A Game A Day

Feeling bored? Want to challenge your mind on your lunch break? Maybe you work with schoolagers and need something new and exciting to challenge them. http://www.agameaday.com/ is the website for you.

It's fun and easy for people age 9-99. There are two different levels (I and II) depending on your age/skill. Once you choose your level, you'll see a monthly calendar. Each day of the month has a new game to try. You click on the title of the game for that day, and you play! It's that simple. The directions are given, as well as hints.

I've played some of the games and they can actually be quite challenging. My favorites are Winnie the Pooch and Word Search. The games are interactive and do need to be played online; although you might be able to print off the word search.

The goals of this website are extremely educational: To improve student learning in the areas of:

* Concentration and attention span
* Memory skills
* Hand-eye coordination
* Reading skills
* Writing skills
* Vocabulary and numeracy
* Confidence (through relevant feedback)
* Problem solving and critical thinking

I'd like to tell you about a website that's great for promoting literacy. http://www.sillybooks.net/default.htm is a unique website where children are the authors. Every book on the website is written by children. And every month one story is produced as an animated book, complete with voices, music and sound effects for all to enjoy. There is even a cash prize for the winning stories!

This website has a lot more than just books though. Children can find games, stories, poems, jokes, puzles, etc. Games include memory match, counting, jigsaw puzzles, and numerous other games that stimulate cognitive development. The games are simple, but they're interactive and educational. There are a couple games for older children as well.

CHILD BONUS- Another nice bonus is that all the words, instructions, jokes, etc. are typed for the child to see. They are highlighted as that particular word is read so the child can follw along.

TEACHER BONUS- Click on Classroom to find resources categorized by age and subject. You'll find some animated songs that teach. You'll also find The Dolch high frequency basic sight word list. This list identifies 220 non-noun words that beginning readers should be able to recognize on sight in order to build a solid foundation for reading.

If you know a child between the ages 4-16, encourage them to let their imagination run wild as they author their very own story. The contest rules, as taken from the sillybooks.net website, are below.

Contest Dates: September 1, 2007 through May 31, 2008.

• Children are invited to write a silly book on any topic, but it must be under 300 words. It may be fiction or non-fiction. Books may be written by individual authors or in collaboration with friends or classmates, but all participants must be 16 years of age or younger.

• SillyBooks will choose a winning entry each month, between September, 2007 and April, 2008 (8 total monthly winners).

• SillyBooks' visitors will vote on their favorite entries each month. Individuals may visit SillyBooks.net as often as they like to vote on their favorite entries each month.

• A panel of SillyBooks judges will choose the monthly winner from the top three entries each month.

• SillyBooks will pay a $25 cash prize to each monthly winning author.

• SillyBooks will produce each monthly winning book as a Flash animated picture book. Each winning book will be professionally illustrated, recorded by professional actors, and animated by one of our talented group of animators. SillyBooks pays all costs of producing each month's winning book.

• SillyBooks will post the finished books on the web site (www.sillybooks.net) each month for viewers to read and enjoy.

Ask A Toddler

This post is a more light-hearted post. I'm introducing to you a video posted on YouTube regarding a toddler. It's pretty comical because the toddler is 'teaching' other children how to throw a tantrum. Obviously the child is coached, but it still makes for a hilarious video. She's pretty accurate too in the process.

In case you have a child that needs a little assistance with throwing tantrums, rest assured he/she can get the training needed from Ask A Toddler: How to Throw a Tantrum!!!

You can view this adorable video at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=WLKukwm9ODo

Alert! Latest Baby Einsteins Research!

We've all heard the claim: put your baby in front of the TV to watch a "Baby Einstein" or "Brainy Baby" video and they'll get smarter. The latest research, however, goes against this claim stating that it may actually do more harm than good! Click on the link below to go directly to this article and read for yourself.

http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1650352,00.html

Personally, I didn't allow my son to watch TV until he was nearly 2 yrs. old. Why? Even though all the hype/media said "Watch Baby Einsteins" or other baby programs, NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) recommends no TV until 2 years of age. NAEYC also says, "Children under seven are particularly vulnerable to powerful images," referring to violence and language in television shows.

When reading a study, make sure to find out who conducted the study and if it's reliable. Here's another article involving TV watching and autism. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061017150526.htm

"The analysis shows that early childhood television viewing could be an environmental trigger for the onset of autism and strongly points to the need for more research by experts in the field of autism. Our analysis is not definitive, but it certainly raises questions that seem to have gone unasked in autism research to date." (Cornell University)

There are so many different studies being done, concluding different theories. The important message in this post is to limit TV watching in young children and be aware of research around you. Children learn through active play, reading and being read to, interacting and imagining. It's difficult to do all those things while passively watching TV. Let me give you a few statistics from the American Academy of Pediatrics: Children in the United States watch about 4 hours of TV every day. Children who watch too much television are are more likely to be overweight. If your child watches 3 to 4 hours of noneducational TV per day, he will have seen about 8,000 murders on TV by the time he finishes grade school. Television exposes children to adult behaviors, like sex. Television affects how your child learns. The average child sees more than 20,000 commercials each year. These statistics were taken from the http://www.aap.org/family/tv1.htm website.

Just a reminder to providers and parents: limit TV watching, video game playing, computers, etc., watch TV with your child, choose appropriate channels/shows, and don't forget to be a good role model!!!

Connect for Kids

Connect for Kids, is an advocacy website for adults, both parents and providers. If you have not visited this site before or recently, check it out!

You can search archives by topic, content, or guides. The archives include many topics such as child safety, diversity, education, family income, health, history of childhood, kids and politics, media, parenting, taking action, and youth at risk. You can also read blogs, articles, field reports, etc.

You can even subscribe to a newsletter for recent news, research and policy developments from the child development field. Finally, you can search for state specific information.

One place on this website that I find particularily useful is the Child Care for Very Young Resource (Guides: Action Central) There are many more links and articles by specialists directly related to early childhood.

As mentioned before, I recommend this site for both parents and providers. The information is valid and constantly updated. New parents and well as veteran providers will find this website useful and easy to navigate around.

Happy Reading!