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Life is busy — Google Calendar is still keeping us organized ~ Wordless Wednesday

March 30, 2022 by Wendy S

Google Calendar

Our life is busy and we’re still using Google Calendar to keep us all on the same page. See my previous post on how to use Google Calendar with shared calendars.

Wordless Wednesday @ mapsgirl.ca




Filed Under: family, Life, Meme, parenting, wordless wednesday Tagged With: calendar, Google, Google Calendar, Organization

How Does Classroom Design Influence Students’ Learning Abilities?

March 28, 2022 by Wendy S

Image by Wokandapix from Pixabay

Classroom design is an important factor in facilitating a good learning environment for students, and one that helps them increase their learning abilities. Researchers at the Universities of Washington and UC Berkeley estimate that American students spend an average of “11,700 hours of their lives in a school building from kindergarten to 12th grade.” For this amount of time, students need to be comfortable in their environment so they can educationally thrive.

Furniture Arrangement

A classroom’s layout has a much larger impact on students than you may think. According to Teacher Magazine, students are more apt to ask questions when placed in a semi-circular format over the traditional rows of desks. When deciding on the furniture’s layout, you want to think about cultivating a comfortable environment so that students are more apt to interact with one another and with the material being taught. However, traditional layouts can be stagnant, so having different options or using flexible classroom furniture can help keep students stimulated. At all times, a teacher should be able to see each child’s face in a lecture style environment.

Create An “Active Learning Environment”

Children are constantly mobile and students need adequate lighting and a noise-free environment to thrive in a classroom. Face-to-face interaction allows students to be more active and engaged with their work. As such, a central tenet of active learning involves keeping students stimulated. To accomplish this, well-conceived classroom design keeps distractions at bay while allowing teachers to effortlessly communicate with students in order to maximize a lesson’s resonance. When students are able to sit on or interact with active, ergonomic furniture, they are more comfortable and can focus on learning. Teachers need to have enough space to reach all students, and can ask for their input in terms of classroom design to see what will make them happiest.

Classroom Decorations

Classroom decorations are a tricky subject for teachers. However, decorations go a long way in helping students feel like they belong. Whether they’re arts and crafts projects, dioramas, or informative posters, it can be beneficial for students to see vibrant, educational graphics in which they’ve invested time and effort.

One Size Does Not Fit All

It is fairly obvious that children are not all the same size. However, in many traditional classrooms, every desk and chair is the same size. With new design and technologies advancing, there are now chairs and desks available that are adjustable based on height. Also, if students perform better in school when they are comfortable, then it’s important to not only have adjustable furniture, but pieces that can adapt to varied styles of learning. For instance, if a student does better when standing, then an adjustable sit-to-stand desk may solve problems of restlessness.

Fostering Good Habits

Providing ergonomic furniture fosters good posture, which is ultimately beneficial for long-term health. When students slouch or sit incorrectly, it can cause pain and discomfort for them in the classroom and in their futures. In their day-to-day experiences, this type of discomfort can distract students from their studies and decrease their learning abilities.

Overall, students benefit from environments that foster their physiological, emotional, and cognitive needs. When classrooms are designed to minimize distraction and discomfort, they can maximize students’ potential.

Filed Under: family, Life, parenting Tagged With: classroom, classroom design, learning, learning abilities, student

5 Tips to Style Your Kids When Going Out

March 25, 2022 by Wendy S

Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

Style

Life as a parent is a constant rush. With traveling back and forth from school, band and sports practices, trips to the grocery store, and obligatory family functions, it’s no wonder you’re always wondering where the time went. However, just because life as the energizer bunny is not all it’s cracked up to be, getting your family dressed and out the door doesn’t have to add to your workload.

Make conscious, fashionable dressing decisions and teach your children a lesson in personal responsibility and individuality with these five tips on how to style your kids without spending hours playing dress-up.

Plan Ahead

It is no surprise that clothing stores hold big sales events as one season closes and another begins. Take advantage of these opportunities to stock up on clothing options for the next year, at a discounted price.

For baby clothes, use this opportunity to buy clothes the next couple of sizes up to ensure you have options for months, and years, to come.

Explore New Options

When you’re shopping for kid’s clothing, consider layering. Layering adds dimension to any outfit. Choose clothes in different textiles and patterns to diversify closet selections.

Layered clothing styles aren’t exclusive to girls. There are plenty of options out there for trendy boy’s clothing too. Encourage your child’s individual style, and let their personality play out in the clothes they wear. Set out of few staple pieces and let your child decide what to mix and match.

Shop in Boutiques

Shop outside of the box! Yes, you too can dress your kids in trendy clothes, without breaking the bank. While you may not have the multi-million dollar budget some celebrity’s kids do, boutique shopping is still possible. Boutique doesn’t necessarily mean expensive; they’re just small stores that are not run by the megastore corporations like Walmart or The Bay. Clothing in boutique stores have more creative freedom since large companies do not design them, so you can get diverse, trendy clothes that are relatively inexpensive. Explore children’s boutique stores as an alternative to superstores.

Would You Wear It?

When shopping for clothes for your kids, ask yourself, would you wear it? If the answer is no, don’t buy it! The last thing you want to do is fill your kids closet with clothes you’ll never dress them in. If don’t know where to start with styling your kids, peruse online stores for new ideas and price comparisons.

You can also coordinate clothes with your children. Dressing similarly doesn’t have to be just for holiday postcards, nor does it have to be an exact match. Choose a color palette or style, and go from there. Not only will your kids look stylish, but you will look like a cohesive, well-represented family. You may even find yourself trying new style combinations from your own closet.

Make it Fun

Styling your kids isn’t always about clothes. Pay attention to details like hair and accessories. You can make any outfit fun with a big pair of sunglasses. Complete a casual-cool look with a messy bun or mussed-up hair. When it comes to style, it’s the complete picture that pulls together a look, so don’t forget to consider the details when you’re dressing your kids.

To dress your kids in style doesn’t require a big budget, a big closet, or endless amounts of time. Take the time to make wise purchases when there is a sale, plan for future wears, consider layers and different textures for endless outfit combinations, and pay attention to the details.

Happy styling!

Filed Under: family, Life Tagged With: children, kids, shopping, style

Baking Essentials that every baker needs

March 21, 2022 by Wendy S

There are a hundred and one things that might all be used when you’re baking, and we’d count each of them as essentials. However, there are some things that are more essential than others and are often overlooked in the kitchen.

In this article, we’re focussing on some of those overlooked essentials, as well as making sure that we’ve picked out products that can truly boost your baking to the next level!


Image by Pascal Bondis 💙💛 💙💛💙💛 from Pixabay

Instant-Read Thermometer

An instant-read thermometer might seem like a flashy gadget to have in a home kitchen, but it’s incredibly helpful for any number of things.
The first use that comes to mind is when making fudge or candy. Sugar reaches different stages at different temperatures when you’re heating it, so if you’re aiming for the soft-ball stage, you need to be within a certain temperature bracket. That’s where an instant-read thermometer comes in handy!

The other use that is handy is when making your own bread. Bread is cooked all the way through when you can take its internal temperature at 96˚C/205˚F. When making your own bread, it can be tricky to know when you’re at that point, and tapping the base of the loaf is an unreliable predictor. Instead, we would suggest investing in an instant-read thermometer for perfect bread every time.

 


Image by 为 肖 from Pixabay

 

Digital Scale

A digital scale is a game-changer in the kitchen! You won’t have to worry about perfectly using measuring cups ever again, instead of being able to perfectly measure the amount of each ingredient as you add them to your mixing bowl.
This is a really great way to enhance your recipes for more finicky things, such as meringues since they require very precise ratios of different ingredients to correctly bake and rise in the oven.

A digital scale can also help you to get rid of measurement errors with old measuring jugs. If the measuring lines of a jug have worn off, it becomes quite useless. On the other hand, a digital scale will always be able to tell you the exact number of mL of a liquid in a container. How handy!

 


Image by congerdesign from Pixabay

Whisk

Okay, this might sound a little obvious – of course, you need a whisk! However, you’d be surprised how often there’s hesitation to buy a good whisk. Make sure to get one that’s comfortable in your hand and quite lightweight – your wrists will thank you later!
We’d recommend getting one that’s completely made from stainless steel. That way, you can throw the whole thing in the dishwasher after you’re done with it! It’s really handy, and we love it.

Now, these three essentials might not sound too groundbreaking, but we’re completely sure that if you’re missing one of them, picking it up will mean you can see a huge improvement in your bakes in no time at all. Even if you just start with one, it’s a huge help!

So, without further ado, make sure to pick up the essentials we’ve pointed out here – you’ll love them!

Filed Under: food, Life Tagged With: baker, baking, baking essentials, essentials, kitchen

Ortho Phase 1: Complete #LaurenGoFar #LaurenOrtho

May 20, 2021 by Wendy S

The last 8 weeks have been very interesting.

On April 8th, Lauren got her pallet expander installed. She came home with a calendar and over the next 4 weeks, were to turn the key 21 times.

Pallet Expander

Initially, this didn’t bother Lauren too much. She said that it’s uncomfortable and she had a bit of a lisp.

Over the 21 turns, when she was asked if it hurt, she would explain that the bridge of her nose hurt. Which makes sense when you remember that your pallet is the bottom of your sinus cavities.

After the first 21 turns, it was back to Dr. Bozek’s office.  On June 6th, she was checked out, things were progressing well and we needed to do 21 more turns.

Each turn spreads her pallet by 1/4mm. It’s not a lot. After 42 turns, that’s 102mm (10.2cm)! 

 

 

Filed Under: family, Life, parenting, peanut

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mapsgirl@gmail.com

Why “mapsgirl” ?

Wendy is a cartographer! She draws maps!

When not mapping, Wendy is also a mom to two daughters. They are the inspiration of this blog. Passionate about child passenger safety, Wendy was a certified Car Seat Technician in Ontario, Canada from 2008 to 2020. [Read More …]

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