It’s a poem. It’s a novel. It’s funny. It teaches poetry. It is poetry. For ages 7-12. Highly recommended.
Author: Pragmatic Mom
I am a mom with three kids and a husband living in Newton, MA. I graduated from Harvard University with a degree in HIstory and Science. I went to The Anderson School of Management at UCLA for my M.B.A.
My background is entrepreneurial. I started several companies and currently serve on three boards including for my elementary school and preschool. I was a SAHM for nearly 8 years, and went back to work part-time just recently. Now I work almost full time as a WAHM for a consumer electronics start-up in Boston.
My blog is my outlet to read children's literature which is my great secret pleasure, and to document any interesting and/or useful information that I acquire as I parent. My kids are quite active and pursue many interests collectively including soccer, gymnastics, rhythm gymnastics, karate (Chung Kook Doh), ice skating, Chinese, Spanish, flute, piano, T-ball, book clubs, and art. In my free time, I have been doing kickboxing, vinyasa yoga, zoomba, and I am trying to learn Spanish as well.
Learning about SEO and how to blog has been a really fun enterprise albeit very time consuming. I started a bloggers group that meets weekly called www.coffeeshopbloggers.com. The S.O.S. on SEO. We share our collective frustrations and knowledge from blogging.
Now you understand the Type A parent I am...hence the tagline my blogger friends came up for me for my blog:
Type A Parenting for the Modern World
DesignTrackMind Creates Child-Friendly Spaces
Meet my friend: DesignTrackMind for Creating Fabulous Child-Friendly Spaces
DVD of Spanish Children’s Songs
So Smart! Baby’s Begninngs Spanish is a great introduction for infants and toddlers. Simplistic, shape oriented animation is combined with catchy children’s songs from Latin America in a country-neutral accent. Thumbs Up!
Dog Walking Leash Attachment for an extra hand
Capability:Mom turned me on the FreeHand Safety Strap. We both use a retractable leash to walk our dogs because the dogs like the freedom but the leash gets unwieldy when the time comes to clean up the doggy doo doo. You do actually need two hands to pick up the poo so what to do with the leash (not to mention dog treats that I am also holding!). I am usually trying to hold the leash handle under my arm which doesn’t actually work that well, especially if my dog has a smell that he wants to pursue.
Top 10: Favorite Duck Picture Books
What is it about ducks in picture books that always seems so appealing? Are ducks really so unusually clever as portrayed in these books? Or charismatic? Or just sweet and fluffy? I think all of the above is true! I found myself reading a pile of duck featured picture books to my son one night when he randomly brought me a small pile that included Duck for President and Duck on a Bike. And then I started the list in earnest. Turns out that it’s quite hard to find 10 excellent duck picture books so I had to add Little Bear, technically an easy reader to get 10. I hope that is OK with you! I guess what is stranger is that I happen to own most of these books and yet, no one in my family enjoys eating duck. Maybe that is what happens when you attach to an anthropomorphic character as appealing as a duck. My family also does not like to eat chicken. I wonder if we have 10 excellent picture books featuring chickens … stay tuned! How about you? What animal picture books are you reading over and over? Dogs, cats, mice, ducks, chickens?… Please share your favorites!
Dr. Seuss’ Unfinished Manuscript and Other Finds
Favorite Dr. Seuss books for Dr. Seuss day including an homage to Dr. Seuss and his last, unfinished script.
Sign Language in the Classroom
A few things coincided for this post. My middle daughter who is in 3rd grade told us at dinner that she’s learning sign language at school and proceeded to demonstrate the alphabet. She has had a hearing impaired student in her class for the last three years so I asked her if it is to help communicate with that child. She said, “yes.”
Best Electronic Organization for Team Sports
Anyone who has organized their child’s team sports (ahem… me once and only once) knows the pain of keeping the team member’s parents informed about an endless list of things from who is bringing a nut-free snack to where is that game anyway?! It’s a lot of stuff to coordinate on top of practices. Last year, my oldest’s soccer team went electronic and our coach put everyone on Team Snap. It seemed to help with the day-to-day communication though it is only as good as the users who participate (i.e. if you are not going to make a game, you now have 3 options to tell people BUT you still have do something!). My husband and I are huge fans of Team Snap and should he decide to coach again, he’d definitely use it. Then I discovered Directra, which is another free electronic organization tool for teams but also large groups (think volunteer groups at the PTO/PTA). To avoid a brain cramp, I asked the nice folks at Directra to give me an unbiased feature by feature comparison. The upshot is this: electronic organization for groups is a godsend to organizers. Both of these platforms are FREE. TeamSnap is specifically for team sports and is great and very helpful for volunteer coaches/parents. Directra is great for team sports and group efforts such as volunteers. Since participants need to be entered into the system which is the most time consuming part, I’d suggest picking the platform that you’ll use the most over the long haul. PTO/PTA management types: use Directra. Coaches that will coach their child from cradle to college: TeamSnap is for you. But don’t take my word on this; read on to decide for yourself!
Kids Caught in the Act … of READING
I’m back from school vacation week and ready to resume my weekly features with a twist. They are now going to be weekly-ish. Yes, like the Ish! book by Peter Reynolds, a facsimile of the real thing because it turns out to be a frantic pace to be posting weekly. I’m assuming overwhelming for you, my readers too! 🙂 In the meantime, I am cooking up another idea for a blog children’s literature so please stay tuned…