Let's appreciate teachers (ourselves included)

Teacher's appreciation week is upon us, and I have been thinking since I can't take the day off and really enjoy it, why not give myself a little break. As a stay at home mom and teacher breaks are far and few between, so I am going to hand the reins over to Dash for the day. I will also  give ideas for moms with younger kids and also teachers with a whole classroom.

Here is how I play my day to go:

Breakfast:
Have your child decide what they want to make and let them take over.

Ages 3-5  help them make either: a bowl of cereal,  english muffin, or a toaster waffle for you and the rest of the family (or to do on their own bring everyone a yogurt a piece of fruit and a spoon)

Ages 6-8 on their own have them make either: toast, cereal with banana cut into it, yogurt with granola, or some instant oatmeal for you and the rest of the family

Ages 9-12 on their own have them make either: eggs, fruit salad, or  bagel with cream cheese


Lesson plans:
Let your kids be the the teacher for the day. I am giving Dash a few days to decide what he wants to teach. This will give your child such confidence to feel they are teaching you something. This will also give them enthusiasm to be doing work (mostly because they won't realize they are still the ones learning). And last they will gain more respect for what you do everyday when they realize how much work it takes to come up with a lesson plan and serve meals everyday.

Ages 3-5 Let them teach you, Art (how to draw or paint something) Music (some new dance moves), Math (counting, how to write numbers, or simple addition and subtraction), English ( have them show you how to write the ABC's or your name) Science (have them show you a book with lots of  pictures about animals, planets, or some other topic they are interested in) History (have them act out their favorite story from history for you) Reading (if they can read have them read to you, if not let them pretend they are reading the story to you while they make up or recall whatever they think the story is about.

Ages 6-8 Math (have them explain to you adding, subtraction, fractions, or  number grouping) English (let them give you a story starter and you have to write the ending to it) Music (teach you new dance moves) Art (teach you some drawing, painting, or play-doh techniques) History (let them read or act out a story from history) Science (have them read or tell you about a subject they are very into animals, outer space, life cycle, plants whatever)

Ages 9-12 up Math (let them choose whatever from their math books to break it down and teach it to you, this will really show you how much they really do know and liste to you) English (let them give you a topic to write about and have them have written examples of what they are looking for) Music (experience the music they are into and have them tell you why they like it, and what they know about the genre) Art (have them put together a project with examples, and show you step by step how to duplicate their example) History (let them read or act out a favorite story from history) Science (have them read or tell you about a subject they are very into animals, outer space, life cycle, plants whatever) Reading (Let them choose something for you to read aloud, and  then have them ask you questions about what you just read).

Classroom: In a classroom setting have each child get a subject (maybe 3 will have art 4 will have math, 2 can do music, ect...). Then have them take it home their assignment and on April 5th have them bring in the lesson plan for that subject. Give each child like 10 minutes to teach on their subject, and explain how to do it to the class. If you have a lot of students use that whole week, each day after different students share till everyone has had a turn.


Lunch:
Have your child decide what they want to make and let them take over.

Ages 3-5 with some supervision, pb and j, ham and cheese, egg salad or tuna salad sandwiches (if the salads are pre-made)

Ages 6-8 with some supervision mac and cheese, grilled cheese, or alone  pb and j, turkey and cheese, egg salad or tuna salad sandwiches (if the salads are pre-made)

Ages 9-12 mac and cheese, grilled cheese, soup from a can, pb and j, turkey and cheese, egg salad or tuna salad sandwiches.

So how have you gotten a break? well at least you didn't have to lesson plan, and it's fun to see how much your children are retaining, and how much fun they have in school when they are the ones giving the lesson.