For all of us, no matter what kind of school our kids go to, or what sort of summer routine (or lack thereof) we’ve had, the event of heading back to school is a powerful universal, something that nearly all families experience collectively.
I opted to check in with a teacher to get the professional perspective on ways to get kids to make the seasonal shift successfully. Currently teaching fifth grade at The Learning Community, a charter school in Central Falls, Maureen Nosal has been in the classroom for 16 years. As she gets ready to welcome students into her classroom, she offers some thoughts on what families can do to help create the best summer-to-school transition.
Hit the Sack
Nosal believes that lack of sleep poses one of the greatest challenges to students as they return to school. “Kids and parents are busy, with busy lives.,” says Nosal. “What we see in the classroom is a lot of yawning. During those first few weeks back, kids don’t have enough stamina or resilience. Some of them get frustrated easily and they can’t make it through the day intact.” The solution, of course, is to go to bed early enough, winding down screen time and other excitement early enough so that kids are used to getting to bed at a suitable hour, and focusing on maintaining a consistent routine during the first few weeks of school until it becomes a habit. (Author’s note: on Tuesday nights for as long as its season lasts, Wipeout will be the biggest challenge to bedtime in our house. It has been a summer delight, but unsurprisingly, with three young boys, it is not particularly soothing or soporific.)
Every week on GoLocalProv I share tips on how families can make the most of their weekend — including helpful hints that make parenting easier and connecting you to great local happenings.
Time to choose the best out of the zillions of pictures you took this summer and print it on archival photo paper. Help your kids make a frame out of shells or rocks collected from the beach. Attach shells to an old picture frame using a glue gun or Aileen’s tacky glue, let dry and insert photo. Perfect way to preserve summer fun!
Kido Tip 2. Celebrate DIY fun followed by WaterFire.
Maker Faire features hands-on making, building & hacking, culinary crafting, garage technology, arts and creativity for sale culminating with a WaterFire in the Creative Capital! You and your kids will dig seeing how people make their own things (robots, musical instruments, air conditioners, etc.) and a have chance to tinker yourselves. Maker Faire is an all ages, free event from 3-11pm on Saturday, Aug 28th at Bank of America Skating Center.
Here is my 2010 list of fun ways my family is celebrating the last care-free days of summer vacation—before school starts and the days get shorter and the nights get colder. Some were on last years’ list, but some traditions are worth repeating.
1. Head to the beach for boogie boarding, castle building and wave splashing. Our favorites are Second Beach in Newport, RI, Narragansett Town Beach, RI and South Beach in Chatham, MA.
2. Have a potluck picnic with friends at a park, a beach or backyard.
3. Visit Waterfire in downtown Providence, lighting occurs just after sunset.
4. Take a hike and collect natural materials. Build a fairy house in the woods.
7. Have a leisurely bagel breakfast with the family on our porch.
8. Visit Acme Video and choose a great summer film like Finding Nemo, Nim’s Island, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Surf’s Up or Treasure Island to watch for family movie night.
9. Have friends over—after the kids are in bed—and sip summer cocktails on the porch.
New York City’s interactive, educational music experience for parents and children debuts in Providence this fall!
Rock-a-Baby, founded by Pawtucket native Marc Trachtenberg in 2007 at the JCC on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, is an interactive, educational music experience for infants and toddlers ages 4 months to 4 years. Marc recently relocated back to the Providence area, bringing Rock-a-Baby along with him. He and two other energetic musicians/teachers will lead infants and toddlers in an exploration of rock, pop, blues, traditional, and classical music genres by singing songs, playing games and instruments, and dancing. Each week a different theme will be explored with the help of whimsical puppets—Rhythm, Melody, and Harmony.
The Jewish Community Center of Rhode Island (JCCRI) announced that it will be offering the Rock-a-Baby infant and toddler music program as part of its fall 2010 programming. JCCRI, located on Providence’s East Side, is a diverse neighborhood center offering fitness, childcare, classes and enrichment opportunities, rooted in a deep sense of community. While some programs offer insight into Jewish tradition and heritage, the center is not exclusive to the Jewish community and prides itself onhaving “community” as its middle name.
“We are so proud to offer the first Rock-a-Baby music classes in Rhode Island,” stated Nicole Katzman, director of PJ Library & Shalom Baby of the JCCRI. “We believe the Providence community will embrace the wide variety of music and appreciate the welcoming atmosphere and playful energy. Not only will the children be educated and entertained, but the adults will be too!”
Founder Marc Trachtenberg earned his BS in music education from New York University and has over 15 years’ experience as a professional songwriter, entertainer, and educator. Marc’s Rock-a-Baby takes your average Mommy and Me music class to a whole new level. “After years of teaching by day and gigging by night,” he says, “I saw an opportunity to blend my musical background into something inspiring for young audiences, and their grown-ups too.” Marc’s diverse and extensive experience culminates with Rock-a-Baby.
“We are excited to be able to partner with JCCRI to bring Rock-a-Baby to the Providence community,” says Marc. “We want to foster a love of music at an early age. Through the repetition of rhythm and improvisation, using musical instruments made for children, melodic recognition, and hand and body movement and more, we help to stimulate infants’ and toddlers’ development.” As the Rock-a-Baby theme song claims, “With songs from Bach to hip-hop, we’ll put on a show, we’re not gonna stop!”
Visit the Rock-a-Baby website for more information. To register for classes, contact Stephanie Trachtenberg at Stephanie@rock-a-baby.net or 401.524.5120. Tell her you heard about it on Kidoinfo!
When my boys were younger and having a birthday party, my husband and I added “no gifts necessary” to the invitations.
Toys and gifts seemed to come into our house all year long from loving relatives, so when it came time for my sons’ birthday, we asked their friends to just come and play at their party. This worked well in terms of avoiding an influx of unnecessary toys and extra expense for the guests at the party. That is, until my boys were about five years old and started noticing that friends were receiving presents at their parties.
I usually do not cave to whatever my kids want, but at the the same time I could not come up with a good enough reason why friends could not bring gifts other than “because I said so” or “because I think it is a good idea”—especially when there is so much fun surrounding the idea of gift-giving—so we dropped the no-gift rule.
Gifts started multiplying in our home again, and at the same time my boys started developing very specific tastes of what they liked and did not like. This left many unused and unplayed-with toys to deal with.
I decided for their seventh birthday to try something new: set up a gift registry at a store where guests could contribute to a joint gift certificate for the boys. Since the boys LOVED books and had become voracious readers, I picked our favorite independent bookstore, Books on the Square.
The folks at Books on the Square, who had never done anything like this before, were very receptive to the idea and set up a sheet to track the contributions. On the birthday invite I mentioned that the boys loved books and wanted to support their local bookshop. I included the phone number and the store’s website, suggesting in lieu of buying a gift, friends and family could make a “small contribution” to a gift certificate for the boys.
The gift registry was a huge success! The boys’ friends’ parents loved the ease of shopping and supporting a local business. Even out-of-town family called in with their credit card numbers and added to the gift certificate. The gift certificate was split in half and each boy received their own copy with the names of everyone who had contributed.
This gift turned out to be a teaching tool for the boys in ways I never expected in terms of planning, negotiating, prioritizing, independence and understanding money. They treated their “money” as something valuable that ought not to be spent all at once. They decided they wanted the “money” to last until their next birthday, so they rarely bought something impulsively. Sometimes after seeing a desired book, the boys waited days or weeks before they went back to buy it or negotiated with each other to split the cost of the book. Now with just over two months until their next birthday, they each have over $50 left to spend and are the proud owners of several small paperbacks and big beefy hardcover books. I asked the boys if they regretted any of their purchases and they both said no.
I think setting up a birthday gift registry could work at any store(s) your kids like. Guests could even be asked to contribute to a class, a special event or a membership to The Zoo or Children’s Museum.
Share your gift ideas and tips in the comments below.
“The ocean is a big place, and I am just a little boat,” begins Thomas Docherty’s tale of a tiny boat making its way through a vast ocean.
From the start, it’s clear that the little tugboat’s journey is meant to parallel a young child’s experiences in the big wide world, but Docherty makes the connections in such a sweet and subtle way, children will find themselves simply enjoying the ride while subconsciously relating to the story’s overarching metaphor.
The text is rhythmic, yet spare, with short descriptive phrases. “The sea is always changing, and full of dangers, but I sail on,” says the little boat while skirting the edges of an ominous whirlpool.
Despite “terrible storms, rolling waves, and treacherous rocks,” the tiny boat seems to truly enjoy the adventure, and before long, befriends a whale, octopus, dolphins, and a pair of seagulls.
Docherty cleverly plays with scale—making the tiny tugboat appear miniscule in a sea of blue during the scary parts—and larger when the little boat is traversing a changing seascape accompanied by its ocean pals.
In the end, the boat has traveled quite a long way, past penguins on floating icebergs, and still—in a spirit similar to “The Little Engine That Could,” or “Tuggy the Tugboat”—our hero presses on.
What sets this story apart, however, is that its protagonist, the little boat, seems to have a healthy does of confidence from the get-go. There’s no “I think I can,” in this tugboat’s universe. On the contrary, the little boat declares: “Full Steam ahead, to the edge of the world… because no ocean is too big for a little boat like me.”
Way to go, little boat. Rock on.
Anika Denise is the author of “Pigs Love Potatoes” and the forthcoming “Bella And Stella Come Home.” She lives in Barrington, RI with her husband, Christopher – a children’s book illustrator – and their two daughters, ages 8 and 5. Anika is also the host of Thursday morning story hours at Barrington Books. You can read more of her children’s book reviews and story hour suggestions at www.bookmarks-ri.blogspot.com and at www.anikadenise.blogspot.com. For information on her books, visit www.anikadenise.com.
Ever wonder what makes all that buzzing on hot summer days? A very cool insect called a Cicada is the culprit. Cicadas are quite large – one to two inches in length – with long wings and big eyes. They are quite impressive to look at, but not to worry – they don’t bite or sting. They just make a lot of noise!
In the insect world cicadas fall into the scientific order called Homoptera along with leafhoppers and aphids.
In early summer when the soil temperature reaches above 64°F, cicada nymphs (juveniles) emerge. They have lived underground for years! They typically appear at night and climb the closest tree. Once these juveniles get a firm grasp on the trunk of the tree, they transform into an adult. The nymph’s exoskeleton splits open along the back allowing the adult to emerge. The adult cicada is a light green color at first, then darkens to a black/brown color. The adult then leaves the exoskeleton behind and continues its climb further up the tree. That’s where the males make that loud buzzing sound you hear. They are looking to attract females.
In a slit made along a twig on the tree, the females lay their eggs. The eggs remain there until the young hatch. Upon emerging, the nymph drops to the ground then borrows down and remains underground for many years feeding on plant juices from roots. As they near maturity the nymph will tunnel up through the ground continuing the lifecycle.
How do they make that sound?
The adult male cicada has two membranes called tymbals on each side of its first abdominal segment. Muscles attached to the tymbals cause them to vibrate producing that buzzing you hear. They also have a hollow abdomen helping to amplify the sound. Their song is a long, continuous buzz that increases in intensity and loudness then dies off near the end.
Looking for Cicadas
Try looking for cicadas this summer. They generally live in tall shade trees like oak and maple. Your neighborhood might just be the right habitat. First listen for the buzzing sound then try to find which tree the cicada is in. Check the trunk of the tree for nymph sheds. They are light brown and hollow. If you find one, look down to locate the hole they emerged from. The hole is about the size of your little finger. As you look up along the trunk of the tree you just might discover a recently emerged adult cicada. Have fun in your search!
The Scoop on Cicadas
• There are 75 different cicada species in eastern North America – all make slightly different buzzing sounds.
• Adult cicadas do not eat solid food, but instead drink fluids to avoid dehydration and live for only a few weeks.
• There are two groups of Cicadas. Periodical cicadas which live underground for 13 or 17 years and emerge May to July. And the more common annual cicadas that live underground for 2 to 8 years and typically emerge between July and August.
• Cicadas are among the longest living insects.
• Many people confuse cicadas with locusts by calling them the “seventeen-year locust”. Locusts are in fact related to grasshoppers and crickets. They also make sounds in the summer but nothing like the cicada.
• Cicadas are eaten in many cultures. They are good source of vitamins and protein and are low in carbohydrates. Lunch anyone?
Audubon’s Environmental Education Center is open year-round providing walking trails, nature programs, and exhibits for the whole family to discover. For more information and a complete calendar of events, visit www.asri.org or call (401) 245-7500.
Rhode Island has many areas of scenic beauty and a growing network of paths for bicycling, walking, rollerblading, and running. The Rhody Bike Path Passport is designed to help you plan trips to explore the different paths in the state. Collect a unique stamp from businesses and organizations near featured bike paths in Rhode Island.
Summer may be half over but there is still plenty of time to plan your trips and and collect your stamps. First, download a passport here or obtain a copy of your passport at the Bayside YMCA or the Cranston YMCA.
If you collect stamps from three different paths by October 15, 2010, you will be eligible for a prize drawing including a grand prize worth at least $250 – check the website later for prize details!
The Rhody Bike Path Passport is a project by the Zeta II class of the non-profit organization, Leadership Rhode Island to encourage people to enjoy Rhode Island’s scenic beauty, stay fit, and support local businesses!
Summer is one of the busiest times of the year at the Zoo! Kids on summer break and families on vacation flock through the gates to enjoy a day outside together. You might see elephants out for a walk, camels stripping the leaves off of branches with their flexible tongues, or our new baby giraffe getting acquainted with the rest of his family. But what you might not be as aware of – even though it is right in front of you – is the many ways that Zoo Keepers and staff work to keep the animals comfortable and healthy in the high temperatures.
Just like people, animals have temperatures that are too hot (or cold) for their bodies to handle. Zoo Keepers and staff make sure that no animal is ever put in these extremes by constantly monitoring local weather and providing indoor, temperature-regulated enclosures for those that need it.
On the summer days where temperatures are okay for animals to be outside, Zoo Keepers give their animals plenty of choices on ways to cool off. Some of the things you might see on your next visit are:
Shade. Shade is the single most important factor in keeping animals cool at the Zoo. Some of our animals, like the red pandas, have shade from natural plants in their exhibit. Other animals, like our harbor seals and elephants have shade from special cloth supported by cables over part of their enclosure. Shade can even come from the shadows created by the walls and fences of the exhibit itself.
Water. Another really important way that our animals keep cool in the summer is with water. Many animals have pools in their exhibit that they can choose to use. The Humbolt penguins spend lots time zipping around the water. Our moon bears could almost be mistaken for a person as they lounge in their pool. For other animals that are not naturally strong swimmers, like the emus and red pandas, the Zoo provides misters and sprinklers that animals can run through, sit in front of, or just ignore. It’s up to them!
Ice enrichment. Keepers use ice to cool down the animals, as well as to provide a challenging feeding opportunity. Depending on the animal, keepers and volunteers make popsicles for the animals out of large buckets and yogurt containers. Part of the animal’s daily diet can be frozen in the ice. Some animals get fruit and vegetables while others like frozen peanut butter. Yum!
So the next time you visit the Zoo find a bench under a shady tree, walk underneath one of the misters set up for guests, grab a Dell’s lemonade and think about how much you and our Zoo residents have in common!
For more information about animals in their natural habitat, visit Roger William’s Park Zoo located at 1000 Elmwood Avenue. Providence, RI.
The Providence School Department, Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island, Sodexho School Services and over 30 community partners will sponsor this year’s Back to School Celebration. Kick off the new school year with celebrations from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 11 community sites. Over 12,000 kids will receive free backpacks filled with school supplies. Music, raffles and food also will be provided at each location.
For more information, call Doris M. De Los Santos at 401-222-4890.
Back-to-school celebrations will be held at the following sites:
I opted to check in with a teacher to get the professional perspective on ways to get kids to make the seasonal shift successfully. Currently teaching fifth grade at The Learning Community, a charter school in Central Falls, Maureen Nosal has been in the classroom for 16 years. As she gets ready to welcome students into her classroom, she offers some thoughts on what families can do to help create the best summer-to-school transition.
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You might see elephants out for a walk, camels stripping the leaves off of branches with their flexible tongues, or our new baby giraffe getting acquainted with the rest of his family. But what you might not be as aware of – even though it is right in front of you – is the many ways that Zoo Keepers and staff work to keep the animals comfortable and healthy in the high temperatures.
