Nuggets of Knowledge: Inspire your child to love learning!

"Time" to Get Real?

Some of your kids might read Time for Kids regularly in school. I always knew this publication had a website, but I had never noticed the section called "Graphic Organizers." You might want to check it out. There are blank forms for charts, organization, problem solving, story maps, analzying photos, etc. There are even Venn Diagram charts. (I hate Venn diagrams) Grades K-6 are covered.

SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK? Are current events covered enough in your child's school? Obviously, Time for Kids is a nice resource for that in the classroom. But, I wonder how practical it is for teachers to fit more current events time into a classroom curriculum. Perhaps that's a job for which parents need to pick up the slack. Depending on age, sitting a kid in front of the news every so often could be a good or bad thing. Obviously, you don't want your seven-year-old sitting in front of a series of depressing news stories. I just figure it's important to get kids more involved with the real world outside of the classroom....especially when my 10-year-old keeps whining, "It's all the economy's fault!" when I say "no" to a purchase. Lately, he just doesn't get it that he's not getting that $400 Lego Star Wars Death Star set even if our national debt soared suddenly into an equally huge surplus and I won the Lottery three times in a row.

At what age do you think we should be pushing the news into kids' lives a bit more?

RICE IS NICE

I'm still not sure how my son found this website (www.freerice.com) but, I'm glad he did. It's a great way to learn and help lessen hunger around the world. There are questions on a variety of subjects and every time you answer a question, you "buy" grains of rice to donate. When my son showed me the site, he was happily solving simple multiplication problems...which, is not something he usually does happily.

BEYOND OUR BACKYARDS

I'm on a virtual vacation. As in, I can't go anywhere for real these days, so I've been aimlessly searching for unique places in the world. I think the best part about taking kids on real vacations is how trips can open up their eyes to the world beyond their backyards. Still, the fact that kids these days can explore the world via the internet is a phenomenal second best!

So, first you'll need them to choose a hotel. I can't tell you how much fun it was to explore Unusual Hotels of the World. It makes for great daydreaming! There are hotels on the water, in the water, up in trees, well,...you really have to just see it for yourself. And, yes, price ranges are included in the descriptions. And, yeah, the prices might remind you why you're enjoying them in cyberspace.

No doubt, the kids will want to eat on their virtual vacation. Did they (or you) know you can eat at a restaurant in the sky?   Take a glimpse at the strangest restaurants in the world.

Visit some virtual museums, such as Exploratorium, The Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum, Ellis Island, Natural History Museum of Denmark, and the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Tour the Serengeti. View the Great Wall of China. How about the pyramids of Egypt?  

If nothing else, when this economy perks up again, you'll have some ideas about where to go!

ELECT TO VOTE!!!!!!!!!!

It's finally Election Day! More importantly (ehem) it's my birthday! Yay! However, my birthday doesn't affect the country. So, rather than tell you that I want cupcakes from Magnolia bakery tonight, that the present I want is for my preferred candidate to win, and that I'm desperately trying to ignore this is my last year in my thirties, I'll just say:

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE!

Where does Obama stand on Education? 

Where does McCain stand on Education? 

If you can, bring your kids into the voting booth with you! Especially if they've been studying the election process in school and/or at home.

DIGGIN DOWN DEEP

There have been a couple of interesting finds dug up recently that might be of interest to anyone with kids who like that sort of stuff. Personally, this news will intrigue my older one. My younger one, just likes to dig. I mean really. Give her a bald patch of grass, the reddish dirt of a baseball diamond (lovely to get out of clothing as I'm sure many of you know!), or a sandbox and some sort of digging tool (stick, rock, shell, bottle cap, bottle, her fingers) and she's diggin'! She's done this since she was two and now she's seven and shows no signs of stopping. I figure if we take my sons interest in history and her interest in getting dirty, they could make a great archaeology team one day. I can see it now... My cell phone rings. It's Kyle: "Hi Mom! Yeah, so we just found the Ark of the Covenant! No, really! It's on the scopes. It'll be a while, though. Yeah, Mandy insists on reaching it using a spoon. Oh, and those brand new jeans you bought her for Christmas? Yeah, well, they're toast."

Anyway, an older child won't have trouble making sense of this article that talks about how they just found Hebrew text on a shard near an ancient excavated home. It appears to be older than the Dead Sea Scrolls. You might want to help out younger archaeology enthusiasts, though.   http://www.physorg.com/news144596633.html

I had to laugh at this article:  Dinosaur Dance Floor    I had visions of T-Rex's doing the tango, and Apatosaurus doing the Macarena. It's actually about new areas of concentrated dinosaur tacks.

And, when it comes to dinosaurs...everything old is new again (http://www.livescience.com/technology/081008-pterodactyl-revival.html)   Live Science talks about how they're designing flying drones that resemble pterosaus in flight. We're talking morphing wings and flying between buildings. Celebrities better hope the paparazzi don't get hold of these things one day! 

One day, I hope to include the discovery of something my daughter has unearthed. So far, she's only found a few coins, some ticked off worms, some strange bug that made her run away screaming (still don't know what that was,) and additions to her "rock collection."

Anyway, if your kids wind up intrigued by these stories, let me know!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! The truth of the matter.

Halloween is upon us and parents all over this great country of ours are preparing to try out new and inventive ways of sneaking the chocolate loot from their childrens' trick-or-treat bags. Oh, how horrible, you say? Come on, be truthful now! I'm not the only one! And, if not the chocolate, you want the Skittles. Personally, I'm after the Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. Fortunately, my husband hates peanut butter.

I'm a total hippocrite, though. Do I give out Reeses Peanut Butter Cups at the door? Oh, no. Typically, I try to give out non-chocolate items so that I'm not tempted by the leftovers. If I make a good choice like that, then I am vindicated from sneaking them out of the kids' bags. See how it works? Sigh.

However, if we're going to go with the premise that Halloween is actually for kids, you might as well let them know the history of Halloween. Ice cream kings, Ben & Jerry, have a fun site complete with history, crafts, and games.   http://www.benjerry.com/halloween/history

For ages 8 - 11, "Halloween Facts and Fun," is an entertaining non-fiction title about Halloween's History.  

Just for fun, for adults, once the kids are in bed, watch "Sleepy Hollow" with Johnny Depp. Hmm...that didn't sound right. But, by all means, if you can watch it with Johnny Depp, go for it! My husband and I love this creepy, quirky film and try to watch it every Halloween. When our kids are older, it will be fun to include them as well.

So, go ahead...clear your conscience...which candy do you sneak from your kids' bags?

ALL IN THE FAMILY? Your opinion, please....

Like many school children, my son's class has been studying the election process in recent weeks (4th grade). Some of the assignments involved with this project were researching the views of both presidential candidates on various topics, finding photos of the candidate you believe should be elected and making a campaign poster for your candidate. Many of the kids, including my son, were very excited about all of this and enjoyed talking about it outside of class as well.

My son happened to chose the same candidate my husband and I support, but he went back and forth a bit before finally deciding. No doubt, our answers to some of his questions influenced him, just as the decisions of many other kids were probably influenced by their parents. I got a real kick out of looking at the posters this week, as you could tell just who was influenced and who was not!

However, I was very surprised by my son's question after they all voted. He asked, "Would you and Daddy have been mad if I chose {the other guy}?" So, I told of him, "Of course not." I explained that we were happy to explain to him why we thought as we did...and I did joke around with him by saying, "Nah...we'll just make fun of you!" But, then he told me that some kids were told by their parents that they HAD to vote for the candidate their parent favored.

So, that got me thinking...should you really try to influence a kid politically so early, or let him/her form their own opinion? I mean, it's not like they can vote at this point, anyway! : )

What do you think?

Here's another site for kids aimed at impressing the importance of voting: http://www.kidsvotingusa.org/

SCIENCE SATISFACTION

If you have kids who enjoy science news, you'll love this link to Indiana University's page "A Moment of Science." There are bite-size articles and podcast scripts on so many bizarre little topics that you just have to go there and see it to believe it. Science-loving kids can have a field day on this page, and if reading ability is an issue, you can choose some interesting topics (there are sooooooooooo many!), print them, and add one a night to your bedtime reading routine.

(Jen, if you're reading this post, this site will add yet another level to the already extraordinary archive of bizarre facts you keep in your head!)

One caveat: Depending on your child's age, and your personal preferences, you might want to check out the topics ahead of time. While there is nothing overtly offensive in the list, you might not want your child suddenly coming up to you asking about sciency questions that deal with sex. However, there are very few of those.

Here's the site:   http://amos.indiana.edu/library/scripts.html

Let me know what you think and if you'd like to specifically recommend any of the stories you find there!

Stumble It!

PONDERING PLUTO...your opinion, please!

Start a debate in your house! (I did, accidentally!) Should Pluto be given back its title as a planet in our solar system, or should it be called a dwarf planet? Or, should it be a plutoid? Or, is it something else entirely? The following article from www.sciencenewsforkids.org (http://www.sciencenewsforkids.org/articles/20081008/Feature1.asp) talks to later elementary school kids about the debate. It's a great way to get them to analyze the different arguments in order to make their own decision. My kid seems to have trouble picking out details lately. So, I just sent him upstairs to pick out details in the article that support his opinion. He came back with his own theory: That Pluto shouldn't be a planet at all because it sometimes passes in front of Neptune...therefore, it's really a moon! Interesting thought, but it just started another debate!

Personally, I'm having a lot of trouble with this one. The whole topic just breaks down another tenet of childhood. I mean it's not as simple as whether there are now 8 or 9 planets in our solar system...oh, no! If we count dwarf planets, there could be 12...or sixteen! Actually, newer, higher-powered telescopes open the possibility and debates to more objects. So, for me, I'm just wrestling with the knowledge that "nine planets in our solar system" has gone the way of the record player, VHS, the "Dorothy Hamill" haircut, the "Jennifer Aniston" haircut, Roy Rogers restaurants, and "kabangers."

Next thing you know, Starbucks will go from "tall, grande, and venti" to "wow!, whoa!, and cowabunga!" (Which, technically might not be such a bad idea since I keep getting the first two sizes mixed up, anyway.)

Let me know your family's opinion on the Pluto debate. As well, let's find a good name for the nameless dwarf planet that comes two celestial bodies after Pluto (it's currently known as 2003 UB313). My son offers, "Grogon." What's your kids' suggestion?

IT'S A BIRD, IT'S A PLANE, IT'S AN...EMBRYO!

Just wanted to relay this article and the cool photos. Apparently, scientists now have access to a super microscope that can capture the very beginning of cells coming together to form an embryo. The article is about seeing this in a zerbrafish. However, they say the technology might eventually help solve the mysteries of autoimmune viruses and tumors in humans.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081009/hl_nm/us_embryo_digital_3

Haven't shown my kids yet, but I hope they'll find it interesting. Hope yours will, too!
Happy Yom Kippur to those who celebrate it!