Our sons kindergarten teacher gave parents a list of excellent ideas on helping children make summer a fun and educational experience. I’ve decided to share the list with others.

How parents can help:

1. Listen to your child read
2. Read to your child
3. Go to the library with your child and help him/her pick out interesting books to read
4. Find out about activities for children that take place at the library
5. Look through your child’s schoolwork with him/her
6. Read the comic section of the newspaper with your child
7. Help your child select televisions shows to watch
8. Watch a television show together, then discuss/evaluate the show
9. Teach your child how to make an emergency phone call
10. Help your child learn to use telephone directory
11. Show your child the location of your home on a map
12. Play a board game with your child
13. Help your child start a collection of rocks, stamps, pressed leaves…
14. Give your child his own calendar so he can write down special events
15. Write notes to your child
16. Help your child write notes to relatives and friends
17. Subscribe to a children’s magazine (in your child’s name)
18. Help your child cook something
19. Provide materials such as crayons, art paper and paints for creative projects
20. Look up a word in the dictionary with your child
21. Read road signs, store signs, package labels, and license plates.
22. Show your child how to use a ruler, yardstick, and a tape measure for measuring objects around the house
23. Provide counting experiences for your child
24. Encourage your child to keep a scrapbook
25. Encourage your child to wear a watch (not a digital)
26. Let your child see you reading so that you provide a model for him/her to follow
27. Encourage your child to read books more than once. It will give him/her confidence and help him/her to gain new insight
28. Establish a fifteen minute “Family Reading Time.” Eliminate distractions but make it a fun experience
29. Take books along in the car to read while waiting for appointments
30. Give books as presents so they become special and pleasurable
31. Make puppets, draw maps, make bookmarks, and act out stories to celebrate books
32. Establish a “school box” at home to help your child be more organized. Help your child get into the habit of putting all materials that must be taken to school in the box. This system will help you avoid last minute searches for lunch money, books, and permission slips. Helping your child assume responsibility is an excellent way to foster independence.
33. Don’t forget to Read, Read, and Read all summer long!

This past Sunday my husband and I had to go to a wedding, and it so happened that at the last minute we had to take our four-year-old with us. It turned out that taking our son to the event was the best decision we could have made.

It was absolutely amazing to share the tradition of the wedding ceremony with him. He was interested in every aspect of it and was constantly asking questions (very quietly as to not disturb the ceremony). He was so excited to see his relatives in this different and beautiful place, all dressed up. He also got to take pictures of everyone, which I think, was a special treat for him.

The best part for me, however, was when I got to dance, for the first time in public, with my son. I have to confess (and I hope my husband forgives me for this) that I enjoyed dancing with my son a little more then dancing with my husband. As we were dancing, I noticed my 11-year-old brother sitting as far away from our mom as possible. This image somewhat scared me, especially since earlier that day my mother told me that my brother hinted that it was time for him to start going to the movies alone with his friends.

I know I still have plenty of time until my son turns 11, but the thought of when would my son want to stop hanging out with me kept me awake all night. I decided to do a little research on the matter. The results of my research were less alarming then I initially thought they would be. According to Child Trends Family Strengths: Often Overlooked, But Real, August 2002: “The majority of adolescents think highly of their parents (85 percent for mothers and 81 percent for fathers) … Most enjoy spending time with their parents (81 percent for mothers and 77 percent for fathers)… Moreover, 79 percent of adolescents report that their mother usually or always helps with what is important to them, and 67 percent report that their fathers help them.” The report goes onto give examples of how providing children with age appropriate freedoms benefits and strengthens the parents/child relationship. This report, together with another article I found, made me realize that my brother’s desire for privacy and a little more freedom doesn’t mean that his relationship with my parents will be over any time soon.

So in short, I can go back to sleep knowing that if I support, praise and don’t hover over my kids this first dance can and will turn into a life long friendship.

For more info, check out the articles:
http://www.childtrends.org/Files/FamilyStrengths.pdf
http://family.samhsa.gov/get/time.aspx

http://www.kidsrisk.harvard.edu/mediaguide.html

With so many choices on TV today it is so hard to keep track and to decide which one I am ok with my kids watching and what is not good for them at all. Then I came across this article that talks about how to make the choice of what is good for your kid and what to look out for before you consent to a TV show.

I got an invitation from one of my mom friends to join this cause Project Night Night http://www.projectnightnight.org/index.html.

“Project Night Night is dedicated to improving the lives of homeless children, one sweet dream at a time.  To this end, Project Night Night donates individual tote bags each filled with a security blanket, an age-appropriate book, and a stuffed animal to children (ages 0-10) in homeless shelters.”

I absolutely loved this idea. Every kid has, or should have, a security item that gives him/her a sense of security in our crazy world. My two-year-old has his “Ya Ya” which he carries around every where and doesn’t go to sleep with ought it. My kid has a home, a bed and two loving parents, and yet still feels the need for a comfort item. Of course there are organizations that provide important services, like treatments or shelters and food. However, for a child this seemingly small item represents something a lot bigger, or so I think…

You can also help by donating stuff at the local drop off locations http://www.projectnightnight.org/DonateItems.html

Title: Focus Group, Parents of School-Age Children are Needed
Location: Foundation for Jewish Camp (15 W 36 St, between 5 & 6 Ave, 13 Fl)
Link out: Click here
Description: All participants will receive a $20 gift certificate. Dinner will be served. If you have any questions, please feel free to email Alina Bitel at alina@jewishcamp.org or call her at 646-278-4533.
Start Time: 18:45
Date: 2009-06-23

Foundation for Jewish Camp (www.jewishcamp.org) is launching a major nation-wide initiative that will create opportunities for Jewish kids from Russian-speaking families to experience Jewish overnight camp. In order to address the interests of the families in the most appropriate way, we want to learn as much as possible about the preferences for the summer activities for their children. We would like to find out their attitudes towards summer camps in general and Jewish summer camps in particular, to assess factors that would motivate them to send their children to Jewish camps. We also would like to find out their specific interests and needs when it comes to the educational content of camp as well as marketing they would be responsive to.

The initial learning will happen through several focus groups with parents of school-age children, which later will inform a survey distributed to hundreds of Russian-speaking Jewish families. We would like to learn about YOUR THOUGHTS on this subject matter.
Please join us!

My 11 year old brother joined Boy Scouts of America a few months ago. He had been begging my parents to let him go on an overnight trip for a while until finally my parents agreed. So last weekend he went on this long awaited trip. He lost some tournament and as punishment (or a cruel joke) he was tied to a tree and the other kids threw pine cones at him for 30 seconds. Some kids were nicer than others and threw open cones where as others through the hard kind, which ultimately resulted in the entirety of my brother back being bruised. 

I always thought that Boy Scouts (BS) were about teaching kids good values and helping others, and I don’t know that this particular incident was teaching them that. In fact, to me, it only teaches violence. Interestingly I found this article on the BS page http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/HealthandSafety/GSS/gss01.aspx. Here is a direct quote “The quality of the program and the safety of our youth members call for high-quality adult leaders. We work closely with our chartered organizations to help recruit the best possible leaders for their units.”  I wonder what kind of leaders will grow from the above mentioned behavior.  

However the trouble didn’t end there.

Later in the trip my brother was attacked by a dog, which belonged to a nearby owner. The dog bit him on his back and behind. And here is where things got even more interesting; even though the counselors on the trip were all fathers, nobody took my brother to the hospital for a check up, nobody requested paperwork from the dog owner regarding proper immunizations, nobody recorded the incident, and worst of all nobody called my parents. In me opinion, this group showed nothing but irresponsibility and it scares me that these people are responsible for children.  

Once my brother got home, once again the counselors did not approach or apologize for what happened. In fact, after some research it became clear to me that some people accept this abusive behavior from the scouts as a norm.  As a mother of two, it is beyond me why someone would want to send their child to a place that teaches the wrong messages with obviously no responsible supervision.

We will be pressing charges.

I’m not a believer of spanking. I use yelling as the form of conveyance. My 2 year old started responding to my yelling by making a lot of yelling of his own (and he’s a lot louder then I am). This is when I realized that I might need to change my ways. After all how can I ask my two year old to stop yelling, or how can I punish him for yelling when I do the exact same thing? So I did some research and noticed that I’m not the only one with the problem. Check out the article at http://blogs.babycenter.com/momformation/2009/06/06/parenting-without-yelling-can-you-do-it/ After reading this I decided to join the three month “Stop Yelling” pledge at http://www.safechildren.org/. I will let you know how I’ll do in the process.

The internet age now starts much earlier. My got my first computer when I was 10 and it was built by my father.

My kid’s computer experience is much different: desktop and two laptop computers are basically always available for them to us.

We got a few computer games as presents, but none of them were as good as the kids websites that we found. Here’s some of  the more favorite ones

• http://www.starfall.com
• http://www.nickjr.com
• http://pbskids.org

Check out my full list of kids related sites at http://delicious.com/guessman/kids

One of my latest finds was . KidZui is a browser specifically designed for kids. Instead of working as a filer and preventing kids from going to restricted sites, it is designed to be the one and only application that the kids will interact through. The User Interface is great, very kids friends. Every page is hand picked by KidZui and verified to be Child Safe. This is really a Closed System browser.

Downloading the application from http://www.kidzui.com/downloading is straight forward. I had to install the application, and register myself as a parent. My KidZui account allows full monitoring of what my son views through the program. It will also send me a daily activity report with screenshots of the sites that he visited.

My son was able to pick and character, not only give him the name, but also select what the character would look like. The browser looks excellent. Very interactive, colorful, easy to navigate. KidZui folks did a truly remarkable job. I’ve put some screenshots of the UI below.

My son loves the browser. He can get around to all his favorite sites by himself. The search bar on top allows to quickly look through all available content.

We still try to limit the amount of time my kids spend at the TV and the computer. But while he’s on it, he is totally loving it.

I’m a mother of two boys, a very happy mother. But somehow people think that it’s not enough. I get comments from my son’s day care teachers, relatives, and just strangers in public bathrooms that I should have more kids. Not only that they take it upon themselves to convince me of how great it will be to have a third child but they assure me that this time it will be a girl, some how assuming that a girl is what I want. It almost feels like those strangers or family relations have a mystery quota they need to fulfill in order to win a prize of a lifetime. And the only thing standing between them and this great prize is my agreement to nine horrible months of excruciating discomfort.

I’m an understanding person and most of the time patient; however I would really like to know what’s in it for me. Can I expect those “well wishers” to join me and help during the after labor recovery process? Would they come to my aid when all three kids get sick? Will they do homework with the older kids and take them to classes (not to mention help me sponsor those classes)? Will they babysit when my husband and I need a break to go out for dinner? And did they ever consider my husband in this trivial plan of theirs? Who ever said you can’t be happy with just two? I absolutely love my boys. I had two brothers and love all boy activities. And form a practical stand point; I only have two hands i.e. I have my hands full at the moment and am not looking for more adventure.

However, for those moms out there who surrendered to the abuse of those near and dear to them and decided on having a third child please read this article http://www.havingthreekids.com/ to get a prospective on things. Enjoy!

This is a constant question on my mind. How do I keep my children safe and also give them the freedom to grow and enjoy the world that is surrounding them? Everyday there is something on the news or online that I read about a certain situation happening to a child and it scares me to the point that I can just give up and say that’s it I am keeping them at home until they become fully grown adults. I know this is not a realistic thought but as a mom I want to do everything in my power to protect from harm.

Today I read about what happened to Mike Tyson’s four year old daughter and my jaw dropped. A child dying such a senseless death at such a young age. The scary part is that it can happen to anyone in a blink of an eye. I really walk around my house almost daily looking for things I can move out of the way, I know when my boys are running around the house they don’t stop to think whether or not something is safe to touch. I can just go on and on all day long don’t touch that , don’t do this , that is hot get away from it and so on. I also know that I am not perfect and can sometimes miss something very important.

That is why today I decided to post a few tips on my blog regarding child safety. I know we as parents do everything in our power to help our children be safe. I hope that I can raise awareness just a little more so that our children can grow up happy and healthy and accomplish all their goals in life.

http://pediatrics.about.com/od/safety/Child_Safety.htm

http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PageServlet?LanguageCountry=en_US&PageId=2814

http://pollyklaasaction.org/campaign/Keep_Safe_New?gclid=COGJwK-g25oCFQSPFQodfmei2w

http://www.childsafetytips.net/