An Amazing book: The very hungry caterpillar

We do know we all want kids to read and incorporate this habit into their daily life. Sometimes, kids are so much into computers and cell-phones that we find it hard to challenge them with a good story. We tend to think they will get bored, or they will pick up the book, see the drawings and jump into another thing immediatly after. Unfortunately, this situation may happen or not. If a situation like this happens, we are the ones who should encourage them to consider other alternatives. Then, we should be aware of the books which are good and top rated onmarket and consider whether any of them adjust to the children's needs or not. 

We mustn't forget that sometimes, books can be best sellers, but not because of their content itself but because of market matters. We like it or not, market plays an important role here, in putting books (as well as movies ) on top of the ranks. Again, it's our responsibiliy, being able to discriminate among "good" and "not so good" books. Nevertheless, having a look at the top rated ones, would be a good idea.

Today, I want to write about the All-Time Best Books for Toddlers. Thus, The very hungry caterpillar by Eric Carle , can be a wondeful option. 

This book talks about the path which a caterpillar follows as he eats his way through an apple one day, two pears the next day, three plumns the following one, and so on, until he is really fat and has a stomachache. This story contains good language as well as drawings created by the author. Experts belive this story can be used for teaching facts about nutrition, the stages of a butterfly, and also the days of the week, cince the caterpillar eats the food during the week.

In case you want to learn about the author you can visit the webpage, where Eric talks about his personalm tastes regardong colours as well as the desire to make his own pictures for the book.   The story is written in a way that any kid would understand and enjoy. Moreover, I higly recommend reading this books, because it's one of those you'll never forget.

Respect

Now that I've included a poll in my blog, about the different values we should teach children, I'd like to write  a bit about RESPECT. This is a value that is very much mentiones nowadays, but at the same it's not very much put into practice, to say it in a direct way. The question would be... What is it that we teach when we teach respect? and How do we teach this value to kids?

I'm the kind of people, who strongly believe that teaching values is just a matter of proving good examples. Then, if I want to teach kds to respect either adults or their peers, I should start by respecting themselves. How do I do this? With concrete actions. Whenever I see kids are struggling for something such as a toy or any other thing, and they start insulting each other or making obscene offences, I tend to come closer and make them realize that what they are doing is WRONG. Yes, that's what I do. I make them stop, and reflect upon what they have just said or done. Sometimes I put forwards questions such as:

Do you think that's correct? Why are you doing that? is that the correct way of treating others? I gues you wouldn't like being treated in that way, wouldn't you? So, I am a strong supporter of the idea of making them STOP, AND REFLECT. 

I do know this is not an easy task, but it has proved to be successful, at least to me. Now, coming back to the moment, I make kids stop and reflect upon their previous behaviour, I try to encourage them to apologize for what they've done, and promise not to do it again. Again, engaging children into such commitments will give them the opportunity for learning other values which are highly realted to RESPECT itself.

We don't have to forget that kids are very much influenced by TV programmes in which unrespecful events happen, so they tend to consider that as common and ordinary behaviour in life. Again, we should be in charge of explaining them, that those actions are not good, and that they shouldn't imitate them. 

Of course, all these suggestions must be done, in a calm and relaxed atmosphere, when your child will listen to you quietly.

Good luck! =)

Cleaning plastic toys

  Plastic toy get dirty easily, and it's our duty to clean them from prevent germs from spreading. Then, cleaning the toys is something important we shouldn't forget. We must remember that once a child uses a toy, it may or not get germs and those are spread to other children who might use the toys afterwards. For this, I'll give you easy steps to follow.

1) Buy an antibacterial solution. Pur the solution inside a spray bottle, so it will be easy to distribute the product all over the toy. Then, clean the toy with a piece of cloth.

2) You may use a solution made of bleach and water. Use a rug to wipe the toys. 

3) Fill in a bucket with water and dish soap. Put the toys inside, and leave them rest in the solution for a couple of hours. Then, wipe then with a piece of cloth, or put them in the sunlight to dry.

4) For removing long lasting stains, you may decide to use a brush. You can use the previous explained solutions and brush the toy affected areas until they disappear. 

I hope these tips will help you, and your children's toys get as shiny as glass!! See you my dear friends!

Piñatas

Kids' birthday parties are not parties without piñatas. You may know what they are, or may not, so here's an account of them. In Argentina, parents usually prepare (or buy already made) piñatas for their children's parties.

Piñatas are usually made of cardboard or paper and they take the shape or an animal, or an object. They usually match the theme on which the party is based. Parents fill in piñatas with candies, little toys and poupurri. The piñata works as follows...

Parents call kids to make a circle on the floor. Someone who is really tall holds the piñata in the air, while another person either tears a parts of it and it opens, or if it is made of a baloon, someone uses a nail to open it. All the candies and toys fall on the floor and the kids have to collect as much as they can. After this, they can share toys or even candies.

Here are some pictures of typical piñatas, but in susequent posts we'll teach how to make one of these!

 

        

         

Writing journals

  An interesting way to keep record of what we do, or have done during the day, is writing journals. I strongly recommend this to everyone, especially kids.

The idea of keeping their own journal, has to do specifically with putting the pen down to paper and start writing what comes to their mind. And what about grammar and spelling? You may wonder, well... that is important too. But in 1rst place children should be encouraged to write everything that they can think of or just remember. This activity will help them to enhance the following:

1) to develop the ability of remembering what they've done, and in case a funny anecode is worth telling , they will have it there, written down, to re-read it in the future.

2) it helps to develop fluency. Sometimes, kids know how to write accurately but they run out of words easily. Writing journals gives them the freedom of putting their own ideas onto paper, wihout stopping. Moreover, the flow of thoughts will come out rapidly in the form of natural sentences.

3) to encourage them to have their own diary, but in a book format. The purpose is not writing  short sentences, but whole stories, with their own words, and full of their own feelings. That means, to write events as they see, or feel them.

Once they've finished their journals, they can re-read them after some hours or even the following day. It's precisely then when they should correct their grammar mistakes, spelling and punctuation. But the story is already there, composed and ready to be read!

Where to write?

It can be a cheap notebook, or a couple of pages you may then join all together. The idea is that the kids have their own record of stories and anecdotes.

An important tip!

Children may write whenever they want, but finding a certian moment, such as before going to bed, or after lunch, This, can give them the opportunity of finding their own time for doing things. And of course, they can add drawings if they desire!

Bilingual Books

  It's been a long time ago since I've been reading bilingual books.  Since I was a 6-year-old child, to be more precise, and... believe me, that it has proved to be really good for my language development. 

My mother tongue is Spanish, but I've started learning English as a child. My father used to buy fairy tales or fabules which they brought a casette (lol a casette people, that WAS a long time ago). So, while I was reading I listened to the narration on the casette. Believe it or not, I was incredibly hooked by this kind of books. 

As I told you before, these books were bilingual. That means, one side of the casette contained the Spanish version (my mother tongue), whereas the other side had the English version. Wasn't it awesome? For me it WAS,  because once I've listened to the spanish version I listened to the english one. But... Where was the text in english to follow? you may wonder... It was in the bottom part of the page, in lower case.

Today, I know that there are books which bring two versions, that is, one page in english and on the other side page the spanish version (or other languages). If I had to recommend these books, I would highly suggest parents buying at least one of them, because they expose kids to two languages at the same time. Pictures also help them distinguish among meanings and analogies, which you may know, it's not easy work. Nowadays, market offers books with cds, containing both language versions (as casettes used to be). So, getting one of these books for kids, would be a nice way of introducing abother language to them. They'll discover they can read the same story they already know in their mother tongue, in another language. And that, in the long run will be really profitable.

Scrapbooking the walls?

  Kids are fascinated by the idea of sticking photos and little notes on every surface they find at hand, So, Why not making a scrapbook, but o hang on the wall? You may have noticed that there's a certain age when children start haging not only posters or pictures, but also phrases or small papers with phrases written on them on the walls. And of course this damages the house walls!!! So I think that making a scrapbook is a good alternative for those who like posting things and decorating their rooms. 

Remember that Kids scrapbooking can be a wonderful family activity, and you can make use of different materials you have at hand. That means, ribbons, carboard, stickers, paper flowers, photos, etc.

Steps

First, get a flat surface like a thick carboard or wood plaform which then you'll hang on the wall.

 

 

Second, tell kids to start collecting all the things they might use for decorating that surface. They can be the things we've mentioned before. They can use tape or nails to stick the photos or pictures on the platform.

Then, make children decide what to stick on the surface, so that the design would be totally theirs. You can also encourage them to use the platform as a memo, in which they can stick "things to do" notices. They can also add a calendar anr mark days as they pass by.

Finally, they will come up with their personal scrapbooks on the walls, and your house walls will be free of scoth stains!

 

I almost forget! Encourage them to stick their school awards and badges as well, they'll love it!

Packing a child's suitcase

  A good idea for packing your child’s suitcase is letting him/her be part of the process. For this, I hereby give you the following useful tips:

 1) It’s always useful to prepare matching outfits in advance for each day of your trip. In this way, you’ll avoid debate on what to wear each day. Always be sure of having extra outfits, in case she/he stains it with some food.

2) Explain how the weather is going to be, and let the kid choose what he/she will wear. In this way, he/she will take a leading role in choosing the clothes and will be happy once he/she has to dress up. Although the child will be in control of choices, you may also decide what’s more appropriate, though.

3) It’s always a good idea to put each outfit in a different plastic bag. This prevents the clothes from getting stains and from mixing with other non-matching outfits.

4) Remember to sew the child’s name inside all the clothes, so that in case he/she loses an item, they can find it easily.

5) If he/she is allowed to take candies or snacks, pack some in an extra bag, and put it in one of the pockets of the bags.

6) In case the child wants to take toys, he can put them inside a plastic bag, in one of the corners of the suitcase. Be sure, you include a list of the toys he/she takes, so that once back home, you can check whether something is missing or not. Avoid putting toys with small parts, because they can get lost easily.

7) Make sure the child’s backpack is not too heavy, since this is not good for their back care.

 

 

Are video games dangerous?

  Most of the people believe that video games are bad for kids, while there are others who think just the opposite. Video games can teach kids many skills, which can be useful in the long run. Video games help children to develop eye coordination. That is to say, while they are concentrated on pressing the joystick button, they are looking at every corner of the screen. They can see EVERYTHING! I don't know how, but they develop this strategy of being alert to what happens on the upper corner, while their character is in the other corner. Secondly, some games teach children to get involved into cooperative activities. That means, some games demand kids to become part of a team. The team's goal is to defeat their opponent, and for that purpose they must "gather" their powers and abilities. This teaches youngsters, that being part of a group, is very important when you want to achieve a difficult goal, which otherwise it would be impossible. Moreover, they learn to respect turns, since in this kind of games, one member plays at a time. 

As we said before, while we find these advantages, there may be others who think video games are really dangerous for kids. These people claim that playing too much video games, causes kids to avoid playing outside which is both fun and healthy. traditional games such as hide and seek, or jumping the rope, may alse be interesting at a certain age, and they may also bring about benefits in kids' health, since they are using their bodies to get engaged. Then, there may be virtual games which ONLY concentrate on shooting and killing, and this is seen as a total drawback. Kids tend to believe that, as in video games, l engaging in violent situations in the only way to solve problems, and this belief leaves aside the idea that "talking" can be a good alternative for sorting  obstacles. Lastly, the fact of being too much into video games, make kids "forget" about their homework and duties, and this may result in serious and poor academic results. Morever, children who spend long hours using their game consoles, may oversleep and turn into school late comers. As a conclusion, parents should be the ones who supervise the relation children-videogames, since they are the grown ups who know what's right and what's not. Kids are kids, and if you let them be all day long in front of the computer, they will definitely be there ALL DAY.

What's your opinion? Share it with us!

Baby Names (1st part)

Choosing the name for your baby, may be a debate issue with your couple, so... I hereby leave some of the trending names and their meanings. Let's see if you are enlightened by any of them.

Charlotte

The meaning of the name Charlotte is Free
The origin of the name Charlotte is English
Notes: Feminine form of Charles

Asher

The meaning of the name Asher is Blessed, Happy
The origin of the name Asher is Hebrew
Alternate spellings: Axsher

Ethan

The meaning of the name Ethan is Firm, Strong
The origin of the name Ethan is Hebrew
Alternate spellings: Ethen

Freya

The meaning of the name Freya is Goddess Of Love, Fertility And Beauty
The origin of the name Freya is Scandinavian

Beckett

The meaning of the name Beckett is Dweller By The Brook
The origin of the name Beckett is English
Notes: Originally an English Surname

Emma

The meaning of the name Emma is Universal
The origin of the name Emma is Latin
Notes: Emma Roberts, actress. Emma ("Baby Spice") Bunton, singer. Emma Thompson, actress. Emma Samms, actress. Emma Lazurus, poet. Emma Caulfield, actress

Which is your favourite? Vote!

Teaching tip

  Whenever we want kids to learn something, we should teach that "something" in a particular way. That means, kids tend to understand what you are teaching, in a better way when we come up with a simple catch phrase, or rhyme, which they can repeat. 

I guess you may have experiences on this, could you share them with us? It'll be a pleasure!

What to do when kids don't want to eat veggies...

                       

Typically children tend to refuse to eat veggies of any kind. It might be because they are not so attractive as a hamburger with fries or they are not so tasty as ice-cream. Nevertheless, I hereby suggest a way of making vegetables look more appealing to them!

You may decide to cut the veggies into funny shapes. Kids will distinguish the shapes and this will catch their attention immediately

                       

You can also make a “composition” using different veggies. That is you can make a lion’s face using carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, etc. You can also make strange monsters which for sure, will make them laugh!

It's crucial to tell kids that eating veggies will make them stronger and healthier. Creating good eating habits takes time but it's rewarding.

Come on! Give a try and then tell us your experience =)

Removing Stains

                             

Tired of coping with difficult stains on your children’s clothes?

We’ll suggest a couple of solutions for those cases, in which your child comes home fully stained, after long hours of outdoor games, school activities or even after lunch! We al know that sometimes, it’s not a matter of cleaning up simple stains, but difficult ones. So, our piece of advice? Read the following examples and get rid of any stain!

How to remove ink stains: Lay the stained clothing on top of a clean dry towel or cloth. Apply water to the stained area and blot with another clean cloth. While you blot, the stain will begin to transfer onto the cleaning cloth. Apply a small amount of liquid laundry detergent onto the ink stain and allow the fabric to sit for between 3-5 minutes. Using the hottest water recommend for the fabric type, wash normally. Before drying, check to make sure the entire stain was removed. If any trace of the stained area remains, repeat the steps above. Drying the stained area before everything is removed will make it nearly impossible to remove later

How to remove juice stains: Begin by blotting with a clean cloth to remove as much of the juice as possible. It’s very important to BLOT throughout this entire process DO NOT SCRUB. Working from the outside of the stain towards the center will keep the stain from spreading. Repeat as necessary with a clean piece of cloth each time until no more stain appears on the cloth. When the stain is removed, wash the clothing in cold water following detergent recommendations on the care tag.

How to remove candy stains: Do not saturate the candy stain with cleaning compounds because some compounds will set the stain permanently into the carpet or upholstery. For the same reason don’t apply heat to the stain. When trying to get a candy stain out you should blot with a clean white cloth or paper towels. Blot from the outside edges towards the center of the stain. Do Not scrub or rub the stain vigorously because it is possible to damage or change the texture of the fabric permanently. Also you could make the stain go deeper into the carpet or upholstery and even if it appears to have been removed by this process it is possible it will reappear later. Removing a candy stain as soon as you see it is very important. The longer it is in the carpet the harder it is to remove. The longer a stain remains, the greater the odds are that it won't come out!

Any other ideas? Let us know!

A Guide for the Kids Team

Nursery Rhymes

                               

Most children love being told nursery rhymes. They contain rhyming words and lovely tunes. most popular nursery rhymes are listed here with their origins. ONce you read them, they'll rinmg you the bell and make you go back to you childhood! Can you remember the tunes to the nursery rhymes? Make an effort, so that you can tell them to your kids.

Good luck =)

Jack and Jill
Humpty Dumpty
Sing a song of sixpence
Hey diddle diddle!
Pussycat Pussycat!

In case you wanna have a broader picture on this, visit http://www.rhymes.org.uk/

See you soon!

Going back to school...

                                                 

Going back to school may be a hard task for parents to accomplish. However, there are some tips parents could follow to make this event less difficult.

1) Avoid using the TV before going to bed. Instead, encourage quieter games such as guessing games, or story telling.

2) Make sure you prepare kids' backpacks and clothes the night before going to school. That will prevent from arriving late, in case something unexpected comes up.

3) Tell your children stories about your childhood and school. They may feel identified with your anecdotes.

4) Ask children what they would like to have for their lunch at school. Make sure to include "that" item in their lunch bags.

5) Label chidren's objects with their names. Children are prone to lose objects during first days of school.

6) Make your own calendar. In that way, you'll not forget when school starts and finishes each day.

Can you think of any other tip? Please let us know and we'll share it!