31 Days of Smart Summer Fun, Day 31: Teaching Kindness

Parents often urge their kids to “be nice” or “be kind” to others. And young children frequently display spontaneous thoughtfulness and empathy. But general tendencies and general exhortations are just too…general.

Young children learn best when given concrete, specific examples and instructions. And so we’ve come up with a list of fifteen tangible ways in which kids (and adults) can practice kindness in daily life

1. Include others in play
2. Include others in conversation
3. Listen
4. Forgive
5. Give the benefit of the doubt
6. Share or take turns
7. Speak well of others
8. Help out, lend a hand
9. Offer a hug
10. Laugh at jokes
11. Say yes to invitations to play or talk
12. Think of others and how you might be able to help them
13. Try not to criticize
14. Give compliments
15. Say thanks and offer appreciation
#schoolasummer

KIPP Academy

 

Not long ago, Sir Ron was struggling at school. He was falling behind academically and losing faith that he had the ability to succeed.

Now he’s gained a new sense of his own potential, and he has a plan for his future. His transformation started behind a drum kit—but now it extends through every part of his day. Sir Ron’s peers respect him. And he believes in himself. You’ll find stories like Sir Ron’s throughout KIPP Academy Middle School thanks to the school’s commitment to music education. Schoola is joining KIPP Academy to help make that difference in students’ lives every day.

A small school in the Bronx, KIPP Academy works hard to support kids who need all the help they can get. Ninety-five percent of its students qualify for free or reduced cost lunch. More than one in seven receive special education services. Music helps KIPP Academy reach and engage every child who enters its doors. The slogan on the Music Room wall sets the stage—All of Us Will Learn Music. No matter what backgrounds they come from or what challenges they face, they learn lessons together that will serve them the rest of their lives—like how to lead a section, follow direction, and work as a team, and why it’s important to hit the right notes at the right time. Researchers have written volumes about the benefits of music education in developing young minds, but for the kids at KIPP, it’s all about making beautiful music together.

Schoola is launching an effort and building a community to help KIPP Academy fulfill its mission by raising $25,000 to support its music program. Here’s how you can help:
• Donate used clothing to be sold on the Schoola e-commerce site—designate your donation to KIPP or start a fundraiser for your own school
• Do your own shopping on Schoola.com—$2 of every $5 you spend goes to schools to save music, art, physical education, and other essential programs
• Help us spread the word and build an even bigger community to support fulfilling the potential of all kids at schools like KIPP Academy

Join us! So we can help Sir Ron and thousands of other kids like him see themselves and the world in new ways. It’s a big job, but there’s no job more important.

See their story at http://www.schoola.com/kipp

@schoola #clothesforschools

Yick Wo Elementary School

 

 

Art can be one of the most important parts of a young student’s life. It teaches kids that it’s okay to be creative and take risks at school—not just in the art room, but in math, languages, and every other subject they study. The educational benefits of an art program are well known, but it’s still not covered by most public school budgets. The parents at Yick Wo Elementary make sure that their school’s students have art class anyway, and Schoola is forming a community to help them do it.

Serving San Francisco’s North Beach, Russian Hill, and Chinatown neighborhoods, Yick Wo relies on fundraising to provide enrichment programs for its 260+ students of diverse cultural and economic backgrounds. The experiences of the children show that it’s well worth the effort. “School has a lot of rules to follow but in art you can be free. You can see what you have in front of you and then turn that into something different,” says Orly. “I feel like I can make anything happen. It’s awesome!” says Lars. Art class builds confidence and provides enduring lessons for the students at Yick Wo—as long as the school can continue to provide the raw materials for their inspiration.

Schoola is launching an effort and building a community to help raise $25,000 to support arts programs at Yick Wo. Here’s how you can get involved:

• Donate used clothing to be sold on the Schoola e-commerce site—designate your donation to Yick Wo or start a fundraiser for your own school
• Do your own shopping on Schoola.com—$2 of every $5 you spend goes to schools to save art, music, physical education, and other essential programs
• Help us spread the word and build an even bigger community to support fulfilling the potential of all kids at schools like Yick Wo

Join us to make sure art keeps broadening young minds, opening new channels for self-expression, and fostering the creativity that fuels achievement for the students at Yick Wo.

See their story at http://www.schoola.com/yickwo

@schoola #clothesforschools

 

31 Days of Smart Summer Fun, Day 30: Making Weather in Your Kitchen

In preschool, most kids start learning about science with the “daily weather report.” You remember it: one of the kids goes to the window and reports back to the class what the weather is, and then the teacher adds it to the daily calendar. It gives our children a tiny glimpse into the fascinating science of meteorology.

If your kids have the weather bug, here are two science experiments to encourage them…

Make a rainbow: It couldn’t be simpler to make a rainbow that is projected on your wall or ceiling. All you need is a clear glass container (a wide-mouth jar or juice glass is perfect), a mirror that is small enough to fit in the glass, a flashlight, and water. Fill the glass with water and place the mirror inside at an angle. Shine the flashlight on the mirror and you should see a rainbow. If you don’t, try changing the angle of the flashlight or the mirror (and, of course, turning off the lights will help too).

Make lightning: Push a thumbtack through the center of an aluminum pie pan turn the pan upside down (the sharp end of the tack should be pointing up through the bottom of the pan). Push the eraser end of a pencil (use a pencil with a new eraser) onto the thumbtack until it stands straight up. Place a styrofoam plate upside down on a table and have your kids rub the bottom of the plate very quickly with a piece of wool fabric (a wool sock works great). Use the pencil as a handle and put the aluminum pie plate on top of the styrofoam plate. Have your kid touch the aluminum pie pan with his finger. Was there a shock? If not, have him rub the styrofoam plate with the wool again. Once he’s feeling a little shock, turn off the lights before he touches the aluminum again.

#schoolasummer

31 Days of Smart Summer Fun, Day 29: Brain Teaser of the Day

Can you find seven number words hidden in the paragraph below? As an example, the word eight could be hidden inside one word, like height, or across two words, as in sleigh tonight. Good luck!

Where has the fat worm gone? He was wriggling away from my reel even before I had the hook on it! If I’ve lost him, I’ll be sorry. This evening I came prepared with reel, line, and bait hoping to catch plenty of fish. It’s not often that a worm of ours gets away.

#schoolasummer #brainteaser

31 Days of Smart Summer Fun, Day 28: Summer Fading? Ideas on How to Maximize Family Time

Great ways to maximize family time before the kiddos go back to school.

http://ow.ly/zi33u

#schoolasummer

31 Days of Smart Summer Fun, Day 27: The Value of Writing Letters

Long distance friendships are a different affair for our children than they were for us. When kids can connect from across the world in an instant through multiple media, what reason would any child have for writing letters, much less waiting by the mailbox for one? What is the value of letter writing in the age of video-chat, texting, and social media? For young children, especially, there are numerous benefits and much appeal to trading notes with friends across distances via the good old postal service. Among them:

It’s good writing practice. Learning to express oneself fluently in writing is important in every respect. Kids who are motivated to write out of friendship and for fun are getting that much more
practice.

Letters call for patience. A lot of recent research on achievement focuses on kids’ ability to delay gratification and to stick with tasks even though they may not see immediate results.

Putting thoughts on paper requires more reflection than whipping off an email or text, and helps kids organize their own thinking.

The slow and steady nature of a pen pal relationship can help kids begin to understand that friendship is not only about fun in the here and now, but can take many forms, and transcend time and space. #schoolasummer

31 Days of Smart Summer Fun, Day 26: Graphic Novels for Kids

When you spend countless hours reading books out loud to your young children, you hope they’ll grow into avid independent readers. But best intentions and efforts aren’t everything. Some kids are just more reluctant readers than others.

Often, these are children for whom decoding complex words is a big effort. These are the kids who may not read with fluency until third grade. The trouble for these “late readers” is that the books they are able to decode, their so-called “just right” books, are often boring for them. This group of kids has no trouble grasping complex stories and themes, but they stumble on long, unfamiliar words and get discouraged when they try to read the chapter books their peers love.

What can we do for this sort of kid? Graphic novels! These art-filled stories entrance formerly reluctant readers with both thrilling plot lines and complex characters; they also contain challenging syntax and vocabulary, but the pictures keep kids engaged even when they must skip over words here and there. Ready to get started? Here are our very favorites…

Amulet by Kazu Kibuishi
The Geronimo Stilton series by Geronimo Stilton
Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon
Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke
Rapunzel’s Revenge by Shannon Hale

For kids who are a bit older:
Bone by Jeff Smith
Ghostopolis by Doug Tennapel

For kids who love the Wimpy Kid series:
The Origami Yoda series by Tom Angleberger
The Creature from My Closet series by Obert Skye
#schoolasummer

31 Days of Smart Summer Fun, Day 25: Learning a New Game

You don’t need elaborate game sets or one of those huge, inflatable slides to have fun in your backyard this summer. You already have the makings for a fun day in your kitchen and garage (and maybe a quick trip to the store). Learning a new game is a great way to spend an afternoon together. Here’s two we think you’ll love… Balloon Tennis: This is a simple, yet fun balloon activity that is sure to bring out the tennis star in your little one! Take small paper dessert plates and tape then to the end of a paint stir stick to create your tennis “racquet.” Blow up any size balloon for the “ball.” Use a jump rope to divide the “court” in half and see how many times you can volley that balloon across the line before it hits the ground. You can also use the plate racquet to keep the balloon aloft or you can play a tennis game of doubles or triples, depending on how many children there are. Noodle Hockey: Grab a bunch of pool noodles and a medium-sized ball. Depending on how many players you have, set up either one goal or two. How big the goal is depends on how easy you want to make the game. From there, it’s easy. Use the noodles like hockey sticks and try to get the ball into the goal. Once you’ve gotten the hang of the game, let someone play as goalie. #schoolasummer

Sheep’s Clothes – Boys and School

Sheep’s Clothes – Boys and School 

 

In the year of our savior Reggio Emilia 2012, there did a monster reign.

 

He walked amongst them unnoticed at times.  Peaceful.  Quiet.  As with Play-Doh.  And the Trains of Thomas.  And Maresol, that fair teacher of Espanol who taketh no shit.

 

“Things are as they should be,” they said, at the Time Known As Drop-Off.

 

And then that time ended and the Time Known As Circle began.  A time of great decibel increase and insurrection.

 

In mighty voices, they said, “LISTEN!  LISTEN!  LISTEN!  LISTEN!  LISTEN!”

 

And, “NOT ON JOSEPH’S HEAD!”

 

And, “LEAVE ELIZABETH ALONE.  LEAVE ABBOTT ALONE.  I DON’T KNOW WHY.  NOW CIRCLE! CIRCLE!  CIRCLE!”

 

But circle he did not and lo!  Two horns doth did sprout!  And that is how, after Tales of the Great Letter ‘E,’ the Time of Circle did end.

 

In quiet voices, they said, “Line-eth up, ye who would travel to the far reaches of the Kingdom.”  But Line-eth he did not, especially since he was not made Leader of the Line-eth.

 

First, he ziggethed.  Then he zagethed.  And then he pushed him known as Zachary who yelled unto him, “I’m first and you’re NOT!”  And lo, his feet they did become cloven hooves!

 

Upon reaching the far reaches of the Kingdom, the Time Of Outdoor did begin.

 

In which sand was thrown far and wide but mainly into Katie’s eyes, and tag, it was played until Carter yelled, “We don’t like you!” and Gregory confirmed this and yelled, “YEAH!”

 

And lo, he grabbed his shovel and smacked it down, which brought a voice like thunder that said “YELLOW LIGHT!” and then he stomped his cloven hooves and shrieked and the voice commanded, “RED LIGHT!”

 

But he looked both the YELLOW LIGHT and the RED LIGHT in the eye and laughed and into the Out Known As Time he was placed.  And they tisked and clucked and remarked, “‘Twas no shovel he had but a pitchfork.”

 

As the Time of Outdoor ended and the Time of Snack began, he no longer walked amongst them unnoticed but like a sharp piece of Lego stuck in their feet.  A sharp piece of Lego with fruit and crackers.

 

After the Time of Potty, he washed his hands and his clothes and the floor and those around him.  And then poopeth he did go.  Not on the potty but behind the potted plant.  Because it was safe.

 

And they sighed DEEPLY and whispered the Prayer of the Pull-Up and wiped and wiped and wiped and called up the Gods of Sanitation and wiped some more.

 

During the Time of Clean Up, there did occur a kerfuffle between him and Jeffery and Marcus and Quincey that shook the rafters.  Then using a bardic lute, he sang of the kerfuffle to others over mead juice but not before they put him in the Zone Known As Chill and told him to SLOWETH HIS MOTOR.

 

“The Transitions, they will be the death of us,” they did mutter, and said five Hail-Maria-Montessori’s for good measure and then finally – OH FINALLY – it was The Time Known As Lunch, and then they did wave their magic organic carrot and sprinkled Impulse Control Crumbs but the Impulses they were NOT Controlled.

 

After much pillaging and plundering – beware the ides of sunflower butter in your hair! – and much shrieking by Jill and Mary Beth, a nobel knight arrived at last to purge the kingdom of the devil.

 

In she rode with her brave Snap ‘N Go Chariot – wielding the sword of 1-2-3 MAGIC and the awesome power of LOVE – and she looked into the face of CHAOS and commanded, “Come.”

 

And he went.

 

Cloven hooves into Stride Rites.  Horns receding.

 

And they sighed with relief and said, “All is almost as it should be.”  (As they had four more devils to contend with).

 

For they had survived another day with that plague of school systems in kingdoms everywhere.

 

That beast that goes by the name:

 

BOY.

 

 

Written by the Tarja Parssinen, aka The Flying Chalupa

blog: http://www.theflyingchalupa.com/

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