...HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN...

We're off to VA to visit my family!

I'll be sure to post when I return in two weeks.

Anyone have some SMMART travel tips for me while I'm juggling two small children and a big, preggie belly on the plane? (Snacks, CHECK! Toys, CHECK!)

SMMART MATH: MONEY ACTIVITIES II

MONEY TOSS

Set a large bowl on the floor and then set a smaller bowl inside. Stand behind a marked spot or piece of masking tape on the floor. Let your child toss coins towards the bowl target. After she has thrown all of her coins, let her take each coin out of the middle bowl and identify the name and value of each coin. Older children can add up all of the values that land into the middle bowl. Then, they can add up the value from the larger bowl and subtract or add the two values.

PLAY SHOP

Playing store will strengthen your child’s awareness of money values. Place a few coins into your child’s purse or wallet. Put price tags onto a few of your child’s toys and encourage your child to collect a few items in a shopping bag. Have your child check-out and pay for each item. Help your child count out the correct value needed to purchase each item. This activity can accommodate young learners by only using pennies, to more the more advanced by using different types of coins and bills.

Lisa

SMMART MATH: MONEY ACTIVTIES I

MONEY ROLL

Use duct tape to create a tape belt around your child’s waist, but make sure the duct tape is sticky side out. Lay down a tarp on the ground and spread coins all over it. Let your child roll around on the tarp and try to pick up coins on her tape belt. When she stands up, have your child pull off the coins and tell you the name of the coin and how much it is worth. Older children can add up the total value of the coins they collected on their belt.

MONEY SORTING

Gather several types of coins and let your child sort the coins into bowls, muffin tins, or an icecube tray. Older children can use different coin combinations that add up to 50cents, 75 cents or one dollar and place the combinations into the separate sections of the trays.

Lisa

BLOG AWARDS

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SOOOOO NICE!!!! It sure is nice to feel appreciated!

Jessica from www.artsmarts4kids.blogspot.com awarded me with the "WONDERFUL BLOG AWARD".

“This award acknowledges the efforts that every blogger shows in his/her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary, and personal values every day.”

Awarded bloggers should post the award to their sites and choose 15 bloggers that they find deserving of the award.


Jedda from www.thislittleproject.com has so kindly bestowed me with the "I LOVE YOUR BLOG" award.
Awarded blogs should:
1) Add the logo of the award to your blog
2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you
3) Nominate at least 7 other blogs
4) Add links to those blogs on your blog
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs!

I am awarding these few blogs that I follow (I don't blog hop too much, but really enjoy these blogs). Be sure to check these blogs out:

www.thislittleproject.blogspot.com

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www.artprojectsforkids.org

http://lets-explore.net/blog

http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/

http://porterpreschool.blogspot.com/

http://teachkidsart.blogspot.com/

http://artfulparent.wordpress.com/

http://artsmarts4kids.blogspot.com/

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Lisa

SMMART TIME-OUT FOR TIDBITS: LOST

I was waiting for a prenatal check-up and happened upon an article in American Baby Magazine by Heather Swain entitled:
“Separation Anxiety: What should your child do if she gets lost?…5 Simple Things…”

1- Teach your child to stay put!
“Preschoolers think of a stranger as someone who’s ‘scary’ or ‘bad’, so a friendly or nice person may not be seen as a threat by a young child…teach kids never to go anywhere with anyone without asking their parents’ permission first.”

2- Teach your child to call your name-your real name.
“…preschoolers should learn the first and last names of their parents or any other of their caregivers. You have to repeat this information to children over and over again to help them remember it. Then if they ever become lost, they can tell someone who their parents are…Predators are looking for the kid who is not drawing attention. The kid yelling for her mom is too much trouble.”

3- Teach your child to ask another mom for help.
After your child calls your name, but you don’t return, “the next step is to ask for help…Children this age should ask another mother with children for help. (Older children can learn to ask police officers or store clerks, but preschoolers can’t yet distinguish uniforms from other types of dark clothing.) …Women will generally commit more time to helping your child because men are afraid that if they help they’ll be targeted as a predator.”

4- Talk about safety in your daily life.
“We have to keep our fears in perspective and talk to our kids calmly about how to keep safe…We don’t say to a kid, ‘See that truck? It’s trying to run you down!’ Instead, we give kids positive, empowering rules for safe behavior.

5-Role-play with your child.
“Talking about safety is key, but … a better approach is to practice through role-playing…Focus on positive things a kid can do to find a parent rather than how they can stop a bad adult from taking them away.”

Hope you find some of these tips useful.

Lisa

...NOT SO SMMART MOM...

It seems that this month's presentation on "Good Things Utah" showcased my limits as a mother. (I think I'm going to consider a new post entitled "SMMART Obedience"!)

Despite SO MANY practices at home of "sitting still" during my segment...well, you'll see. Daniela had been up since 6:30, we waited in the green room for over an hour, and even though she was visibly tired, I was hopeful.

As soon as we walked on set and many strange people were talking to her, with 3 huge camaras in front of her, she started to cry. I quickly gave her a ring pop, and she stopped the tears, but told me "I'm so scared"...so, things didn't work out as I had hoped. After a good cry to my mother, she assured me that I will soon be able to look back on this experience with fondness and laughter... Please let that day come soon!

Check out: http://www.abc4.com/content/about_4/gtu/default.aspx

Then scroll down and click on the video icon at "SMMART Ideas: Money Lessons for Kids!"

The video clip won't stay up long, so catch it soon...

SMMART READING: COMPUTER SKILLS

Give your child the opportunity to regularly work on the computer, under your supervision. He can develop important skills at a young age. Open a typing program, enlarge the font, and even choose a fun font color.

Show your child how to use a keyboard and mouse. Teach your child to lightly tap each key to produce one letter at a time. Show your child how to use the SHIFT key to make capital letters. Have your child type a capital and the lower case letter next to each other. Explain how to use the delete key and the space key. Talk about keys that are off limits.

Encourage your child to spell out his name on the computer.

Let your child type nonsense words and read the silly “word” to your child.

Dictate words to your child and then help him read the word that he typed.

Let your child use the mouse to highlight words and to place the cursor where he wants to type.

You can even let your child type a page full of letters. Ask your child to highlight a "C" or another letter. Have your child highlight a capital "C", and then a lower case "c".

All of these activities will sharpen your child’s computer skills and improve his reading skills as well.

Lisa

SMMART ART: "LOST THINGS" SCULPTURE

I was inspired by a post by Kathy Barbro on her blog: www.artprojectsforkids.org. She describes how to mimic a Louise Nevelson sculpture. She assembled wood sculptures from found articles (http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/search/label/artist%20Nevelson).

My daughter and I walked around our home after a blustery wind storm and collected "Lost Things"...are you familiar with the Tinkerbell movie? You can refer to this as a "Trash Treasure" sculpture if you have a boy.

I squirted out an ample supply of craft glue onto a paper plate and let my daughter use a cotton swab to apply glue to her "lost things" (a great way to clean up the yard), and then apply them to a square of cardboard.

Spray paint or tempura paint over the whole sculpture to bring out the final contours and textures through one color.

My daughter wanted to paint her sculpture...and enjoyed adding some color with her tempura paints. It was fun for her to paint on different surfaces and textures.

Lisa