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| Summer LEARNING School is almost over for the summer and most students are anticipating it to be full of fun and laughter and vacations but don't forget to feed their brains. It can be as simple as a weekly trip to the library for a treasured book., or making cookies by having them follow all the steps in the recipe or on the box. Sears has an excellent site for summer learning.with lesson plans that are fun and exciting for children. http://school.familyeducation.com/summer/family-learning/36089.html The Backyard Volcano Age: Elementary and up Time: About 15 minutes Type of Activity: Backyard science Encourage your children to explore science in their own backyard. Plant a garden, catch butterflies, or better yet, build a live volcano! Sound tricky? You'll be surprised. MaryAnn Kohl, author of the book Science Arts, makes it easy with the following simple instructions. Materials needed: · Baking pan · Soda bottle (16 or 20 oz.) · Moist soil · 1 tablespoon baking soda · 1 cup vinegar · Red food coloring · The great outdoors! Experiment Step One: Place the baking pan on the grass, and set the soda bottle in the middle of the pan. Step Two: Mound and shape the moist soil around the bottle to form a mountain. Bring the soil right up to the top of the bottle's opening, but don't get the soil inside the bottle. Step Three: Pour one tablespoon of baking soda into the bottle. Step Four: Color one cup of vinegar with red food coloring. Step Five: Pour the colored vinegar into the bottle. Stand back and watch red foam spray out of the top and down the mountain like lava from a volcano. The Generic Art Game Want to talk to your kids about art? Pick a piece of art and ask your child whether or not he or she likes it. Why or why not? Remember to tell your child that there are no right answers! 1. Look carefully at the work of art in front of you. What colors do you see in it? Take turns listing the specific colors that you see (for example: "I see red." "I see purple.") 2. What do you see in the work of art in front of you? Take turns listing the objects that you see (for example: "I see an apple." "I see a triangle.") 3. What is going on in this work of art? Take turns mentioning whatever you see happening, no matter how small. 4. Does anything you have noticed in this work of art so far (for example: colors, objects, or events) remind you of something in your own life? Take turns answering. 5. Is this work of art true to life? How real has the artist made things look? 6. What ideas and emotions do you think this work of art expresses? 7. Do you have a sense of how the artist might have felt when he or she made this work of art? Does it make you feel one way or another? 8. Take a look at the other works of art displayed around this one. Do they look alike? What is similar about the way they look (for example: objects, events, feelings, the way they are made)? What is different? 9. What would you have called this work of art if you had made it yourself? Does the title of the work, if there is one, make sense to you? 10. Think back on your previous observations. What have you discovered from looking at this work of art? Have you learned anything about yourself or others? Now that the game is over, ask your kids again: Do you like this work of art? Why or why not? Has your reaction to the work changed? Do you like it more or less than you did in the beginning? Why? There arre lots more experiments and fun stuff to do. ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE IN YOUR HEART Our children are there to remind us! Their hearts seem to understand that there are those ( people, and animals) that have less than they do and respond with much more charity than adults with their busy lives. This is where we can have a positive impact by showing them that even the smallest kindness can change the world around them. Their are two very tangable effects of taking the time helping children find ways to help. It helps connect children to their (local, nation or international) community and helps children better understand and cope with unpleasant events There are many ways parents (and teachers and mentors) can introduce the concept of philanthropy into the hearts and minds of children. 1. Help your child decide what organizations to give the donations to. Local non-profits addressing children’s issues or organizations addressing topics of interest to your child (such as animal sanctuaries) are all good candidates for giving. 2. Encourage the child to regularly set aside part of the money they get or earn for charity. Popular possibilities include allotting: 1/3 for spending, 1/3 for saving, and 1/3 for giving, or ½ for spending, ¼ for saving, and ¼ for giving, or any other combiation of monatary allotment. 3. Match the child’s monetary contribution to the charity of their choice. It can be a 1-to-1 match or more or less, depending on the amount and your particular circumstances. 4. Have your child donate gently used cloths, books, and toys to a local charity. 5. When there is a drive for canned goods, new school supplies, new toys, etc. have your child pick out what to purchase and donate. Make sure the child understands the item(s) are not for him/her to keep. 6. Encourage your child to volunteer in meaningful and interesting ways. As your child gets older the volunteer opportunities will only increase; most volunteer opportunities have relatively high age minimums. However, even young children can take part in certain volunteer jobs: Cleaning up a park of roadside Passing water out to participants at a fund-raising run Visiting, reading to, and playing games with residents at a nursing home Writing get-well cards to hospital patients or thank you cards to military service members Helping prepare mass mailings (ie, stuffing envelopes) Most kids can more readily relate to other children who are hurting. Involving kids in programs that help other kids may be the perfect way to instill a lifelong attitude of giving to charity. Giving back to the community in the form of food-and-clothing drives is a good way to start. Even small children can participate in giving to charity. Ask a child to choose an item of clothing or a toy that he or she no longer uses, to donate to children that have few clothes and perhaps no toys at all. When you do your weekly grocery shopping, ask each of your children to pick out an item or two to donate to the local food pantry. http://www.compassionatekids.com/volunteering.shtml http://www.childrenforchildren.org/ www.TheVolunteerFamily.org/Children |