My family and I have movie night once a week.  It is a great opportunity to share quality time, laugh and learn.  This is also a great time to share those treats that are saved for just these special occassions.  The teacher in me is constantly exploring new ways to turn any opportunity that may arise into a fun learning experience.  I have found this great blog site "Kids Off The Couch"  that have just that for my family and movie night.  They have a film festival section that reviews great family movies and films, offer learning connections, discussion suggestions, cultural connections and bits of wisdom.  It is great being able to share a fun, interactive night with the family that is more than just sitting there and staring at the television.  The kids love it!  I think this site offers parents an opportunity to share wonderful learning experiences with their children.  From both smaller kids to teens, there seems to be something for all.  One more great thing. They offer similar experiences with BOOKS!

Go here to view a list of archived movies and books with all learning activities and goals attached for your use:

www.kidsoffthecouch.com/archives/index.php

While you are there, take the opportunity to sign up for their newsletter.  Lots of valuable information and resources.

I am always looking for creative ways to keep my kids involved in their homework.  From playing hide n' seek with their spelling words to math race games they can wear me out. Here I am with my oldest daughter at 22 years old all the way to my youngest at 9 and find myself still finding great ways for them to have fun while learning and keeping them involved.  I find through my experience with my own children and my background in high school education all kids learn through having fun no matter what age.  I don't always have time to do all these things nor the energy so I found some great interactive websites that promote fun learning objectives.  Some of them even allow you to imput your own information for example your own spelling words to play hangman.  Other sites are specific to content for example multiplication, division, fractions, language, proofreading, science and history.  I have included some of my favorite links below:

1.  Content specific areas by age group.  Great interactive site:

http://www.iknowthat.com/com

2.  Science content specific areas:

http://www.iknowthat.com/com/L3?Area=Science%20Lab

3. Brainpop: video clips with Tim and Moby specific to any content specific area.  Free trial for 7 days.  Shows a fun animated video on topic and then follows with an interactive quiz and activities.  Available in Jr and spanish versions also.   Love this site!

www.brainpop.com

4.  Quia: For all ages and very appropriate for high school ages also.  This site is created by educators.  I myself in my teaching days used the templates on quia to create vocabulary reinforcement, quizes and reviews in game form like who wants to be a millionaire, battleship and hangman for students to use as aids.  It is free to use shared sites from educators.  This search page will allow you to enter your topic and if desired a specific text you are trying to study from.

http://www.quia.com/shared/search

5.  This site is geared more for younger kids to middleschool and has a full page of different games and content areas.

http://www.lethsd.ab.ca/mmh/games/top100.htm

6.  These sites were given to me for my daughter by her teacher in elementary school.  They are geared for language and proofreading activities.

http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hme/6_8/proofread/proof.htm

http://www.mrnussbaum.com/paragraph1.htm

7.  This site is great for even preschoolers. Pre k - 6th grade.  Looking for something fun, educational and interactive to do?  They have great math games, coloring pages and activities.  If it comes up you need a password and username just ignore and go on it will continue to game and there is no charge.

http://funschool.kaboose.com/index.html

Enjoy!   Looking for something not found here? email me.   Have a suggestion for other's?  email me.

 I have noticed since all the news over the past few months with (Obama) and the presidency that my kids have been pretty involved and interested in the news and listening to what is going on.  Although that is a good thing, I also notice that they start to repeat things that they hear based on where they hear it from.  They form an oppinion based on one persons thoughts even though may be biased, true or untrue.  I think that this is a good time to get them involved not just in this news but other news.  I think that there is a way to talk to them about what is going on, keep their minds interested but also control what it is that their hearing.   For instance a news event might show a violent crime but might not report that crime rate is down.  It might interview people on their thougts on a particular event, but kids might not interpret them as thoughts but as fact because it is on tv.    I have to laugh because it'[s almost like those infomercials when my children watch and say, "Mom if you buy that cleaning item, you will never have to clean again, it does it for you"  Everything for them is taken literally. 

Holiday Stress?  Running around trying to get everything done? I find myself setting aside my family to accomplish everything.  In the end, what have I done? I lost that valuable time I could have spent with them to create a holiday that is over in a day or two.  Those days leading up to the holiday are what define you as a family, not the day itself. 

Take time to enjoy the days that lead up to the holiday, set aside a time that no matter what you have to do can wait; family comes first.   Don't let your family be the first thing you set aside to complete your busy schedule, make your family the first thing you set time aside for. Here are 10 tips on how to enjoy a better family life by incorporating time for the family as part of your schedule.

These are valuable suggestions that are not only good to remember during busy holiday seasons or events but all year long.  Enjoy your family!

To view all ten tips Child services offers . . .  Click here.

How many of these mistakes are you guilty of making with your kid/s? That’s a question I kept asking myself after reading an online article from from Boston University’s School of Education.

In it, Dr. Kevin Ryan, Ph.D lists ten (10) key opportunities a parent has to help their child develop their character. Ryan describes that as, ”. . . habits of honesty, generosity and a sense of justice”.  Role-modeling is, of course, key.

To view all ten tips Dr. Ryan offers . . . and which ones you may not be using with your kids, check out this link:

10 Tips For Raising Children of Character