Tis the {season}

Hello, all! First and foremost, for my final project in MCOM 225, part of the assignment includes making a graphic tied into my blog! With that being said, I decided that a Holiday blog post would be most fitting. Although I loved doing post related to my major, I am excited to get back to doing more lifestyle post. This post is all about Holiday traditions, a recipe, and home decor during the festive season.

Holiday Traditions:

Card/board games

Tree Hunting

Tree Decorating

Playing in the snow

Cookie decorating/ baking

Holiday Recipe: Sugar Cookie Truffles

1. Recipe Link Found Here!

Holiday Home Decor: {Black and white}

This year, I am really into the minimal, black and white style decor. I think that a white brick look is very chic and eye catching. The “20” years are a really experimental time in life to find who you are and to really discover your style. I also think that while decorating, sometimes doing less, really makes a bigger statement. While looking at different blogs and websites, I’ve found a few styles that I personally really found to be appealing.

These two shown above are both simple, and cheap if you’re doing your bargaining right. I also talk about my future house “wants” with SG, and I think he has a mini heart attack each time. Little does he know, this girl is a big-time savvy shopper. He underestimates my power. Anyways, my advice when it comes to doing DIY’s is start by making a list of things you absolutely need for the project. The stores I would start with are truly thrift stores, or hobby lobby and hit up that 40% online coupon. Even stores such as Walmart or the Dollar Tree typically have what you need, and just need a little TLC. One of my favorite bloggers that I follow, redid almost her entire house with thrift store buys, and trust me, her house is GOALS. DIY’s really do save a great deal of money and are also a fun Saturday afternoon. If you live on a farm, or know someone with a few old sheds filled with “things”, go rummaging. I love salvage shopping. I am a very big rustic/ vintage advocate. The history and life in the items are actually breathtaking and it’s so amusing how things come back in style, decades later!

 

i love the class look of this kitchen. The white wooden floors accompanied by the gray walls with crown molding in the test are gorgeous. The chairs posted in this picture can easily be made as well! Buy an old wooden table set off craigslist or a garage sale and paint it with an off white paint, and finish the look with sanding down the edges for a more worn/ rustic look. Another good store for finding bargains is Target! The dollar isle is one of my favorite parts of the store, and typically has tons of good buys!

I hope you enjoyed this post as well as the featured image, that was extremely simple to design. I love the old red car stocked up with gifts. Please feel free to share any recipes, decorating tips, or any holiday traditions that you love doing! Thank you for reading and I hope you found my two- cents worth the read!

{XO LN}

“He will be our peace.-micah 5:5”

Day{14}-empowering kids

Hi all of my lovely readers! It is the last day of my 14 day blog series for my social media design class. I have truly loved being able to write about topics that are near and dear to my future as an Early Childhood Education major. It really made me dedicate myself to my blog as well, something I love to do.

The last post today will be about empowering children and how it contributes to their success. From a young age to even adulthood, everyone loves to be recognized for their achievements. Some sayings that recognize good behavior are : you worked really hard on that, you are really helpful, thank you for being such a great listener, that really took a lot of practice and I’m glad you stuck with it. These simple sayings can really boost a child’s self confidence. Raising a child to have self- confidence is a huge task and something that is extremely important as a parent. How a child feel about themselves reflects a multitude of things such as how they treat others. Raising a child to be a good person reflects back on their self confidence. If a child is happy with themselves, they won’t feel the need to bring others down. One way to empower children is helping them indirectly do something, but giving them the pride of accomplishing the task. This creates independent, curious, self- relying individuals down the road. It is interesting to think that things you do while raising a child can really impact who they are in the future.

Per usual, share thoughts, comments, and suggestions!

Thank you all so much for all of your forms of input! I appreciate it so much!

{XO LN}

Day{13}-family engagement

Hello Friends! One day left after today! Today I will be talking family engagement concerning childhood development. I am a firm believer in the fact that what children see and learn at home really affects who they become as a person down the road.

I was sitting in Perkins eating breakfast one morning, and across from my booth was a family eating. The group consisted of two grown kids (in their 30’s I assume) the grandparents, and one little girl. The dad kept scolding the girl every time she would even make the smallest noise. This vividly caught my attention. As I did my homework and ate my breakfast, I couldn’t help but keep listening in to the dad who was now loudly yelling at the daughter and he said “You are to seen and not to be heard. Sit there and shut up.” My heart literally dropped. In that moment I knew that I wanted to be a teacher not only to  help build the future, but because some children’s home life was so bad, that coming to school was their “scape-goat”. My heart just went out to that little girl. I couldn’t imagine living in a house where my parents didn’t listen to what I had to say and let me voice my own opinion.

Building an imagination starts at home. Picture having your own kid coming home and saying “Mommy I was to be ________ when I grow up.” It just really catches me by surprise being some kids actually have never said that to their parents or the fact that some parents don’t open up enough to let a child be comfortable to express that to them. One of my absolute biggest fears is thinking about raising a child, and doing as good as job as my parents did. So many children have been raised without good morals and values modernly and it is truthfully a scary thing. Some kids simply do not know how to be a good person.

Is there something your parents/ you have done that you think have worked particularly well when it comes to parenting? What are your thoughts on family involvement concerning child development?

{XO LN}

Day{12}- Playtime.

Day 12! Hey y’all! Thank you so much for sticking with and giving all the feedback that you’ve provided so far! I literally love reading and hearing everyone’s thoughts! I love writing post due to all the feedback I receive. It really makes writing such a joy! Today I’ll be talking about the important of playtime.

An article I found stated that playtime supports cognitive and social development that last into adulthood. 

*Cognitive development is the construction of thought processes, including remembering, problem solving, and decision-making, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood

*Social development is defined as prioritizing human needs in the growth and progression of society. Social development also governs the norms and conventions that govern human interaction.

Playtime is sought out to be one of the most important ways for a child to grow. It helps contribute to building stronger brains and learning about their surroundings as well. This allows for children to focus on specific task, strengthening their motor skills, visual tracking, and hand- eye coordination. Playing with others helps develop creative thinking, problem solving, decision making, and lastly, communication skills such as listening cooperating, and negotiating. Playtime isn’t something that happens just at school either. It also starts at home. Children truly do not need expensive toys to maximize their play experiences. Children need safe play spaces where they can explore and interact with materials freely. This also contributes to their creativity. And to wrap up the post, adults who were allowed adequate playtime as children are more flexible, more knowledgeable about the world, and are more open- minded. Playtime helps young children develop a multitude of skills and is an important way to nurture optimal early childhood brain development. Children who play grow into adults who are better able to adapt and navigate through complex environments.

Share your opinions!

{XO LN}

 

 

Day{11}-Study Tips

Hola Amigos! The topic today is not necessarily geared towards younger aged children, but more or less just any aged target market.

A few study tips that I’ve learned, looked up, and use are things that I’ve found resourceful  over the years. First, I am a big notecard advocate. I have been using notecards as my go- to study method since probably fourth grade. I’ve found that this is the best way to instill what i’m learning into my brain.

I was talking with a friend last night, and he opened my eyes to something I’ve never really given a ton of thought too. We were talking about how school is just drilling things into your brain to get an A on the exam and never actually retaining that information. I would be extremely interested on researching the best way to help children, in particular, retain information. Anyways back to what I was saying, he said to me one person could get an A and not remember anything and I could get a C and actually learn something. I’ve never looked at it from that aspect and it really made me see how much school for so many people is just remembering things for a test and then forgetting it. College and high school are literally so much different. College is a great learning gateway because you are studying things that you are actually interested in and want to learn.

Next, I know personally some people who cannot have any distractions while studying and need it to be completely silent. I on the other hand love listening to music. My personal favorite is ” a great big world” station on Pandora. For some reason this playlist just motivates me and really helps me focus. The songs are more or less a ton of professional covers and I just find it simply beautiful how an artist can come out with song, and a person can do their own cover of the song in a completely different way and the is still so incredible. I am so intrigued by it.

Next, studying days in advance, not cramming. First of all, studying in advance just lifts a huge weight off my shoulder personally. This also helps you to make sure you actually understand what you’re learning as well as not giving you anxiety at the last minute, adding stress. I love being able to check an item done off my to-do list. Which brings me to my final point.

Planner. I am such a planner advocate. I have crazy OCD when it comes to my life schedule. I am a very impulsive decision maker, but when it comes to my schoolwork, I would suffocate without a planner. Knowing exactly what I have to do that day and having a schedule just makes my life so much easier and helps make me feel like hey, maybe my life isn’t falling apart this week? ( Lol)

What is your preffered method of studying? Any tips that you’ve found useful over the years? Please Share!

{XO LN}

Day{10}-Private VS Public

Hello Lovely Humans! It’s already day 10 of my 14 day blog series. Today, we will be talking about a private verse public school education. This topic is one that I hope facilitates lots of discussion, so please share your experience and opinions!

Being I have went to a private and public school, I have experience with both. I can truthfully say I do see a difference in the two. From my own personal experience, I would want to send my child to a private school versus a public school if that options available when I “grow up”. I just personally found that I was more prepared for college in general and life, at that. Having to be self- reliable all though high school and being at a college prep school really has made me into the person I am. Something else that I am extremely grateful for is the fact that I was able to pray in school. 45 minutes of a religion class everyday for 13 years can really shape who you are as a person and in your faith as well.

Being I want this post to be open-minded and open to all opinions, I also researched what others had to say about a public verse private education. Some benefits listed for a private school were:

enriched academic opportunity

smaller classes

parental involvement

dedicated teachers

a safe environment

community environment

ample resources

extra-curricular activities

shared education philosophy

development for today and tomorrow’s world

The few points that stuck out to me in this article were dedicated teachers, extra- curricular activities, and development for today and tomorrow’s world. Teaching at a private school is a huge dedication. First of all, the pay difference is near 30,000. Teachers at a private school are not there for the paycheck. They are there because they vividly care about the student and their learning experience. They are advocators of developing today and tomorrow’s world. One of the reasons I want to become a teacher is inspired by the dedication I’ve seen and experienced with teachers throughout my years in school. The one that I did disagree with, although, was the extracurricular activities. At my private school, we had less clubs and activities that we could be involved in due to the size of the school. This may also differ due to location but my experience was that when I went to the public school, there was more opportunity to get involved.

{XO LN}

Day {9}-Facilitate Discussion.

Hey Guys! Today our discussion will be geared towards discussion! My senior year religion class was a discussion based course. We spent everyday from 2:40-3:27 facilitating discussion on a multitude of topics. This really opened my mind to the glory of intellectual conversations. I was so intrigued to hear how someone’s opinion differed from mine and how they explained what they were thinking. It really opened my eyes and also contributed to the fact that I’m a very open- minded person. Anyone who knows me knows how deep conversations fascinate me.

I find discussion a necessity when it comes to the learning process. It opens up the gates for children to express their own opinion freely. Knowing that children are learning in an open environment makes the atmosphere comfortable and inviting for both the teacher and the student. Being able to see a child’s brain work and actually give thought to a process is a way to make that student use their brain to their full ability. As well as opening up their brains to new topics to think of for themselves, it also makes a child listen and value others’ opinions. I find that when you take into consideration your opinion, as well as someone else’s, you are more educated on whatever it is you are making a choice on or just simply talking about. Hearing multiple sides allows for someone to make a better judgement knowing how that certain topic may affect other people as well as themselves.

As always, please share your thoughts and opinions, as well as personal experiences!

{XO LN}

Day {8}-ADVANCE web design.

Hello all! Today I will be talking about the third project we just completed for my social media design course. The goal for this project was to create a mock-up web design.

(In manufacturing and design, a mockup, or mock–up, is a scale or full-size model of a design or device, used for teaching, demonstration, design evaluation, promotion, and other purposes. A mockup is a prototype if it provides at least part of the functionality of a system and enables testing of a design.) – google definition.

“The project is a partnership with
Project SEARCH, located here in Brookings, SD. Project SEARCH is
a business-led transition program for students with disabilities and
provide an opportunity for them to explore careers and develop job skills.
Students in Project SEARCH report to SDSU as interns and practice as interns, receive accommodations and job coaching. Project SEARCH is affiliated with Brookings ADVANCE, a private, non-profit organization that supports people with intellectual and developmental disabilities to support, encourage and provide person-centered plans. For this reason, you will want to visit both the existing Project SEARCH web site and the ADVANCE web site as places of inspiration and to develop a sense of themes to incorporate in the web site— such as encouragement, advocacy, communication, independence, and so on” – description from rubric.

For this project I worked with two other girls. We met up and worked on our project in the library. We knew we wanted a design that would stick out and be different yet better than the previous design. Putting all three of our ideas together we came up with a first draft. Not feeling completely sure about it, we talked to our professor who gave us multiple tips as to how to fix and vamp up what we made. Trust me when I say our second design was a billion times better. I liked this project because it was something different. Designing something by yourself is easy when you have your mind set to a design. Having to work with a group could’ve been a challenge, but I really enjoyed it. Hearing others’ opinions really made me look at the design aspect in a different way.

Here is a finished copy of our work! I hope you enjoy! As always, leave your thoughts!

{XO LN}

Day {7}-Studying Abroad

Hi Friends! One week of my 2 weeks series done, 1 week to-go! I have truly enjoyed having to blog everyday. It has really made me dedicate much needed time to my site. For the 7th day, today I am going to be writing about studying abroad. I would really love to hear everyone’s input on especially this post.

I’m very much a traveler. I love going to new places and just experiences the life and the culture. I could definitely be put in the “gypsy soul” category. If I could live in a different place every few years, I so would. But, reality. My ultimate favorite place that i’ve ever been to is Hawaii. I instantly fell in love. The culture and the environment were everything i’ve ever been about. My life goal is to retire in Hawaii. With that being said, I would absolutely LOVE to study in Hawaii as an exchange student, but unfortunately SDSU doesn’t offer that program. (*tear rolls down cheek*)

My next place that I would absolutely love to study in would be France. I would love to learn the language and live in the culture. The only issue with this is that there really isn’t any ECE classes offered there. Just my luck right? I’ve been emailing back and forth with a few different people seeing if there was possibly any programs that would work, but if not I am open to looking at other places. One of my best friends just got accepted into a program in Australia for Spring 2017! I am so unbelievably proud of her and she will have the most amazing time and make a billion life-long memories.

Studying abroad is obviously a big dedication but now it the time. This is something i’ve given a lot of thought to! I also have looked at applying to a few camps to work at this summer in North Carolina and Hawaii. As scary as it, at some point you have to take life for what it is, and face it.

I firmly believe in the theory that if you enjoy something, it is money well spent. At the end of the day, money is money, and that can’t replace the memories made or the laughs shared.

I would love to hear your personal stories with studying abroad or even just going to another country! Is there any place that you’ve fallen in love with or even recommend going to? Please, please, please share! This topic is near and dear to my heart!

{XO LN}

Day {6}-discussion topic 3.

Happy Monday! Hobo week is over and I feel like my life is also, but it’s fine. Today I will be talking about multiple ways to teach more effectively.

link to read

Throughout the article, most of the main points include making sure that the children are actually understanding and comprehending the topics. To start by reviewing what was previously learned helps to open their minds from the get- go and also work as a refresher, helping to remember the information longer and drilling in in their minds. Other good point they make is try not to overload the children with too much information. Use their retention rate to your advantage, not over-doing. As many people that know me know, I am a very talkative person. So when the article said ask questions to talk about the answer and have the students explain what they learned, I loved it. I ask a million questions everyday and doing this makes me advanced in the area of whatever i’m asking. I’d rather know too much than not enough. And finally to wrap up the article, they readdressed the topic of reviewing. At the beginning and end, making sure they are fully understanding everything you are teacher. I can say that I retained more information from the teachers who spent time going over and over the same old topic, really emphasizing it, versus the ones who jumped from information to information cramming as much as they could into a lesson.

Please leave me your input! I have loved reading everyone’s replies over the last week! Keep on sending 🙂

{XO LN}