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Thought of the week
By age three, children from privileged families have heard 30 million more words than children from poor families. By kindergarten the gap is even greater. The consequences are catastrophic.
Source: The 30 Million Word Gap By Betty Hart and Todd R. Risley
http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/spring2003/index.html
To read the full report: http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/spring2003/catastrophe.html
I’ve just started reading The Read-Aloud Handbook: Sixth Edition 
more about this super book in another post.
In the meantime, don’t forget to check out your local libraries summer reading program.
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May 27th, 2008
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Welcome to the 13th edition of Carnival of Parenting Podcasts
It’s a place to share and find some new parenting podcasts from the podcaster and recommendations from those who listen to podcasts.
..Not sure about Podcasts? Try this ecourse.
Top 10
Send in your favourite podcasts of the fortnight.
- Just one more book -Interview with David Schwartz Our guest on this edition of Just One More Book!! is David Schwartz, author of fifty books including How Much is a Million — which inspired our two daughters to count to five hundred during a walk prior to this interview — and Cybils non-fiction finalist Where in the Wild.
- MommyCast Show #303: Great New Websites! The Boys & Girls Clubs of America and PTA have launched a first-of-its-kind national digital video service program that allows families to access and purchase age-appropriate digital content in a safe and secure online environment.
- Moms Everywhere Show 008: Infant Swimming Resource & ThePoolSafetyResource.com Guest this week, Geoff Dawson from thepoolsafetyresource.com
- Mumcentric Show #13-: Rachael Kilroy is from the award winning www.gohop.ie who are the longest established Irish online-travel company. Listen in as Rachael chats to us about some of the hot destinations and ideas for 2008 as well as giving her tips on travelling with kids and what not to do !
- Natural Moms Podcast #82: Crunchy Chicken, first guest this week is the Crunchy Chicken herself, Deanna Duke. Deanna started a project called Goods 4 Girls that provides cloth menstrual pads to African schoolgirls and Guest host Elizabeth Ashe as she interviews Shazi Visram of HappyBabyFood.com, a company dedicated to providing the highest quality fresh organic food for your baby.
- Pediatric Pearls: Dr Lisa Ramey Pediatric Pearls Show 010: Urinary Tract Infections
Send in your recommendations to be included in the top 10 favourite podcasts of the week fortnight.
Technorati tags: carnival of parenting podcasts, blog carnival.
Technorati Tags: Carnival of Parenting Podcasts, podcasts
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May 23rd, 2008
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Welcome back to the 4th part in the series of Toddler play activities.
We are big Usborne fans here and we bought this book for car journeys as there are so many pages. We have some smaller versions in the house. This is one we keep in the car. If we’re stuck somewhere one of us will come back to the car to get it. The kids have been known to add it to the bottom of the stroller themselves.
Both kids are fascinated with the pictures with so much going on . Now the Big guy will talk about what he sees to the little guy and they play a version of I Spy together.
Why he likes it?
- Looking at the pictures.
- He can point endlessly at pictures.
- He hears and learns new words.
- He can play with adults, older brother or even by himself.
- He loves to look for objects.
Why we like it?
- Chance to talk about what’s going on in the picture.
- Chance to experience vocabulary in context.
- Each time you look at the picture there seems to be something else to talk about.
- Lovely calming activity and encourages concentration and discrimination skills.
- Open ended activity that is portable.
- Pictures provoke discussions, stories and questions on a wide range of topics.
What are your favourite books for play activities?
Technorati Tags: play, Usborne
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May 20th, 2008
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Fun language game to try, especially when you are going shopping and have a list. But it’s good for anytime. We play this game together as a group of 3 or 4. If you have a group of kids in the car or on a playdate it’s a quick bit of fun.
Game
You: I went to the shops/store and bought a tube of toothpaste.
Little One: I went to the shops/store and bought a tube of toothpaste AND a Cookie.
You: I went to the shops/store and bought a tube of toothpaste, a Cookie AND a bag of apples.
LO: I went to the shops/store and bought a tube of toothpaste, a Cookie, bag of apples AND a…….etc
- This memory game is fun and easy to keep them thinking and guessing. You can buy ridiculous things like Elephants and unusual things like happy smiles or Hot summer days .
- Change the rhyme to a different shop ( Electronics or Toy shop) or try ” I went for a walk and I saw a unicorn, a green frog, a puddle etc”
- With a smaller child you can change the game to be a call and response rhyme between them depending on how many words to remember. E.g.
BG:…… a toothbrush
LG: a cookie
BG: , a bag of apples, a fish.
- Add in adjectives and make the rhyme shorter
- E.g. Smelly fish, green apples, etc
- Change the rhyme to ..” I planned my dinner and in it I put a…” We tried this for fun at the dinner table last night with the food that was in front of us and it worked well. The Big guy added some silly foods in and it was funny all of us collapsing into laughter. Great way to get conversations started at dinner and discuss the food we’re eating.
- My LG is using sign language alongside his ‘words’ He gets to sign and say and we get to say or we learn a few signs and play the game using sign language. We only use 3 or 4 signs and stop when we forget or it’s not fun anymore.
- Actions: Similar to signing try imitating the action.. “I went to the shops and bought a …football, a brush, an ice cream, a Kangaroo etc.” Let the children find a good way of showing the action.
Keep the activity light and varied according to your kids. It’s an effective and fun way to learn new vocabulary, practice what they know, perhaps learn sign and improve their memory skills.
What other fun play activities do you do with your little ones using language?
Technorati Tags: language, playdate, memory, sign language, play
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May 16th, 2008
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Stuck on play ideas?
“Play is the work of children”
Fredrick Froebel
Maybe you’re new to unplugged play or else you want to try some of these activities but not sure where to start. Besides the weekly play-activities newsletter, here’s a book chock full of suggestions.
Bobbi Conner also is the producer of The Parent’s Journal a podcast that features interviews from renowned authors and speakers in the area of child development. Bobbi’s down to earth interview technique ensures we get a glimpse into the lives of our children through articles, authors, suggestions and discussion from another perspective.
The blend of different speakers challenge our ” One parenting style fits all” and I believe helps us develop our own unique style suitable to our particular child(ren). At a time when we’re on a steep learning curve and families are developing.
Examples from this week’s podcast
HAPPY TRANSITIONS AT PRESCHOOL!
Bobbi interviews Nancy Schulman and Ellen Birnbaum directors of the 92nd St Y Nursery School in Manhattan and co-authors of Practical Wisdom for Parents: Demystifying the Preschool Years.
THE JOYS OF MUSIC FOR BABIES, TODDLERS, PRESCHOOLERS
Dr. John Feierabend chats about the role music plays in the early stages of childhood. Dr. Feierabendis a professor of music, founder and director of the National Center for Music and Movement in the Early Years, and author of The First Steps in Music series of books, DVDs and CDs.
PARENTING A CHILD WITH SPECIAL NEEDS
Amy Baskin offers wisdom to help moms take better care of themselves while parenting a child with spedical needs. Ms. Baskin is the co-author of More than a Mom: Living a Full and Balanced Life When Your child Has Special Needs
THE WE-CAN! PROGRAM TO STOP CHILDHOOD OBESITY
Karen Donato chats about the goals and objectives of the “WeCan†program. Ms. Donato is the director of the We Can! Program of the National Institute of Health (www.wecan.org)
Well worth a listen.
Today’s the final book giveaway of the week
Unplugged Play: No Batteries. No Plugs. Pure Fun.
- Simply leave a comment on my blog during the party on this post.
- Plus a valid email address. Please don’t leave your email address in the comment section to avoid opening yourself up to spam.
- One winner will be randomly selected.
- All winners will be chosen on the last day(Friday) of the blog party. Notified by email.
- Winner: Congratulations Michelle Rosborough!
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Comments and giveaways closes 12am MST Today on each of the four books. Remember you can enter each contest.
Thanks for joining in with the fun this week.
Join us over at Mommyfest 2008
and meet some new bloggers, enter contests and hear some speakers on a wide range of mom subjects.
If you haven’t caught my audio with Marie Ynami of Mommyfest.Click here.
Bobbi Conner’s Play interview of the week
Technorati Tags: unplugged play, weekly play-activities, Bobbi Conner, The Parent’s Journal, child development, Mommyfest 2008, Marie Ynami
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