Beezer Playhouse Giveaway!

Thanks for stopping by Miss J.J.'s Pre-K Blog! Pretend play is one of the most beneficial and educational activities for early learners. Playhouses are the perfect catalyst to a day full of imaginary play! Participate in this giveaway for your chance to win The Cottage Playhouse from Beezer Playhouses for your early learners!

Kids love playhouses. Indoors, outdoors, for an afternoon, or as a permanent fixture in your playroom Beezer Playhouses are the perfect setting for hours of creative pretend play. Our Playhouses are constructed from durable, 100% recyclable plastic and cardboard and disassemble in just minutes so your playhouse can easily be stored away under a bed or in a closet. Beezer decals allow the playhouses to be decorated into a cool boys clubhouse or a cute girls cottage; and the all-white interior is a blank canvas to be customized. Beezer Playhouses are perfect for smaller spaces where there isn’t room for a permanent plastic playhouse and they are great for grandparents, home day cares, and birthday parties. Beezer Playhouses are definitely “Fun Right Out Of The Box!”

 

 

Boys and Girls Playhouse Set

A secret boys only hide out or a cute princess cottage - you get to decide with this awesome boys and girls cottage playhouse set. With almost 200 fun decals to decorate your playhouse any way you choose, this is the ultimate playhouse for creative children; and perfect for parents, grandparents, or home day cares where space is limited and play spaces are shared.

When it's time to clean up, Beezer Playhouses collapse and fold up to store in the convenient storage and carrying case which is designed to fit easily under a single bed. Beezer Playhouses are cute, durable, and interactive with plastic windows and a strong plastic doorframe. The double thickness cardboard door features a fun doorknob that is easy for kids to turn and plastic hinges which make the door far stronger and more durable than any other cardboard playhouse. Beezer Playhouses walls and roof are constructed from amazingly strong, full color cardboard with an all-white interior just waiting to be decorated. The playhouse is 100% recyclable, and just in case your kids are tough on toys, we offer a full set of replacement cardboard walls to allow you to re-use the durable plastic doors, windows, and fasteners.

One lucky winner will receive The Cottage from Beezer Playhouses.

Hosted by Mom to Bed by 8 and Donna's Deals and More

Giveaway ends July 31th at 11:59pm, open to US residents, ages 18+. To enter please use the Rafflecopter form below. Good luck!

Rainy Days Inside and Out!

Rainy days have the tendency to spoil plans if you let them. Most parents are well aware of this fact, but among the many talents we develop as parents is the ability to be flexible and improvise. Sometimes rainy days give us a much needed day to just relax and take it easy. Maybe you like to catch up on your kids favorite TV shows or play a video game. It's good to do that every once in a while, but sooner or later the kids get board and want something new and interesting to do. So, I've come up with a few thing you can do on a rainy day to mix it up a little bit.

First of all, just because it's raining doesn't always mean you can't go outside. A light spring rain that doesn't have any lightening or thunder associated with it, that's not too cold, could be fun to play in. If you have a backyard that you maintain so that you know it is free of sharp rocks, thistle plants, glass, or other dangers,  it might be fun to let the kiddos run around in the wet grass in their bare feet. And of course one of my daughter's favorite things to do in the rain or just after the rain is to splash in mud puddles!

You can also have Rain Water Races! You and each child pick a bucket or container of their choice. Then let them pick where they want to place their bucket outside. The object is to see who's container fills up the fastest! This would be a fun way to introduce a liquid measuring activity too. After you see who won. Break out a liquid measuring cup and see how many cups of water each bucket held. They might be surprised to find out that their containers all held the same amount of water, unless one of them was inventive enough to place their container under a wonder spout!

If you'd rather stay warm and dry and not have to do a whole pile of laundry, there are plenty of fun things to do indoors too!

Sometimes we get so caught up in trying to find something new and exciting to do we forget about the old faithful activities like coloring or drawing pictures, snuggling up and reading our children's favorite books, or having a movie and popcorn night. But if that still seems to hum drum, I have a few more ideas that might help or even inspire you to come up with your own creative ideas!


Making Old Toys New Again!
A rainy day is the perfect day to break out an old board game or any toy for that matter. We all know how old toys suddenly become new favorites when we try to clean out our kids rooms for a yard sale or to donate to charity. Try digging out some old board games or toys now to see what fun you can find at the bottom of that toy box.

Homemade Board Games
If you have a  lot of time and some creativity you might even want to try to make you own game! Your little ones will enjoy making up the rules and playing by them. (If you write the rules down as they come up with them this will reinforce the fact that spoken words can be written down and that writing has meaning.) They can design their own game pieces, and help color the game board too using items you find around the house! You can use, cotton balls, magnets, spare buttons, or other items as game pieces or make them by cutting, coloring, and gluing cardboard or construction paper! You can create all kinds of different games, ones that are similar to their favorite board games like Candy Land or matching games like Memory. You can even make them educational by making number matching games, or games that incorporate letters of the alphabet. The possibilities are endless, just be creative! Just remember since your little one is helping you it doesn't have to look professional. The process of making the game should be just as fun as playing it!

Pasta Jewelry
Today might be the day to do some of those crafts you've been thinking about, like that painted pasta necklace. If you use different shapes of pasta and string them on yarn you could work on patterning with this activity as well. Have them make a necklace by patterning the different colors or different shapes as they put them on the string.

Fun with Safety Scissors and Glue
As a Pre-K Teacher and Mother of a 3 year-old I can tell you, that if you give early learners scissors, glue, and paper they are allowed to cut and glue they will be occupied for a while! Toss in some old magazines that they can cut pictures out of and they'll love it! You can either just allow them to use their creativity and imagination to cut and glue until the cows come home or sit down with them and try creating a meaningful collage with pictures of things they enjoy and letters that spell their names or words that describe them.

Staying Active Indoors
Depending on the size of your house and the number of kids in it, you might still be able to burn off some of that energy you were hoping would be taken care of at the playground today by playing some active games like freeze tag, hide-and-seek, your own made up game. For instance, My daughter likes to play "Dinosaurs." It's not a complicated game. All we do is stomp around the house as I chant/sing "Stomp, Stomp, Stomp like a dinosaur, Stomp, Stomp, Stomp like a Dinosaur Stomp." This game ends up taking many different forms as we crawl like alligators, fly like birdies, hop like bunnies... etc. I'm sure you get the idea.

Music & Movement and Finger Plays
A rainy day might be a good day to pop in their favorite children's CD and get moving. Whether it's a well known finger play, a song they follow along with, or just dancing like crazy to some of their favorite silly songs, they'll burn some energy and have fun doing it!

The "Best" way to Educate and/or Parent Children

What is it with the human desire to find the "Best" way to do something? And why is it that we, meaning the general population of human beings, feel that there can only be one best way to do something and/or that if one way or thing is good then all the rest must be inferior?

 It's especially troubling that this mindset even finds its way into arguments surrounding teaching and parenting because anyone who's every made it into their core education classes while still just in college knows from day one that there is no ONE best approach to teaching. We hear it over and over again, there is no one-size-fits-all answer to teaching, because children are all different, with different interests, different backgrounds, different cultures, different values,  different needs, different strengths, different learning styles, different temperaments, different base knowledge, different experiences, different talents, and the list can go on. So, how can there possibly be ONE best way to teach or parent every single child when they are all so different?

Maybe there's so many different parenting methods available and practiced because there are so many different children in the world. So, how do you know what the best way is to teach or parent your child? The best way to teach a child is based on the individual child's needs and interests. If you have 25 kids in your class, chances are there are 25 best ways to teach any given lesson on any given day. And just because one particular method worked well one year doesn't mean it will work for the 25 kids you'll have next year. This is also true about parenting. There is no one best way to parent a child, to discipline a child, to motivate a child,...etc. Yet, there are constantly articles being published from professionals to mom bloggers and sometimes just random people, that pit one child rearing technique or teaching method against another. Even articles that are meant to simply be informative end up coming across sounding belittling to any one not accepting of or practicing that particular method.

This "Versus" attitude sneaks its way into every conversation from individual aspects of parenting and teaching such as whether or not to use "time out" to "what time you put your child to bed" to conversations about entire methods such as whether you should use Attachment Parenting or Common Sense Parenting. And it really just needs to stop. What we need to say when we hear of a new method of child rearing or teaching is "Hmm... that sounds different. I want to learn more about that because there might be something from that method that I might be able to add to my repertoire as a parent or teacher."

I'm a big fan of being eclectic when it comes to which method to use when raising and/or teaching a child. The more you know the more you have to pull from. I talk about teaching and parenting a child interchangeably, for two reasons, 1) I am both a teacher and a mom and 2) Parents are a child's first teacher. So, it all applies. I have my favorites, but I keep what I learned about other techniques in mind and often pull aspects from different methods and implement them when needed. I strongly believe that every teacher and parent should learn as much about the different theories and methodologies in early childhood education as possible and use what works best for them and their child(ren). All techniques and methodologies have their high points and drawbacks and over emphasizing any aspect of parenting or teaching can lead to disaster.

The only blanket statement I can make is that if what you are currently doing is making both you and your child miserable, you probably need a new method. How will you know if it's the right method? When you've found something that helps both you and your child(ren). One that is affective, teaches your child boundaries, works consistently, has consistent consequences and rewards, develops positive self esteem, and creates a positive relationship between you and your child(ren).

Brave - The Prize Trailer

I Love this movie so much I thought I'd post another video!

Brave - A Different Kind of Princess

When I first heard about this movie I had high hopes for it. It touted a tail of a Princess not like the ones we are used to. One that girls today can actually look up to. One whose only value and merit was not her looks. I heard rave reviews from many about this movie, but I was still a little wary of what the ending would be like. Would they get everything right EXCEPT what it means to live happily ever after, like the rest of the fairy tales? Will our Brave princess be strong, talented, and relatable, but still leave our daughters believing that the only way to live happily ever after is end up married? Believe me, I think marriage is a wonderful blessing when you marry the right person. My mom and dad were the real life version of what it meant to live happily ever after and I hope that if I find someone worthy of spending the rest of my life with, that I'll think the same of my own marriage, but it always frustrated me that no matter what else the girl was, no matter what other wonderful talents she posssessed, in the classic fairy tales a woman always needed a man to rescue her, and happily ever after only came after she was married. So, THANK YOU the creators of BRAVE for giving us a princess that is strong, brave, , compassionate, and real! THANK YOU for giving us a princess that sees the value in her own hopes and dreams. THANK YOU for giving us a princess that knows she's a valuable person all by herself. THANK YOU for giving us a princess that knows that happiness comes from knowing who you are and what you want out of life. THANK YOU for giving us a princess who knows that there are other wasy to live Happyily Ever After! This is exactly the kind of princess I've been looking for. I want to see more fairy tales like this one!

Luv Saving Money: Adjust your kiddos pants in a cute new way with My...

My sister has a great Money Saving blog where she hosts reviews and giveaway for many great products. I saw these My Hikes one her 3 year old boy at his big brother's birthday party and Just thought they were they greatest idea! A cute way to adjust the cuffs of your kiddos pants without have to hem them so they can look good for as long as possible. The most impressive thing about the  My Hikes from my point of view is that they actually held the cuffed pant legs in place the entire day! Check out her blog and giveaway try try to win your own set of My Hikes!

Luv Saving Money: Adjust your kiddos pants in a cute new way with My...: I have 3 boys who grow like weeds (as it seems most kids do.). It's more economical for me to buy clothes just a little bigger to ensure ...

Firework Safety: A few tips to follow

The 4th of July is in just a few days. Many Americans will be buying fireworks to set off in their backyards and may even attend professional fireworks displays all over the country. Not a year goes buy that you do not read about accidents involving injury to a person or damage to property and in some cases both. So, I thought I'd take a break from making the Red, White, and Blue (and Christmas in July) Cupcakes with my daughter to jot down a few firework safety tips for you and you're little ones, before I get started on the Chocolate Covered Strawberries for the picnic tomorrow!

1) Children, of any age, should never be permitted to use or set off fireworks of any kind without adult supervision. 
 *remember children are naturally curious. Even the most responsible child or teenager may get carried away by the excitement and curiosity and experiment with fireworks in ways that may injure themselves, others, or cause damage to property.

2) Always go over "rules" about how to safely and properly set off any firework from Snappers to Grand Pianos before setting off each firework. This includes your house rules for firework safety and READING THE DIRECTIONS. This is your child's safety at hand, so make sure they are well aware of the rules. You may even want them to repeat back to you what the rules are before setting off each firework.

3) Remember early learners do not have the defined gross or fine motor skills that adults and older children do, nor do they have the reaction time so it is not a good idea to let little ones light or hold any type of firework.

4) Choose a Safe Place to set off your fireworks. Make sure you are far enough away from houses, cars, and each other when setting off fireworks so that if one would take off in an unexpected direction in would not hit your friends, family, or any property. This should be the designated place for everyone to set off their fireworks ONE AT A TIME!

5) Have a Designated Safety Area. There should be a place for those who are waiting their turn or just watching the fireworks to be where they know they are safe.

6) Always keep a few large buckets of water on hand. For two reasons: 1) Have one bucket to place the hot end of sparklers to cut down on the risk of anyone getting burned and 2) just in case a firework is faulty or ends up somewhere it shouldn't and catches fire.

7) Keep a fire extinguisher handy. Just in case.

8) Be aware of your child's comfort around fireworks. If a child is not comfortable being around fireworks do not force them. If they do not enjoy the loud sounds you may want to give them ear plugs or earmuffs. Never ridicule or tease a child who feels uneasy around fireworks. Always try to ease their concerns and/or provide another activity for them.

9) Remember fireworks, even the most mild firework is an explosive. So it is okay to be concerned about being around them. It is better to be too safe, rather than not respect the seriousness of a firework and end up getting injured.

10) Never assume a firework is simply a dud if it did not go off after being lit. Always exercise extreme caution with a firework that did not go off being sure to cover it with plenty of water before disposing of it.

For even more Firwork Safety Tips check out this article by Kids Health:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/outdoor/fireworks.html

Summer Treat inspired by Sprout's Noodle & Doodle

If your children are anything like mine they want anything they see on TV, at least until the next thing comes on then they want that instead! LOL Everyone once in a while though my daughter wants something that I can actually give her without having to leave the house or spend money. She gets inspired by a lot of her favorite television shows.

Anyone who knows me knows that when my daughter is awake and we're actually in the house the TV is usually tuned to the Sprout network or some other educational kids channel. I prefer Sprout to most other kids programming because it presents educational concepts in every aspect of its programming, but this is not a blog post about the best TV channel for your children to watch. This is about a fun and yummy AND mostly healthy summer treat I threw together based on one of the programs. This morning on the Noodle & Doodle show Shawn and Noodle made blueberry smoothies using milk, apple juice, and blueberries in a blender. What excited my daughter about these smoothies were the sprinkle rim glasses they made for the smoothies. Upon seeing this tasty twist to a rather ordinary treat my daughter very excitedly asked if we could make glasses with sprinkles on them.

This is one of the few recipes I've seen on this show that I could actually make almost immediately without even having to log on to www.SproutOnline.com to look up the recipe. I as a health conscious mom sprang into action, because if your kids are anything like mine, they usually request all the fun looking junk food they see advertised on TV so I definitely wanted to make these for her.

I didn't have blue berries so I couldn't make the blueberry smoothie as scene on the show, but since my daughter's interest was in the sprinkle rimmed glasses I didn't really think that matter. So I used what I had on hand, bananas and strawberries. This is the recipe I threw together off the top of my head:

2 large Bananas (peeled)
5 large Strawberries (tops cut off)
2 cups Milk - I used 2% organic, to cut back on calories you can use Fat Free
1 cup  Apple Juice

Honey
Sprinkles of your (or your child's) choosing

1) Blend bananas, strawberries, milk, and apple juice together in blender until smooth.
2) Coat the rim of the glass of your choosing with honey either by drizzling it on or painting it on with a pastry brush
3) pour enough sprinkles in to a small bowl so that there is enough to cover the bottom.
4) Turn the glass with honey coated rim over and place honey coated rim in the sprinkles. It helps to wiggle the glass back and forth a little bit to make sure you get sprinkles all over the rim.
5)Pour blended smoothie mixture into sprinkled rimmed glass and enjoy!

Makes 5 eight once servings

For a cooler thicker smoothie you can add ice cubes before blending.

Nap Time!

Did you know naps and a consistent sleep wake schedule are just as important to the health & wellness of a young child as proper nutrition. Does your toddler or Pre-K child seem to get noticeably more cranky or even throw temper tantrums late in the day? Did you know many tantrums take place because the child is simply too tired to do whatever is being asked of then, even if it is something that they typically would enjoy?

Children, especially young children are still learning about their bodies, and because they are also still learning the words they need to describe how they feel and other abstract concepts, they often aren't capable expressing the way they feel accurately. This leads to even more frustration combine this sort of frustration with an already tired child and the result can be anything from simple disobedience (because they are just too tired to think about what you are asking them to do) to a full blown tantrum!

Think about how you feel right around 2:00 pm after working all day. Now imagine feeling that way without having the coping skills of an adult NOR the ability to express to anyone how you feel. Wouldn't you react the same way?

I have had numerous parents and relatives tell me that they "try" to put their child down for a nap but all they want to do is play or that their child just doesn't seem tired. I completely understand that. Most children when asked if they want to take a nap, especially if they haven't had a regular nap time will tell you they aren't tired, but this is where you as a parent or caregiver have to play the card that days, "Well I'm you're Mommy/Daddy/ Grandma/Grandpa/Stepmom/Babysitter and I know what's actually best for you." Because when it comes to nap time, you do! (especially after reading this article)

I have carried my very insistent toddler up stairs kicking and screaming that she didn't want to take a nap only to lay her down and have her fall asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Other times, when we've had a less active day or when we slept in an extra half hour it may take 5-10 minutes to get her to settle down and nap at her regularly scheduled nap time, but she always naps for about 2 hours. I know its hard to do and for parents in shared custody situations its even harder because the tendency is to want to spend as much quality time and have as much fun with your child as possible, but think of it this way, how good is that "quality" time if she's too exhausted to enjoy it or to even to remember it?

When you plan your day and schedule your events to include that much needed nap for you little one he or she will actually enjoy all the time spend with you. There will be less tantrums and frustration and more smiles and giggles. In general, during the early childhood years children need 10 hours of sleep at night and a nap during the day. The length of the nap varies per child. I'm a big proponent of allowing the child to nap or sleep as long as she needs to. Other just as qualified parents will wake their children up from a nap after a certain period of time. This is a decision you need to make based on your life and your child, as long as your are consistent about it you will have a much more pleasant child.

And just think, while your child is napping you can get in an at home workout, do some a laundry, wash some dishes, take a bath or even just enjoy some quiet time watching your favorite television program. This will refresh you as well!

The Importance of Imaginitive Play

Lately I've been noticing more and more bloggers and concern parents discussing certain topics. Most conversations lately seem to center around the idea of stereotyping their child's gender and trying to promote the idea of gender equality through gender neutral choices for their children. From the more feminist side of the tracks there seems to be war on all things "girly" and their arch nemesis are the Disney Princesses, Barbie, and of course the color pink. Having been a tomboy my whole life. One would be inclined to think that I would jump right on this bandwagon, but I don't. As a matter of fact I make sure I clear a path and stay out of its way. However, the writers and thinkers of these blogs make some very good points and are actually founded in best practices of child development, so before you try to figure out which points are valid and which ones are just over the top ramblings of an extreme point of view let me clear away some of the rubble.

Limiting any child's view of themselves in dangerous, boy or girl. Limiting any child's imagination is crippling to their development, boy or girl. When you try to pigeon whole any individual into a certain role or set of expectations it becomes a point of frustration. The best thing you can do for your child, boy or girl, is expose them to a variety of experiences, toys, and dramatic play scenarios without ridicule or making them feel shame for their choices.

Many parents, cringe at the idea of seeing their sons dressing up in heels, carrying a purse, and feeding a bottle to a baby doll. Just as others struggle with the idea that their daughter would rather play with monster trucks than comb a Bardie's hair. These are good healthy things for your children to explore. For example, during the first week of school last year a three year old boy would dress up in a pink dresw with a purse and would carry around a baby doll while feeding her a bottle. He was calling the baby by his younger sister's name and saying he was Mommy. What this child was doing was dealing with separation anxiety. He was concerned about mommy being at home taking care of the baby all by herself so he was acting out her role. Children develop a better understanding of family roles and roles in society when they experiment with pretending to be different characters regardless of gender.

So, why is there such an uproar about girls and Disney Princesses lately? The main concern is that pretending to be a specific princess limits a girl's view of herself and her imagination. In an article shared on the 7Wonderlicious Facebook page I found probably the best explanations of it's dangers in the article titled Are Princesses Really So Bad?! However, the concept can be applied to characters boys typically idolize as well. When children take on the role of an already well known character they limit themselves to acting a certain way. The events their character encounters tend to be the same events that happened in the movie or book that they were read. Rarely do they go off script and explore their own solutions to problems or even pause to consider whether the actions of their character were the best idea. In my experience, this is the biggest danger of Princesses and Super Heroes, especially when you consider most solutions for from the Super Hero point of view involves violence, and most solutions from the Princess Point of view involves believing a girls only saving grace is her beauty and only chance at happily ever after is to marry. Below is a picture one of my friend's shared on Facebook that perfectly defines the fears some people have of their daughters only seeing themselves as princesses.

However, children do not read this deeply into their characters. A young child pretending to be a certain princess does so because she sees herself as beautiful and kind. Which is something every girl should be encouraged to see herself as. We can help our children develop the kind of princess or super hero they become by talking to them about their choices and actions as their character. The next time your daughter pretends to be Ariel ask her how she would try to communicate with the prince if she had no voice. Could she write a note? Play a music? Draw a picture for him? The next time your little Batman has an enemy in his grasp ask him what else he could do to save the day. Would you call the police? Talk to the bad guy about making a better choice? They might be reluctant to go off script at first, but once they get the idea that they can use their imagination while they are pretending to be someone else's imaginary character they'll enjoy it, especially if you encourage better choices.

So, no, I'm not one of those mothers that tries to gender neutralize my daughter out of existence. I like I having a daughter. I like that she gets as much joy out of wearing frilly dresses as she does out of wearing her light up navy blue Cars sneakers while she catches bugs. I like that one moment she can be pouring me a cup of tea at a tea party and the next playing football with her Pappap in the backyard.

I think it is significantly misguided to teach our children to completely reject their identity as a boy or girl. While I do not want my daughter to think the only thing of value she has to offer is her beauty, I also don't want her to reject the idea that she could be feminine. I feel there is a power that ever girl has in understanding that she is beautiful and how to enhance that beauty for their own enjoyment. I used to be the kind of tomboy that would never wear pink because it was too girly. My every day attire was wind pants and a baggy t-shirt so I was ready to play sports at any moment. I erred too far the other way. I saw myself only as an athlete. Which is just as limiting as only seeing yourself as any one thing. It seems to be human error on every aspect of life that we think that to be one thing means we must exclude being the other. This is not true.

So, encourage your children to be themselves. Build on their interests and promote a positive self image, whatever that may be.

We're Bored! - 4 Fun and Educational Activities to beat the Summer Blahs

So, the kids have been home from school for a little over two weeks now and they spend the first week running themselves ragged trying to do everything all at once. Now, all you hear from them is "We're bored!" or like one of the mother's of one of my Pre-K children told me, "I want to go back to school!" This is perfect time to start adding some educational activities to their summer fun!


1) Sidewalk Chalk - Quality Time, Fun, Creativity, and Learning
Sometimes to break the monotany all you need is to spice it up a little bit. One of  my favorite summer staples is sidewalk chalk. Side walk chalk give you a reason to get your kids outside (and away from the T.V or Video Game) and have some creative fun. It become even more beneficial if you can take the time to go out with them. Enjoy drawing creative pictures with the chalk. Encourage them to use as many colors as they can. Always respond to their drawing with enthusiasm. If you can't tell what it is they drew ask them to tell you about their drawing. This will give them practice using their verbal skills which will prepare them for the upcoming school year.

I like to use Side Walk Chalk for a game called "Copy Cat." My daughter an I take turns drawing something, it could be a shape, a numeral, a letter of the alphabet, writing her name, or drawing something specific like a flower. First she'll draw something, "Mommy draw a pink oval like this!" then I have to draw a pink oval too. Then I'll challenge her,"Ok, peanut, can you draw a blue 'L' like this?" I draw an L then she draws it. We go back and forth like this until she gets bored. You can even use this game to draw undefined shapes. Having you child copy your drawing or even trace it helps develop their fine motor skills, and if you are having them copy letters, numbers, or their name you are also helping them with letter identification which is a stepping stone to reading.


2) The Library - An adventure with Books!
Many children love having books read to them. They might even have a favorite book that they love to hear you read over and over and over and over and over again, but you might be getting sick of reading the same books. No problem. Head to the closest public library. It doesn't cost anything to read the books at the library (except the gas money to get there if it's not reasonably close enough to walk). Most libraries have a children's section complete with seats or cushions to sit on and read to your child. Your little one will think you're going on an adventure and he or she will be able to find several new books to have read to them!  You can decide if you want to leave the books there or get a library card to check them out - just make sure to return them by the due date so your free trip to the library doesn't cost you $1.50 or more in late charges!

3) Bubble Paintings - Colorful fun you can make at home
I've picked up several different versions of bubbles this summer - I even found some that glow in the dark. You can add your own spin on this long time favorite by simply adding some food coloring to the bubble solution. Don't have any bubbles on hand? Make your own with things you already have around the house!
                                  1/2 Cup Dish Liquid
                                     2 Cups Water
                                     2 teaspoons Sugar
                                        food coloring

 Mix the ingredients together. Make sure you make separate solutions for each color you want to make. Then use a straw to dip in the bubble solution to use as the bubble blower. You can blow the colorful bubbles on white paper then hang the paper to dry. The result is a colorful abstract painting!

You can find more recipes for homemade bubble soutions at: http://bubbleblowers.com/homemade.html

4) Be an Entomologist - a Bug Scientist
Take your little one on a bug hunt in the back yard, playground, or open field (make sure you have persmission to explore there) Take an empty clear jar with you and make sure you poke wholes in the lid or make your own lid with a piece of paper and a rubber band so it's easier to make the wholes in it. Look for all kinds of creepy crawlies. You might be able to fund butterflies, catepillars, grasshoppers, praying mantisis, spiders, peel bugs, lady bugs, beetles, centepedes, millipedes, and other interesting creatures. Be careful when picking up bugs. I suggest having a pair of gloves on too and never pick up a bug you don't recognize. Remember even some bugs bite or sting so you want to be very careful about this, I know from personal experience a praying mantis's bit hurst A LOT and I wouldn't want my little one to experience that pain, it would take all the fun out of bug hunt. So stick to the friendly critters. If you encounter an interesting bug and want to identify it by taking it home and using a search engine to look it up trap it using the jar and lid. Make sure the lid is secured tightly before heading home with it. Once you've identified the critter make sure you take it back to where you found it and release it. Bug Hunting should always be catch and release.

Many other educational activities can spon from this adventure. You can encourage your child to draw a picture of their favorite bug of the day or make up a story about the bugs you've encountered.

Early Childhood Certification!

Those of you who have been following me over the past two years know that I've been working diligently to obtain a third teaching certification. I was already certified to teach at the Elementary level (grades K-6) and English as a Second Language (ESL). In December of 2011 I finished the coursework to obtain certification in Early Childhood Education! This is a more specialized certification that focuses on the developmental needs of children during the earlier stages of development. It is also the certification required by the state of Pennsylvania for any teacher who wishes to teach at the Pre-K, Kindergarten, First, Second, or Third grade levels. Thank you all for your support throughout this process. It was a lot of hard work, but it is well worth it!

Luv Saving Money: Doodle Roll Giveaway: Help Doodle Roll "Get on the...

Click on the link below to enter the Luv Saving Money Doodle Roll Giveaway!

Luv Saving Money: Doodle Roll Giveaway: Help Doodle Roll "Get on the...: Some of you might remember that I did a  review for Doodle Rolls back in the beginning of December. Doodle Rolls are convenient activities to take with you on the go...

What Do They Need to Know BEFORE Starting School?

Many concerned parents ask me what their child really needs to know before starting school. When deciding what to teach, your child's teacher looks to three main sources to guide their lessons. First and foremost are the state standards. Every state has learning standards for grades 3 through 12. Many states have expanded those learning standards to the realm of early childhood, which includes learning standards for Birth through Grade 3. Yes, you read that right, from Birth. The second source your teacher and school district looks at is the curriculum they will be using. Many curricula include books and activities along with the scope and sequence in which they will teach themes throughout the year. The third source is the individual child. Lessons can be altered, supplemented, or adapted to fit individual children's needs. However, the state standards guide all of the above. State standards vary slightly from state to state, but for the most part they are very similar. I will be beginning a series covering The Pennsylvania State Early Learning Standards in which I will highlight a specific state standard and give you examples of what you can do at home to help your little develop the skills needed to meet each standard successfully and be prepared for that first day of Pre-K or Kindergarten!

Language and Learning Experiences: Part II - Read to Your Child

This is Part II in my monthly series of developing your child's language and learning.

Read to Your Child

Regardless of the age of your child reading him or her is a valuable activity. I even read to my daughter while she was in the womb. Everyone's listening vocabulary is well above their speaking, reading, or writing vocabulary. Reading to your child introduces them to new words, a variety of sentence structures, and concepts that they may not be exposed to in their daily lives.

Reading books also teaches them early literacy concepts such as book handling skills: holding the book right side up, turning the pages from left to right (front to back). If you use your fingers to follow the words as you read they begin to understand that print is read from left to right across the page and that you read from the top to the bottom of the page.

You can pause as you read to talk about the pictures on each page, let them identify the things they know  by asking them "What this?" and tell them how smart they are, how proud you are of them. Identify the things they don't know by pointing to them and telling them the names, colors, or shapes of the objects. If you are reading a book about a farm and they can identify the chicken. Respond with, "Very good! That IS a chicken! What color is that chicken?" (yellow) "Yes, that is a yellow chicken."

By having simple conversations like this about what they see when you are reading to them you are helping build their vocabulary and revealing the identity new objects to them. You can also help them predict what is going to happen on each page if you talk about the picture before you read. This is fun to do even with very young infants. They'll enjoy the one-on-one time, the sound of your voice and the brightly colored pictures as much as they will enjoy learning.

Marvel's the Avengers

I was given the opportunity to share this trailer for Marvel's the Avengers and I couldn't pass it up. I realize this is not a movie recommended for Pre-Kers, but I figured I would post it for the big kid in us all that still believes in Super Heroes!  Enjoy!

I will be posting other clips for more Pre-K appropriate movies, cartoons, and the like as I am given the opportunity.

Working Out With Little Ones

As a parent you might not always have the time to hit the gym, especially if it means trying to find a baby sitter so that you can go. So, understandably we try to resort to at home workouts. There are thousands upon thousands to choose from ranging from Aerobics, Yoga, and P90X DVDs to Sports workouts via video games or even just doing your own simple routines like push-ups, sit-ups, and crunches. Even trying to find the time to get these workouts in can become challenging, especially if you have little ones at home. I try to wake up early enough to get my workouts in before my little one wakes up or, more often than not, I do them at night after she's gone to bed. However, that doesn't always go to plan either. So sometimes I end up with a miniature workout partner. Sure it changes the routine and maybe the intensity a little bit, but it's a wonderful way to spend time and bond with little ones and it can be a great way to help promote a healthy and positive interest in staying physically fit.

Keep in mind that anytime we interact with our children we are given the opportunity to make an impact on them. It's up to us to decide if we want that impact to be positive or negative. So when my toddler wonders into the living room when I'm midway through an EA Sports Active 2 workout. I don't tell her to go play in another room or tell her to get out of my way. I encourage her to do the workout with me. Any attempt she makes at trying to hold poses or run in place is encourage with cheers and high fives. By doing this I am reenforcing the fact that mommy does want her around and and that she is doing a good job at working out. This boosts both herself esteem and creates a positive experience when it comes to doing exercise. My daughter enjoys these moments so much that she has been known to come and take me by the hand and say, "Come on, Mommy! It's time for exercises!" Which is a great motivator for me as well! (Even if it is during the third quarter of the Steelers game)

It's great to involve your children in healthy habits such as physical activity and structured exercises, but just keep in mind that they are still children and their attention span might not last for a full 20-45 minute workout, and that's okay too. My Little one picks and chooses the exercises she joins in with me and for the ones that don't interest her as much she goes and plays with toys near by where I can see her. This morning as I was doing Mountain Climbers my little one crawled under my face and was looking up at me giggling and smiling while I completed the exercise! What a great way to workout! She even added to my workout by creating extra resistance for me while I did some reverse crunches, of course she didn't know that's what she was doing she just thought she was having fun sitting on mommy's belly while I did my crunches.

Imagine how different the message would be to my daughter if I made her feel unwelcome during my workout routines or if I constantly criticized how she was doing the exercises. What would her view of the importance of exercising be if when she came joyfully bounding over to me and announced "It's time for exercises!" if I would grown and tell her I'd rather finish watching the football game. What message are you sending your child in whatever it is you are doing today?

Language and Learning Experiences: Part I - Talk to Your Child

Everyone so often when I'm out with my daughter, due to her complete lack of shyness, we'll end up in a conversation with a complete stranger . It usually ends up being a store clerk or near by shopper that my daughter feels she just has to share her latest news with. Which is usually informing them of the identitiy of anything she happens to see near by, to any major event that happened in her life recently. These ususpecting people usually react with delight and enjoy talking to her, some of them even want to see just how much she knows so they'll ask her things like, "What color is..." or "What sound does that .... make?" After a few questions they usually look up to me with surprise and ask, "How old is she?" to which my daughter eagerly repsonds, "TWO!" while holding up two fingers. And I confirm and then state, "Well a little over a two and a half actually." Then they make some kind of polite comment about how smart she or how well she talks for her age, but for some reason they always seem to assume I'm a stay at home mom who works with her a lot. When they learn that I'm a Pre-K teacher they ask me for tips on working with their own children or grand children.
I must admit I never really know what to say because I'm certain they do not have time to listen to ALL the things I do with my daughter so I usually give a different tip to each person, especially if they happened to tell me a little bit about their child. I'll try to personalize my response to their child's needs, but recently I was asked for some tips by a woman who had a 16 month old. And that's as much as I new about the child. So, the advice I gave her was, just remember that everything you do is a learning activity, from baking a cake to going for a walk. Talk to her about what you are doing, what you see, the sounds you hear, how something smells, tastes, or feels. Count the number of eggs you crack in the bowl. Count the stairs you are walking up, but don't make it feel like you're teaching her. Have fun with it.
So, as I thought about my response I thought I'd share more specifically what what I mean by everything is a learning activity. Your child from the moment he or she is born WANTS to learn. From birth to Age 5 they can't get enough of it. They are fascinated by the world around them and want to know everything about it. They are trying to understand their world, make sense of it, and interact with it. They genuinely DO want to know what everything is. So the best thing you can do to help them learn is to provide them with experiences and the language (words) to understand it.
So, I've decided to create a series of posts to help identify learning opportunities for you and your child. This part one in a series of Language and Literacy Experience posts that I will be writing. I'm hoping to publish a new one every 2 weeks.
Language and Literacy Experience Part I: Talk to Your Child
Many people do not talk to their infants accept to say "goo goo" or mimic their noises back to them. Which actually does help them. When you mimic back the coos and giggles your infant makes he or she is learning the turn taking rules of conversation: First he or she says something, then it's your turn to respond and vice versa (something we seem to forget as adults) Along with learning the turn taking rules of conversation he or she is also delighting in your attention and is learning that you are interested in what he or she has to say, which helps bolster their self esteem (yes even as an infant). A parent's affect on their child's language development and learning can go far beyond that if they talk to their little ones in addition to cooing and cawing with them.
Infants give you their undivided attenion and because they are so dependent upon you as a parent you are constantly interacting with them. If you couple these interactions with words your child can begin to develop language even before they begin speaking. And there are times that your simple conversation with them may actually help sooth them and make what could be an upsetting experience into a bonding experience. So talk to them. Talk as if you are having a conversation with an older child about what you are doing, but don't be afraid to have fun or be silly either. Talk to them when you are changing them, talk about what you see when you are going for walk. When you read a story to them, point at the pictures and identify what you see. If they are too young to respond pretend that they did and give them time to experience what you are talking about. For example:
When it's time to give you infant a bath a conversation might go something like this:
"Ok sweet pea, it's time to get a bath now. first we need to take off your shirt."
(While you are removing their shirt talk about what you are doing then)
"We need to get your little are out of the sleeve. (while you pull one arm out of sleeve.) Now we need to get the other arm out. (pull the other arm out of the sleeve.) If their arms gets stuck or the shirt is a bit tight and they seem to be getting upset in a calming voice say, "it's okay, mommy/daddy has you, it'll be all better soon." Have a similar converstion about their pants, diaper, socks, etc. Then tell them, "I'm going to pick you up now and put you in the bath tub." (please make sure you test the water before putting any child in their bath. The water should feel neither hot nor cold to the touch.) When you place them in the tub say, "There doesn't that feel good! Do you like being in the water? I bet you do! (if your child does not like being in the water then you can simpathize with them, "Oh, I know you don't like being in this water water, but Mommy/Daddy is just trying to get you all nice an clean. It'll be over soon."
By talking to your child whether an infant, toddler, or preschooler, you'll be giving them vocabulary to use and they'll begin to pick up on sentence structure too. I am often surprised at some of the complex sentences or expressions that come out of my daughter's little two and a half year old mouth.
So often we get caught up in the business of the day we have become adept at repsonding to our children's body language an gestures. A child will point in the fridge while we are standing there trying to figure out what to make for dinner and we'll automatically get them a cup of milk without saying a word. This is a valuable language learning opportunity. Take the time to ask, "Do you want some milk?... then tell them " I'll get you some milk."... "Let me pour it in the cup for you."
Talking to your child is a great way to bond and help them learn about the world around them! Trying having a conversation with your little one today about whatever he or she or you are doing! :)