Fight the summer slide and keep your child reading and learning all summer long with iVillage’s free 6 week program.Starting today, you’ll get daily emails with literacy-building tips and activities from me (PBS) and Jessica Wollman from Scholastic.
Here’s to a fun (& smart) summer!
Never mind your money management skills, how is your child’s financial literacy these days?
While I think it’s globally understood that there’s room for improvement, my good friend and colleague, Dr. Alice Wilder, rolled up her sleeves to address this issue half a world away.
Less than 2 months after receiving a 2012 EIFLE Award (US govt’s Excellence in Financial Literacy Education), Cha-Ching Money-Smart Kids just picked up a Cynopsis (Interstitial Series-Educational) Award for it’s multi-platform educational series focused on worldwide financial literacy for kids ages 7 to 12. The Earn, Save, Spend and Donate mantra is revisited throughout the animated program which presently reaches 4.5 million households throughout Asia (Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand & Vietnam) via Cartoon Network.
Developed by Prudential Corporation Asia, through a partnership with the Philippines’ Department of Education Kids, Cha-Ching has been further extended to schools in the region to set the groundwork for such well needed & priceless financial literacy.
Puppy LoveMy kids have been begging for a dog for the last 5 yrs and though my husband and I love dogs, when our 15-year old beloved pug died when my youngest was barely 2, I had had enough of dealing with kids and pets and all their collective messes, demands and needs. I thought I came up with a great compromise; that we would dog-sit for other people’s dogs (and we do quite regularly) but they still campaign for their own pooch….daily.
But as the kids have gotten older, we began quietly wondering if we might be depriving them of on an important childhood experience and if getting a dog might actually make them more responsible by giving them some daily care responsibilities that will not be easily forgotten (or will at least have very real noisy/messy/smelly consequences to remind them for next time when they do).
We recently mentioned to the kids that we were “thinking about getting a puppy,” which for your own future reference directly translates into “we’re getting a puppy!!!!” in kid-speak.
And so it begins. I am taking on the acquisition of this newest family member very seriously. I am determined to do this right!
Bringing home a new puppy is a big deal, so I invite you to follow us on our journey; through research, acquisition, love and adorableness, training, mistakes and whatever else may come.
Stay tuned…
One of the reasons I enjoy blogging is learning from other parents. The more we engage, the more I realize that we’re really quite similar..even if they live on the other side of the globe. Such is the case with, Dominique Goh, a Singaporean elementary school teacher, freelance writer and mom of 3. I recently asked the blogger of Dominique’s Desk a few questions on parenting in Singapore & I confirmed that it is a small world after all.
What can we learn from your culture that would allow us to be better parents?
Our climate in Singapore is..more community centered then individual focus. Showing mutual respect to people of other races and religions is strongly emphasized here as we have aim to be a multicultural and multi religious country. It is also stated in our national pledge
To show tolerance to others and accept the fact that everyone is entitled to their own religion and views have kept the people in our island nature away from rioting and violence. By being better persons we in turn are able to focus more on our own families as we do not need to worry about political instability, racial tensions and other related issues.
Do you still teach?
I’m currently on NPL (No Pay Leave) and home taking care of my 3 kids. The only kids I teach are my own. My hubby and I had agreed that I would stay home during our children’s formative years to give them the best care and guidance that they need. From ages 0-2 years old a child has extremely rapid development both physically and mentally and I want to be there to nurture them every step of the way.
I have seen many of my previous students “neglected” by their parents who were too busy pursuing their corporate career or just making enough for survival and are not able or too exhausted to properly parent their own kids. I don’t want to fall into such a category. As a parent it should be our top priority to give the best to our kids. 
With 3 children, how do you keep your mind fresh & fulfilled throughout your day?
Having 3 hyperactive kids – 21 months, 5yrs old & 8 yrs old, a lot of my energies get expanded on them on a daily basis. I keep myself active through blogging, interacting online with friends and clients, reading books, cooking and baking. Setting aside time for myself to do things which I love amidst teaching and interacting with the kids and household chores keeps me going from dusk to dawn.
I do schedule activities to do with each child on a daily basis so that I am able to spend equal amount of time with each child of mine.
You mentioned (unsolicited by me) that your children are fans of Blue’s Clues & Super Why. How are these programs different than other shows your children might view?
Blue’s Clues & Super Why both have the detective element in the show. Other kids shows which I have seen like Barney, Arthur, Cat in the Hat etc. mostly deal with themes of family, love or just plain fun and entertainment. They do not really show a child how to process information (clues) to solve a bigger problem (issue).
What I like about Blue’s Clues and Super Why is they bring you through the thought process and show the pre-schooler step by step how to analyze what they have at hand to find the answer. It gets the kids more interactive while watching the show and they are able to hone skills which they would need to rely on while they grow up to understand and use (i.e. In the answering of comprehension questions in school)
Sincere thanks Dominique for sharing your thoughts with us!
If you have any cultural attitudes that you feel affect the way you parent, please share them with us below.
“Super WHY Live! is the live stage show inspired by the hit PBS Kids TV series. The tour is coming to a stage near you in 2012, but we’ve created some videos to show you what’s going on behind the scenes as we build the show.
In this video, Super WHY Live songwriter Jack Antonoff (of fun. – presently with a #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Digital Songs charts with “We Are Young”) talks about writing music for grown ups and kids, and about how excited he is for the debut of Super WHY Live!”
~Super Why Live Tour
..my youngest daughter said to me when I picked her up from school.
She just found out that one of her best friends is moving in a few weeks.
While it’s sad, it’s the second time this has happened to her in two years. That’s two times too much for any 8yr old.
It breaks my heart to see such a happy little girl wrestle with such feelings.
We talked about love & loss.
We talked about how her friend’s family will be much happier there.
We talked about how great it is to know people all over the country and the fun we have when we travel to meet them.
We talked about video chatting and using technology to keep in touch with our distant friends.
But mostly we talked about how nice it is that she can lean on those that live under our roof.
She stopped holding them in
…but woke up this morning with a smile.
[ Feel free to send suggestions that have helped your child manage the “loss” of a friend ]
Angela Santomero
