The Mom I Want to Be

1 cup potato sticks 1 cup pretzel stick 1 cup semisweet chocolate chunk (or regular Hershey bars, broken into marked rectangular pieces)   Mix together and serve.

Hit the High Wire Choose one picture each month and mount it with previous selections along your child’s bedroom wall, timeline-style, to chart her artistic development. Design catalogs sell sleek steel wall-mounted cable systems 6 ($34, westelm.com) to which you can clip artwork and photos; DIYers can approximate these with yarn or wire and clothespins […]

  This simple clip-on device makes it a cinch to hang your child’s school drawings — and periodically replace them with her latest works.   Yardstick Binder clip Monofilament   First, attach a binder clip to the top of a wooden yardstick about 2 inches in from each end. Then tie the ends of a […]

The Letter Z is a generally reliable letter.  It usually makes the “zuh” sound as in zebra.   The Letter Z sometimes makes the /s/ sound as in quartz   1. Present a capital and lower case Z to your child.  See if she knows the name of the letter and the sound it makes.  Give […]

The Letter W is an unreliable letter.  It makes the “wuh” (voiced w sound) as in walk, when found at the end of a word or combined with the letter, it often makes the voiceless w sound as in whisper or cow.  At times, the wh combination makes the /h/ sound as in who.   […]

Traffic   In summertime our garden walk Is like a summer street; So many bugs run up and down With tiny little feet. The ants are shiny taxicabs, Oh, my! They go so fast! Here comes a caterpillar bus Who slowly travels past. I’m very sure that bugs must have Some very special vision; For […]

Pad of paper and felt-tip pens, or instant camera Yard, park, nature walk, or other outdoor area Magnifying glass Bug identification book (optional)            Walk or drive to a park or nature area. Bring a small pad of paper and drawing materials, or an instant camera, if you prefer. Walk through the area and help […]