Make a wish. Grant a wish. Just as simple.

Do you wish that teachers and schools had all the resources they need for an education happily ever after?

Well, dream no more. You now have the power to help schools and classrooms you care about. No magic wand required.

ClassWish.org is an exciting new non-profit website which helps folks–like you and I–get schools the supplies they need for their students to excel.

It is amazingly simple:

1. Teachers, administrators, PTO and PTA leaders visit ClassWish.org and have great fun creating a wish-list of items they need to equip a great classroom. Check out fun sample here.
2. Businesses, communities, and parents browse the site for exactly what is needed and “shop online” for our schools.
3. Class Wish ships the purchase directly to the school.

Just imagine; teachers having the resources they need without begging, borrowing and bartering. And the very idea that you can rest assured that your child is in a classroom where supplies are not constantly at the cutting edge of somebody’s budget!

You can even super size your absolutely tax-deductable contribution by asking your employer to match your donation. Many companies love supporting education in the communities they serve.

So what are you waiting for?

Tell the teachers you know how easy it is to get the resources they need at ClassWish.org.  Share with your friends that you know how they can improve their own child’s classroom, as well.  Then, spread the word to others in your community and visit the site to improve classrooms for the children you love.

Wish granted.

For more information:

Classwish.org

Your classroom can have enough supplies–now!

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It is so common in fact that it has a name: Summer Brain Drain.

On average kiddos lose 2 months of reading ability and 2.6 months of their math skills during the summer.

But it doesn’t have to be so.

Your brain simply prioritizes knowledge it has to readily use. Therefore kids easily drop math-facts used regularly during the school year, but not so much after growing cob-webs during the summer.

If you ever broke your arm in the beginning of summer you would easily understand this analogy: Think of your arm resting in its cast for months at the time. Remove the cast and your arm isn’t just oddly pale, but significantly smaller than the non-injured one. It will take a few weeks to build strength back into your healing limb. Your unused summer brain functions very similarly.

As one can imagine, summer brain drain is completely preventable by maintaining the use of this already existing brain juice throughout summer vacation.

And no, we are not saying you should enroll your 5 year old in calculus (children breathing a sigh of relief).

Formal learning is less important than exercising basic facts. And experts everywhere encourage summer learning to be extra fun.

Here are 5 tips to avoid summer brain drain:

1. Create a summer reading list and read at least 30 minutes per day
2. Play board games that incorporate math facts
3. Research and read up on sightseeing vacation destinations
4. Use creative math manipulatives for simple math games (one of our favorites is what we call Skittle-math)
5. Have your children pay at the store using cash

For more information

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Reading all summer long makes a huge difference!

Does summer reading even matter?

Oh sweet blasphemy! We hate to even raise the question. But knowing the answer will make us tack our kid’s reading lists on the refrigerator this summer.

Did you know that kids who do not maintain regular reading during the summer on average loses 2 months of his or her reading achievement?

A kiddo who does read steadily during the summer gains 1 month of reading ability.

That means that when the kids return to school end of summer, there is on average a 3 month gap between the readers and non-readers. Multiply that with 12 years, and by the end of high school there is a 3 year ability difference between the two groups.

These are of course statistics and not factual to all kids or circumstances.

But knowing these facts, are you willing to play the odds? We didn’t think so.

The study quoted was tied to income levels. But honestly, we think that’s a bunch of hoo-ey. We know plenty of families of all walks of life who practice summer reading (or not).

The difference family income might make in this subject is that middle-to-upper-income families might have more free time to spend with their kiddos, or pay for formal reading programs. But that’s more a thumb than a rule. Gobs of parents who hold down multiple jobs and work tight budgets, practice reading and spend lots of time with their kids.

Reading is free. And there are plenty of rockin’ summer reading programs and books that need not cost you a dime!

Check out the Scholastic Reading Challenge for example. Two of my kiddos are joining kids around the world to break the world record in reading minutes logged this summer. It’s super easy and no purchase necessary.

Another always reliable source for uber-cool reading programs is your local library. Our entire family agreed to sign up for our county library’s reading challenge (logging at least 12 hours of reading in). Check out the Summer Counts Supply Closet for a complete listing of libraries across the United States.

Besides, reading is fun!

Take books outside for a reading picnic. Research your sight-seeing locations with your kids. Find an ooey-gooey science topic to delve into with your ankle-biters. And most importantly–lead by example–let your kids see you read!

More Information:

Scholastic Summer reading Challenge

The Brennan's alongside their creation--iKitMovie

Remember Gumby? Flat. Googly eyed. And fairly bendy.

Well clay-mation is back. It’s making a huge come-back on the technology scene in and outside our classrooms the world over.

What once was only possible on commercial movie sets, is now an easy-to-use kid’s software.

Check out iKitMovie for example.

The product was made by a father-son team in Ireland.

One holiday, not long ago, Matthew Brennan (then 12) commented that there were no good toys being made for tweens. His father pondered the comment and realized the boy was right. Together they set out to design a stop-motion product that would combine cool technology to enchant young film makers, but simple enough for a child to use.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

So what do kids learn through animation?

Well, here are 5 steps of curriculum relevance provided by iKitMovie:

Step 1: BRAINSTORMING:

• Problem Solving
• Improved fluency of language
• Collaboration and Cooperation
• Research

Step 2: STORYBOARD:

• Visual Literacy Skills
• Enhanced Literacy (Reading and Writing Skills and Vocabulary)
• Communication and Language Skills
• Collaboration and Innovation

STEP 3: SETBUILDING:

• Coordination of Thought and Activity
• Critical Thinking
• Team Building
• Appreciation of Various artisitc Media
• Collaboration
• Communication

STEP 4: ANIMATION:

• Cooperation and Collaboration
• ICT Skills

STEP 5: EXPORT:

• Critical Analysis
• ICT Skills

In retrospect, I bet the makers of Gumby had really big brains. Big. Bendy brains.

More information:

iKitMovie

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A huge shout-out to Kutless for a rocking show in Denver

Imagine taking your kids to rock concerts to enrich their musical experience.

No, I am not kidding.

Live performances are fantastic for the whole family to enjoy music.

Last night, we went to see the Kutless concert, featuring Chasen and The Museum!

Our kids rocked out to some of their favorite tunes, and found new inspiration for this week’s scheduled guitar lessons.

And right on cue, at 9 o’clock, Caley fell asleep in her seat–with music blaring and orange earplugs hanging out. Should have brought the camera!

So what did our kids learn by going to a Friday night family friendly rock concert?

Well, besides good tunage, our kids learned the most important lesson of all:

Real men love Jesus.

Additional notables:

Kutless, just like us, help kids through Compassion International? Note to self: Write our sponsored child, Melanie, a letter this week.

Our kids also learned that Chasen stays after the performance to take prayer requests.

And that the T-shirt that reads “This T-shirt feeds hungry children” (sold at The Museum’s fan table) is not to be eaten, but to be purchased because the money actually does buy food for hungry children.

So if you are looking for a fun way to enjoy music differently and have a great time with your kids, look up some family friendly summer concerts in your neck of the woods. Six Flags, Radio Disney, and local churches usually keep a list of good performances.

Here is the remainder of the Kutless, Chasen, Museum tour schedule.

Enjoy the music clips below.

Rock on!

For more information:

Kutless

Chasen

The Museum

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