Parenting Sites 411

Do you ever wonder where in the world your children come up with some of their words?  Words that my kids use like “pud muddles” and “dishin’washin’contergent”.  That stuff cracks me up.  Well, now there’s a book out there with all the words that you need to know.  You know, the meaning of the words you need to know not just the words.

Have you ever had your kids pull off a WISHJACK?  Do you know what that is?  It’s when a child maliciously blows out the candles on another child’s birthday cake.  Whew, talk about causing a stir.  Or maybe you need to know what a KODICK is, that’s the child who refuses to cooperate in the taking of a family photograph.  And, I have one of those in my family for sure.

What about the Invisibooboo?  I”m sure you know what that one is right?  That’s when we put those mysterious bandaids on and we never even see the place that needs it.  Or here’s a good one that applies to my family, THREEMAGEDDON which is the supposed hellfire and brimstone that would erupt should an annoyed mother reach the third digit  while counting aloud to 3 to get a non-compliant child to get his act together..
"ONE !….TWOOOOOOO !!!!…..  "

Eric Ruhalter is the author of a book with more of these funny words and definitions.  If you would like to take a look, the name of the book is The Kid Dictionary and you can find it at that link.  Go give it a whirl, see if you could add some words to it that come from your own children.

As parents, we all strive to do what we think is best for our children.  There’s a nice set of Blog Carnival sites where you can sit and read parenting, education and family blogs all day long.  A Modern Mother is where it all began and each week people are encouraged to write their blog posts and turn them into one person who will then host the links on their blog.  And, the host blog rotates through the community of writers.

Now, with time being of the essence I get pretty bogged down sometimes and I don’t get my post into the host and get it listed.  But, that’s just me, I can always find tons of awesome information there to read and learn from.  And, besides that, you read enough of me here, you  need to go check out the Blog Carnivals and find some new folks to read. 

So, take a minute go to the Blog Carnival site on A Modern Mother and then you can just sit and read for hours on end.  Because we all know we have nothing else to do but read for hours on end.

And, while you are there, take note that next Tuesday, the 5th of May, the Carnival will be hosted on my personal site, Mom~E~Centric and you can easily get a belly full of parenting links as well as tons of family oriented information.

I haven’t decided why it is that I can’t seem to keep up with some of the big name writers, other than my skill level isn’t quite up to par, because I sure seem to spend an awful lot of time sitting here writing and writing and writing.

Yea, that’s petty grammatically incorrect uh?  I mean, I Got Your Back?  Anyway, that’s not the point.  The point is this, I’ve found an awesome site that can be truly helpful.  Education.com is a simple site with tons of information.  I looked through the site and I was mesmerized for hours.  I really am suppose to be working but there’s ton of good info here.

You can simply go to the site and join, it’s free.  But, if you don’t want to join, just start looking around.  See what is what and what you can use.  I personally was big into the e-learning portion of the site.  It is absolutely a wonder that people can get their education.  I personally was one of those that went to a plain ol’ elementary school, 80 kids, 9 grades and just simple people doing simple things.  No big field trips, none, not even the kind that my own kindergartener has experienced has had in one year. 

From there I headed to a plane ol’ high school too.  A bigger school but still no traveling, no learning outside the confines of a classroom.  Just a plain and simple place.  So, when I fell into the e-learning page, I just wanted to stay for hours and check out as much as possible.  See if you can take it all in at once.

I know I’ve been a slacker but at least I can say..hey I’ve got some awesome stuff for you now.  For one, there’s all kinds of parenting blogs out there, but to find one with all the “good” stuff in one place, you’ll have to search long and hard.  So, I did that for you.  All you have to do is go directly to Blissfully Domestic and go to the Homeschool Bliss page and there you have, tons and tons of crafts and learning experiments for your children to take part in over the course of various ages. 

Today, the one I found is entitled Balloon Flutter and just looking at the colored balloons drew me in.  Then, as I started to read about the experiment and what you and your children stand to learn from it, I was completely mesmerized.

The question being asked is “How does a rocket fly through empty space” and seeing as how we just participated (as a country) in watching a shuttle launch and return to Earth, this one was really cool..or at least to me it was.

Go check it out for yourself and come back and let me know what you think?

It’s not easy to be a parent and honestly, the only people that I think that would tell you otherwise, would be people without children.  But, as always, it is worth all the pains because the love, oh my goodness, who knew the love could be so great.  But, even with the most love in the world, we all know we need help. 

So, if it’s writing you are looking for help with, go check out Dr. Rick because he definitely has some good tips for you.  If you are thinking about the bombardment of papers that comes home with your child each day and how you have no clue what to do with them, go look at this awesome Cartoon History Notebook.

And, as we all know, reading is the ultimate skill for children and simply by nature they tend to be quite inquisitive.  So, if you are ready to put your mad parenting skills together and help your child, go check out Ready, Set, Read and get started. 

I know that one of the hardest things for me to do since blogging is technically my job, is to put down the computer and do things with my kids.  But, my husband and I have both vowed to do just that.  We will put the computer down regardless of what I might stand to gain monetarily because our children need our attention.  And, speaking of money, did you read this Family CFO Four Simple Steps, because I definitely could use a lesson or two in this department.

Family finances are no joke.  But, if you were to take one look at the finances in my family, you’d think someone was joking.  It really is that ugly.  It definitely isn’t funny in a haha kind of way and really it isn’t funny in an odd kind of way, mostly it’s funny in a “oh my gosh, no she didn’t” kind of way.

Yea, I know, that was a bunch of gibberish uh?  But, really, if you are looking for some help with your family finances, I am not your man (or woman as I am).  I am so horrible with money that I keep us in a financial bind all the time. 

It’s odd that I am like this but my husband is as well, he can’t handle things any better than I can.  And, so, we go the way of the “paycheck to paycheck”.  Knowing that my mother could pinch the head of Abe Lincoln, it’s kind of odd that we are so irresponsible.

Either way, if you are the person in charge of finances, that would make you the CFO, of your house, then most definitely, you don’t want to miss this.

It’s so important to teach our children about money and not necessarily how to spend it.  I mean, somewhere, I missed that course at home and abroad.

The more and more I attempt to understand what is going on inside our public schools, the less and less I understand.  I have absolutely no reason to need to dissect the on-goings at school, however, on a regular basis, I’m faced with some of the most atrocious assignments and crap, if you will excuse me for a minute, that I have ever faced. 

I don’t mean to be so off-topic and un-caring, but the fact of the matter is this, when things have gone astray in such an enormous manner, I ‘m left with nothing but my own biased opinion.  So, instead of sitting here subjecting you to the mis-givings of the system my son is attending, I’m going to throw out some other information in hopes that educators and parents alike can learn from it all.

First of all, Teaching Strategies Episode 5 is available and you can hear it here.  And, at the same time, you can go to sites where Students are the ones who are unlocking the mysteries and you can find games that stimulate the mind.

You can also find much more on the site Games for Educators and you may find that you are responsible for more of your child’s education than you once believed.  And, I’m sure you will find that you are much more capable of educating your child than anyone else.  Does that seem crazy to you?  After all we pay in taxes?  That we simply want to assist in our child’s education, or some of us do, and not be the primary educator?

I know you are all dying to get the scoop on the kid crap and so I did kindly move it to my personal blog where I promised you months ago that I would try to keep it.  But, I am human and I get emotional.  So, you can go read it at Lot’s of Poo-Poo that really has no home.

So, go read, comment there or come back here, it doesn’t really matter, I’m just going to be out and about tomorrow with Mini Me’s therapy so….I’ll catch you all when I get back!!!

I was bullied as a child.  Up through about the eight grade, I was tormented by the same kid, day after day.  I was lucky that I didn’t have to attend high school with her and even more lucky that after that she moved away and I don’t have to risk running into her on a regular basis.  If there was such a thing as cyber-bullying back then, holy mother of grail I can only imagine what more this kid could have done to me.

And, if you think for one minute that any type of bullying is not real, you need to think again.  If you think you are doing all you can to protect your child, you need to think again.  Kids need your help, they simply aren’t capable of handling children who bully alone.  So, don’t hesitate to step in.

Here’s a series of posts about bullying, of all kinds.  I hope you find them as informative as I have. What is Bullying, A Proactive Approach to Bullying, What if your child is the bully?, What to do if your child is bullied,  Cyber Bullying

I write quite frequently on Mom is Teaching about Sara Bennett and Nancy Kalish’s book The Case Against Homework and I’ve had several email exchanges with Sara but this time, this time I’m featuring Nancy. 

Nancy says that she used to be extremely pro-homework.  And, in fact she even wrote an article telling readers how to get their kids to stop whining about doing their homework and just do it.  She said she was smug about it because her 2nd grader was zooming right along.  Then, that ten minutes turned into four hours and hello….four hours…do you want to work your regular 8 hour day and then work an extra four hours over time…every freakin’ day?  When you are 12? 

Then her daughter to start talk about hating school.  After Nancy did some research and realized that there is no correlation in the amount of homework a child does and their abilities and scores…she co-wrote the book mentioned above.  This is one smart cookie, don’t you agree.

So, I’m working really hard here……what about some contests for our parents, teachers, educators in general?  We’ll start with Visualize Better Learning.  The 2008 – 2009 Inspired Learning Awards recognize educators and students with visual learning.   To enter this contest, submit examples of projects created by students using Inspiration Software.  There will be 15 winners so don’t hesitate because the deadline is February 27, 2009.  Go check it out.

And, there’s Agents of Change which can show students how to make a difference with Siemens.  Teams of middle-school students identify with local environmental problems and then use their own creativity and mobilize their communities to solve it .  The prizes involved here are an appearance on the fist and only 24-hour eco-lifestyle television network, up to $5K, a Discovery Adventure trip and even more.  This contest ends March 15, 2009 so, go give your luck a try.

As you all know, I’m new at this blog and I’m working hard to find the best possible information for you.  Today, I’m going to link you up with some great giveaways. 

We will start with “Watch Out for Winter Germs!” This offers you an online program with nutrition, germ prevention and general wellness tips.  Give it a try and see if you can win.

And, give ol’ Abe a Happy Birthday by celebrating this great American with Live the Legacy poster.  You can also download historical timelines, lesson plans, Lincoln’s famous speeches and other resources.  You can even see community projects in world history and civics.  So, go enter at Abraham Lincoln 200.

Finally, you can get busy with Math Matters by getting into HotChalk’s first Math Matters curriculum, Off-Road Algebra and 30 free video lessons to use for you and the students.  You can even take a guided tour of the ins and outs of HotChalk if you click the “Take the Tour” button.

Yes, I realize that many of these are set up for public schools but don’t tell me our creative homeschoolers can’t make it work because I know you guys, you know exactly how to make it hot hot hot when it comes to learning and using your resources.  Go ahead and give them a try.

Today is the sixth anniversary of the day that rocked our nation.  It’s difficult to believe it’s been six years already, isn’t it?  I know to me, it feels like that day was mere months ago, the events of that horrible morning are burned into my memory.  However, my son was not quite 2 years old that day and he has no memory of what happened.  He doesn’t remember me staring at the television in horror as the events unfolded, as the towers fell and more planes crashed.  He was playing with his toys in his pack n’ play, oblivious to the drama and pathos that was going on.  And that’s as it should be.  But as a child who is nearly 8 years old, it’s time he knew more about what happened that day.

I saw this article on ParentDish yesterday and it got me thinking.   Author Jennifer Jordon talked about why and how to discuss this with children, when is the best timing.  I think it’s very important to talk about 9/11 with your children when they are old enough to understand.  They need to see how you feel about what happened.  They need to understand why the events of that fateful morning are so important to the history of our country and how they’ve shaped our world since then.  If children won’t learn of this from you, where should they?  It’s not a comfortable subject, that’s for sure.  But it’s an important one.

I saw this article over on ParentDish and thought right away of my seven year old son.  Right now, he’s very into all things astronomy.  He asking for a telescope for his birthday and checks out numerous books on the planets from the library.  His fondest wish is to go to the planetarium and watch a show.  How does a parent like myself encourage this interest, especially if you live in a light-polluted city where star-gazing is more difficult than usual?

First of all, check out this website to learn about the various constellations and how to identify them in the night sky.   If you’re ready for the next step, look at these detailed star charts that will open up even more constellations for you to identify.  Want a little fun?  Check out the virtual starship and get up close and personal with the stars in the sky.

This website is just the beginning and depending on how interested your child is (and yourself!), you could find a lot more online to satisfy your curiosity.  But this is a great start and how impressed will your child be when you can look up at the stars and point out the various constellations?

Here’s another site I heard about last week that I wanted to share with you all.

Play with Your Food!

Every Day With Rachael Ray Magazine is helping to extend Taste America, a celebration of food and all the ways it adds to the joys of our lives also invites, to children!

Taste America for Kids is offering an interactive website that gives children a fun way to learn the value of some of the most important foods and where they come from.  Log on to http://www.rachaelraymagtasteamerica.com/ to see some of the fun and educational activities and information that kids can learn from.

Harvest Heroes: Fruits and vegetables characters with great tips about healthy food and eating right.

Play with Your Food: A game where kids run must choose which foods to eat and which to run away from.

Did You Know?: A fun fact about the Harvest Hero of the month.

Downloads: Where your kids can go to get wallpapers, recipe cards, screensavers and more games

Any way we can educate our children about nutrition and help them have fun at the same time is aces in my book.  So if you think your kids would get a kick out of this, check out the site today.