Questions on Bullies and Spanking

I received two very great questions today. I wanted to pass them along, as well as my response. Thanks Becky for your questions! Question: How do I teach my 3 yr old daughter to defend herself from pushing, and toy grabbing friends? I want her to learn to be self sufficient with out aggressive behaviors …

Establishing Goals With Your Children.

We all want to start the New Year off right. We have talked about what we want from ourselves this year, but what about for our children? We want them to be successful this year, and I know there are some habits I would like to establish in Emily and Anna. Anna will be 2 …

Welcom Gabriel Darance!

For those of you who don’t know, Kelly Krausse is our newest additon to 1smartmom, she contributes with “Journey’s with Kelly”, an adoptive moms journey. She , along with Hubby David, and Zach and brother Mitchell (not pictured) are excited to announce their newest addition to their family…Gabriel Darance Krausse, (Gabe) 8lbs. 6 oz, and …

Impersonal Education requires Involved Parents.

Fifty years ago America was the world’s standard for learning and high achievement. We were on the cutting edge in invention, and business. I think that the standards of learning in the education system plummeted somewhere along the line, and now Japan and other countries are light years ahead of us. All other countries learn …

Rewards or Bribes?

Last week I spoke of setting clear expectaions for our children, and touched a little on rewards and consequences. Recently, I have been attending a parenting class at my church, and I found Pastor Justin Harley’s explanation of rewards and consequences to be very enlightening. Many times throughout the bible God uses rewards and consequences …

Setting Clear Expectations

Have you ever gone to a job and they said “Ok, Mrs. So’n’So, go to work!” No explanation of the job description or expectations of your performance. This would be very frustrating right? Worse yet what if that same boss came in and yelled at you, or docked your pay, because certain tasks were not …

Public School, Private School, Home School?

My daughter Emily is starting Kindergarten next fall. I have really been researching the pros and cons of where we want her to be next year (and when I say “researching” I mean asking every mom I can her opinion, with a little bit of internet reading about the public schools in our school district). …