Mary Manz Simon's Blog, page 30
July 3, 2017
A “cultural” vacation?
Trending among families this summer: cultural vacations.
A kid-friendly journey into a different part of the city or a family bike tour can expose a child to various cultures in a local or nearby area, for a “staycation” that offers more.
Children can sample new foods, hear and see unfamiliar languages and fast-track interactive, multi-cultural exposure.
June 30, 2017
STEM camp at home
STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) camps are popular again, but a child doesn’t need to attend a formal STEM program to increase STEM fluency.
Activate your child’s STEM learning by asking your child to predict, observe, collect information or test hypotheses. This can happen when you cook supper, go to a zoo, take a hike or boat on a lake.
Informal opportunities can trigger curiosity and interest as well as classroom settings. STEM learning can happen anytime, anywhere. A parent doesn’t need to be STEM-fluent to nurture a STEM-smart child!
June 28, 2017
Camp connections
Real time updates on new platforms mean parents have more ways to hover over their camper.
Both day and overnight programs have upped the number of quick updates that go home.
Photos and videos of campers and their activities sent home throughout the day are easy to forward to long distance friends and relatives, too.
June 26, 2017
A tightly scheduled summer
Statisticians and social historians continue to say that parents of young children are incorporating unstructured play into their child’s lives.
I wish that were true, but around me, I even see preschoolers jumping between programs, organized activities and camps.
I believe moms and dads will need to be more intentional about raising independent, self-reliant children before schedules loosen up. That surely isn’t happening this summer.
June 23, 2017
Reshopper moms
The summer garage sale season has never been more spectacular.
As more moms adopt repurposing and simplification as lifestyle elements, the resale economy is alive and well on suburban driveways.
June 21, 2017
CVS land grab
Have your kids missed the candy, yet?
Your CVS might be one of the locations that is substituting healthier food options for candy near the check-out counter.
The move is part of a bigger focus on wellness products, as the chain tries to position itself as a health retailer.
Several years ago, the CVS move to remove tobacco products earned them goodwill. Will repositioning the sweet stuff have a similar impact?
June 19, 2017
Homework policy updates?
The school homework policy is sure to be on the agenda for many elementary administrators this summer.
Last year, some schools substituted daily overnight reading for homework assignments in various subjects. That reflects research which says students younger than those in middle school have minimal benefit from homework, but do benefit from daily reading.
Yet the “no homework hassles” have, rather surprisingly, drawn some opposition from parents. When helping with homework, these moms and dads stay in touch with what and how their children are learning.
Reading together or reading aloud to each other seems like a simple solution. Reading often triggers conversations. Perhaps parents who share a book with their child don’t discuss math facts or a science experiment, but reading can trigger conversations about even more significant elements of life than academics.
June 16, 2017
Disrupted Dinner
Research consistently supports the importance of family mealtime. Benefits include healthier eating and children who learn vocabulary, have fewer behavior problems and lower substance abuse.
But dinnertime disruptions – in the form of sports and/or tech – continue to impact this important time of day.
If kids are active in sports, attendance is mandatory at games and practices. There aren’t a lot of options.
But there are real choices when it comes to tech. Do your kids a favor: turn off the TV and leave the phone in another room. Researchers have documented that even the mere presence of a phone diminishes the quality of conversation.
Devices remain an unwelcome dinner guest.
June 14, 2017
A snacky season
Are you prepared for the summer snacking season?
The lines between snacks and meals blur in June, July and August when kids are out of school. The challenge is to stock the pantry and frig with fresh, high quality, nutritious foods.
Young summer snackers want to eat immediately and continuously. Help kids avoid filling up with quick-grab processed favorites, by stopping frequently at the produce department and farmers markets.
June 12, 2017
To share or not to share?
Our sharing economy has triggered countless embarrassing images appearing online.
Although transparency is becoming a cultural virtue, consider where you set sharing boundaries. After all, a picture of a naked six month old might not seem funny or harmless when that child is a tween or teen.
