Free Printable Study Timetable for Primary School Kids

Exam season is lurking around the corner! As a mom to a 6th grader, I need to empower and assist my child but no longer study with them. With all of the above in mind – here’s a free printable study timetable!

The transition between, handholding your child through the exam season and allowing them to learn, take responsibility and grow independently, is so hard.

Simply because we want the very best for our kids! We want them to succeed.

The first term of this year, I gave Logan quite a bit of freedom to study as he pleases. Naturally, that comes with consequences – ones, he needs to face. His grades weren’t what he expected it to be and in all honesty – he was disappointed.

http://curiouswildflower.com/exam-preparations-for-adhd-kids/

How do you loosen the reigns without leaving your child to fall off the bandwagon?

Here’s my strategy for 6th grade!

1. Intrinsic Motivation

By the age of 12/13 years, kids need to work- and study hard for what they want in life – not because they want to please us.

They shouldn’t be rewarded for doing what’s expected of them. They need to develop an internal drive, that motivates them to work hard and push limits to succeed.

Intrinsic motivation refers to behavior that is driven by internal rewards.

http://curiouswildflower.com/3-exam-preparation-tips-for-grade-4-learners-writing-their-first-exams/

2. Perspective / Big Picture

Paint the big picture for your child, in a practical way! Tell them exciting stories of your high-school years, attend the open days if possible and dream about the coming season in your child’s life with them.

We went to great lengths to attend the high school open days in our area, earlier this term.

It gave Logan an exhilarating sense of what is ahead! High school is fun. Open days amplifies the excitement of the new season that’s on the horizon while reminding the kids, that if they want to attend their high school of choice, they’ll need to put foot and perform a little from their side!

http://curiouswildflower.com/child-competitive-advantage/

3. Incentivise

While developing intrinsic motivation, feel free to incentivise excellence.

The key here is to set the bar, within arms reach!

Our kids need to know we believe in them! We need to stretch them while, keeping our expectation realistic. It’s a fine line! Trust your instinct and speak to your partner, spouse or close relative about it.

I’m so pleased that our Capoeira instructor gave Logan an incentive and I am thrilled that Logan is excited about the incentive.

http://curiouswildflower.com/chess-for-kids/

4. Executive Function Development

Earlier this year, both Logan and Oli set goals for themselves for 2019.

We also went to great lengths to organise and plan our strategy for the day to day activities of attending school and rotating classes

All of the above – are examples of executive function development.

If you have a child and especially if you have a child with learning disabilities like ADHD, you need to stop what you’re doing and start focussing on executive functions!

For your own sanity and to the benefit of your child – start teaching your child to plan, organise, focus their attention, self-regulate positively and all the wonderful things executive functions entail.

Stop what you’re doing and start focussing on executive functions!

Helping your child devise a study timetable is a part of executive function development!

It is a part of planning to study, keeping perspective throughout your studies and focussing on the bigger goal.

Start by doing the outline planning, with your child, in a calendar format like the GAP Calendar, alternatively, download a calendar page here.

Weekly Study Timetable

The weekly study timetable, allows your child to identify a subject per day, along with space to define what they would like to achieve chapter wise per day.

English: Study Timetable Weekly PlannerDownload

Afrikaans: Studie Rooster Weeklikse BeplanningDownload

Daily Study Checklist

The daily checklist is where your child has an outline of three study sessions, with breaks, outlined for the day. The child is responsible to stick to these times as closely as possible, however, document the actuals against the planned information.

A blank version of the checklist allows you/your child to change the schedule to match your requirements.

English: Study Timetable PlannedDownload

English: Study Timetable BlankDownload

Best of all, the weekly study timetable and daily checklist are available for download in English and Afrikaans.

Afrikaans: Studie RoosterDownload

Afrikaans: Studie Rooster OnbeskreweDownload

5. Accountability & Relatability

The last tip is simple – keep in mind that your child needs your guidance throughout the learning process. He/she needs to be able to ask questions and believe that their studies are important to you. Having said that, they need to grow in independence and, therefore, accountability is key.

Each and every day, they need to be able to give you a breakdown of what they’ve learned, how long each chapter or unit took them and what they enjoyed.

We need to relate to- and empathise with our kids! It is completely normal to tell your child you despised history or math, but try to highlight the benefits of these subjects along the way.

Your turn! Do you make use of study timetables for your child?

And what has been working for you and your child? Tell me in the comments below.

Give your Child Competitive Advantage this year

As January draws to a close, I am acutely aware that the South African kids are heading into their 3rd full week of school. Have you considered ways to give your child a competitive advantage at school this year?

Logan is in Grade 6 this year. That means, we’ve refined our back to school, planning and organisation practice. I know how stressful is it when you child starts grade 4! I knew the rotation would help my little ADHD boy, yet I still felt a little anxious about all the changes.

With the help of a education psychologist, we have managed to implement a number of minor tweaks to help Logan cope with the changes.

We are also implementing one or two new strategies this year for Grade 6! And as always, we are open to learning what works for you and giving it a try too!

5 Minor Tweaks to give your child competitive advantage at school

1. Book Bags

Logan has six different book bags in his school bag, a bag for each subject. Initially, this was a little investment, because we opted for durable Waltons book bags in various colours.

Thankfully, the investment paid off, as two years down the line, the book bags are still sturdy and being used daily.

This year, Logan has decided to opt for 3 bookbags instead of 6. However, the principle stays the same.

2. Colour Code

Once we had purchased the book bags in various colours, I literally redesigned his school rotation roster, matching the book bags’ colours.

This helped Logan immensely! When he looks on his roster, he can easily see what his next subject is, along with the colour of the book bag he needs to take out of his school bag.

In other words, Math is colour coded in Blue. The colour of math on his school roster is blue and as soon as he sits at his desk, he removes the blue book bag out of his school bag. In the blue book bag, he neatly has all his math books together.

This helped him to be organised and ready to listen to what his teacher is talking about in class, instead of fiddling in his school case for the correct books.

It may seen minor to us as adults, but being able to focus on what is being said in class, instead of trying to get your duck in a row, as a child is serious competitive advantage!

3. Laminate the School Rotation Roster

Once we nailed the colour coded school bags, we printed and laminated the school roster. The laminated school roster card is attached with a simple keyring to his school bag – which give Logan easy access to the roster.

He doesn’t have to search for the homework diary, flip to the first or last page, in order to view the roster. It is easily accessed on the outside of his school bag.

4. Diary Management

Teaching your kid to use their school diary, can be an uphill battle. Especially when the teacher doesn’t check if they have written down their homework.

Here’s what we do: On a daily basis, Logan writes down every subject in chronological order, i.e. he follows the timetable for the day and writes the subjects accordingly.

This means, that all he needs to do is write down the homework in the space allocated next to the subject after the period is completed.

For us this practice wasn’t enough.

In certain subjects there we never any homework and in the languages, he always had spelling words for homework. Writing down ‘spelling words’ every day seemed a bit pointless.

For these reasons, we took it a step further in last year. Instead of writing down the homework, I asked Logan to write what was discussed in class.

For example: Eng – Passive tense

Now, naturally, he doesn’t always remember to write down the outline of the lesson per subject. One thing he is well aware of, is that I will be asking him for his diary when I come home. This forces Logan to reflect on his day, and jot down what was discussed.

The ability to recall information you stored earlier that day, is an invaluable executive function – a skill we all need in order to thrive in achieving what we decide to do!

5. Daily Practice

Ever since I read Caroline Leaf’s book – Switch on Your Brain, I am accutely aware of the active steps we need to take every single day, in order to change our thinking.

Deep reflective thinking helps us to change our non-conscious minds!

Logan may not feel the need to change his thinking. That doesn’t mean, it isn’t my responsibility as a parent to equip him appropriately for the future. Schoolwork certainly is a practical area to start!

Here’s what we’ve (slowly) tried to put in place:

We would like Logan to take a bit of time, daily, to reflect. In his instance, we would like him to jot down what they did in the classroom, for every subject.

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At the moment, it seems like the end of the world for Logan! He feels our sole purpose in life, is to make him miserable. (Pretty much what I thought my parents were out to do, as a kid.)

Like I said, the details haven’t been ironed out just yet! I am hoping that we can transfer a skill to Logan, that will give him competitive advantage in the long run!

He is a smart little boy and with the right kind of guidance, he will excel in work and life.

There you have it! What’s working, along with, what we hope to achieve.

Tell me, in the comments below, what strategies you have implemented for your child? And how it has turned out for him or her?

I would love to know what is working for you.

Back to School 2019 +A Free Kids Goal Setting Printable

Back to school 2019 was slightly delayed this year! The main reason for the delay was because I’ve been on leave since the 13th of December and was a little unprepared with the preparations!

Every year since the 2012 for Logan and 2013 for Oli, we’ve taken a photo of the first day of school for the year.

Both Oli and Lu rolled their eye at me when I reminded them of the tradition on the 2nd day of school. I simply answered them by saying that one day, they would look back and appreciate these photos!

Naturally the whole idea of looking back was intriguing enough for me to dig into the archives of our back to school tradition and compare the photos year by year.

Logan | 2012-2018

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  2012

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  2013

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  2014

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  2015

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  2016

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  2017

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Oli | 2013-2018

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  2013

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  2014

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  2015

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  2016

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  2017

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  2018

Back to School 2019

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In celebration of going back to school and the spirit of goal achievement – I have a little printable available!

Download the “What is your 2019 Goal” Kids Printable right here!

Best of all, you have the option to download the printable in English or Afrikaans! (If anyone is prepared to translate in any other languages – I will gladly make the printable available?)

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Kids Goal Printable 2019Download

Kinder Doelwit Printable 2019Download

What are Executive Functions?

I have noticed that executive functions are virtually non-existent in most of today’s workforce. It is something that troubles me immensely (naturally, that is a post for another day) but it has been the force behind developing executive functions in my kids.

Teaching kids to have a goal and helping them achieve their goal, not only boosts their self-esteem, it also develops executive functions.

I’m sure you must be wondering – what exactly is executive functions and why am I going on and on about them!

To put it real simply, executive functions are the skills you need, to do, what you decide to do.

We’ve starting playing chess at home, and added Rummikub to the equation. These games teach you how to solve problems, manipulate information and reuse it to your advantage.

Goal setting on the other hand teaches you how to follow through with a decision you’ve made, persistent perseverance. It teaches us to align certain tasks (planning) in order to achieve our goals.

Self-talk and monitoring is developed, and with the guidance of an involved parent – this is positive and not negative self-talk!

Both Logan and Oliver will use the goal setting printable, in conjunction with the GAP calendar. I know this will teach them how to plan their activities within a timeline and grow a better understanding of getting things done sooner, rather than later.

I’m pretty excited for the new skills that are being developed and I will be sure to share their journey right here.

Download the Printable in English

Download the Printable in Afrikaans

How to Motivate your Child with Words of Encouragement

We all need words of encouragement every now and then.  These words remind us that we are valued and help us to persevere a just a little bit longer. 

Now if we need words of encouragement, can you imagine how much more our kids need to hear these words from our mouths!  

In February this year, I wrote a blog post about the 5 love language we use to communicate and receive love.  Even while writing these words, I knew, I am slow to give words of affirmation and encouragement.  This made me realise that it is something I need to practice!  

Morning school drop-offs became a place to practice using words of affirmation

I’m not a morning person.  Most mornings when dropping the kids off at school, I am still half asleep, even when I have had my first cuppa for the day.   

At best, I used to uttered the words, “I love you, have a good day at school”

Unfortunately, mumbling these words over and over, means they lose their impact and starts to sound a little rehearsed!  That is the last thing I want my kids to feel when they walk into the school grounds.  I want them to know how awesome I think they are! 

Our kids need to know we are behind them!  They need to know that they are capable of working hard and that we are proud when they do their best.  They need to know we are proud to be their parents!

I realised I needed to change my approach.

The first couple of mornings, I tried to think of something meaningful to tell my boys.  And to be honest, I was stumped – at a loss for words!  Because, let’s be honest, when speaking words of encouragement the aim is to speak something that is honest and genuine.  

It felt a lot like small talk and if I am being very honest, I pretty bad at small talk.  

One fine morning, I uttered the words, I am proud of the little boy you are.

It kind of jumped out of my mouth, without any warning.  As soon as I uttered the words to Oliver I knew, I had to have a second sentence ready for Logan.  

So I told him, I know he is capable of working hard and achieving his goals.  

Both my sons, walked into the school grounds, feeling untouchable!

There was a sparkle in their eye that wasn’t there the previous morning.  A little more swag and whole lot more confidence.  Somehow they knew and understood, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I was pleased with them!  

I was amazed how much my opinion as parent mattered to them!

Now I know I don’t want to create little monsters who tried to validate their worth based on words other people speak.  So I truly believe there’s a Godly principle to learn!  When we raise our children to be successful according to biblical principles, it is key to speak truth over their lives. 

We need to speak their own identities in Christ over their lives.

Christian Contemporary Music & Our Kids

I’ve always realised that I wanted to spend most of my time feeding my soul in a postitive and Godly manner by listening to Christian contemporary music.  I’ve also known that I wanted to expose to my kids to this kind of music for as long as possible. 

What I didn’t realised was the impact it has had on their lives! 

In last week when I fetched the kids from aftercare, Oliver promptly advised me that he had created his very own song.  As he started singing in full force, I could clearly link the words and the melody of his song to a combination of Christian songs we listen to.

As a mom, this is exactly what I want!  

I am a firm believer that the Holy Spirit, speaks to us daily.  I’ve never heard God audibly, but the whispers you receive as sudden thoughts, or the lyrics of a song that come to light, is God speaking to us!

Why Christian Contemporary Music?

We’re all familiar with the term, junk in, junk out.  The same is true with thoughts.  We’re so careful to protect our kids from inappropriate tv-shows, but have you considered what the message behind the songs your kids listen to daily?  

Let’s take ‘Youngblood‘ by  5 Seconds Of Summer.  Catchy song, nice beat and a half decent music video.  However,  the message behind the song is that there is no such thing as love.  Love is a myth and it is better not to be vulnerable in front of your partner because it isn’t going to last.

Remember the words you told me, “love me till the day I die”
Surrender my everything ’cause you made me believe you’re mine

‘Youngblood‘ by  5 Seconds Of Summer

As I thought over these words and lyrics, I realised how subtly the casual sex culture we live in, our kids are growing up with, changes.  

Related:  Liberated, The Film | Casual Sex Culture & Raising Kids

Now I know I cannot shield my kids from the media completely!  I can monitor what they watch and listen to at home and on their mobile phones.  I can reprimand and take away these privileges if they are abused. 

But let’s face it,  I won’t be able to keep them away completely.

They will choose.

I know they will be exposed to all sorts of music, videos and media in general.  Just like I know, they will have to make a decision as to whether they will engage with the media.

My only hope is, that they remember what they’ve grown up with.  Yes, it isn’t like we only listen to Christian contemporary music, we do listen to other songs as well, but the fact remains, there is a balance.

My hope is, that when a Christian song pops up in their heads, that they will listen to the message, because, as I have mentioned above – this is one of the ways in which the Holy Spirit speaks and encourages us!

Our Favourite Christian Contemporary Music

I am sure you must be wondering exactly what we’re listening to!

The music scene has changed a lot over the past couple of years.  Initially, most Christian music was simply, praise and worships song, now there are various different genres of Christian music.  I know these will evolve as the boys grow older, but for now, I am really grateful we share our love for these songs:

For King and Country

We love ‘For King and Country’ – their very first single that became popular, was called Joy!  It has a brilliant message for young and old – do yourself a favour, watch the whole music video.  

There are two new songs we adore, the kids love Amen and although I like it, I really love Pioneers.  

SANCTUS REAL | CONFIDENCE

This song really speaks of the Bible characters our kids grow up with – Moses, Daniel and David!  I love that it is a quick reminder of their bravery, courage and faith.  

 Cory Asbury | Reckless Love

Naturally, each child has there favourite song as well.  Reckless Love is one of Oli’s favourites, along with ‘Glorious Day‘ and ‘King of my Heart.’

Lauren Daigle – Look Up Child 

Logan loves the reggae feel of this Lauren Daigle song.

I could probably do a how series on Christian contemporary music.  For now, if you feel inspired I will simply point you in the right direction:  Not today; So I will and Who You Say I am.

I would love to know if I am the only one who wants to pump my kids full of the love of God, by introducing them to various kinds of Christian music.  

Let me know in the comment below, if this is something you are doing or something you have though about before? 

Oli is Seven and the Weekend Celebrations

It feels like just the other day that I was taking bump photos and painting Oli’s Mickey Mouse nursery.  In actual fact, it was seven years ago!

Oliver turned seven on the 22nd of September!

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What an honour and privilege it is to watch him grow up!  If there is one thing that I have come to realise over the past couple of months it is the fact that Oli (and Lu) are first and foremost, God’s children.  I have been entrusted to raise them to the glory of God.  With the full weight of that knowledge comes a huge responsibility and of course, the relief in knowing that His plan with their lives will prevail, as long as we remain faithful!

Birthday Wishes 

Ever since we asked Oliver what he wanted for his birthday, his biggest wish was to have his very own cell phone.  I personally feel seven is a bit young for a cell phone, but considering the fact that he has been saving his pocket-money for months, I wasn’t going to stop him if he really wanted one.  

Albert and I decided we were not going to buy him a cell phone.  We knew that if he received a little bit of birthday money, he would have more than enough cash to buy himself an elementary smartphone.  Cause, let’s be honest, cell phones are most definitely not for communication when you are seven!  It’s merely a device that houses games, enable you to watch videos and take the occasional photo!

And I am so thrilled that we didn’t because he has enough money to buy his own phone!   

I truly believe the pleasure of knowing you have saved and worked for something yourself, far outweighs receiving it on a ‘silver platter.’

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Instead of buying him a cell phone we bought him an inflatable volleyball net for the pool, along with clipon heel skates.  Our goal is to keep him playing actively for as long as possible!

Pool Party!

We started the birthday celebrations on Friday when Oli took homemade cupcakes to school!  

Yes, you read correctly!  The boys and I were baking up a storm on Thursday!  Even though we are nowhere close to winning a bake-off competition, we had loads of fun!

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Saturday morning we had a little pool party for him and a few of his school friends at home.  His Ouma and Aunty Tracey joined in on the fun!

Saturday afternoon his dad took him out for an ice-cream.  He got to spend some time with the other side of his family and WD.  I was astounded to see how much WD has grown over the past few years since I last saw him!  And of course, it saddened me to see the ripple effect of the divorce!

On Sunday morning after church, we had a little brunch next to the pool.  We made flapjacks on the gasbraai and Oli and Albert had a full-on sailing competition.  I’m pleased to report that Oliver self-made sailboat, gave Alberts, very professional sailboat a run for its money!

Oli started ‘building’ his own boats, airplanes, etc from wood this year and it is so cute to see the pride he has in his creations!  Rightly so!

The Year that’s been

Oli started grade 1 this year.  He absolutely loves doing math and isn’t too keen on reading!  Having said that, we are working really hard at it!   Wearing funky reading glasses helps a great deal!

Oli has numerous friends, including Zander, Stephan and Tori, although his very best friend is called Humphrey.  

Earlier this year he played bulletjie rugby and even though he could have played with the Grade 2’s, he chose to join his own age-group so that he gets to play with Humphrey and Zander. 

In May this year, Oli started doing Capoeira, something he has wanted to do since Logan and I started the game in 2015.  Thankfully Jerry started a kiddies class and I am so pleased to see Oli enjoys it as much as he thought he would!  There really is something so special about Capoeira and seeing Oli excel with some of the moves, makes my momma heart super pride.  But even more so, is seeing Oli push himself and persevere despite the harder moves!

Keep going my boy, you have no idea how much potential you have!

It has been a good year, despite the challenges we’ve faced!  Kawasaki disease is a new concept we’ve learned, one that wasn’t pleasant!

I also wish I could say, things are settling with our divorce proceedings, but it really is not, in fact, we’re on a bit of a rollercoaster at the moment. 

Oliver, my sweet seven-year old!

Oli, my boy, I wish I could make this easier for you!  Please know that my only intention is to do, what is in your best interest.  I know that won’t make me the popular parent and I am okay with that!  Know my motives are pure and my intention will always be, to do what is in your best interest!  I am so proud of you and the young man you are becoming and I love you with all my heart!  

Happy Birthday my Boy!

Chess for Kids | Cognitive and Executive Functions Skills Development

Apart from the fact that chess benefits us as a family, there are loads of skills being developed as a child!  Hence the reason, I am an advocate of chess for kids!

If you are new to this blog, you may not know, that I am a huge fan of the development of executive functions from a young age!

Since Logan’s diagnosis of ADHD, I have been searching for tips and tricks to help me, help him.  The development of Executive functions was one of the missing pieces.

 

What are Executive Functions?

The short and easy to understand explanation of executive functions is that they are the skills needed to do what you decide to do.

In other words, executives functions are the things that generally frustrate you, in others.  It is when you ask your colleague to run with an aspect of a project after you have broken the tasks down in steps.  And still, they can’t seem to get going with it!

 

 

Getting started with a task is an executive function.  So is planning and prioritising tasks, along with general organisation skills.  Self-monitoring and emotional control are both executive functions.  Impulse control (thinking before you act) and flexibility in your decision-making, also forms a part of executive functioning.

I think it is handy to know that executive functions are only fully developed by the age of 25-30 years of ages!  People with ADHD generally struggle longer to the develop these skills.  Hence the fact that I am adamant to get started with the development as soon as possible!

Therefore, even though Logan has ADHD and Oliver doesn’t – both benefit from the strengthening of executive functions.

 

 

Chess for Kids

I really don’t need to explain how chess for kids and executive functions go hand in hand here!  But here are some interesting facts and observations I have made:

Evidence shows that chess actually improves reading and mathematics skills. – Source

Because chess teaches us to plan ahead, evaluate alternatives, and use logic, it improves a child’s visual memory, attention span, and spatial-reasoning ability. – Source

Logan, my ADHD boy-child, can concentration for an hour and a half straight in order to beat me in a chess game.  Throughout the game, he strategises – thinking three moves ahead, prioritising moves and considering alternatives.

Considering alternative options really translates into, solving problems.  The ability to think for yourself and solve a problem through trial and error is huge!  Imagine a life where you don’t have to spoon feed people solutions!  A world where logic prevails!

Oliver started using the kitchen tiles as a platform to practice the various mobility moves of each chess piece.  He is literally walking or jumping the moves permitted for the different pieces.  Now it may seem trivial, but Oli is six.  Retaining the information from the chess board, manipulating the information and applying it to kitchen tiles – that aren’t checked, is, in reality, a skill that is crucial in the workplace!

 

 

Understandable, chess is only a game.  As parents, we need to ensure that a game stays fun while benefitting our kids!

 

Activities that Build and Enhance our Kids

Logan used to hate reading – so we focussed on executive functions instead.  I dare not say this out loud – but I think the reading bug has finally bitten him!  I am beyond thrilled, even more so, because it wasn’t forced.  Perhaps incentivised, but not forced!

The same with chess, weeks will go by when life takes over and we don’t play a single game of chess.  And then suddenly, it seems like it is all we do in our free time.

Capoeira is another activity (and sport) I can go on and on about.  But let’s save that for another day!

At the end of the day, spending our time and energy on various activities that build and enhance our kids, is so important!  For the sake of keeping things interesting and fun, we need to allow things to happen organically!

Some days, that is easier said than done!

 

Have you heard of the benefits of chess for kids?  Have you given it a go?  And if you have – what are the benefits you are seeing in your kids?

Chess Fun for Kids | 5 Benefits for the Whole Family

I was never much of a chess player!  In actual fact chess and fun would never be used in the same sentence and in my opinion, it was a total bore.

So imagine my surprise when both Logan and Oliver started enjoying it! 

Of course, seeing them enjoy it, led me on a little research adventure!

Chess Fun in Our Home

After years of trying to show Logan how fun reading is, I started experimenting with other ways of instilling skills I think is beneficial for him.  Chess, naturally wasn’t one of them!

Here are some of the ways we have been having fun with chess:

1. Teaching Mom Something New

Logan was stoked when he, with the help of A, could teach me something.  Beating me in chess was not half-bad either!

2. Quality Time

Chess helps us all to unwind in a constructive way.  It gives us an opportunity to forget everything that happened throughout the day and simply focus on something in a mindful way.  We get to laugh our way through the game and end up talking about what’s on our minds, without any other distractions.

3. Practising Constructive Competitiveness

We get to compete with each other.  Every now and then, there’s a little tantrum that leads to ugly competitiveness.  Especially when a key chess piece, is taken by our opponent.

As parents, it gives us the perfect opportunity to teach (and practice) constructive competitiveness!

4. Practising Perseverance

We all get to practice a bit of perseverance when having chess fun.  Logan gets frustrated when A beats him.  Oliver feels like giving up when a bunch of his pieces are taken.  Until of course, A sits in and takes him from losing to winning in a couple of moves.

Then, of course, there is the general perseverance that is taught, waiting until your opponent makes exactly the move you’ve been waiting for.

5. Applying Yourself

I noticed that I could go from studying calculus to enjoying a game of chess seamlessly.  Somehow, going from one mental task (calculus) to another mental task (chess)  – can actually be considered a constructive break.

We’re doing actually the exact same thing with Logan as his exam season approaches!

So there you have it, 5 ways in which chess benefits our family!  What do you do as a family and how does it benefit everyone?

Raising Children to be Successful Adults

Raising children is a trying task.  Every so often, I find myself uttering the words:  “They said: ‘Have kids, it will be fun.'”  To be fair, some days it is fun raising children, but most of the time, it feels like an uphill battle!

How we raise our kids depends on our definition of success!

I’m a firm believer in working for what you want in life.  When I had Logan, my definition of success was very different than what it is now.  At the time, my goals were to complete my studies, in order to have a respectable, high-paying job, in order to send my kid to university one day!

Thankfully, personal values and Spiritual Truth is woven into who I am!  Things like integrity, gratitude and being kind to those around me has guided my decision making.

Parenting Objectives

My goal as a mom has always been to raise happy, well-adjusted kids with a hearty dose of perseverance and drive.  Naturally, well-adjusted to me translates into many things:  thankful, kind, hardworking, resilient and willing to help those around them.

Because I value hard work, my goal as a mom is to teach my kids that they will need to work for what they want in life.  Stubbornly I live by the same value, but often times, I throw temper tantrums when things don’t go my way – especially when I know I have put in the hard work.

It has taught me something about myself and something I need to address in my kids now before I lead them into the rabbit hole!

Creating a Simpler Life

I learned the hard way (excuse the pun) that hard work doesn’t guarantee success.  Dedication and hard work, remain a requirement for success, but sometimes you need to stick in a season until the time is right to move on.  Just like a primary school child, can’t decide they are finished with primary school until they have successfully completed their 7-years of schooling, we can’t decide to move on until we’ve learned what we needed to learn in a season.

Unfortunately, the lines are blurry when it comes to being an adult.  Seasons aren’t as clear as they used to be in school!  Yet life has a rhythm and it is imperative for us to listen to its rhythm.

In our case, our rhythm is guided by the Lord.  If we weren’t believers, I don’t know where we would put our hope! Today, I am truly grateful that I can put my hope in Him.

This won’t be the last post I write regarding success and preparing our kids for the big bad world.  But I guess the idea of simplifying life, for their sake was at the top of my mind!

Have you ever consider what success means to you and how that influences your parenting skills?

To better Health and Back to School

Oliver has missed the “back to school” craze by landing up in the hospital with an unknown viral infection!  Here’s a bit of an update on my last post.

Monday was one of the hardest days I have had in a long time.

I found myself waiting for the doctor to give me concrete information as to Oliver’s medical condition.  Monday was Oliver’s 5th day in the hospital.  Every single blood result had come back negative.

Which sounds like great news, but when you have a history of a disease such as  Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis – the unknown is pretty scary!

Thankfully by Monday evening, both Oliver’s oncologist (telephonically) and a dermatologist confirmed that Oliver’s rash is not characteristic of the LCH rash.  The dermatologist also confirmed that the rash would not clear without the proper LCH treatment which is similar to (or more aggressive than) the cortisone treatment he had in 2015.

Discharged from Hospital

Oliver was discharged from hospital on Tuesday, even though we still have no formal diagnosis.  She has asked to see Oli again in next week, so hopefully, we will have the final results shortly!

The main thing is – Oliver is so much better!

Back to School & Going to Grade 1

Oliver went back to school yesterday.

As tradition would have it, mom had to take a “First day of school” photo to commemorate the occasion.  (2016; 2014).

Unfortunately, Oliver was in no mood!

The poor kid is going to have to pose for another photo in next week! But this one will probably remain my favourite!

Oliver had a good first day back at school.  We’ve had to do a mountain of work to catch up to what was done in class.

I am really grateful he has a couple of his really good friend with him in class.  I am grateful for good health, excellent medical aids and teachers, friends and family who care!

What are grateful for today?