Chores for Charity

During the month of November, Z's school asked each child to do chores around the house to earn money to go and buy canned goods for the food pantry.  Z took this job very seriously and worked hard to earn money and felt a lot of pride as he went to the grocery store to pick out the food to donate.

This school project inspired me to continue it into December but this time I thought it might be nice for Z to pick a charity to work towards.  I gave him three choices....a charity to help people have clean water, a charity that would give a needy family a farm animal to help nourish them or a charity to help families build a house.  He chose to earn money to help buy a family an animal and is currently working toward a share of a cow (his choice).  This picture was taken a while ago and he is currently up to $11.  He has a ways to go until he gets to his $50 goal but Christmas is not the deadline for us.  He will work until he accomplishes his goal and then he will go online to make his donation to Heifer International.

I hope that this project will be the kick off of to the new piggy bank system that I want to start with him.  I want him to start placing his money into three categories....save, spend and share.  Right now all his money just sits in his piggy bank until something he REALLY wants comes up and then he spends it all :)  We will take it all one step at a time, after all he is only five.

"T says Ta"

I had heard great things about Leap Frog's Letter Factory DVD from a few different people but I wasn't sure that I wanted Z to learn his letter sounds from TV, I am a teacher after all :) I have been working with Z on learning both his letter sounds and lower case letters for most of the summer but we weren't getting very far. We use teachable moments to do this (letters on signs, in books or in his letter puzzle), so please don't think I sit there with flashcards and drill the poor child. He was really struggling with the concept of letter sounds and so I even caved and got him the refrigerator leap frog letters in hopes that they would reinforce what I had been teaching him. He could care less about that toy and only pressed the ABC song button to hear the whole alphabet. Last week I finally decided to give the DVD a try.

It was going to be a birthday gift but I was so tired one day, I took it out to watch it with him (with my feet up). We were both taken in right away by the cute animation and wonderful story. The premise is that Leap and his sister Lily and baby brother Tad are going to help their dad and mom with a big presentation at their dad's letter factory. They are trying to convince a famous author to do a talking alphabet book and Leap's dad says his letters are the best in the world. While the dad shows the author around the factory, Leap and Lily practice for the big presentation. Little Tad is not included (because he does not know his letters) and goes off sadly. It is then that he runs into the professor of the factory who gives him a tour of the letter training facility. Each room is dedicated to a different letter and it is here that they train to make the correct sound.

The movie is only 33 minutes long and so well organized. Four or five letters are introduced at one time (each with a very memorable scene...A is scared by a monster so it says "aaahhhh") and then they are repeated. The professor continues to sing the same song from the refrigerator magnets as well for each letter..."the A says aahhh, the A says aahhh, every letter makes a sound, the A says aahh". After two viewings of this movie (Z would watch it every day if I let him), Z already had half of the letter sounds down. After his third viewing yesterday, he was at his chalkboard "writing" the letters and singing the song for each letter. He points out letters everywhere we go and tells me the sounds. He probably knows 18 out of 26 at this point and loves to talk about this film. He is also playing with the magnets and singing along. It is AMAZING!

Now I am just a mom, sharing this information with you. I have no stock in Leap Frog, nobody asked me to review this DVD, I just LOVE it. If you are hoping to introduce letters or letter sounds to someone you love, I highly recommend it :)

It is still not too late to enter my first ever give away :) Read this post to find out more :)

Z's First Day of Preschool

'Twas the night before preschool, when all through the house

excitement was stirring, thank god it wasn’t a mouse;

The backpack was packed with extra clothes and underwear

So in case of an accident, we would be prepared.

The child was nervous, his mom was a mess

While the daddy acted calm, no feelings of dread

After 3 stories, a drink and a hug so tight,

Z finally settled down for a long, long night,

When out to the store the daddy ran like a flash,

To get a special treat to celebrate Z’s first day bash.

A small trinket for Z was all that we’d need,

But daddy had too much fun at the toy store, indeed .

He spent much more than he should of, it’s true

But he loves his dear son and was very nervous too,

When, what to my tired eyes should appear,

But insomnia of course, there would be no sleep, oh dear!

We tossed and we turned all night with a jerk,

When you’re nervous why does sleep have to be so much work.

More rapid than eagles the daytime it came,

And I hopped out of bed and woke Z for the big game!

"Now, potty! now, breakfast! Let’s get dressed real quick!

Now photos! Now backpack! I think I’ll be sick!

To the back of the car! No please don’t stall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

To the preschool we drove just as fast as we could,

Trying not to drive too fast through the hood,

So to Z’s school we quickly drove up,

With the car full of jitters, and mommy trying not to throw up.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard from the back,

a nervous little giggle and a cute little laugh.

As I opened my door, and was turning around,

Z’s little face looked so cute and showed no sign of a frown.

He was dressed in new clothes, from his head to his toes,

He looked so damn cute, oh how fast he does grow;

A bundle of love sitting there in front of me,

Was growing up so fast, how scary to see.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! He was ready for this!

His cheeks were all flushed and he gave me a kiss!

I was the proud mamma of this cute little guy

And now it was his turn to reach for the sky.

We walked down to class, we both let out a sigh,

Holding hands so tightly, trying both not to cry;

He ran for his coat hook and right to the paints,

I followed closely and heard no complaints.

A few little pictures of my cute little guy,

Then I gave him a kiss and I said, “good-bye”;

A look of panic washed over him, all over his face

so I hugged him again, just one last embrace

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his painting

And I quietly walked out, how this day was so draining,

I climbed up the stairs with my friend K by my side,

And burst into tears, the only adult who cried!

The teacher came up and told us they were all doing fine.

Now only if I could enjoy a nice glass of wine!

At the end of the day Z was all smiles and hugs

And mommy just wishes she could take some strong drugs,

It’s been a long day but it turned out just right

"Happy Preschool to all, and to all a good-night."

Copyright © RaisingZ 2009 All Rights Reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced without written consent from the author.

Kindermusik

Every week Z and I get so excited to walk into Ms. R’s Kindermusik studio. Ms. R is one of the nicest and enthusiastic people I have ever met. She loves children and is a phenomenal music teacher.

If you have not yet heard of Kindermusik, I suggest checking out their website. Find a class near you and they will allow you to try it once for free. If the teacher in your area is half as good as Ms. R you will not be disappointed!

Z and I started Kindermusik just before he turned 4 months. Back then he was barely sitting up and would just watch the older kids sit, crawl and walk around him. The first class, called Village, is geared for children 0-18 months. This makes for a wide span of ability but it is so fun to watch each child grow throughout the class. Each Village class is 8 weeks long and they usually offer 2 a session.

Z has truly transformed in Ms. R’s Kindermusik classroom. He went from observer to active participant. He now runs around, plays the instruments, dances and claps along. He has not found his musical voice yet but as soon as he does I know he will add singing to the mix. Z loves music and I know that Ms. R is a big part of that.

Z has now moved onto the Our Time class, which is for children 18-36 months. He moved up a little early but seems to love it just as much. This class is still parent/child class but there it encourages them to be a little more independent. In the last four weeks since starting the class I have seen such a change in Z. He was very hesitant about picking out his own instruments at first and would let all of the other kids go first....now he is much more confident and is one of the first in line. Kindermusik has classes for children up through age 7 and they also have Family classes if you have more than one child. I highly recommend checking out the website and trying out a class. I know you will be happy that you did!

It's Letter Time

Check out our new letter board! It might not be the easel that I wanted off craigslist but it works great and takes up much less space. I bought the board (which is also a dry erase board) at Staples for $20. The letters are from Parents Magazine and can be found at Target. They are big and chunky and perfect for little hands. They were only $16.24 :) Z loves it and we enjoy singing the ABC's as we put the different letters up :)

Old MacDonald Had a Farm....

This website I found called DLTK's Growing Together is awesome!!! I found it the other day when I was looking for directions on how to make a flannel board for Z. Well I decided to go with a magnetic board instead and I found these cute printables on the DLTK website. This is our Old MacDonald had a Farm set :) Z loves them. We sing the song and put each animal on the board around the barn. I am using a cookie sheet right now but I hope to someday upgrade to a real magnetic board (or a $10 easel I found on craigslist ;)). I also printed out the 5 little Snowflake poem and 5 little ducks. I think there are endless possibilities with this project. I printed them out, glued them to cardstock, cut them out and then covered them in clear contact paper. I made sure to cover the magnets that I bought in contact paper too....don't want my little guy swallowing magnets!!! I highly recommend this fun and easy project that will lead to years of fun!

And the Letter of the Week is....

I have been reading a lot on child development lately and often wonder and worry if I am giving Z all he needs throughout the day. I want to make sure that I am helping him to grow into a strong and independent person who cares a lot about people and the world around him. I want to make sure I am providing him with enough experiences that will help to stimulate and cultivate his little mind. My reading has been quite interesting and I really like the book Baby Minds by Dr. Linda Acredelo and Dr. Susan Goodwyn. They have so many great ideas and activities for children 0-3 to help with their brain development. One of the activities I was most attracted to was the "Letter of the Week". They say to set your home up like Sesame Street and to introduce a new letter each week. This introduction is not meant to teach them their letters and sounds but meant to be "food for thought". You expose them early so that when they come across letters later they will be familiar (giving them that prior knowledge). I thought Z was a little young for this but felt as long as it was fun and light (no drill and kill, forcing flashcards down his throat).....I would give it a try.

Then I visited my friends daycare center last Friday and as always was blown away :) Her 16 month olds knew letters! They could point to the B, C, G, O and a few others. They recognized the first letter of their classmates name!!!! It was remarkable to see these little guys identifying different letters. I was blown away and planned to start our letter of the week the next week:)

My friend E who owns and operates the daycare center is amazing. It is unbelievable what these kids have already learned at such a young age and she has only been open for 3 1/2 months!!! Last June when trying to figure out a way to stay home with her daughter (and not return to teaching) she decided to open a daycare center. And so 4 months later (after a lot of sweat and tears) a daycare she opened! My friend E is one of the most energetic and enthusiastic people I know and I was not surprised to see her turn one of her rental properties into a cute and adorable daycare center.

The center has 10 children right now (most of them between 13-16 months) and is doing some amazing things. They cook every week, create amazing art projects, have circle every morning (imagine a circle with mostly one year-olds!!!) and all of the children are learning Baby Signs (R) (which I had a small hand in because I trained her staff and did a workshop for the parents of the center).

Now this place is wonderful and if I lived closer to her I would be more willing to return to work and allow my Z to grow up under E's love and care. Z is now an honorary member of the center and we plan to visit at least once a month to see all the amazing things they are up to :)

Well I am happy to report that this week is all about the letter Z (hmmmm I wonder why we started with Z :)). We have Z's hanging all around, pictures of Z items (mostly Z himself), have been singing about the letter Z (mostly songs we make up) and have been making Z's out of cheerios etc. It has been a blast and Z can even say Z and point to it when we ask :) I am having so much fun "teaching" my son and can't wait until next week...maybe it will be M week for mom?????