary

Building Vocabulary Words are the foundation of understanding and communication. We talk to our children from the moment they are born. Sometimes, we talk to our children before they’re born. How do we help them use language the best way they can? Kids learn speech by listening to the people around them, reading, and…

Bilateral Coordination: Why Bilateral Coordination Delays can Lead to trouble in the Classroom

Bilateral Coordination: Why Bilateral Coordination Delays can Lead to trouble in the Classroom This article provides information on how to help your child with bilateral coordination. Affiliate links are included for your convenience. How long has it been since you thought about how both sides of your body work together? Do you remember the…

5 Great Activities to do with a Sensory Crash Pad

Crash Pad Activities: Sensory Disorder We’ve talked about the benefits of having a crash pad in your home. Now it’s time to talk about what activities your child can do with a crash pad. Remember, the importance of having a crash pad at home is to help your children build their motor planning skills,…

Easy Way to Make Your Own Sensory Crash Pad

Sensory Crash Pad Crash, bang, kerplunk! Those all too familiar sounds when your child is running around the playground chasing after their sister or brother or it’s what happens when they fall from the monkey bars. Fortunately, when your little ones are playing at the park or on the swing set in your backyard,…

How Your Child can Have an Amazing, Changing Brain

The Amazing, Changing Brain Have you ever thought about everything your brain accomplishes? From birth until death, your brain changes to meet your needs and interpret your experiences. Your brain changes with every experience: every sight, every sound, every touch, every thought, every emotion. It then interprets future experiences based on past experiences. Did…

Sight Words Easter Egg Hunt

Sight Words Easter Easter is one of my favorite holidays because it means spring is here and warm weather is just around the corner. Now that I am a grandmother, it has even more meaning because I get to plan Easter egg hunts, make Easter baskets for my grandkids and stuff them with treats.…

5 Classroom Sensory Tricks for Your Child

Classroom Sensory Tricks If you have ever received a note from your child’s teacher or a phone call saying your child seems to be disconnected from the class and isn’t grasping concepts, you may not know exactly what is happening to your child. Why are they acting out? Why are they fidgeting in their…

Honey Cashew Nut Butter Snack for Better Test Performance

Nutrition: Honey Cashew Nut Butter Honey Cashew Nut Butter made at home with just a few simple ingredients and a few minutes of time. Hi it's me Rachael from Eazy Peazy Mealz again, and today I am visiting to talk about snacking! Snacks are often one of the places families lose the nutrition in…

7 Ways to Reduce Student Anxiety During Timed-Tests

Help with Anxiety during Test-Taking As parents, we may know a little thing or two about test-taking when we were younger and all the anxiety that comes with it. I can’t think of anyone who didn’t feel jittery or anxious the day of a major test, especially those that determined a grade, placement or entry…

If getting kids physically active increases their academic scores, why is it not being done in every school?

Guest Post Richard Monette If getting kids physically active increases their academic scores, why is it not being done in every school? The science is clear: If you get kids moving throughout the school day, they will do better academically. That’s the case being made in the article “Building a better brain” recently published…

Sensory “Diet” Plan for Squirmy Kids in the Classroom

Sensory Diet Plan We all know each child is different, especially when it comes to development stages and learning. No child is exactly alike. They come in all shapes and sizes, they learn at different paces, some share personality traits while others don’t, and most importantly, each child has something unique that they struggle…

$Math, March Madness$

Math Madness: 3 Easy Basketball Steps to Learn Times Tables

Math Madness Let’s get ready to rumble! If you are like me, I get goose bumps just hearing that phrase because it gets me thinking about nachos with melted cheesy goodness, hot dogs, big crowds and above all, March Madness! I love this time of year watching the games and cheering for my teams,…

Zions Bank Community Magazine Features Integrated Learning Strategies

Zions Bank Community Magazine Exciting News! Zions Bank featured our center and community efforts in the Zions Bank Community magazine. As you may know, we were one of six recipients of the Zions Bank Smart Women's grant in 2014 and have worked closely with Zions Bank to promote education and higher learning in the community…