Archive for March, 2010

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8 Family Activities for Spring Break

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Spring. Break. Is there another word combination in the English language that strikes such fear into the hearts of parents? Your children, home for an entire week with no school, no outside distractions, and often no escape.  During this time, many parents choose to take their family on vacation.  If you’re like me and won’t be traveling (because you simply can’t afford a vacation or you just can’t imagine having to spend another 13 hours in a small –no matter how big your car is, it’s small after 13 hours–vehicle), here are a few ideas that might help you and your family occupy some time:

Go to your local zoo. Our kids love animals and enjoy discovering new facts or quirks about their favorite animals every time we visit our local zoo.  While you’re there, you have the opportunity to integrate a plethora of learning activities into the fun.  Try counting the flamingos with your three year old or discuss the effects of logging on the gorilla habitiat with your young adult–the possibilities are endless.

Discover something new at your local museums. Our family has a dual yearly membership to the zoo/science museum that our family loves. We never have to worry that rain will ruin our plans because we can head over to the science museum and investigate mummies or learn how our local waterways are set up.

Visit historical sites and indulge in some of the country’s history. Most sites include an on-the-premises park and/or picnic area to expel some pent up energy or grab a quick lunch.  Check out the on-site cemetary (if there is one) and try making some headstone rubbings with blank printer paper and black crayons.  We are always pleasantly surprised by what we find when we travel to the past.

Take a hike. Literally. Pack up the family and go exploring local woods, caverns, or fields.  Leave your cellphones off (or at home) and leave the mp3 players behind. Find the closest patch of trees (or whatever wild you can) and talk a walk.  Talk to your children about the trees, the different animals or plants you see, or maybe just talk to them about life.  Take this opportunity to impart some of that wisdom you keep telling them you’ve got.

Visit the local farmers market or open air market. Take a walk on the wild side.  Spend a day just perusing the markets and experiencing the vast array of smells, tastes, and cultures readily available to you.  Change things up a bit by making a pact with your children to try three new experiences today.  You might be surprised by what you discover you enjoy.

Show some love to our State Parks system. During the slow economy, state parks see a steady decline in visiting patrons. These state parks can be local little know treasures harboring such awesomeness as Woolly Mammoth and Saber Tooth Tiger bones and teeth.  The facilities are generally clean, offer cheap camping or overnight stays, and can offer a wide variety of family activities such as mini-golf, boating, golf, train rides and more.

Exercise your green thumb. What better way to teach your children about photosynthesis, pollination, and the miracle of life?  You don’t have to plant a tree or a whole garden–in fact, a couple of seeds (one for each child) planted in a flower pot can work wonders for providing distraction and learning repeatedly.

Relax. Read a book, watch a movie, or just veg on the couch. You don’t have to go anywhere or do anything to have a good time.  It’s important that we, as parents, remeber that kids still just need to be kids.  They need to enjoy the “break” in Spring Break.

As with any possible crisis, a little planning and a lot of patience will go a long way to ensuring a pleasant Spring Break!

Do you have plans for Spring Break? Are you going or staying? Share with us! We’d love to hear from you!

image credit: http://0.tqn.com/d/gonyc/1/7/D/R/petting_zoo.jpg

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Amanda Henson is the owner of High Impact Mom, a socially aware mom-blog.

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Posted in Adult/Child Communication, Amanda Henson, Learning Activites, Parent Perspectives | 5 Comments »

3 Teacher Bloggers to Watch

Monday, March 22nd, 2010
 
Today I thought I would highlight a few of my favourite teacher bloggers. These guys wear their hearts on their sleeves, are passionate about education and make me a better teacher.
 
Vodkamom is so honest, and very funny. She loves her kids (own and school) and after reading her posts you will want to join her class. And you must follow @vodkamom on twitter. Her tweets make me laugh and cry and hope that one day my daughter is as spunky as Sassy!
 
Joe is a new addition to my PLN and his twitter profile sums up exactly why his blog and tweets are must reads: “I believe students should experience their success and failure not as reward and punishment but as information.” His opinions on homework, assessment tasks and technology are right on the money and he certainly generates a lot of discussion in his comments.
 
John is my Seth Godin. Smart. Sincere. And author of “Adventures in Pencil Integration”
 
I am always on the look out for new teacher bloggers to read and learn from. Who is your favorite and why?
 
By: Ainslie Hunter

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Posted in Ainslie Hunter, Miscellaneous, Teacher Perspectives, Technology | 9 Comments »

All I Really Needed to Know, I Learned in Rehearsal

Sunday, March 21st, 2010
 
When I was in fifth grade, my English teacher called my parents to express concern that all of my reports up to then had been based on plays or musicals. She felt that I was too narrow-minded. I did my next report on Eva Peron, and my first source was the musical Evita. She didn’t seem to know this musical, by the way, because I was commended for going outside my comfort zone.
 
I did that to make a point. Plays and musicals are an amazing gateway to the world at large.
 
I maintain that I learned important life lessons by spending most of my weeknights in rehearsal, and my weekends in costume and make-up.
 
I learned what a firm deadline is. It never occurred to me that an assignment’s due date could be extended because Opening Night was Opening Night. Never in my life did a performance not happen as scheduled. When I was seven and in my first community theatre musical Oklahoma! , one of our leads was seriously injured in a car accident coming to the Opening Night party. The next night, his understudy went on, and we all performed in his honor. I lived that “the show must go on.”
 
I learned how to interpret text. As in real life, the lines on the script were just part of putting together a character. I had to learn to read between the lines to discover why my character said what she said, and what she was feeling, and put it in context with the rest of the script and the play as a whole. It made writing papers for high school and college fun and easy for me.
 
I learned how to listen.  Acting is reacting. Every performance was a new experience, and as the actors around me shifted a little or changed their inflections, I had to adjust and react in a way that made sense. Not to mention, figure out what to do when Tiny Tim threw up on stage during A Christmas Carol!
 
I learned how to take a note. Whenever someone questioned a note at the end of a run-through, one of my favorite directors would say, “just take the note!” I learned that just because something was my intention didn’t mean that was how it was coming across to the audience. To this day, red comments back on my draft aren’t offensive to me; they’re lessons given by my mentors that teach me how to do my job more effectively.
 
I learned how to interact with all ages, religions, colors, and backgrounds.  In my small town, our theatre community cheered whenever someone different found their way into our auditions. It meant we had more plays we could consider in the future! No one ever had to remind anyone that we were a “team” that had to work together. We just did. And yes, when I was 9 and in Fiddler on the Roof, I asked my parents if we could become Jews. Every play or musical was a chance to learn a little about another way of life. They were all fascinating to me, and I thoroughly loved my chance to pretend to be a part of that world for a few months.
 
I learned how to count in 22/8. When I was in my high school’s jazz ensemble, we performed a piece that was in 22/8. Our musical director had us stopping each other in the hallways, counting out the beats. (I can still do it.) I’d never really thought this through until just now, but I think I’ve just discovered how to help my daughters simplify fractions!
 
I learned a good work ethic.  Going back to my first point, Opening Night is Opening Night. There is simply no one else who can take the blame if I didn’t know my lines or missed my cue (which I did. Once. It still haunts me 23 years later). While people were certainly willing to help me by running lines or choreography, it was up to me to remember and execute it and be judged by my own performance. There were no excuses, and no do-overs. And, hey, a great performance is rewarded by an ovation that makes it all worth it!
 
According to a 2008 NEA study, “Artists—such as musicians, architects, art directors, animators, and photographers—make up a larger occupational group than lawyers, medical doctors, or agricultural workers, with an aggregate annual income of $70 billion.” Maybe it’s time we started preparing our kids for a career in the Arts, and giving them life and educational lessons that will actually stick, instead of preparing them for yet another round of standardized testing next month.
 
Maybe instead of a Math tutor, my daughter needs to join a jam session.
 

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Posted in April McCaffery, Learning Activites, Parent Perspectives, Schools, Teacher Perspectives | 14 Comments »

The Problem with the Blame Game

Friday, March 19th, 2010
 
I was sorry to read that Bill Maher has joined the game in assigning personal blame to our failing educational system. He’s joined the rallying cry for more parental involvement. Yet, like so many of the others, he hasn’t explained what parental involvement should mean.
 
I’m a huge fan of Bill Maher’s, but he does say things that sharply remind me he is not a parent himself. This is one of those times.
It’s no secret that I’ve had issues with teachers and certain assignments, but it’s because I believe that really great teachers make a world of difference.
 
Still, I would never say that the teachers are the only ones to blame. Nor would I say that all parents are completely blameless.
If I was only allowed to assign one party to blame, I would say that it’s standardized tests. Which no one even fights anymore.
 
There was a time, not too long ago, that teachers unions and parents all rallied against federalized standardized tests. And then No Child Left Behind came along, and the fight was over.
 
Now, one of that program’s fierce advocates has come out against it. And while Secretary Arne Duncan has implemented a few changes, there are still too many similarities for my taste.
 
I’m tired of hearing both teachers and administrators state that their educational goals are to pass standardized tests. I would much rather hear that the educational goals are to teach my children. It made me sick when my daughter, 8 at the time, got stomach aches when testing time came (at a school that got great scores, btw). It was much more pleasant to watch my other daughter, at the same age, excited to go to school testing week and “show off” what she can do.
 
And let’s not forget that last year and this year, the teachers and students will be going into testing week, knowing that some of these teachers will be gone next year due to budget cuts. How could that not affect everyone involved?
 
Still, in the end, I don’t want to play this game. I want solutions. I want some creative thought. I want to see parents and teachers ban together and protest the whole testing week altogether. I would love to see all of us on #ptchat and #edchat, thinking about ways to work more effectively (and together) within the current confines that restrain our system.
 
Because the truth of the matter is, there will always be some parents and some teachers who don’t help students reach their full potential. The object should be that every child can overcome any obstacle, with the help and support of most parents and most teachers.
 

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Posted in April McCaffery, Education Policy, Parent Perspectives, School Involvement, Schools, Teacher Perspectives | No Comments »

Play a Role in Fighting Childhood Obesity

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Michelle Obama put the spotlight back on the issue of childhood obesity with her Let’s Move Campaign. Now research by the Children’s Activity and Movement in Preschool Study (CHAMPS), found that preschools might be an appropriate place for preventive health measures, particularly activities that increase young children’s physical activity.

It’s important that children learn, at an early age, how to lead a healthy lifestyle. Early childhood educators have the unique opportunity to promote physical activity in young children and lay the foundation for gross motor development.

Parents also play an important role in placing children on the right path to living and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. To encourage children to become active, here are a number of simple and helpful ideas that you can do at home with your young child:

1.   Take It Outside – Limit “screen time” and encourage your child to go outside and PLAY.  Have a relay race, set up an obstacle course or bring back one of your favorite childhood pastimes like hopscotch or jump rope.

2.   It’s In Your Nature – Take your child on a nature walk.  Use this great opportunity to talk to your child about plants and animals you see while getting fresh air and exercise.

3.  Get Dramatic – When you’re transitioning a child from one activity to another – like play time to dinner time — ask them to move like their favorite animal. Hop like a kangaroo, slither like a snake or waddle like a duck.

4.   Be a Good Sport – Preschool age children love to learn the basic rules of popular sports and games. Take this opportunity to talk about sportsmanship.

5.   Be Free – Remember free play?  Let go of some structure and encourage your children to use their imaginations in their indoor and outdoor play.

6.   Stretch It Out – Preschoolers love basic yoga moves.  Take a few minutes each day to stretch with your little one.

7.   Put Some Movement In Your Music – When you sing songs or listen to music with young children, encourage them to dance with scarves, make up movements to go with the lyrics or just DANCE and move their bodies to the music.

image credit: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00660/news-graphics-2008-_660685a.jpg

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By Sue Adair, Director of Education at Goddard Systems, Inc.,  the franchisor of Goddard Schools. As an expert in early childhood development and learning, Sue oversees teacher training and early childhood education programs for 350+ Goddard Schools across the United States. In her 21-year career in early childhood education, Sue has taught multiple age groups ranging from infants to Kindergarten in both private and corporate child care settings, and has seven years experience as a school director including several years at The Goddard School for Early Childhood Development in Blue Bell, Penn.You can visit Sue’s blog at: http://blogs.goddardsystems.com/

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Posted in Adult/Child Communication, Guest, Miscellaneous | No Comments »

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