We are raising our kids in a very different environment than we had in our childhood. Specifically, children growing up middle and upper-class families are not only surrounded by a considerable amount of possessions of their own but also are exposed to what other people have and do in social media from young ages. This results in a mindset of … [Read more...]
Prepare yourself and your child for puberty education at school
Just when I thought my parenting gig was going on auto-pilot, at the beginning of 5th grade we’ve received a parent consent form from my son’s school. When I saw it was for health and sex education, I paused for a bit. I thought maybe the forms got mixed up. My son was only 10 year-old. He wasn’t even a teenager. I showed it to my husband as it … [Read more...]
Hak4Kidz: Ethical Hacking Conference for Kids
We took the kids to a conference called Hak4Kidz that was organized for youth this past Saturday. Hak4Kidz is an event of ethical hackers and Information Security professionals dedicated to bring the educational and communal benefits of whitehat hacking conferences to children and young adults. The day-long conference which took place in downtown … [Read more...]
Take a free flight with EAA Young Eagles Program
My son is a huge aviation enthusiast. His current preferred future occupation is an "aircraft designer" or "aircraft design engineer". He favorite reads are books about planes. He can identify the model of a flying airplane in a blink. His favorite computer game is X-plane. And his pick for the famous person for his Wax Museum project was Wilbur … [Read more...]
Setting new year’s goals with children
Beginning of a new year, makes us think about what we've done, what we've accomplished or what we can learn from our failures or shortcomings in the year behind, and set new goals, both personal and professional, for the coming year. We might not aspire for big bangs or extraordinary inventions. However, I believe every human being needs growth in … [Read more...]
Computer Science Education Week: Hour of Code Campaign
I work in front of my laptop all day and I organize my life with my iPhone. My children see us, their uncles, aunts and grandparents using our computers, tablets and smartphone on a daily basis. Therefore, it would be hypocritical and, to be honest, very selfish to deny our kids time on computers and tablets.They are 9 and 7. They have set … [Read more...]
Winter Learning Challenge by Chicago Public Library
Winter break is here!Winter Learning Challenge is another great program for the kids over the break by Chicago Public Library. Since last summer these programs also involve LEARNing and CREATEing in addition to READing. The theme this winter is "learning more about nature in your neighborhood this winter". We did great winter activities from … [Read more...]
Let’s give these kids a playground on Giving Tuesday
Happy Giving Tuesday. Today is “Giving Tuesday”, a national day of giving at the start of the annual holiday season. It celebrates and encourages charitable activities that support non-profit organizations. My children go to a public school in Chicago. It's a magnet school with about 850 students from K to 8. It's a really good school. We're lucky … [Read more...]
Summer Learning / Reading Programs for Kids in Chicago
Some elementary students are already in summer break, and CPS students are ending the school year today. In order to keep my children reading and engaged during summer, I signed them up to Summer Learning Challenge with the Chicago Public Library. The program which was only "Reading program" last year has been expanded this year. Here are few … [Read more...]
National Robotics Week at the MSI Chicago
National Robotics Week started on Saturday, April 6 with many showcases and activities running throughout the day at the Museum of Science and Industry of Chicago. Roboweek will continue until Sunday, April 14.We could not miss it becausemy son is crazy about robots and my daughter is influenced by her big brother. we recently got our … [Read more...]
Questioning homework: Is it worth it?
Our son goes to a public school and is about to finish first grade. It is a magnet school that enrolls students through lottery drawing.He is at school almost for 6 hours, from 8:00am until 1:45pm. Unfortunately, within these 6 hours their lunch break is really short and they do not have a proper recess time where students can spend their … [Read more...]
Nail polish for girls and guns for boys
The culture we pass on to our kids is so particular that it not only changes from country to country, or region to region but differs even from neighbor to neighbor. From how we dress our kids, what we feed them with, the toys we buy for them, to the things we allow them to do, everyone’s "normal" varies. Still, we expect everyone to be similar. … [Read more...]
My educational utopia
In yesterday's post I wrote on various educational philosophies and the certain aspects of which I like about these philosophies, was the summary of what my children learn at their school, the research I have done to learn what I can provide them better as well as things I came across due to selective attention.As I wrote yesterday, I think it … [Read more...]
Picture lists for children
The most effective, if not the most practical, method to include your children in the house chores is to prepare picture to-do lists.To-do / house chores list:When tell my children to clean up, they just stare around as if they've seen the house for the first time. What works best is when I make a to-do list in pictures and assign a task … [Read more...]
Word-matic: Word generator from spiral notepad
My son is very much into reading. Therefore, I am consciously selecting activities to feed his interest. I saw this spinny speller and also found crafty parents, who replicated this toy themselves. I decided to take shortcut and use a spiral bound notepad.Materials:1 small spiral bound notepad. Scissors MarkerInstructions: … [Read more...]
Halloween activity – Skeleton puzzle
This is one of the kids' favorite activities around Halloween. I was inspired by Chasing Cheerios‘s building skeleton post. I downloaded the printable skeleton from this address and printed them on cardstock. Then I laminated and cut them. The set has a visual guideline. I am planning to let my son play with it as a puzzle for a while. Then maybe I … [Read more...]
House rules poster for children
Lately, sharing and jealousy issues have drastically escalated between the siblings. Big brother has been less than cooperative and agreeable. As usual, I started thinking about proactive solutions or help them find their own solutions.Sibling rivalry, as I have accepted, is inevitable. My daughter is more interactive and she is trying to do … [Read more...]
Home-made sandpaper letters
I made the sandpaper letters from Montessori Method at home. I did these just to create some craft for myself, I guess. We were trying to get the basement finished. I remembered the instructions at the end of "Teaching Montessori in the Home: Pre-School Years". Materials:Pack of extra fine sandpapers. Poster paper (red and blue) Glue … [Read more...]
Playing with colored water
My son loves this game / activity and can entertain himself literally for hours. All you need is food coloring. I got this 4 color, food coloring set at Target for $2. I gave him a dropper from one of the first aid kits we've got at home. I put water in few old baby food jars, then put a drop of color in each. I also gave him few empty ones. He … [Read more...]
How to find the right preschool – Part 2 – Trial and Decision
At all the schools, after my first screening visit they said,"you can come and check it out with your son again". They told me to bring him in for a trial session and observe. I called the preschool near us and asked for an appointment for such a trial. They told me to bring him along, but pointed out that when they see their parents, the children … [Read more...]