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Showing posts from December, 2015

7 parenting secrets of highly effective Israeli mamas

Are you an Israeli mama at heart?  You might be and not even know it! Sure, I’ve been parenting for 21 years (OMG!).  But I’m still learning when it comes to raising kids here in Israel.  Some of the lessons are harder than others to absorb, but here are 7 things that I have learned so far by watching the Israeli mamas around me. Some of these might even help other mamas, outside of Israel, become better, more capable, kid-friendly parents.  Maybe you’re already an Israeli mama? 1) Kids are outside Israeli apartments are SMALL.  That means the best place to play is outside.  Smart Israeli mamas send their kids outside the second they get home from school, almost year round.  Just about every neighbourhood I've seen in this country has a decent playground, and most are far better than decent.  Playgrounds here are simply more fun, and provide better activities for a wider range of ages.  In the summer, when outside can be dangerously hot all day long, kids play at night, oft

Mega-Massive Chanukah 2015 Roundup: 17 FREE & More Essential Family Resources

Yes, Chanukah is sneaking up on us SOOoooon! It’s early this year, so I wanted to jump right in and share this list of resources that I’ve created and shared.  Some are geared towards homeschoolers, but most are great for any family to share. Most are free, but my books (print & Kindle) and lapbooks are not.  I hope you’ll check them all out!   If you find something useful, leave a comment or share the link to this page to help others out. FREE Resources & Ideas for Chanukah learning & fun for the whole family: Chanukah Family Song Book (with links to tunes!) Chanukah copywork and Activity Pack Chanukah Family Science Project:  Oil, Water, Fire & Ice “Parsha” Poem for Chanukah (to read aloud together) Menorah in a Box (original craft idea) Chodesh Kislev (craft idea) Melted Wax & Oil “stained glass” Painting (craft idea) Nine Cool Lessons in Chanukah Fun Colouring Book (by me, and it’s free to download!) (see more pictures & details on this

The Courage to Dream: Thoughts for Parshas Vayeishev (long but thorough!)

  How many dreams does Yosef have in this week’s parsha? I’ve always thought it was two. Maybe you did, too? But if you look very carefully into the actual text, you’ll notice something funny. (Or, if you’re like me, you won’t – at least, not at first.) Here’s how Yosef’s dreaming begins: What’s the sequence here? 1. Yosef has a dream, tells his brothers, and they hate him more. 2. Yosef begs his brothers to hear his dream. Huh? Didn’t they just hear him tell a dream? Of course they did, because the Torah says right there that hearing his dream made them hate him more. After this, the Torah goes on: 3. Yosef tells his brothers a dream where they are gathering sheaves (wheat). This is often called his first dream. (Is it really???) 4. Yosef tells his brothers a dream where the stars, moon and sun are bowing down to him. This is often called his second dream. I’m sure you see the obvious question. What did Yosef tell his brothers in #1? According to most interpretations, t