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Teach Your Child Counting Skills with FREE Five Little Monkeys Song and Activit

Here’s a really fun song for preschoolers.

It’s called Five little monkeys jumping on the bed.

Have you heard of it?

Kids get such a kick out of it!

As the song is playing, I encourage you to act out the words and sing along.

Your child will love it!

Here’s some of the actions I like to do:

Teach Your Child Farm Animals Vocabulary With Free Old MacDonald Had A Farm Song

Teach Your Child Farm Animals Vocabulary With Free Old MacDonald Had A Farm Song And Printable Worksheets

Children love learning about animals!

And, what better to way to teach them about animals and animal sounds then with a fun animal song!

My daughter’s all-time favorite is Old MacDonald Had A Farm.

Come visit kids learn @ kiboomu daily for the full lesson plan!

The lesson plan includes:

* Old MacDonald had a farm song

* Song lyrics

* Put the animals in the order of the song

* Match the animal noises to the animals

* Look and spell the animal words

* Farm word search puzzle game

* Mad lib

Teach. Sing. Learn.

www.kiboomu.com

Teach Your Child About Feelings And Emotions! FREE Song And Printable Worksheet!

Today’s lesson is on feelings and emotions.

When I first taught feelings and emotions to preschoolers, I did not know that it would go on to be one of my all-time favorite lessons.

But, it did!

What happened was when I got to the end of the lesson and I asked the children to tell me about a time when they were happy, a time when they were mad, a time when they were sad, etc… some of the stories that would come out of their mouth could compare to Art Linkletter’s Kid’s Say The Darndest Things.

I mean no one was safe in their family.

Stories would include brothers, sisters, mother, fathers, grandparents….

It was hilarious.

If you have a young one at home, you can appreciate what I mean.

So, let’s get to the lesson.

The Jenny McCarthy Body Count

I'm a doctor. I don't just play one on TV.

So it's sometimes VERY frustrating to read the mom blogs.

Momlogic ran a story about Amanda Peet, the actress, who had taken up the cause of educating the public about the lack of danger in vaccinations. All well and good. I chipped in my two cents about how it was nice to see a celebrity taking up a REASONABLE cause for a change.

But if you really want to get your dose of funny (as in pathetic) for the day, check out the comments. Some people accuse Ms. Peet of being a whore for big pharma. Others are simply shocked that she would use her celebrity status to endanger our children.

HUH?

No Fooling - It's April!

On April 1st, how many of us have listened to stories, read an article in the paper or received an email from friends, family or co-workers that was immediately followed by the loud yell of “April Fools!”? April 1st is the US National holiday for tricks, pranks and other practical jokes. The commonly accepted origin of April Fool's Day or All Fool’s Day, involves changes in the calendar. At one time, the New Year celebration began on March 25 and ended on April 1. However, in 1582, King Charles IX accepted the beginning of the New Year as January 1. Those who refused to acknowledge the new date or simply forgot, received foolish gifts and invitations to nonexistent parties. It has evolved into a day of light-hearted trickery and has produced some elaborate and well-known hoaxes.

The United State is not the only country to participate in a national prank day. Several others around the world also play host to a day similar to ours.

· In Iran, people play jokes on each other on April 3, the 13th day of the Persian calendar. It is believed that people should go out on this date in order to escape the bad luck of number 13.

· On April 1st, the French play a game called “April’s Fish” and attempt to attach a paper fish to the victims’ back’s without being noticed. This is also widespread in other nations, such as Italy where "April's Fish" is also used to refer to any other jokes done during the day

· In Belgium, the tradition is for children to lock their parents or teachers out of the house or school, only letting them in if they promise to bring treats the same evening or the next day.

· In some countries, including the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, on April 1st, if somebody pulls an April Fools' Trick after midday, then the person pulling the trick is actually considered the fool.

So, this year, if you can’t quite create a believable hoax, prank or joke yourself, you can try taking an idea from some of the countries above. You’ll not only getting the benefit of yelling “April Fool’s!” to your unsuspecting victim, but you’ll also be teaching a little about some different customs as well; and that’s no joke!

21 Days To Back-To-School Bliss

Tips for getting your school-year off to a relaxed and productive start.

Gearing up for back-to-school can be a bit overwhelming; there is a lot to do, a lot of transitions to navigate, and often a sense of blues as the realization that summer has, once again, gone by too fast. However, you can easily turn back-to-school anxieties into positive anticipation for a great school year with the following action plan. Plug these steps into your calendar right now and see what a different they can make!

Homework: What To Do When Students DON'T Do It

There is a form on my website where I ask people to tell me their greatest concerns/challenges regarding homework. It is probably no surprise that a significant number of teachers have responded with comments like this:

"Apathy."
"No motivation."
"Students don’t do it."

If you are like me, then you probably don’t have fond memories of homework yourself, but you likely did it.

It was not because you liked it.

It was not because you couldn’t find anything better to do. (Yes, we had TV as kids. Some of us even had video games, too. We are not that old…)

You did it because you wanted to get a good grade. Or, you did it to avoid having to answer to your mom who would give you "That Look" and ground you until you were dead. Or, you did it because it just needed to be done.

So, the real question is, "Why don’t students seem to care about homework?" There are a variety of possible answers, but the best advice I can offer is this…

Ask them!

You, of course, can provide additional insight. Share your experiences with homework when you were younger and then explain why you value it as an adult. The more relevance children see to the "real world" the more likely they are to value homework.

Meanwhile, I would venture to guess that many of their answers will sound like these:

* "What’s the point? Why do I need to do it?"
* "It takes too much time!"
* "Homework causes fights in our family."
* "It’s just a couple of assignments…what’s the big deal?"
* "I lose my homework a lot."
* "I don’t know how to do it."

Each of these responses could inspire their own book, but we will settle for a few quick comments:

"WHAT’S THE POINT? WHY DO I NEED TO DO IT?"

The child who asks this question is begging to understand a real-world purpose for homework. They need help understanding that homework is not just practice on the topic taught in class, but practice for developing responsibility. Homework may not be fun, but completing it on time is good practice for the day when they are employed and have to complete a project on time. It is practice for paying bills and keeping a roof over their head.

Doing homework helps build responsibility skills in the same way that lifting weights build muscle. They literally program neuron pathways in the brain that develop responsibility. Developing "responsibility muscle" will directly impact their ability to earn more money in the future.

"IT TAKES TOO MUCH TIME!"

Homework takes too much time because students do not know strategic learning skills for doing homework more efficiently. They are also busy "multi-tasking" by doing homework while texting, watching TV, or surfing the internet which is a major time drain. Teach your children time-management and study skills to help them cut homework time or enroll them in a study skills class.

"HOMEWORK CAUSES FIGHTS IN OUR FAMILLY."

As I have said many times, homework is the greatest lever of control that a student has over their parent(s). They may not quite realize they are striving for control, but they do know that they don’t like being told what to do.

"IT’S JUST A COUPLE OF ASSIGNMENTS. WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?"

Children are often oblivious to the impact one or two "zeros" have on their overall grade. Encourage them to track their grades so they can see the math for themselves. If your school makes grades available electronically, have them log in and see how their grade changed after that big ‘ol "0" was plopped in the homework column. In 95% of middle and high school classes, students can pass with a "C" if they simply turn in all homework and show up for tests and quizzes. It’s not rocket science... but they think it is until they see the math for themselves.

"I OFTEN LOSE MY HOMEWORK!"

In most cases, your children do not deliberately lose homework. Imagine if we, as adults, had several different email accounts to manage each day?!? We would be completely overwhelmed and frustrated! The same is true for students who are trying to manage dozens of papers along with a couple dozen folders, notebooks, and textbooks that must be transported to-and-from school and individual classes each day. Students need a system to simplify and streamline all of their supplies.

"I DON’T KNOW HOW TO DO IT."

Children are often afraid to ask for help. Their teacher may have offered help to the class and posted "Tutoring Lab" hours on the board, but many are afraid to step forward and admit they need help. Or, they may simply believe that the help is for "someone else" and may not realize the potential value for themselves. As you know, there is almost always a resource for students who are willing to get extra help. Some may simply need an extra nudge.

The key to this discussion is to listen 85% of the time. Let them be honest about their feelings towards homework and acknowledge them. Brainstorm problem-solving ideas together and allow your child to have some ownership over some solutions.

On my website you can download a free Homework Rx Toolkit that includes "25 Ways to Make Homework Easier Tonight." Use that do*****ent as a starting point to identify workable solutions together. As the parent, you have to set expectations and boundaries, but you can also set the stage for cooperation.

Significance of Father's Day Today

Image via  Wikipedia

In any society, be it modern, medieval or ancient, fathers have had a
significant position. There may be several relationships in a child's life but
not a single one of these can be a perfect substitute of a father-child
relationship. He is a guide, a philosopher and more than that, a dear and most
reliable friend of the child after a certain age. A father helps his child to
set his or her aim in life. Then he helps us in selecting the just ways of
attaining our goals in life. Again, when someone gets too tired of the
weariness and doldrums of life, his/her father is always there to offer the
shoulders of a friend where we can rest for a while.

Father's Day celebrates such an important relationship. It was an ancient
practice of worshiping ancestors including father and mother. The following civilizations maintained this tradition. In the modern society, people started celebrating Mother's Day first. Gradually, the civilization understood the necessity of Father's Day too. In the early 20th century, efforts to recognize
Father's Day were made, however it was not until the 1970s when President Nixon
recognized Father’s Day officially in the US. Gradually most other countries
acknowledged Father’s Day and started celebrating fatherhood.

She Blinded Me with Science!

After ranting and raving about the anti-vax movement and its total idiocy, I realized that there are a lot of people who just can't look at scientific information and separate out the real stuff from the drivel.

That's when I remembered that old Chinese proverb:

If you give a mom a scientific paper analysis, you protect her family for the day; if you teach a mom to analyze a scientific paper, you protect her family for a lifetime.

I think something got lost in translation, but you get the basic idea.

So, from time to time (as in, when some great example presents itself and I feel like doing the research), I will be posting some basic information on how to evaluate "scientific" data.

Let me preface this by noting: There's a LOT of bad science out there.

And then there's good science, hyped out of proportion by the media, who can turn even mediocre studies and insignificant results into major news events that get people like Jenny McCarthy all riled up.

Eco-friendly Kids' Birthday Party Ideas

In this new age of social responsibility and environmental concern, parents are looking for easy and fun ways to teach their children about the necessity of giving back to those in need & cleaning up the environment. However, this has also become a time of extravagant birthday party celebrations for young children with inflatable jumping machines, balloon arches, disposable party utensils and lots of unnecessary gifts; none of which seem to teach our children about social issues or the environment. So, what can we as “green” parents do? There are several different ways to incorporate giving back to others and environmentally friendly ideas to create a fun and exciting Birthday celebration.