The Toddler Times: 3rd Edition-Starfall

Good Morning! For today's Toddler Times, I wanted to share a great website that I used with my girls when they were preschoolers.  Many of you may already be familiar with it, but what surprised me was that my little man, aged 18 months enjoys it.  It is called Starfall.com. 

Little Man loves the ABC section.  Once you click on the ABC's, you will see ABC blocks.  Click on one of the blocks for an animated video that focuses on the letter and sound.  I think because it is a short video, it holds his attention span.  He tries to say the letter and the sound as they say it.  If you've never been to this site, you'll have to check it out and let me know what you think!! 

Enjoy your Tuesday!

           Jen

Postcard Swap

I'm very excited to be participating in a National postcard swap organized by Playing by the book. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get into the International swap, but luckily she organized a second swap for all of us interested in the states!

We sent postcards to five different states and will receive 5 postcards from different states. As the cards come in the mail, the girls will mark the different states on a map.



Next, we'll research each state. What are the state symbols? landmarks? special foods? fun things to do? etc. Sunshine is interested in the state flags. First, I'll assess their background knowledge about our own state before moving on to new states. Then we can compare and contrast the different states.

Research resources

Enchanted Learning- USA/States

State Symbols

50 States Book List

Possible project ideas

-travel booklet

-tourism commercial

-state mobile

-PowerPoint

Also, stop over at Superheroes and Princesses. She has been doing some awesome state projects with her kiddos!

Please feel free to leave a comment and share any ideas for state projects. If you aren't participating in a swap, but are interested in something like this, out-of-state relatives are a great resource and kids love getting post cards from family!

Enjoy your day!

Jen

JumpStart Review and Giveaway

Using technology to promote learning has been a passion of mine since I became a teacher. Children just love to be engaged and many benefit from the visual stimulation as well as the immediate feedback that some websites and programs provide. And of course, just like television, all things in moderation. The girls started using a computer around three years old and it is amazing to see how their skills have progressed over the years.

Being I'm a proponent of using computers in the classroom and at home, I was happy to be given the opportunity to explore the JumpStart website. Both of the girls were very excited when they saw the variety of games and learning areas that the site had to offer.




As with other programs they've experienced, they enjoy making decisions about the character that they will be using to play. For JumpStart, they choose their own character known as a Jumpee, what he or she will be wearing, and it's name.




In StoryLand, Peanut enjoyed creating her own home as well. Storyland is appropropriate for ages 3 to 5, so some of the content wasn't as challenging for her, but we did find content that I felt was motivating and beneficial for her age. In the Learning House, her favorite activities were Present Search and the Story Reader. She enjoyed Present Search, because she could earn surprises hidden in the presents. Mom liked Present Search because it reinforces Preschool/Kindergarten direction skills: right, left, above, below. Peanut's quote after exploring the site: "Can I wake up early tomorrow before school so I have time to go on JumpStart?"

Other areas on the website are more appropriate for older children. AdventureLand is for grades K -2, as well as MarineLand. Recently, Futureland has been launched for older children ages 8 - 10. As Sunshine was playing in Futureland, she said "This is right up my alley." She enjoys learning adventures that take you on missions or where you need to solve problems. My daughter is also very musical, so I wasn't surprised that she enjoyed playing the music game, Sound Bop, in the Arcade. The object of the game is to listen to the different instruments and repeat the pattern after the instruments are played. Great for memory and listening skills


There are valuable resources on JumpStart.com for parents, such as the JumpStart Blog. It has updates for the website and creative ideas and activities.

Are you ready to try out JumpStart.com with your kiddos? Enter my giveaway to win a free 3 month membership! To enter, visit Jumpstart.com and click on About JumpStart. Explore one of the links and then come back and leave a comment. I will randomly select one winner. After contacting the winner, I will pass your email address on to JumpStart so that they can set up your 3 month account.

For extra entries:
1. Blog about the contest and link back to my blog. (2 entries)
2. Twitter or Facebook and link back. (1 entry)
3. Follow me! (1 entry)

Contest Deadline: December 14th



Good luck!!

Jen

“Disclosure: I was provided with a JumpStart membership at no cost by Knowledge Adventure in order to test the products’ abilities and give my own personal opinions on it. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided.”

Hey There!

Unfortunately, I haven't had much time to blog lately and when I do get a few minutes to myself all I want to do is sleep. The baby is getting bigger now- only 4 1/2 weeks to go! Life has been a bit crazy as we try to get a nursery together and a new bedroom for the girls.
There has also been a lot going on with them- soccer banquet, gymnastics, and just recently they participated in a talent show. Therefore, Mom got involved by volunteering which was a bit much at 8 months pregnant! And believe it or not, I'm still working on the weekends. And today, we waited 2 1/2 hours for a H1N1 vaccination. So there are my non-blogging excuses- I have more, but I'll decline from whining!

Anyways, here are a couple of things to look forward to on Creative and Curious Kids!

*The girls have been testing out a wonderful website created by JumpStart. I will be reviewing the site and giving away a 3 month membership- stay tuned.

*Also, we are reading a wonderful chapter book about the true story of a family of Ospreys. (Oscar and Olive Osprey: A Family Takes Flight) Can't wait to share more details about this book when we complete it.

*Talent Show photos of the girls- very cute!

All for now- time to sleep, again, that is if the little guy will let me.

Take Care!

Jen

Spelling Fun!

Now that my daughter is in second grade, I noticed that some of her spelling words are starting to challenge her. Being that she loves to use technology to learn, I put her on Spelling City to help her practice her weekly word list.

Just type in your child's spelling list and walla! The site will generate activities and games with your child's personal list. We were introduced to this site last year when my daughter was in Cyberschool. She was so excited to get on it again and practice her words. There is even a feature on the site that will teach the words or test your child. This has been helpful this week in evaluating the words that she needed to focus on more while studying.


Let me know if you think this site would be useful for your child or your students.

Happy Spelling!

Jen

Digital Storytelling

Today was the first day of a series of teaching workshops that I will be taking all week. Digital storytelling was the topic for today's study and ways to integrate this technology into the classroom. The software that we explored was Microsoft Photo Story 3. I found it to be pretty simple to use.

Here is a quick overview of what you can do with this software:

Create slideshows using your digital photos. With a single click, you can touch-up, crop, or rotate pictures. Add stunning special effects, soundtracks, and your own voice narration to your photo stories. Then, personalize them with titles and captions. Small file sizes make it easy to send your photo stories in an e-mail. Watch them on your TV, a computer, or a Windows Mobile–based portable device.
Source: Microsoft Photo Story 3 for Windows XP

Digital story telling can be used in the classroom by both the instructor and the student as a learning tool. The instructor can use it as a motivational tool to introduce content, as well as a tool to teach.

Students can use this software for a variety of classroom projects such as, a personal timeline or family tree, a culminating activity for a field trip, or to share research.

If you are interested in learning more, seeing examples, or trying your hand at digital storytelling, you can download the software for free.

Other resources that might be of interest:

7 Things You Should Know About Digital Storytelling

Digital Storytelling: Promoting Deep Thinking Through Stories


Be sure to comment and let me know if you give it a try or if you've used this software before. Beside in the classroom, this would also be a great tool to create our own family stories at home.

Take Care,
Jen

Invasion of Poptropica!

Poptropica has invaded our homes!!

I guess we all need our guilty pleasures, mine was "The Bachelor"(and those of you who watched that know how that turned out. Yeesh. I don't even want to talk about it.)

My girls' guilty pleasure is the computer game- Poptropica. I have a mixture of feeling about this new love (or should I say obsession).


Here are my top 5 reasons why Poptopica is bad for kids!
1. They become addicted and beg to play all of the time instead of reading or doing creative activities.

2. If there is only one computer available, this causes a lot of bickering over who will be playing Poptropica.

3. Your child becomes zombified!

4. They scream and have a tantrum when you take them off of the game for dinner, etc.

5. They complain when their cousins don't let them have a turn at their house playing Poptropica and that they are ahead in the game and so and so on.....

Here are my top 5 reasons why Poptropica is A-O.K. for kids!
1. Reading skills- In order to progress through the game you need to read the clues presented by different characters. (This frustrates Peanut who is unable to read. I've even heard her struggling to sound out the words.) Also, educational/learning info. on the game.

2. Decision Making- What will my avatar look like? What shall she wear? What color hair will she have? and so on. They choose their character! Also, many decisions need to be made throughout the game which is a lot of fun for them.

3. Good weapon to use for discipline! "Go to bed or no Poptropica tomorrow!" This works, I've tried it! I should have said, "Go to bed nice for Mommy and you will earn extra Poptropica." I'll try that next time. :)

4. Keeps them out of trouble when Mom's putting dishes away, etc.

5. Computer skills- lots of practice with maneuvering the mouse and simple keyboarding skills.


Peanut having fun on her game!


Sunshine very much involved in her game.


Dueling Computers!


Cousin fun!


More fun with cousin who is fixated on his game!

Well, go check it out at www.poptropica.com! You might enjoy playing yourself. This happened to me with the whole webkinz craze. I actually enjoy dressing the little pet online and decorating it's room, etc. Don't tell anyone!

Have a fun day!
Jen

Cyberschool Adventure!!

I have now entered the world of Cyber education!! As of Friday, I am officially homeschooling my six year old via Cyberschool. (If you're curious about why, feel free to visit my other blog- God's Shining Stars. As my daughter would say, "We are high-tech, Mom!" Due to this transition to Cyberschool, I haven't had a second to spare to blog all of these creative ideas running through my brain!! I'm sure that I'm going to have lots to blog about, but until I get into a routine with my daughter,my time is going to be limited! Here is a sneak peak at my Cyberschool day tomorrow!

I'm going to do some morning activities with both of my girls!

Calendar activities:
Days of the Week Song
What is today? What was yesterday? What will tomorrow be?
Is today an odd or even number??
Create equations with today's date!!
For example: Tomorrow will be the 24th, so we will create equations that equal 24.
12 + 12 = 24
24 + 0 = 24
25 - 1 = 24


Weather: My girls will take turns being the meteorologist each morning. They will predict the weather and then check the weather outside. Next, they will make a predication about the type of weather they think will occur the next day. Using a weather sign, they post the weather of the day on a chart.

After we do our morning routine, we will go online and check my daugher's announcements from her teacher and any email messages she may have from any of her new teachers. She has a 1st grade teacher for her basic subject areas, and then an art and music teacher, and a gym and health teacher. They will communicate with her all via the computer. Basically, they plan the activities, lessons, and materials, and I teach with their support. They provide videos, websites, powerpoint presentations, and live chats. They will be able to see her during live chats via a webcam.
Other activities that I will be helping my daughter with tomorrow are orientation activities such as organizing her work space, taking care of and using her computer, and get to know you activities to send to her cyberteacher. If we have time, I will let both of my girls work as a team to complete a math scavenger hunt around the house.

This will be our morning and then we are off to a Thanksgiving performance for little sis and a Thanksgiving feast. She will be wearing an adorable turkey hat!!



I plan on doing some Language Arts and Math in the afternoon. We are still waiting for all of our curriculum materials to come in the mail, so I'm basically winging it for now with what we do have- luckily I have a teaching background! The great thing about teaching at home is the flexibility. I'm so excited that my oldest can attend her little sister's performance.

After teaching her in the afternoon, we have girl scouts (she'll be a Daisy!) after dinner. I just signed her up for this, because I want to be sure she has opportunities to be with children weekly. Life is getting crazy, but exciting!

Wish me luck with this new adventure!!!

One creative tip for Thanksgiving before I sign off!!! Have your child create their fanciest turkey. Trace hand on card stock like traditional turkey projects. Next, let them go to town with all kinds of craft materials- glitter glue, pom poms, fabric, feathers,google eyes, etc. Their challenge is to create the fanciest turkey to win an award in the Annual Turkey Fashion Show!! My girls loved this!! Their turkey's were way over the top!! I'll try to share photos later this week if I get a chance. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!

Many blessings,
Jen

Curious About Curious George!

Conversation between my four year old and I after discussing why animals in the zoo can't live back in the wild:


"Mommy, The man in the yellow hat doesn't have a wife."
"Do you think he should have a wife?"
"No, he has George, but George should go back to the jungle. He is too wild in the house."

I couldn't help but laugh. Every day is exciting with kids, because we never know what interesting words will be coming out of their precious little mouths.
I've been a fan of Curious George ever since I was a child and was very excited to share him with my girls through literature. We also enjoyed the movie in the theater and now enjoy watching George in the morning on PBS. Visit PBS kids to play games with Curious George. http://pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/ My four year old just loves this site! I've noticed that they have a lot of resources for parents on the site as well. I need to take a closer look, because some of the activities suggested look interesting!
Also, to read more about Curious George and the history behind his creators,H. A. and Margret Rey, visit here: Curious about George

Do you have a favorite Curious George book? Comment and leave the title of your favorite!

My favorite: Curious George Goes to the Hospital