Kids Matter

Monday Meanderings - Affordable Gifts

2012-01-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

Well, January is almost over and if you are like me, you have already been to a few kid's birthday parties. With your kids being invited to so many parties, it can get expensive to supply gifts to everyone. I have scoured the Internet to come up with affordable gift ideas that you can use.

First up is Teaching Good Eaters. She put together several activities but I especially love the monster kits. How fun to "build" your own monsters.

Next we have Poopscape Projects with a great homemade Shrinky Dink project. You could put together a kit that includes the pre-cut and roughed plastic and some colored pencils, along with directions on putting together pieces.

The Artful Parent has a tutorial for dying play silks using kool aid. I just love the colors and the process seems simple to follow. You can also go to Tried and True to print out a graph of mixing kool aid packages to get certain colors. Very handy and affordable.

Creative with Kids is making me flash back to my own childhood. How cute to make the Paint with Water Pages. You could make several of the pages and also give the child a couple of paintbrushes and a small lidded container to carry water in.

Well, there are a few ideas to get you started. Each birthday party that your child gets an invitation to, does not have to cause you to panic. Put together a gift that you can afford and your child will be happy to give and make for their friend.

Doodle 4 Google

2012-01-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

It is that time! The Doodle 4 Google contest is up and running. If you use Google, then you know that they frequently change their logo with a great doodle. They are holding a contest that is open to all K-12 students in the US. You can click the link for the full rules and the registration form.

The best news, you can win a $30,000 college scholarship and your school can win a $50,000 grant! All entries must be postmarked by 3/20/12 and received in the Google office by 3/23/12 to be eligible. In addition to the amazing cash prizes, the winner's doodle will appear on the Google page and it will also be featured on a Crayola 64 box!

The theme for the doodle contest is: If I could travel in time, I'd visit... Get your markers, crayons, pens and pencils and get doodling!! Best of luck to everyone!

Cutting Preschool is Not the Answer

2012-01-26T08:00:00.001-05:00

Earlier this week, USA Today, ran an article entitled "Expansion in pre-k programs curtailed in recession". This saddened us for several reasons. The article states that one quarter of all 4 year olds and one half of all three year olds attend no preschool programs. This can make it difficult for students entering kindergarten to catch up with the other students that did attend preschool.

Low income families face tough decisions when public preschool programs are cut. They can not afford a private preschool program and by the time they return home from work in the evening, it can be hard to teach a child vital skills needed for school. The children are not as receptive to learning when it is almost bedtime and the parents are mentally and/or physically drained after putting in a day at work. This is why some children begin kindergarten an estimated 18 months or more behind their peers. It can be difficult, if not impossible for the child to catch up.

When a recession hits, there must be cuts made. We understand this, but why punish the smallest citizens? In roughly the 2009-2010 season is when cuts to pre-k began. We need to turn around this cycle! We need to provide for the kids of the pre-k age. There are many vital skills that are learned in preschool, it is not all about play. When you walk into a classroom and see the kids "playing" pizza shop in the dramatic play area, they are not just playing. They are learning vital life skills such as: taking turns, role playing, buttoning aprons onto themselves, reading a menu, writing an order, following the necessary steps to put together a pizza, accepting payment for food, counting out change, manners and etiquette. When you look into a classroom, look past the noise; look past the running around; look at what is really going on. Everything that a child does in a classroom, is a learning experience for them.

We understand that kids can learn at home, but it is hard, if not impossible for a working family to teach a child all that a preschool can. A typical home does not have a variety of cultures in one room; a variety of beliefs in one room or a magnitude of endless ideas in one room. When you send a child to a quality preschool program, that is what you are getting. The teachers are trained to recognize what your child needs to learn, they are trained to teach your child reading, writing, arithmetic and so much more. It is time for us to stand up for Kids!

Kids Matter - Invest Early, Invest Often.

Wordless Wednesday - Snow Day

2012-01-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

You can have fun in even a little bit of snow!

Monday Meanderings - Shirt Designs

2012-01-23T08:00:00.001-05:00

Well, winter is here and as I write this post, the temperature outside was 16 degrees! We need something creative to do indoors! Started looking around and we decided to look at some shirt designs.
Check these out!

First up is Family Fun Magazine with this great Slam Dunk shirt! We are huge fans of basketball in KY and this fits us to a T!

Next is Watch Me Daddy with home made muscle shirts for all of the Super Heroes in your life. Who needs the gym?

Time for Sharpie Markers to make an appearance. Did you know they had a blog? I love this tie dye done with Sharpies.

The Ribbon Retreat is up next with the perfect shirt for Super Bowl!

I love bleach pens and Homemade Mamas gives me something to do with them, other than cleaning my grout lines.

Lastly, we have PANJO with some great freezer paper stencils. These are the ones that we have already completed and I can assure you that this is easy and totally addictive! We made a shirt with a shark on it and my son loves it!

Children's Advocacy Day

2012-01-20T08:45:00.000-05:00

Have you heard the great news? Have you signed up yet? On February 16th, the Child Care Council and Kids Matter are excited to send people to Frankfort for Children's Advocacy Day.

This is the 8th annual event and it is exciting to see so many parents, teachers, concerned citizens and kids at the Capital. In the past, we have had representation from 50 different counties. We begin the day with a Rally for Children, which runs from 10:00am - 11:00am in the Capital Rotunda. After that, we disperse and visit legislators and bring the issues of Ky's youth to the forefront.

If you would like to attend Children's Advocacy Day, you can register here. This helps us keep an accurate count of the people attending and the counties being represented.

If you would like to meet with a legislator while in Frankfort, you will need to schedule an appointment. Not sure who your legislator is? Check out the Legislative Research Commission and then you can schedule an appointment by calling 502-564-8100.

We hope to see you in Frankfort on February 16th. The evening is capped off by a Legislative Reception from 5:30pm - 7:30pm.

Join us and let the state know that you think Kids Matter!

Monday Meanderings - Martin Luther King Jr

2012-01-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Martin Luther King Day! Here are some activities to do to celebrate the life and legacy of the great Dr. King!

First is First Grade in One Year with an activity showing a child's dream on the inside of the booklet and their hand print art on the outside to signify diversity.

Next we have Learning & Laughing in First Grade with a great experiment between brown eggs and white eggs. The children graphed what is different and what is the same with the eggs and then wrote out what they learned.

This is not a project that I think you can do at your home, but this is a mosaic created in 2010 by artist Pete Fecteau and is entitled "Dream Big". Can you guess what it is made of? It is 4,242 Rubik's Cubes. It took over a year of planning and weighed in at about 1,000 pounds at completion. It is amazing!

I will leave you with two of my favorite quotes:

Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Darkness can not drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate can not drive out hate; only love can do that. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

When do you learn to trust?

2012-01-13T08:00:00.001-05:00

I recently read an interesting article from Science Daily. It discussed whether infants trust and imitate everyone or whether they learn not to trust people that are "unreliable". The general basis of the experiment is that they tested children in the age group of 13-16 months. They then paired the infants up with an adult. All of the adults opened a box and acted surprised and excited with the contents. The difference is that some boxes contained toys, others contained just air. The babies then were allowed to open the boxes.

When the testers then tried to turn on light switches with their foreheads, a much smaller (about half) percentage of the "tricked" infants tried to imitate the behaviour.

This is an interesting experiment but I wish the testers had gone further. I know my son at that age would imitate us, regardless of tricking him or not. Did they test the infants with adults that they were familiar with? Will an infant that is with a warm and loving person over a standard tester still use these instincts? I think there are several factors to take into consideration. I have no doubt that infants can learn more than science realizes and that they have an instinct for trust. I just wish the reporters have given us more real clues.

Parents and teacher - what are your thoughts on infants and trust?

Noah's Dad

2012-01-12T08:00:00.002-05:00

Have you heard of the amazing blog, Noah's Dad? It is the daily life of a family after their son Noah is born and diagnosed with Down Syndrome.

Some things it is not:
A happy go lucky fairy tale. It does not paint the picture of a rosy, sunshine day for every day of their lives.
An advice column. This is not written by a Doctor and is not written to tell you how to "cure your child".

What the blog is:
It is a real live look into the family's everyday life. They post a one minute video of their son every day. The videos do not seem staged, they seem like a real glance. The videos are of things that are going on in Noah's life right now.

I learned about the blog after the Dad wrote a post about the latest Target ad. The post went viral! It was picked up by several major websites, was tweeted over 3,000 times and received over 16,000 Facebook likes! That is amazing! If you have not seen the latest Target ad, you can see page 9 on his blog. It features a child with Down Syndrome, which is great news. The best part, Target does not acknowledge it at all! They shot the picture with a group of kids and did not pick out any individual child.

If you have not checked out Noah's Dad yet, I highly recommend it. It is heartfelt, moving and amazing. Noah's Dad is proving what we have known all along - Kids Matter, All Kids Matter!

Wordless Wednesday - Homework

2012-01-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

I love to look at papers written by little kids. Always so sweet!

Monday Meanderings - Explore the Land

2012-01-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

I was recently looking around on the Internet and was impressed to find so many activities discussing landforms.

It was amazing to see how detailed and beautiful some of the activities were. When I was in school, you just looked at a topographical map, but that is no longer the case.

Look at some of these great projects.

The Kennedy Korral Blog made these amazing edible landforms. Looks like Jello and a cake?

Here is another edible landforms project from Moments with Maisie. This is amazing! It has brownies, marshmallow supreme mountains, chocolate chip cookie island and so much more!

I found this salt dough landforms project on Secular Homeschool and think it is a great alternative if you want to keep your work around a bit longer.

Take your studies to the next level! Make learning fun and engaging and kids will absorb more knowledge!

January Family Fun Calendar

2012-01-06T10:37:00.000-05:00

Here is the calendar for January. Have fun with your family.

Investing in Kids - to help our future

2012-01-04T09:34:00.000-05:00

While perusing the local newspaper's website, we stumbled upon this great opinion article. The author (Mira Ball) is encouraging the leaders of the great state of Kentucky, to invest in our future.

How is she encouraging this? She is bringing up great points in reference to the preschool debate and the Health Access Nurturing Development Services (HANDS). The proof is there to encourage our continued support of these services.

Currently, the state of Kentucky has preschool services available in our public schools, but the preschool services are only available to families with incomes up to 150% of the federal poverty level. Ms. Ball encourages the state to increase that to families with income up to 200% of the federal poverty level, which would serve an additional 16,000 children. Ideally, Kids Matter would like to see preschool services available to all kids, much like the other grades of public schools. Investing in the education and care of all children, improves the future of everyone.

Please go read the article and then come back here and weigh in your opinion. What can the state do to help kids have a successful future? We want to know what you think!

Santa Claus is coming

2011-12-22T08:00:00.002-05:00

If your house celebrates Christmas, have you discovered the Portable North Pole yet? This is a great free service that offers videos that you customize.

You type in your child's name, country, state, age and a few other things. When you have completed the form, Santa sends a video to your child. It is completely magical for kids, as it also includes pictures of the children.

We have done this each year with our son and he always gets very excited to see the movie from Santa.

Wordless Wednesday - Snow Dreaming

2011-12-21T08:00:00.001-05:00

Look out, I am armed and dangerous!

Monday Meanderings - Snowmen

2011-12-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

Cold weather is here and as much as I already miss summer, I love snowmen. Real snowmen or fake snowmen, I love them all.

Enjoy some of the great snowmen that I found online.

First, we have The Frugal Teacher with a great expiriment documenting the lifecycle of a snowman! I think this is an amazing idea and as soon as I can clear out some space in my freezer, we are doing this.

The Idea Room made the cutest snowmen out of powdered sugar donuts. This would be adorable on the table when the kids wake up. Imagine how excited they would be, especially if school was called for a snow day too!

This is Olympia, the world's tallest snow woman. She was built in Bethel, Maine, she is 122 feet and 1 inch tall and was built in 2008. When they built Olympia, they beat thier own record of tallest snowman. They had built one in 1999 that had previously held the record. Olymia's eyelashes are skis, her lipstick mouth is made of tires that are painted red, her arms are actual trees and her scarf is 100 feet long.

Do you know what these are? They are bread ties that have been painted to look like snowmen. Get all the details at Crafts by Amanda.

Now, I love a big snowman, but there is nothing cuter than a snowman in miniature. These are from Martha Stewart and are 8 - 12 inches tall. We usually make mini snowmen to sit on the garden wall in our yard. They look cute all lined up and each scarf is a different color.

Stay warm, but make some snowmen soon!

Death of Preschool?

2011-12-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

Isn't that a catchy title? I recently read an article that was entitled that on Waldorf Today. The article was written by a man named Paul Tullis and appeared on Scientific American's website.

I, like many of you are very interested in early education, so this caught my eye. I immediately thought to myself that I assumed preschool rates were at an all time high, was I wrong?

I started reading the article and quickly realized that this had nothing to do with enrollment and everything to do with the form of instruction in preschool classrooms. The article began by replaying a conversation between some wealthy parents that are sending their children to a high priced preschool, that contains desks and chairs for each child and the children sit and learn versus a typical preschool where there are shared tables and more free learning and instruction.

One of these parents actually says "You go in there (his child's preschool), and they are sitting down, learning something. At other preschools, they are just playing." The author goes on to talk about how many preschools are turning to direct instruction instead of letting the child's natural curiosity and eagerness lead them in learning.

I have to say that I lean more towards the play is vital to learning camp, but I can see some perspectives of direct instruction. As a matter of fact, the National Institute for Direct Instruction defines direct instruction as "a model of teaching that emphasizes well-developed and carefully planned lessons designed around small learning increments and clearly defined and prescribed teaching tasks".

I agree that all teachers, even preschool teachers, should have well-developed and carefully planned lessons. A teacher should be prepared to teach for the day. The teacher should have the lesson plan completed and all necessary supplies at his disposal. Do not come into class and just "wing it" and hope all goes well. The other side of that coin for me, is that a teacher should not be so focused on her lesson plan that she misses an opportunity to teach a child. If you are teaching a farm theme in your preschool class and one or two of your preschoolers are not ready to move on to horses instead of cows, what is the harm of teaching them more? Always be prepared! Typical preschoolers do not have a long attention span, if you have their attention and they are focused on your activities, continue that theme. Do not change gears just because your lesson plan says that it is time to move on.

The article also talks about how the children at the "direct instruction preschool" are studying great artists. They specifically talk about how the children are learning about Pablo Picasso and Pointillism. I think that the study of great artists should be included in any learning environment. It encourages creativity and problem solving in a child and those are skills that need to be nurtured. There are a great line of books geared towards young children. They are called Touch the Art and they are a great resource for a teacher or a parent to show great works of arts to children.

A problem that I see with this course of full-time direct instruction is that you are setting up many of these children for failure. If you say that a child has to read by 5 and know all of the states and capitols by 6; what do you do with the kids that can not do that? Do you start holding children back in kindergarten or in preschool? How does a child recover from that? Will there be psychological damage when a child realizes he has failed and all of his friends have moved on without him? I think 5 years of age is a little young for a child to give up on school. She has barely started her education and you are already pigeonholing her as a failure.

Allow kids to be kids. Let them play, with a bit of instruction thrown in. If you hand a child a toy, let them play with it before you show them "the correct way to play with it". Do not stifle a preschoolers natural curiosity, instead try to look through their eyes at the world.

Family Traditions

2011-12-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

With winter getting near and the New Year running up on us, it is a great time to look back and reflect on things that have happened in your family.

What are some winter traditions you have in your family? I am not just talking about Christmas traditions, what else do you do?

Here are some ideas of fun family traditions:

1) First real snow of the year? Have fun baking and decorating gingerbread men/women while sipping hot chocolate.
2) Have a snowman party and invite over the friends and family. Play pin the nose on the snowman, craft some snowman (real or fake) and play snowman games.
3) We always Elf ourselves at Elf Yourself by Office Max. This is always a huge hit! It is simple, silly and some of our favorite free fun!
4) We put on pajamas and go for a drive to look at Christmas lights.
5) Have a pajama party, invite over friends and family, watch movies and eat snacks.
6) Have a few times that you eat dessert first.The kids will be excited and you will feel just like a kid again.
7) Put on a family wide talent show. Everyone has a talent for doing something. After all of the performances, everyone gets a vote.
8) Have a picnic! Who needs the ants? Spread a blanket on the floor and serve traditional picnic food. Bonus points if you also build a tent/fort!
9) Have a cupcake decorating contest. Everyone is given three cupcakes to decorate any way they want. They can only submit one cupcake for the contest though.
10) Last but not least, build a gingerbread house or village.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

I'm not paying for this! Someone has already taken a bite out of it!

December Family Fun Calendar

2011-12-05T14:45:00.002-05:00

Monday Meanderings - Winter Fun

2011-12-05T08:00:00.001-05:00

We are past Thanksgiving and Winter is well on the way. Here are some great activities that I found online that really encourage a happy Winter.

First we have Art. Paper. Scissors. Glue. with a great bubble print snowman. I love this activity, it is a great texture to create snowmen.

Do you have a white refrigerator? Surprise the kids by turning it into a giant snowman! Got to "Crafting" my talents for all the details. If you want to spend a little more time and money, attach the pieces to magnets and the kids can do it over and over again.

Going to a baby shower this winter? Anyone can bring a diaper cake, why not bring a diaper snowman? Check out Blowout Party for the details. I love this!

Planning on building gingerbread houses this winter? Want a genius idea for the kids? Put enough supplies in muffin tins and each child gets a muffin tin to build from. No more arguing over supplies, everyone is happy!

Have a great week!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T08:34:00.000-05:00

Kids Matter would like to take a moment and wish all of you a great Thanksgiving. Take time to be with family and friends. Take time to enjoy one another and to give thanks.

Tuesday Teachings - Being Thankful

2011-11-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

As Thanksgiving approaches, we naturally turn to images of Pilgrims and Native Americans. As adults, we usually know the true meaning of Thanksgiving, but children can receive mixed messages. If they only see turkeys for the holiday, how do they know what it means to be thankful?

There are several ways to accomplish the lesson on being thankful, but I would like to high light a few.

This is a "Thankful Tree" from Family Fun Magazine. I like this, as the leaves are different colors and very fall centered. I would recommend leaving the leaves out each day though and allowing people to fill them out numerous times. Once you have a few filled out, take time to read them aloud as a family. As you read them aloud, discuss ways to be thankful and to spread the joy on to others. If a child is thankful for a special toy, maybe they would like to make a donation to a toy drive. If they are thankful for a pet, maybe they would like to volunteer at the animal shelter or drop off donations to the shelter.

Consider a family service project for the holidays, but be sure to remind your kids that they should be thankful and ready to assist someone at all times, not just the holidays.

If you are outside raking your leaves, maybe you could also rake for a neighbor that just had a baby or maybe has been sick. Teach your children to treat others as they would like to be treated. Once you have finished, leave a little note with your kid's hand prints and names and write something cute on it like "These Hands were Happy to Help".

Monday Meanderings - Thanksgiving

2011-11-21T08:00:00.001-05:00

Well, Thanksgiving is only 3 more days away! It is time to get serious about things. Here are some great ideas for your family.

First, we have the Mostly Food and Crafts Blog with one of my favorite traditions. The "Thankful Tablecloth". You just purchase a plain tablecloth and some fabric markers and everyone writes what they are thankful for and the year beside it. What a great family memento!

Fiskars has adorable "Kid's Table" decor and directions. They may prefer the kid's table this year! I personally love the pie tin snack.

How about an Apple Turkey Snack? What a great way to get kids to eat a healthy snack! Check out Mom Endeavors for all of the details.

I love these turkey & Pilgrim bean bags from Almost Unschoolers. What a great way for the kids to work off a little energy.

We hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving!

November Family Fun Calendar

2011-11-01T10:29:00.000-04:00

Here is the November 2011 Family Fun Calendar. Enjoy!