Sirena Van Schaik

Author's posts

Thanksgiving Traditions

Every family has their own traditions, whether it is a yearly trip to Uncle Sam’s Fried Chicken Hut or a reunion up at the cabin, it is just a tradition but one holiday that seems to be filled with tradition is Thanksgiving. Over the years, I have noticed a lot of traditions that my own …

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Fun with Science: Thanksgiving Funny Bones

For many of you, Thanksgiving is still a month away but for Canada, Thanksgiving will be here in only a few days. There will probably be tons of turkey, and all the fixings that goes with them. People will eat and be thankful, and then at the end of the meal, they will scrape the …

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A Poem by Helen Keller

I am ghostwriting a few chapters on child development right now and found that I needed to fact check a few of the points that I was writing this weekend. I have boxes upon boxes of reference materials as well as all my notebooks and textbooks from when I was in college. I was extremely …

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Halloween Craft Project: Lifesized Frankenstein

Wooooooo! The wind howled through the trees and warned of all the evil thrills that graced the night. It was Halloween and everyone from spooks to mice were excited by the events that would unfold… Of course it isn’t Halloween yet but I thought I would kick off the Halloween crafts early, since I need …

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Encouraging Reading Part Two: Your Toddler

It has been a while since I first wrote about encouraging reading in your infant and I thought it was about time that I get back to this series in case there were some of you waiting for me to get on with it. As I mentioned in the previous post, I am a big fan of …

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Summer Safety: Poison Ivy

Whether you are out hiking, camping or simply up at the cottage, chances are you may run into some poison ivy, or actually, your child may run into some poison ivy. There really is no way around it, beside keeping your child locked in the tent throughout the entire trip and I often follow the …

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Fun With Science: Moving Pepper

This is a very simple science experiment that can be done with children as young as 2. Basically, if they can sit still and be amazed, then they can enjoy this experiment. Before you begin any science experiment, whether you do it at home or in a classroom, you should really take the time to …

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Cheat Sheets: Snails

It has been a while since I wrote a cheat sheet for the site so I figured it was time to do so again. Right now, I am the proud snail-sitter of about 10 snails. They will be going back into a nice spot in my yard very soon, not the garden where they were …

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The Child’s Canvas

One thing that I have noticed over the years is that art has moved from beautiful canvases to beautiful prints on your wall. Gone are the days where you have one or two canvases and many art buyers are spending hundreds on a print. Sure there really isn’t a need for a canvas anymore but …

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For the Kids: Home Library Must

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am a reading fan.  I actually think that it is much worse than that and I am actually a book addict.  I love the smell of books, old and new, the crackling sound as you open the book for the first time, the neatly lined shelves. And this …

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