Transportation Tuesday

There is something rather maniacal in Salty's grin as he exits the tunnel to discover this huge traffic jam.

The Sharing Ball

It would be the understatement of the century to say that Kiddo does not like sharing. I know that most kids have trouble with sharing, blah blah blah. But, seriously, his fear of other kids touching or looking at his stuff borders on pathological. If your kid always shares readily, you have a marvelous child.

My latest tactic to combat his misanthropy is "the sharing ball". I informed Kiddo that we were going to purchase 2 new balls, which of course put him over the moon. New toys! However, these two balls were only to be played with with other kids. A few words on the balls themselves will serve as a reminder. I'm sure it won't solve the problem completely, but I am hopeful that it means we can actually contribute some toys to park playdates. Up to now Kiddo has adamantly refused to bring his own toys because, Heaven forbid, another kid might touch them.
More tips on sharing appreciated.

Weekend Bonus Post for California Natives

There are many, many things I enjoy about living in New York City, but I am still a California girl at heart. Although in the wild they are long faded for the year in their native state, I have a blossoming collection of California Poppies in my community garden plot. If I keep them watered and deadheaded, they will be a cheerful and colorful reminder of The Golden State all summer long.

Super Reader

I only discuss Kiddo's literacy skills with people I know really well. People I know who won't just think I am some crazed alpha mom with flash cards and a Harvard interview scheduled for 2023. If I talked about it at the playground or at soccer it might just sound like I was bragging. But somehow it seems okay to discuss it on internet land. Or maybe I just desperately want to brag about my child.

Kiddo can pretty much read anything you put in front of him. Sure, he needs help with words like "notorious" and "indefatigable" but there's no glossing it over... he can read. He has been reading regularly since he was about 3.5 but it wasn't until I got him the Bob Books that I realized how well he actually could read. I never needed the second set. What was the point? And although we certainly did some word games and activities I never really thought I was teaching him how to read, that is what is amazing.

Now, when we go to the library, he heads straight for the easy reader section and chooses a stack of books to read. Most of the time, he still prefers that I read to him, but he usually likes the read his "level 1" (though he also chooses level 2) the first time by himself. (Sidenote: why are so many easy readers based on TV characters? That is so annoying.) Also he feels a lot of ownership over his ability to read. As he should!

I also know that there is a big difference between being able to decode words and being able to decode stories so I never push him to read, it is always his choice. I want to make sure his reading comprehension skills are on a par with his reading skills.

And that is my brag post of the day.

A Rose By Any Other Word

June is Rose Month at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens.

Transportation Tuesday

This delivered....
all of these...
to here.

How Swede It Is

It has been a rainy and cool June. But why are people complaining? When it is 90 and humid in August they will be complaining it's too hot and sticky. I like the weather, but was happy the blue skies made a one day appearance last Friday for the Swedish Midsummer Festival. Every year, in homage to my maternal ancestors, in the shadow of Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty, we celebrate the coming of summer with meatballs, lingonberries, flower crowns, midsummer poles, folk music and cheesy ABBA covers.Fortunately, the Staten Island Ferry provides entertainment for my 4 year old.

Map Activities, part 5

Recently, on the crankiest day of the year, I purchased this puzzle. (How should I file that in my budget planning: emergency expense? mental health medical necessity?) It turned out to be a great investment. Not only did it save the day but it has provided much independent entertainment since then.

Puppet Play

I saw this activity at Living and Learning and Sunny Day Today Mama and thought it might be fun. Kiddo and I both cut out some animals (can you tell who cut what?) and taped them to popsicle sticks. Kiddo wanted me to play with him and with his direction the animals started telling each other about their environments and what kinds of food they ate. So Kiddo turned into a bit of a learning experience, too.

Transportation Tuesday

Homemade Airport, complete with AirTrain.

Shakespeare in the (Ball)Park

This past weekend TheaterSmarts performed Much Ado About Nothing in a local park. I took Kiddo with me, thinking that he would play on the playground with Daddy-O while I watched the show. Well, it was raining, but we stayed anyway and to my delight he enjoyed watching the show. He clearly had no idea what the story was, but there was slapstick at regular enough intervals that he lasted about an hour... or up to the marriage scene in this edited version (which was also baseball themed).
I look forward to dragging him to more Shakespeare over the years.

Cooking by the Book: Strawberry Shortcake

It would be an understatement to say that I love strawberries. But I will say it: I love strawberries. My carbon footprint increases dramatically every summer due to my love of strawberries because sadly, NY and NJ strawberries (if you are lucky to even find any that are organic) just don't compare to the ones from CA. When I lived in the land of plenty, I used to buy half a flat at the farmer's market each week and eat them all myself. In two days. That is how much I love strawberries.

So before I begin this post I will mention that my love for strawberries is for strawberries in their unadulterated state. I don't use them to make cakes, tarts, sauces or jams. They need to be fresh, sweet and in a bowl. However, I caved into Kiddo's request to make a strawberry shortcake after reading Cook-a-Doodle-Do. I really love Janet Stevens' illustrations. If you haven't read the hilarious The Great Fuzz Frenzy, you are in for a treat. Tops and Bottoms is also wonderful.

But I digress, on to the photos.
...a recipe was included in the book....Kiddo loved the sifting...cutting the strawberries was good motor skills practice...he prepared the first layer...ta da!
Judging by Kiddo's plate, I would say his love of strawberries equals my own. Drat, now I have to share.

The Magic Ribbon Wand

Do you remember those ribbons on a stick that you used to make up dance routines when you were a preteen? Not that I did that, I'm just saying....

Well, one of the girls in our art playgroup brought one with her to the park and Kiddo became so enamored of it he told me we were going to take it home. Obviously we didn't, but we made one ourselves! Kiddo chose a stick, we wrapped it with red masking tape (I thought it would be nice au natural, but he preferred the tape) and attached some lengths of red ribbon (I never throw nice ribbons away when they come my way, they always come in handy) and Kiddo even chose this piece of fake hydrangea to top it off. The ribbon twirls better if you distance it from the end of the stick with some string or a chain.

Perfect for dance routines!

Transportation Tuesday

Printing Press

If you've been reading this blog for a while you may have realized I don't do crafty projects. Some kids and moms love them. I don't and Kiddo could not care less. So we don't do them. We like free art. My favorite authors are Susan Striker and Mary Ann Kohl. (If anyone has any other book recommendations along these lines, I'd love to know them.) To my delight we found a new art class which has nothing to do with making bunnies out of cotton balls or frogs out of paper plates. Each week a new printing material is introduced and the kids are encouraged to use the materials how they want. No pressure to make something "recognizable".

For those of you who are interested in new art projects which don't involve crafts, I have been posting the results of our class over at Kiddo's Art. Looking at Kiddo's art will probably bore you, but if you like these kind of free art experiences you might be interested in the process. We have a few weeks left so check back through June to see what we did.

The Wooden O

Bonus points if you know the reference in this post's title! (I can't help myself)

A recent trip to the Lefferts House demonstrated the intoxicating pleasure of a simple wooden circle.

Who needs electronic toys or licensed characters to have fun?A pair of stilts is good too.

Geometry Lesson

I'm always on the lookout for math skills activities to build on Kiddo's love of numbers, especially fraction activities. I really want this puzzle but it's a bit pricey. Fortunately, we were given a lot of great hand-me-down toys from a former neighbor, including these pattern blocks We found a new way to use them: Kiddo put them in a muffin tin to explore the relationship between the shapes and sizes.

Montessori Mom has been having some good leads on fraction fun lately, but I'm looking for stuff that doesn't always involve print-outs. Measuring in cooking is good. Does any out-of-the-box ideas for visual fractions?

House of Cards

Attempting to stem the tide of the evening crazies, I handed Kiddo a box that contained 4 decks of cards and a Skip-bo game, all jumbled up. I thought if I suggested that he sort them, his OCD tendencies/numbers obsession might take over and keep him busy for a while. It worked.
When he was done I showed him what was "special" about the playing cards and he sorted one deck first into groups by number/letter...
and then into groups by suit.I think he was quiet for an hour. Sometimes I feel so masterful.

String Theory

This is an easy art project that works those fine motor skills. All you need is some glue and an excess of yarn or string. If your child is old enough, allow him to cut the string himself. That step allows them to have more ownership over the process and final product.
After cutting up the string, put glue down (Let them use as much as they want! Glue is cheap.) they can use the string to follow the glue lines.... or whatever they want, really.
Some kids (not mine, for some reason) might like to use the string or yarn to make pictures... but I wouldn't encourage or suggest it, just let them explore.