Oh, No!

Unfortunately, my laptop is broken, so I will be without a computer for awhile until I can afford to get it fixed or get an new one.  So if you happen to stop by, I'm so sorry that I won't be able to post for some time.  Please stay awhile and look over my archives or search my blog for ideas on encouraging curiosity and creative thinking in your children! 

Take Care!

Jen

Swagbucks, anyone?

This post doesn't have much to do with being creative or curious, although I was curious about swagbucks and so I joined.  And I'm curious if any of you have joined?  If so, what cool things have you purchased with your swagbucks?  Also, if you are curious like me- check out swagbucks here and if you join guess what- i get more swagbucks!  This is all new to me, so we'll see how I do with it.  From what I understand, you can earn swagbucks from using their search engine.  I usually use google, but I'm going to try it out.  I love freebies! 


Let me know you thoughts.


Jen

Disclosure- I wasn't given anything to write this post, although I can earn swagbucks if I refer my readers. 

p''''']]]]]]]]]]]]\ (First Ever Blog Post!)

y6yujuuytiiiiiiiiilllllllllllllllllloy9ul;k''''''''[\\
?

Little Man's first blog post
Age- 7 months
Date: August 5th, 2010

Don't believe me? See for yourself!  :0

Little Stinker got at my computer when I turned my back for a second!  Made me laugh when I saw typing on the screen and even a title, too!  I'm impressed. 

Hope you got a little chuckle this morning! Enjoy your weekend!

Jen

Try Something NEW- Grocery Shopping With Kids

Often I'm grocery shopping with all three kids, which some would say is just about as crazy as it can get. So to help the kids have a little fun while we were out during our last trip, I told them that they can search around the produce section for something brand new to try. They loved this idea! It was a good opportunity for them to do some reading as they were searching as well.

So what do you think they picked? I thought that they might pick out something exotic or different like a star fruit or a pomegranate. They chose....

A COCONUT AND A ....

A GRAPEFRUIT.



Now I need to figure out how to get into that coconut! A new experience for Momma, too. There are so many opportunities for learning in the super market. Since they were tots, my girls loved weighing the produce for me. I'd have to lift them up to read the scale and then we would talk about how much the apples weighed and how much they would cost, etc.

Here are a couple of ideas for super market learning:
Preschoolers- go on a letter hunt. Find fruits and veges that begin with A- apples apricot asparagus, etc
Grade school kiddos-
Have child weigh items and try to estimate the cost of the fruit or vege based on the weight. Bananas are 49cents a lb. The bunch weighs 2 lbs. How much will the bananas cost?
Estimation with Addition- let your child estimate different products as you put them in the cart. The cookies are 1.89, so we'll round up to $2 and the milk is $3.30, so we'll round down to $3. About how much did we spend so far? 2 + 3 = 5. Around $5.


GREAT POSTS
Learning on the Go: Games for the Grocery Store
http://www.education.com/magazine/article/Ed_Grocery_Store_Reading/


Learning Adventures in the Grocery Store
http://homeschooling.about.com/od/preschool/tp/pregrocerystore.htm


How to Make Grocery Shoppping fun for kids
http://kidsactivities.suite101.com/article.cfm/how-to-make-grocery-shopping-fun-for-kids

GREAT BOOKS

Eating the Alphabet-Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z by Lois Ehlert
Great for Preschool learning or any age, really. Fun and bright picture book!


I haven't read Supermarket by Kathleen Krull, but I wanted to share it, because it looks like it would be great for learning.
Synopsis: Explains modern supermarkets and how they work, discussing how they organize, display, and keep track of the items they sell.


And if your child picks out a coconut..... the book-
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.



Before going to the Supermarket- Kid activities:
-Cut coupons (fine motor)
-Make a shopping list (beginning writing)
-Look over ads and discuss prices.


After Shopping:
-Play store with pretend food to practice beginning money or more advanced $ skills for older children.
-Have kids help sort groceries into categories- by letter, by color, by dry, frozen, etc.


Happy Shopping!
Jen

Shared over at....

Last Chance- Enter My Wii Game Giveaway!

Just a reminder that today is the last day to enter my Wii Jumpstart Get Moving Family Fitness Giveaway!  Fun game for the whole family or to give as a gift! If you haven't done so already, be sure to stop by today and enter.

Enter Here- Wii Jumpstart Get Moving

Jen

ps.
Any family fun giveaways that you'd like to link up?  Add your giveaways below!