N is for Nest: A Mini Tot School Unit

N is for Nest: A Mini Tot School Unit

Squeaker’s interests are all over the place lately, so that means we haven’t done too many themed tot school units. Instead, I leave access to art supplies, books, and manipulatives for her to explore during the day. We also play a lot because I know that she’s learning through play and I think play is incredibly important for her development. With the recent change of seasons, and her ongoing interest in birds, I figured that we could start exploring outdoors and looking for signs of spring. I also wanted to incorporate letter recognition and some fine motor skills into it; so it would be beneficial for both Squeaker and Sweet B. We ended up with a mini tot school unit (that I also carried over…

Simple Science for Toddlers

Simple Science for Toddlers

It seems like forever since I’ve done a School with Squeaker post! Our tot-school this year has been incredibly informal and sporadic. I go off of her lead and her interests but I don’t have set activities or a schedule for her yet. This is based on her age. Yes, her attention span is increasing but she’s also 2. That’s not to say that I don’t do activities or crafts with her or that she doesn’t have access to materials. She does. I just haven’t planned it out exactly and again, I go by her interests. I want to keep it fun for her and I know she’s still absorbing all of the information, just that it happens in unplanned situations. And honestly, that’s how…

Budget Friendly Entertaining Tips

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #NaturallyCheesy #CollectiveBias Squeaker’s birthday party was this past Saturday (on her actual birthday- the 5th) and we had a small, intimate celebration that was also our first holiday entertaining event of the year. It might also be our last because it still proved to be more than enough for this introvert, but it was still a lot of fun none the less. We also managed to stay within our minimal party budget so that was a definite win for us. And I am more than happy to share my budget friendly entertaining tips with you. We tend to allocate the largest chunk of the budget to food and…

Should You Get a Payday Loan?

By now, I’m sure we’ve all seen the commercials out there for payday loans. It’s quick, easy money when you need it. But is getting a payday loan worth it? Is it really something that you should consider when you need money? This was something that my ex and I had once discussed, before we ultimately decided to ask for a credit extension on one of my credit cards. Looking back, I wish I hadn’t done it, but what’s done is done. I also, at the time, applied for a loan from the bank- which again, I wish I hadn’t. I would have liked to have been more mindful with my money, but… well, things happen. But, what works (or didn’t) for me, might work…

Easy Tips to Help with Credit Repair

Do you know what your credit score is? I’ll be honest, my credit score at one point was respectable. Then, I got in a bit of trouble with my credit cards and my credit score suffered because of it. Now I’m at the point where I’m trying to become debt free on my own and repair my credit score in the process. Not always easy but I know the journey will be well worth the effort. Learning to live within a budget has not been an easy journey. It’s always been easier for me to spend money instead of just save it. But, reality is that if I want to work on repairing my credit and get out of debt, I know that I need…

Watercolor Painting for Toddlers

As we do our informal tot school over the summer, I’ve been looking for different ways to get Squeaker engaged. It’s not something that I want to force with her because I want her to enjoy the summer. We’ve been spending a bit of time outside, but only when it’s not too humid or hot. Most of the time she’s content to just play in her little wading pool or we’ll head up to the park to go play in the splash pool. Yesterday though, we tried out something different. The end result? Easy watercolor painting for toddlers. She had fun with it and afterwards, we played with the hose. While you could most certainly does this indoors as well, we chose to go outside…