Tips and Tricks to Help Your Kids Love School

I know most people have sent their kiddos back to school or will be sending them back to school shortly.  I am one of those parents that actually loves having my kids home because the school year is really really busy for us. Fortunately though, my boys love school very much even my 6th grader. There are some key things that help make school easy for kids and when something is easy it makes it much more enjoyable. I know the summer is over but maybe you can do these things throughout the year or save them for next summer.

Structure Is A Good Thing:
Kids actually thrive with structure. They might act like they don't like it but once you implement it, you will see how much they flourish. Every day in the summer (with the exception of when we are on vacation or out of town), our kids had some work to do every day to start the day. For my now 6th grader, the goal is to keep challenging him mentally and not let him forget everything he has done during the previous school year. His work consisted of a workbook, reading, and a workout. Every morning, he knew exactly what was expected and he did it with no complaints. An hour a day is such a small portion of the day, and they knew they had the whole rest of the day to relax or hang out. For my 4 year old, I wanted to strengthen his endurance while doing work, go over all of his letters with sounds and writing, and practice writing his name. He felt like such a big kid and loved showing off his work that he had done for he day.


Read, Read, Read:
Before my kids can read, I read to them all the time while pointing to the words as I read them. Pick books they are interested in and as they hear the words you are saying while seeing how they look, it helps start the reading process for them.

For my older son, he loves to read. Most days he reads at least 20 -30 minutes a day, he used to read a lot more but of course he has sports and a lot more homework. During the summer, he would 30-40 pages a day. And after each book, he would write a summary about the book. He read 5 books this summer and they were not short books. All of the books he reads are on a high school level. It's really important to help strengthen your kids reading ability. It helps them comprehend what they are reading for school and also teaches them vocabulary and spelling. As a second grader, he tested college freshman for his reading comprehension, vocabulary, and language. Reading really pays off.

 Plan Ahead:
This is actually something my dad did for me when I was a kid and it helped me tremendously and I do the same for my own. Kids will perform much better in school if they are confident in what they are doing at school. I help my kids feel academically strong by teaching them things they will encounter in the upcoming year during the summer. My oldest did 6th grade math the whole summer so this year the things he will be learning won't be new to him. And my 4 year old worked on things he would be doing in K4. I wanted him to be confident in class and not scared to do things because he felt unsure. They have been in school for four days and his teacher is already so impressed with how well he is already writing his name and how well he writes his letter. His name is Tayden which isn't the easiest name to write.

I promise you, this will help your kids more than you can imagine. Seeing them doing well in school and flourish as little students will make it all worth while.

Praying all of your kids have an amazing school year!!!

Random Facts About Me

I know a lot of you all know the basic things about me from social media or from Tony so I thought I would share some random facts about myself that I know very few people know. I hope it allows you to get to know me a little better.

1. I don't like taking pictures of myself.

If you look at any of my social media pages, it's very rare that you will see a picture of me by myself or a selfie shot. The only seflie shots I may take are with Tony. Even when Tony takes pics of me, 90% of the time I don't like them and won't even save them. If I'm honest with myself, I feel like this started after I had Tayden. Tayden is 4 now but I still don't feel like myself so when I take pics or see pics of myself, I always find something I don't like in the picture. This is probably why I haven't filmed any youtube videos in forever but it is definitely something I am working on. I am forcing myself to do things that make me feel uncomfortable, definitely a work in progress.

2. I'm very competitive.

 When I say competitive, I mean really competitive lol. If Tony and I playing are anything, from uno to swimming laps in the pool, I want to win. And I will admit, I can be a bit of a sore loser if I lose. I think that's why I have always played sports and have to be active, I have to release some of that competitive nature somewhere.

3. I originally was going to medical school.
My bachelors degree is in Biomedical science and I did a one year masters called Medical Science which was the curriculum of the first year of med school. I had always planned to go medical school before having little Tony. He was a preemie baby born 2 1/2 months premature and it changed my life forever. I needed to be there for him more than the average kid and I couldn't imagine not being there like I needed to be while in medical school so I put it on hold. And to be honest, it's something I don't regret. During that time, I was able to learn so much more about myself and discover so many things I am more passionate about that I never had the chance to explore. I will always love medicine and it will always have special place in my heart and maybe one day I'll revisit it in some capacity.

4. I don't have a lot of friends.
You will probably rarely see me with a huge group of girls on a girl trip or something like that. I'm more about quality over quantity. I don't let people get to close to me very easily but if I do, we will be best friends for life. The friends I do have, know I have their back no matter what and that I would give them the shirt of my back if they needed it.


5. I am a tomboy through and through.
You may have noticed but you will rarely see me in heels and dresses. I don't feel all that comfortable in them. My go to outfit more often than not, is jeans and a t-shirt. I have ways to dress it down and up depending on the occasion. Of course I do wear heels and will wear dresses from time to time but I am most me in a t-shirt lol. True story, before I met Tony I was the opposite of a domestic goddess. I was always playing sports my whole life so I never really learned how to cook, take care of the house etc... I learned all that stuff after we got married and some things I am still learning. Thankfully, Tony is an amazing husband and doesn't come home expecting me to have cooked every single night and he doesn't mind cooking if I don't feel like it.


I hope you enjoyed getting to know me a little bit more and if you have enjoyed this let me know and I will do them from time to time.