Wolfe Stew

(Updated 10/19/2023.) Leaders, Happy Men Make Dinner Day! Did you know there are actual rules to this day? Check them out!  We'd love to hear what you had for dinner tonight. If you're willing to share, post it in the comments below! We wonder if your dinner included pickles. Why do we wonder that? Because we've had National Pickle Day on our mind. Do you like pickles? We do! I prefer dill and the Mr. prefers bread and butter. What is your favorite type? Interesting Pickle Facts While preparing for National Pickle Day (November 14th), we learned quite a lot. First of all, did you know pickles are really quite healthy for you? Athletes swear by drinking pickle juice post-workout.  It is extremely effective at relieving muscle cramps and restoring electrolytes. When fermented, pickles contain probiotics which results in healthier microbiomes for our gut! Pickles may help control blood sugar, prevent cancer, and reduce the effects of aging. If you're not already

Leaders, If you're following along  with our Idea for Everyday Calendar , you know today is National Love Your Red Hair Day.  I'm curious as to whether or not any of you celebrated with a red-haired character?  There are some really great ideas out there for each of the suggested characters on the calendar, the most popular ones being Fancy Nancy and Anne of Green Gables.   Remember to check out our Pinterest board for even more ideas to tickle your fancy.  We're trying to keep the board a week ahead of the action.  Also, we'd love your suggestions!  Have a pin you think should be added to the board?  Share it with us.  We'd love your contribution! Talking about staying a week ahead, a week from today is Chicken Soup for the Soul day.  The suggested activity on the calendar is to share a Chicken Soup story with your littles ( The Seed  and The Race  appear online at chickensoup.com).  Define what qualifies as a "Chicken Soup" story.  Then, encoura

(Updated 10/27/2022) Fellow Leaders. Saints Clad in the Armor of Christ, Let's talk about Halloween. Yes, Halloween. Possibly the least favorite holiday for many Christians - at the very least, the most controversial one. Halloween is a time to celebrate and challenge fear. A holiday thwarted by many Christians as repulsive, diabolical, and shameful when celebrated. But I challenge you to start looking at Halloween differently. I'm calling on you, fellow Saints, to see it instead as a day we choose to look our fears in the face, call them out by name and tell them, "I'm not afraid of you!" How we Face Our Fears Fight our lies with the truth. Remember who we are. Remember where we came from. Remind ourselves where we are going. The Three-Day March And we can use this season to engage in this process! There are three days right in a row that work perfectly to remind us of this purifying, light-shining, soul-awakening process.  Halloween, All Saint's Da

(Updated 10/6/2022) Can you believe it, Leaders? November is only a week away!   It doesn't seem like it should be.  Does it feel like the year only started to you, too? Today we unveil our November Idea for Everyday Calendar. We hope that it will serve you well throughout the month and this month is a fun one! We bet you have a file folder full of activities to do and we hope you'll share some of them with us. We'd love to hear about your favorites! If you're looking to diversify those activities, or maybe your file folder is thin, we'd love to share some of ours. November welcomes a wide range of National Days. Some of which help us prepare for the big holiday at the end of the month. You know it - Thanksgiving!  Days such as Chicken Soup for the Soul Day, World Kindness Day, National Gingerbread Cookie Day, National Cranberry Relish Day, and Tie One On Day. There are other days that will just be fun, like Mickey Mouse's Birthday, Play Monopoly Day a

Leaders, Does it ever feel like you’re leading a group of monsters? You know how it is, some days you just wonder, “What was in the water?”  “ Is it a full moon tonight?”  “ Did aliens invade and plant secret technology in all the kids that just made them turn?” Well, whatever it is, know that we feel it too ! Today, we’re sharing a slew of activities for you to do with your little monsters.   These are hand-picked, child-tested, and monster-ready!   We’ve used them in our lab on our little monsters and we’re alive to tell the tale!   We’re even sharing our secret formula derived from the creative potion of another educational chemist.   Let’s welcome those monsters into our educational lab.   No way they’ll be prepared for what we have in store.   Mwhahahaha!    1.  Pumpkin Spice Playdough    This recipe (from Tinker Lab ) sat in the to-do pile since the end of September. But, when we came across the next activity, we knew it was time to move it on up to the

Fellow Leaders, Columbus Day is a week away!    I will delve into that topic in detail a little further on, but first, I want to go over your weekend with you. Apple Betty Day I have my October Idea for Everyday Calendar  posted and I am trying to be better about celebrating each day along with you.   I figured, I ought to follow my own advice, right?    So, on Sunday I printed out a recipe for Apple Betty.   Which I plan on making tonight.   I promise to share the recipe if it turns out well.   If you don’t see the recipe…well… you’re welcome for that too.   Mad Hatter Day Yesterday was Mad Hatter Day.   I don’t actually own Alice in Wonderlan d , so I searched all the streaming applications available (to me) and found Through the Looking Glass on Amazon Prime.   It stars Kate Beckinsale and successfully transported me into the Alice’s fantasy land that I was looking for.   No, it didn’t have the Mad Hatter, but it still contained enough imagination to spark

(Updated 9/1/2022.) Leaders, Can you believe that OCTOBER is less than a week away?  Where has the time gone? To help you with your October learning, we're serving up An Idea for Every Day - October 2019 Edition.  For each day in October, we chose a national day to celebrate from nationaldaycalendar.com .  Then, whip up multi-grade activity suggestions with selected link pairings. Many of these activities require little to no prep, while others need some advanced planning. Consider printing this calendar and keeping it near where you plan to spark ideas.  Or, bookmark the link for easy access. This image is non-interactive.  Find the interactive calendar at the link below. Click Here to Get an Idea for Every October Day There are a lot of reasons to celebrate October.  Sure, there are the expected ones - Columbus Day and Halloween - but did you know there is also Techie Day, Mental Health Day, and Color Day?  October is going to be fun, leaders!   We hav

(Updated 9/30/2022) Happy First Official Day of Fall, Leaders! Autumn Equinox Ponderings Perhaps today you talked about the meaning of the first official day of fall with your learners. You discussed the autumnal equinox, and how the seasons occur because of the tilt of the earth on its axis and our shifting position relative to the sun. Perhaps, you also used our  Autumnal Equinox Manipulative  to explain how right now the day and night are pretty close to the same length, but day will soon start getting shorter. If not, think about adding it to the menu for tomorrow. What a blessing to be able to share an example of God's perfect timing with our learners. God LOVES math, and is the science behind it.  :) I have to say, there's nothing like that gorgeous fall weather to make your spirit soar. Fresh, crisp morning air. Leaves starting to change color. School settling into a steady routine. Plus, it's stew season! Fall Leaf Decorations for Name Recognition I

(Updated 5/27/2022) Autumn is officially a week away. I mean, I have already been celebrating it, to be honest. But the day that scientifically makes it autumn is a week away. What makes it officially autumn? Well, the autumnal equinox, of course! Mark your calendars, (well, they probably already are) and add a seasonally relevant activity to the lesson books. Note Fall's Official First Day  for upcoming years: 2022 September 22 2023 September 23 2024 September 22 2025 September 22 2026 September 22 To help you in your autumn commencing celebration activities, we've gathered several options for you. We'll start with the one I'm adding to the ranks. It's a paper plate manipulative that will help your learner explain the autumnal equinox . Follow these six steps. Then stew on some of my ideas for differentiation. 1.  Gather (or color/paint) a light blue and dark blue paper plate. 2. Decorate the paper plates to represent day and night. (These parti