Old Fashioned Halloween Party

Of course I’m late writing my post for the Green Moms Carnival, hosted this month at Green Bean Dreams. Of course, that means that I’ve had a chance to read just about everyone else’s post – which is good.

This month our topic is the commercialization of Halloween. Since there’s a lot of blog fodder there, everyone has some good ideas!

Since I have received approximately 32 catalogs from Oriental Trading, one from Hearthsong and two from a few other catalogs companies, replete with Halloween décor and crafts…I thought I’d write about greening your Halloween party.

No, I’m not having a Halloween party but my friend Juice is and I’ve been recruited to help. Last year my contribution was a craft for the kids - sticking Halloween foamies on plastic mask. Ummm…I received no awards for “greenness.” This year I’m trying to do better.

So, here is my list of ideas for a greener, less commercial Halloween party.

Bobbing for apples – float apples in a big tub or better yet for cold Halloween nights..hang them from strings and let the kids try to bite.

Make a Halloween maze – use bales of hay outside or clear out a room, hang some sheets and turn out the lights.

Pumpkin carry game- Create teams of two, placing players team on opposite ends of a grassy area, have a relay race carrying a large pumpkin across he area and back.

Play Ring Toss with pumpkins – Use one with a large stem and toss pool rings, hula hoops or any other ring shaped items you have lying around.

This is just a sampling of old fashioned games that I found. There are a few great sites with ideas from old magazines, here and here. You can also find other ideas for Halloween games here and here.

Have fun!

This post is part of the October Green Moms Carnival. You can find more Halloween posts at Green Bean Dreams.

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Don’t Rush To Read Chapter Books

In my little circle of friends, we have children ages 4-8 in various stages of reading fluency. Like most parents we anxiously measure their progress and fret endlessly about their progress.

And reading CHAPTER BOOKS seems to be the pinnacle of success. You know, chapter books- the ones with the small print?

I’m not sure how this came to be the defining measure of ability to read, but the moment a parent can say, “Oh yes, he/she reads ‘chapter books’” success has been achieved.

Whew! We can relax now – she’s reading “chapter books”!

I’ve been hearing this from parents of 5-year-olds, 6-year-olds and 7-year-olds and then I hear a bit more.

“Yes, but he complains the type is too small.” (from the mom of a 1^st grader reading at 3rd grade level)

“ Well, actually, I read a paragraph than she reads a paragraph.” (from the mom of a child reading at grade level)

“He CAN read this chapter book…he just doesn’t want to.”(from the mom of a child reading below grade level.)

Try as I may, I can’t find any official document that says that this should be the measure of success and…the more I look, the more I see that…hmmm…maybe it’s a better idea not to rush.

My burning question:…if children SHOULD be reading chapter books with small print by 1^st grade or so…then WHY do they make large print “Easy Readers” for kids up to age 10 or so?

I didn’t get it so a little research was in order – which of course got out of hand so the simple answer is:

.. when the print is bigger children can depict every letter in every word which helps them to sound out words.

Books for older readers have smaller print because adults have a larger vocabulary and don't need to know what each and every letter looks like. For example when you read "because" you don't even need to sound the word out or look at it for awhile before pronouncing it unlike a child.

Well, duh!

Obviously, part of the goal in reading is expanding the child's vocabulary so he or she gets to the "adult way" of reading- that is knowing the word by glancing at a few letters. That of course requires an intimate look at the word and familiarity with the letters- much easier to achieve when the type is large! (I can speak to this since my child has had a recent fascination with a book of Indian folk tales given to us by a friend from India replete with names of characters that I find difficult to pronounce unless I used the tried and true method of uncovering a bit of the word at a time.)

It turns out that there is a science behind this whole big print thing. Easy Readers are printed with heavy leading (spacing between the lines of print), wide margins, larger fonts and simple type (that is, an easier to read serif font).

So we’ll stick to easy readers with large print for now. Hmmm...maybe I'll look for a large print version of the next difficult classic I tackle too.

For More Works For Me Wednesday ideas visit Rocks In My Dryer.

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Concrete Kids And Dirt Roads

It occurs to me that perhaps I should take the time to talk with my son, a little more about how ordinary things are different now than they were when my grandparents were growing up.

I do talk about my grandparents, so they are a familiar character in my son's life, so why not explain that they lived in a world bereft of: TV, microwaves, computers, cell phones, refrigerators, air conditioning and...highways.

While paved roads have been around since about 4000 B.C.E, and the US has the largest network of roadways in the world, dirt roads were somewhat more common one hundred years ago.

If you happen to live in an area of the country with a dizzying array of numbered highways, as I do, a look into the history of how this whole umm, labyrinth of roadways came to be might be interesting too (or maybe not).

See More Photohunter posts here.

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Tell Me About School. It’s A Rule – How To Get Your Kids To Tell You About Their Day

“What did you do at School Today?”

“Nothing”

…or , “I forgot” or “I don’t know” or any of a number of variations on that theme. It’s so common; parents just nod in empathetic exasperation whenever it’s brought up. I know, did it as a child and so did most of my peers.

But we, the new generation of parents want to know everything. Maybe it’s because we want our children to be able to skip the emotional trauma of the playground. Maybe it’s because we know how easy it is to fall behind in the new world of “No Child Left Behind” which too often translates into “No Tutoring Service Left Untried.”

I decided partway through last school year, my son’s first that, perhaps I didn’t need to accept his (non) answers, but rather could devise a way to get him to tell me about school. And so through talks with other parents and some serious web surfing, I’ve discovered a few tips. They seem to work for me.

1.Talk While You Walk or Drive or Bike – On the way home from school or on the way to after school activities is a great time to discuss the day. Rather than engage in a face-to-face interrogation, look away. You are, especially when driving, in the perfect position for subtle questioning, facing away from your children (I hope anyway). This reduces the pressure on children and makes it feel a little less like an inquisition.

2. Find The Right Time – Like most of us, some kids are morning people, some better in the afternoon. It takes some time to figure out when your children are most responsive.

3. Ask Open-ended Questions – “How as your day?” is guaranteed to elicit a one word answer. Better is. “What did you have for lunch today” or “What letter did you learn/book did you read/country did you study, today?”.

4. Start Slow – I always start with. “What did you have for lunch,’ followed by, “Who did you play with at recess?” I find if I start with the easy questions regarding lunch and recess, I can usually get him involved in telling me the exciting news about what games were played on the playground and lead him into the ones I find more interesting.

5. Listen While Doing – Many children, especially boys are much more likely to answer questions while absorbed in something else. Ask questions about school during dinner preparations, while he is playing Legos or while she is lining up her dolls.

6. Don’t Push – OK Just a Little – Don’t push didn’t work very well for me so I’ve modified it to “push a little”. On our drive home from school I require my son to answer a few questions about school. Not a lot and not all that I want to know, but, I’ve set up a routine that he knows and now accepts. He didn’t at first of course and balked at my queries, but like much of parenting, persistence pays off.

What have you found works for you?

For more great Works For Me Wednesday Ideas visit Rocks In My Dryer.

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A Few Reviews - Books And Baby Dolls

It's a bit of an odd mix but today I have reviews of:

A Doll For Girls- The Cabbage Patch Kids 25th Anniversary Edition

and

A Book For Boys- The Dangerous Days of Daniel X

The life of a Mommy Blogger...

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French Government Adds Warning Label To Baby TV – Could It Work Here Too?

As I fret that my six-year-old son has watched perhaps a wee bit too much TV (OK actually DVDs) this summer, out comes the news that in the French government has banned French television channels from airing shows specifically targeting the “under three” age group.

What appears to have spurred this (rather exciting ruling) is the introduction in France of two 24-hour infant television channels, Baby TV and BabyFirstTV. Both are owned in whole or in part by Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp.

The High Audiovisual Council (gotta love that name) ruling states:

"Television viewing hurts the development of children under 3 years old and poses a certain number of risks, encouraging passivity, slow language acquisition, over-excitedness, troubles with sleep and concentration as well as dependence on screens."

The net effect is that regular French Broadcast channels are banned from airing shows for under threes and cable channels must include a broadcast a warning statement:

"Watching television can slow the development of children under 3, even when it involves channels aimed specifically at them."

I really love this idea! When Rupert Murdoch’s BabyFirstTV first launched in The US in 2006, many parents, including me were appalled. The American Academy of Pediatrics reiterated it’s oft ignored policy statement issued in 1999:

Pediatricians should urge parents to avoid television viewing for children under the age of 2 years. Although certain television programs may be promoted to this age group, research on early brain development shows that babies and toddlers have a critical need for direct interactions with parents and other significant caregivers (eg, child care providers) for healthy brain growth and the development of appropriate social, emotional, and cognitive skills. Therefore, exposing such young children to television programs should be discouraged."

How many parents are aware of this statement? How many pediatricians tell parents about it (laughing snort here)? I think the warning statement idea is brilliant and should be adopted here in the US too!

Think about it. When parents tuck their infants and toddlers in front of the TV or a baby DVD, up flashes a statement, at least as serious looking as the one warning about the FBI coming to get you if you dare to copy the DVD you’re viewing.

Wow! This works for me!

OK - I took a few liberties with my WFMW posts but some great REAL ideas visit Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer

Related Posts:

The Ancillary Impact of Too Much TV

Reasons to Limit TV - What to Tell the Relatives!

TV Strategies

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Ten Ways To Make School Green All Year Round

Well, the kids are off to school. We’ve done our best to buy eco friendly school supplies We’ve signed up for carpools or sent our kids by bus to reduce our carbon footprint. We’ve resisted cheap plastic, made-in-China backpacks for greener ones. We’re patting ourselves on our collective backs for making green Back-To-School choices.

Our job is done. Or is it?

Like many people, I enjoy open and closed decisions. Give me a goal and a quick way to reach it and I’m in heaven. Unfortunately motherhood is rarely that way, even or especially when trying to commit to living green with kids.

Now that Back-To-School is over; Going-To-School begins with its own set of green challenges. Here’s a short list of how I’m going to try to make school green all year round. Bet you have some ideas too!

1. Walk to school when you can, or bike – while I’ve unfortunately made a less than green choice of where to send me son to school, leaving anything but taking him there myself everyday, off the table, I have been thinking a bit about after school activities. If you live close enough to walk or for your children to walk to school, do so by all means. If not and like at our house where most of our soccer games are played at a field within a mile of our house, get out the tennis schools and hoof it instead of taking the car.

2. Buy used books or go to the library. I have to say, I’ve really gotten into the used books habit these days and going to the library. We’ve amassed quite a collection of used reference books, perfect for report writing and supplementing school studies. And, we’ve found the library a great place to find those books that are perfect for our child’s reading level…for about a month before he progresses. By borrowing and buying used, we’ve saved both money and trees in the long run. Over 2.5 billion books are sold each year in the U.S., many of which end up contributing to the 50 million tons of paper bloating our landfills each year.

3. Buy quality not quantity – Unfortunately I find I’ve gotten caught up in the consumerism society. But, thinking green, I’m trying to reform. So, I’m buying better made products…even if they aren’t always green, I know I’ll use them longer and that, in and of itself is eco friendly.

4. Reuse and recycle children’s artwork– We all know that there is no where near enough room in the average house for the voluminous amounts of artwork brought home by children each year. Much of it gets quietly pitched after a reasonable amount of display time, but that need not always be the case. Some of the best artwork really is suitable for framing and makes a great addition to any home. Or gather up old artwork and use it as gift wrap. What better way to personalize a gift for a loved one.

5. Reuse scrap paper and printer paper – How about all of those pictures and printouts generated at home? I’m teaching my son (and myself) that slightly printed on paper has a blank back…really. Perfect for grocery lists, more drawings or even origami.

5. Skip the packaging for lunch boxes – I’m determined this year to cut down on the waste in my son’s lunch. I am, finally forgoing zipper bags (or almost anyway). I found these cool sandwich wraps and reusable metal containers. Can’t beat ‘em.

7. Don’t give into the latest trend and buy new stuff – This one is tougher for me than for my child. He’s not one to really beg for fads. But, I’m trying to think about what we need versus what we want. Yes, it would be great if he had Crocs like all the other kids and all the cute add-ons…but why?

8. Buy environmentally friendly pencils and school supplies – again. Throughout the year, the need for school supplies doesn’t end. Let’s all keep trying to remember to buy green.

9. Better yet - Shop in your closet for school supplies. I’m cleaning out old drawers now and have found 4673 pens, 234 pencils and mountains of half used notepads. Why? Because I’ve been too lazy to clean out last year’s backpack or dig through my drawers when I need a new pen. Resist the urge to buy new if you know you have an old one lying around…somewhere.

10. Skip the activities and save gas…go for good old fashioned unscripted play. I’ve long been a proponent of open ended play and leaving my son with lots of time for free play, eschewing organized sports in favor of playing in the yard. And, yes, many of you know I went whole hog the other way earlier this summer…we all had a good laugh! But, I’m back on the bandwagon. We’ll do a few activities this year, but more at home…using recycled materials and nature play of course.

What’s on your list?

We had such a rousing support for our Green Moms carnival…we’re doing it again. Our theme this month is back to school. Check it out at Surely You Nest.

Related Posts:

Let's Go Sport! You're not ready.

Old Fashioned Play

Saving Children's Artwork

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The First Day of School- Or Maybe Not

My baby is on his way to first grade.

Such a wonderful moment...crossing over into adulthood...oh wait...not yet.

And, "Not Yet" is the theme of today's post.

Tuesday, I awoke early and excitedly prepared my son for his first day of school. Special clothes for both of us. You know we both need to make a good impression. A good breakfast was followed by pictures to commemorate the occasion.

We drove into the suspiciously empty parking lot and..surprise! No school today. Kindergarteners, yes, grade-schoolers no.

Sigh.

We did it again today...somewhat anti-climatically.

I wonder if Sarah Palin gets all of her kids to their various schools on the right day?

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