As a former preschool teacher, I have to admit that kids often do like playing with the boxes and wrapping paper better than the intended present/toy.
One of my first thoughts for this blog had been to review toys and play attention to how toys are being monitored for safety. For example CA's attorney general just recently made a list of toys that contained more than 300 ppm of lead.
This past month I visited interesting stores like Paxton Gate on Valencia Street in SF, stopped by booths at the SF Green Festival featuring products for kids and read about "green" toys in Kiwi and other parent magazines.
Yet today on Black Friday, I noted how well Amazon performed and the national
evening news featured a story about Cyber Monday Shopping.
How do we help our children sort through "all the new stuff" without missing out on the joy of simple pleasures? i.e. playing sink or float in the bathtub, banging on kitchen pots and pans, or building castles in the sand at Ocean Beach.
As the holiday season begins, let's give thanks to Twitter/YouTube for giving us a glimpse of the excitement of Obama's daughters as their Christmas tree arrives in a wooden, horse drawn wagon. But at the same time continue to cherish the priceless wonder of Rosebud. (Citizen Kane)
Friday, November 27, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Generation Text & Cool Merchants
Dear Readers,
As I'm still in beta stage with my blog, I'm further defining my niche.
Awhile back SF Supervisor Mar posted a comment on FB regarding his young daughter's use of video games, technology, etc. That got me thinking. How do parents/teachers guide and support their children's ability to harness the power of technology?
GENERATION TEXT:
After attending the SF Green Festival, I learned about a web site targeted to
children 5 - tweens. trool.it il portale dedicato
ai peu piccoli per conscere internet e navigare in sicurezza.
Here's the url: www.trool.it (for some reason the insert link function doesn't see to be working) Rough translation, trool.it is dedicated to helping
youngsters learn how to wisely use the Internet and explore it with some sense of
security. I'd like to see something like this for California kids.
In an attempt to delve further into this concern, I'm now in the midst of Generation Text, by Dr. Michael Osit. He is a licensed clinical psychologist who has worked with children for over three decades. So far it is an excellent read discussing issues related to our 21st century 24/7 culture, how technology can actually help your
child develop social skills, and of course, the matter of privacy and setting limits.
More on this topic later.
COOL MERCHANTS:
As the toy buying season is now upon us I turned to a PBS home video The Merchants of Cool. Good to know about
how Hollywood dreamweavers function and what Madison Avenue is plotting. :-)
My hope had been to launch officially on Black Friday, November 27th. But
I need to monitor the details of #hrc on Twitter and finish reading Bill
Wasik's And Then There's This How Stories
Live and Die in Viral Culture.
Happy Thanksgiving and I promise,
I'll be back.
As I'm still in beta stage with my blog, I'm further defining my niche.
Awhile back SF Supervisor Mar posted a comment on FB regarding his young daughter's use of video games, technology, etc. That got me thinking. How do parents/teachers guide and support their children's ability to harness the power of technology?
GENERATION TEXT:
After attending the SF Green Festival, I learned about a web site targeted to
children 5 - tweens. trool.it il portale dedicato
ai peu piccoli per conscere internet e navigare in sicurezza.
Here's the url: www.trool.it (for some reason the insert link function doesn't see to be working) Rough translation, trool.it is dedicated to helping
youngsters learn how to wisely use the Internet and explore it with some sense of
security. I'd like to see something like this for California kids.
In an attempt to delve further into this concern, I'm now in the midst of Generation Text, by Dr. Michael Osit. He is a licensed clinical psychologist who has worked with children for over three decades. So far it is an excellent read discussing issues related to our 21st century 24/7 culture, how technology can actually help your
child develop social skills, and of course, the matter of privacy and setting limits.
More on this topic later.
COOL MERCHANTS:
As the toy buying season is now upon us I turned to a PBS home video The Merchants of Cool. Good to know about
how Hollywood dreamweavers function and what Madison Avenue is plotting. :-)
My hope had been to launch officially on Black Friday, November 27th. But
I need to monitor the details of #hrc on Twitter and finish reading Bill
Wasik's And Then There's This How Stories
Live and Die in Viral Culture.
Happy Thanksgiving and I promise,
I'll be back.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
A Virtual Gift for an Early Christmas
I had been contacted by a high school friend's husband. A young 5 year old
boy who he knew was celebrating an early Christmas this week. I got the notice
a few days ago but postponed sending a real card until today. I had just been laid off
and was busy filing for UI and posting a new resume, etc.
The child will probably not make it to Christmas due to illness. Today, I notice
an article in the S.F. Examiner about this year's "hot" toy. An animated robotic
hamster, (Zhu Zhu). I checked it out online and saw a YouTube Video posted to
Huffington's blog back on Sept 27, 2009. So I posted the link on my friend's
Facebook wall and then sent him a real bilingual Christmas card, I live in the
heart of the Mission.
Posted a tweet on Twitter under the trending topics of #bestfeeling and #worstfeeling.
In my attempt to curate, today I ignored blogging GuyKawaskai's recent AllTop tweets list of Top Mom blogs and Gov. Schwarzenegger signing an excutive order creating the
California State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education & Care.
boy who he knew was celebrating an early Christmas this week. I got the notice
a few days ago but postponed sending a real card until today. I had just been laid off
and was busy filing for UI and posting a new resume, etc.
The child will probably not make it to Christmas due to illness. Today, I notice
an article in the S.F. Examiner about this year's "hot" toy. An animated robotic
hamster, (Zhu Zhu). I checked it out online and saw a YouTube Video posted to
Huffington's blog back on Sept 27, 2009. So I posted the link on my friend's
Facebook wall and then sent him a real bilingual Christmas card, I live in the
heart of the Mission.
Posted a tweet on Twitter under the trending topics of #bestfeeling and #worstfeeling.
In my attempt to curate, today I ignored blogging GuyKawaskai's recent AllTop tweets list of Top Mom blogs and Gov. Schwarzenegger signing an excutive order creating the
California State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education & Care.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Sunday Stroll on Stroller Street/Noe Valley
This Sunday I stopped by Martha's to get some coffee and yogurt. While
pouring some creme into my coffee, I chatted with Liz, a retired SF special education
bus driver.
She shared how frustrated she was because this past week she tried to
volunteer with SFUSD but being a "techno-peasant" was forced
to go to her neighborhood library to try to log on a computer just to apply as a school volunteer.
"I'm not sure I was successful," she lamented. And, "I wish SF City College would
offer a Meso-American Spanish course for school volunteers. You know they don't
speak "Spain" Spanish in the schools. There is Spanish for medical workers, why
not Spanish for school volunteers?"
On the way up to Radio Shack to buy some batteries for my digital camera, I noticed
a toddler having a wonderful time playing with a nickel. First, he dropped it,
then picked it up and then rolled it down the sidewalk. "What an fun, inexpensive
toy," I said to his mother. She grinned back at me.
At Radio Shack, the sales associate was quite enlightening. I asked him to explain
the advantages of texting, having just checked out, Generation TEXT, Raising Well Adjusted Kids in an Age of Instant Everything by Dr. Michael Osit. I promise
to share my thoughts after I finish the book.
pouring some creme into my coffee, I chatted with Liz, a retired SF special education
bus driver.
She shared how frustrated she was because this past week she tried to
volunteer with SFUSD but being a "techno-peasant" was forced
to go to her neighborhood library to try to log on a computer just to apply as a school volunteer.
"I'm not sure I was successful," she lamented. And, "I wish SF City College would
offer a Meso-American Spanish course for school volunteers. You know they don't
speak "Spain" Spanish in the schools. There is Spanish for medical workers, why
not Spanish for school volunteers?"
On the way up to Radio Shack to buy some batteries for my digital camera, I noticed
a toddler having a wonderful time playing with a nickel. First, he dropped it,
then picked it up and then rolled it down the sidewalk. "What an fun, inexpensive
toy," I said to his mother. She grinned back at me.
At Radio Shack, the sales associate was quite enlightening. I asked him to explain
the advantages of texting, having just checked out, Generation TEXT, Raising Well Adjusted Kids in an Age of Instant Everything by Dr. Michael Osit. I promise
to share my thoughts after I finish the book.
Green, Greens, Green
Good Morning,
#1 Green: My neighborhood library, the Mission Branch, just began a "teaching garden".
Last Friday, After School students (5th graders) planted some seeds. Lia Hillman,
the Interim Children's Room Librarian didn't had much time to chat 'cause the
media were coming and she was fielding calls to confirm, despite the rain, the
3 pm class would proceed. Kids would wear ponchos. May volunteer with next class.
#2 Greens: Saturday I stopped by Farmers' Market at the Ferry Plaza. Great poster with photos and descriptions of the various Winter Greens. Not just iceberg lettuce
for SFChildren. Next week I write more about these different types and my experience getting kids to try/eat greens and even seaweed.
#3 Green: Next weekend I head to the San Francisco Green Festival. I had invited 2 young friends, a 5th grade who is his school student body President at Miraloma Elementary and his older sister at Hoover Middle School. But given their busy schedules, I was sent regrets. The young president diplomatically declined. He explained his family had decided Sunday would be "family time" day. I did promise to keep my eye out for anything related to solar panels. One of his goals as student president is to get a solar panel on the school roof.
#1 Green: My neighborhood library, the Mission Branch, just began a "teaching garden".
Last Friday, After School students (5th graders) planted some seeds. Lia Hillman,
the Interim Children's Room Librarian didn't had much time to chat 'cause the
media were coming and she was fielding calls to confirm, despite the rain, the
3 pm class would proceed. Kids would wear ponchos. May volunteer with next class.
#2 Greens: Saturday I stopped by Farmers' Market at the Ferry Plaza. Great poster with photos and descriptions of the various Winter Greens. Not just iceberg lettuce
for SFChildren. Next week I write more about these different types and my experience getting kids to try/eat greens and even seaweed.
#3 Green: Next weekend I head to the San Francisco Green Festival. I had invited 2 young friends, a 5th grade who is his school student body President at Miraloma Elementary and his older sister at Hoover Middle School. But given their busy schedules, I was sent regrets. The young president diplomatically declined. He explained his family had decided Sunday would be "family time" day. I did promise to keep my eye out for anything related to solar panels. One of his goals as student president is to get a solar panel on the school roof.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Down the Rabbit Hole . . . . .
Dear Lovers of San Francisco children,
A bit about me:
After taking early retirement as an elementary teacher June 2006 I decided to
make a transition to Preschool Teacher. So I volunteered with Berkeley Unified
School District and then had the good fortunate to serve at the Presidio Child Development
Center, SFUSD while I picked up more ECE credits. To my delight, I went to Reggio, Italy in March 2007.
Last week I left a FT job as a Desired Results Coordinator to transition to Sales Associate, "Children's Collection Curator.", Tweet curator, blogger.
Today I began to curate a twitter list @Lioness7 sf-children. I shall be visiting various
children' stores in S.F. and post my reviews. I will also use this blog to curate Internet resouces
for SF Mom's and Dad's, discuss special places/activities for SF Kids and sometimes comment on Educational Policy. Most importantly I welcome suggestions, comments, feedback. Diverse opinions welcome but sometime may have to agree to disagree.
A bit about me:
After taking early retirement as an elementary teacher June 2006 I decided to
make a transition to Preschool Teacher. So I volunteered with Berkeley Unified
School District and then had the good fortunate to serve at the Presidio Child Development
Center, SFUSD while I picked up more ECE credits. To my delight, I went to Reggio, Italy in March 2007.
Last week I left a FT job as a Desired Results Coordinator to transition to Sales Associate, "Children's Collection Curator.", Tweet curator, blogger.
Today I began to curate a twitter list @Lioness7 sf-children. I shall be visiting various
children' stores in S.F. and post my reviews. I will also use this blog to curate Internet resouces
for SF Mom's and Dad's, discuss special places/activities for SF Kids and sometimes comment on Educational Policy. Most importantly I welcome suggestions, comments, feedback. Diverse opinions welcome but sometime may have to agree to disagree.
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