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Painting on Glass Video from The Glass Studio

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Do you know about part sheets? What is a part sheet? It’s glass that is decorated and fused to be used in other fusing projects. I love making part sheets. Sometimes I use frit and stringer and sometimes I use paint. The video gives a quick example of painting with Colorline glass paint. Check it out here. Once the sheet is fired in the kiln, I cut it up and use it to make other cool things, like plates, bowls, and rolled up drinking glasses. I’ve always been the type of creator that likes to make my own parts. I’m not fond of “off the shelf” for most of my design components. This is a first step in making your parts one of a kind.

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Summer Reading Printables and Tips for Parents

Now that my daughter is a teenager, we don’t really do summer reading as a formal thing anymore. Her school used to take part in a program and she was usually one of the top readers in her grade, and she once won a birthday party at our local library’s summer reading program, so it’s safe to say there’s still reading happening over the summer, we’re just not tracking it like we used to.

For younger kids, using summer reading printables can be motivating and helps them keep track of the number of books or minutes they have read. Here are some cute ones to get you started:

  • Everyday Reading has a super cute and big printable play mat summer reading adventure tracker, which has a list of activities and things to color. You can get it by sending your email address.
  • Schooltime Snippets has ice cream themed summer reading printables, including bookmarks, challenges and trackers.
  • Aspen Jay has a printable chart for tracking 100 books, while The Crafty Classroom has a printable showing 100 book spines kids can color in to track how many books they read (these are better for younger kids who can get to 100 much more easily since their books are shorter).
  • Primary Playground has a bingo-style printable with reading challenges for littles like reading to a stuffed animal or under a table. Fun!

If summer reading stresses you or your kids out, a few things to remember:

  • All reading counts. That means audiobooks, ebooks, physical books, you reading to them, manga, comic books, whatever. If there are words, it counts.
  • Don’t pick books for your kids. As much as possible let their interests guide what they choose to read. Even if it’s all Dog Man books. (See above. All reading counts!)
  • Read together. Even if you aren’t reading to your child or they aren’t reading to you, you can have a family reading time where everyone reads together.
  • Take books everywhere. This is for kids and adults alike. There’s always waiting time you can fill with books, or you might want to read at the park. If you always have a book you and your kids will automatically find more time to read.