Babbyone Blog

I’m sharing some ideas at two different spots this week.  First, I’m over at Simple Kids, talking about what we learn about child development from the silly things kids say.  Here’s a little taste: I love listening to my three year-old talk.  He has a way of making the most common words sound delectably darling. … continue reading

My husband is a natural when it comes to principle-based parenting.  (That should be a whole post in itself.)  Rather than laying down all the rules, he’ll state the principle and ask our boys how they propose we should go about implementing it.  Here’s how that went down recently. Dad:  I need you to listen… continue reading

Alphabet Awareness is a critical component of emergent literacy.  Children often master the capital letters first, quickly discerning between those large strokes.  But once the focus turns to the lowercase letters things can get a bit dicey. Those pesky d’s and b’s, not to mention the p’s and q’s can get awfully confusing for emergent… continue reading

‘Tis the season of the Great Pumpkin! I was putting together an activity to accompany the book The Garden That We Grew by Joan Holub when my memory flashed to a Pinterest pin I had seen which used a technique similar to this activity to blow up a balloon with a ghost face.  Spooky!  (Unfortunately… continue reading

While sitting around a table at Evo, discussing yet another inspirational speaker with Allie from No Time for Flashcards and Amy from Teach Mama, inspiration turned into a plan for action. We had listened to speaker after speaker share how they took simple ideas and made a huge impact, benefiting – and even saving –… continue reading

I was lucky enough to participate recently in a conference at Utah State University.  It was so much fun (and a little surreal) to teach a session at the front of a room where I had sat through many, many classes more than a decade ago. As much fun as I had teaching my session,… continue reading

Here’s proof that it really does tickle your ears when someone talks about you.  Right about the time I mention my 5 month old, you can hear him crying in the monitor, waking from his nap just as I wrap up the video! {This video can also be viewed on YouTube.} A participant in the… continue reading

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by good parenting advice?  Ever feel like your head might explode, not only from the sheer volume of well-meaning recommendations, but also from the mind-numbing contradictions among “experts”?  Ever sat on the verge of tears (or completely gushing with them) because of the thoughtless, misguided, or — even worse —… continue reading

There’s something special about bread.  It may be its universal nature, found in different forms all around the world.  Ann Morris’ book, Bread, Bread, Bread takes a fantastic around the world photo journey examining bread throughout a variety of cultures. (It’s a great book I would strongly recommend as part of a food unit like… continue reading

With Thanksgiving upon us here in America, it’s customary to take some extra time to ponder on the things we’re grateful for.  I am blessed with so many things.  Among those are the blessings that have come from this blog — and for that, I want to thank you, the readers of Not Just Cute…. continue reading