Inspiration On Surfari

With so much going on in my life it is difficult for me to think of others that are dealing with even busier lives, with greater struggles, and larger obstacles. I have made the decision to abandon the local news stations because of all the tragedies, negativity, and glamorized "stars." I find a peaceful mind in blogging and reading others blogs knowing that the greatest good is happening right in our own homes where we can empower, inspire, and educate our children, family, friends, and community. People who take their hobbies, knowledge, and positive strides for the greater good of our communities, cities, country, and the world inspire me in a way that is difficult to express in words.

Shayne and Shannon McIntyre are parents, surfers, artists, and world travelers whose mission is to find perfect surf and to teach others about the cultures, lifestyles, and people in the many places they visit. They have the ability to look through the tragidies, the poverty, the struggles and see the beauty and triumph around them.

On Fuel TV you can find their family friendly show called On Surfari. You can click here for Fuel TV show times and also click here to see and support the McIntyres on their website. Shayne and Shannon recently visited Haiti where there is still devastation and destruction in the cities. Watch this short clip and catch the whole episode on Fuel TV. Inspiration comes in all shapes, forms, and sizes just because we don't find it everyday, week, or month doesn't mean it's not there waiting.

Other On Surfari episodes can be see on Hulu.com.

Fall Art Projects

Fall started with the most beautiful Harvest moon last week. For children's art, Fall is a perfect time for an abundance of Fall art projects to decorate your refrigerator with. With the colors and changing weather you can inspire your schooler with nature walks collecting the Fall accessories as you go. When you get home make a Fall nature table and get out the art supplies. Click on Art Projects for Kids for several fun Fall art projects for you and your schooler. Kathy Barbro has a children's art site made for stay at home parents, homeschooling, teachers, and artists alike looking for ideas and tutorials. Happy Fall to all Live, Learn, Grow followers!

Saturday Saying: Smelling the Roses

Many times we are lost in routine, structure, rules, time lines. We don't stop to answer the curious questions our children ask or even stop to literally smell the roses. Children need routine and stucture, but more importantly they need access to material and different environments that helps them learn math, science, language arts, history, art, physical movements, sports for them to aquire knowlegde that is meaningful and appropreate for their individual learning style.


"What children need is not new and better curricula but access to more and more of the real world; plenty of time and space to think over their experiences, and to use fantasy and play to make meaning out of them; and advice, road maps, guidebooks, to make it easier for them to get where they want to go (not where we think they ought to go), and to find out what they want to find out. "

-John Holt

What Does My Schooler Need to Know?

As a teacher, I loved Back to School night. I got to meet the parents, tell them what fun things we will learn in all curricular subjects, talk about homework and how important it is, school rules, class rules, and the questions.

The questions.

Oh, you loving parents have so many of them, all of which are equally important.
My favorite question was always, "what do I have to know about the subjects my child is learning? I like to help with homework but I'm not good with math, that's my husband's strong point." I'd laugh and all the others in the room would laugh too.

My favorite book recommendation (I have many of them) is The Core Knowledge Series. It's a series of books for parents to read depending on your child's grade. If your child is in Kindergarten, for example, you would want to purchase "What your Kindergartner Needs to Know." The series goes from preschool through 6th grade and has information that you need to know about your child's grade level in all curricular subjects. Here is the link to the Core Knowledge site and a link to the What Your __ Needs to Know page. Of course on Amazon you can get these books for cheaper, but check out their site first. They have many elementary education lesson plans, activities, and resources.

All Things $1.00

This is old news. Most of you have been there. Done that. Seen it. Conquered it.

This is just a reminder that Target has an awesome $1.00 section at the entrance to their stores. Now that school has started there are several educational books and tools for your little schooler. Not to mention other fun crafts and knacks for you.

Teachers stock up. Educators stock up. Why shouldn't you?

Saturday Saying

"The world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of will, a quality of the imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease."
-author unknown

Caring or Crime: LAUSD Goes Back to School

Robert F. Kennedy Education Complex

Los Angeles Unified School District opened its doors to over 700,000 students today. The local news stations portrayed this late school start as joyous and monumental. The late start was do to 14 mandatory furlough days implemented at the end of last school year while other furlough days will be taken throughout the year and for the last week of school. A new complex in downtown housing seven schools with a sticker price of $579 million also opened its glutinous gates with Mac equipped classrooms, state of the art educational supplies, and housing students with the lowest API scores in the nation including a 24% high school drop out rate.

In other times, I would praise new, safe schools. LAUSD's super intendent, Ramon Cortines, was interviewed yesterday morning saying how eager he was and how he made several advancements with a 60 million dollar budget this year, and "the layoffs of thousands of teachers," all said with a kindly smile across his face. I'm sorry but where am I wrong here? A $60 million budget? teacher layoffs? increased class sizes? What Mr. Cortines forgot to mention was: his personal scoffer (district paid), the $250,000 bonus he gave himself last year (after he laid off those thousands of teachers), that teachers at schools with an API scores of 800 or over receive no, I mean no, money for school supplies and spending freezes are placed on the offices of those schools so that no further supplies for the students could be purchased (thank heavens for the PTA), the district purchased a new completely ineffective math program (with many of the developers names being on LAUSD's board of directors), and to top the ice cream Mr. Cortines himself is rarely ever seen at an actual school site to see the real magic happening...learning (unless there is a camera crew or the UTLA is catching him at his latest "improvement").

I could be heavily opinionated on this subject because I was one of the thousands of new, fresh, talented teachers to be laid off. In the classroom, I see eager, sensitive, talented children whose image doesn't match the other side of the coin. Outside of that school safe zone hides villainous, money hungry bureaucrats reaping most, if not all, of the benefits that should be handed down into the classroom. LAUSD has just as much opportunity to excel as any other school district in our nation. Opportunity to excel is a long shot while the 2nd largest school district in the nation is in the hands of the wrong people whose minds are not on the best interest of the students, teachers, school staff, and schools.

September 11th Children's American Flag Craft

Discussing September 11th with your child or students could be difficult and will spawn a series of intense to inquiring questions and comments. Depending on your child's/students age(s) the discussion will most likely turn into a sad conversation about their most recent loss of, Goldie, the pet goldfish.

As an educator I believe that these discussions are very important to have with your child. The best message I like to give to my students is that we are one nation filled with many different people, beliefs, colors, shapes, and ideas. This one nation is united and the safest place to be living.

After your discussion, try this fun and easy Torn American Flag Craft with your elementary schooler.

Supply List:
-White construction paper (8x11")

-Red construction paper (8x11")

-Blue construction paper (roughly cut to 4x5")

-White hole punched stars (alternative-cut out your own white stars or use a regular circle hole punch for the stars on your flag)

-glue

Plan:
1) Tell your child/student they will be making an American Flag. Show them pictures of American Flags on the Internet or refer to the flag you are flying on your flag pole in the front yard.

2) Give your child/student all the supplies on the list. Try not to instruct them on how to assemble their flag (depending on the age you may need to help with the gluing and tearing).

3)Have your child/student tear their red construction paper horizontally into strips. For children 4 and under you can precut the construction paper into strips.

4)Using the pictures you have shown them, have your child/student assemble the American Flag with glue. Depending on your child's/students' age you will get some varying results of their rendition of the American Flag. The less you assist the better the result.

5) Fly you new construction paper American Flag loud and proud.

Being Emergency Prepared

School Children being evacuated during WWII

September is National Preparedness Month. This is the one time of year that I even think of the what ifs.

What if there is an earthquake? What would I do? Where would I be when it happens? How would I handle myself? How would I get in touch with my husband, family, or friends?
What if our house sets on fire while we are sleeping?
What if a Tsunami threatens our neighborhood?
What if....
What if....
What if....

Now that I'm not a classroom teacher the stress I feel is alleviated. If there was to be a disaster while school was in session I'd be the sole comfort and control in those little kid's minds. I knew that practicing our emergency drills once a week would never pan out as planned in a real emergency.
It's also this time of year that your family should come up with a plan. Answer all those "what ifs" as a family. Draw out an escape route in case of a emergency in your home. Discuss with your child what you will do if something happens and you are away from her/him/them. A great way to give your child comfort if there is an emergency and they are in school is to have a letter and picture from you put into your child's school emergency kit.

Here are some fun links for kids to learn and play games about emergency preparedness:

preschoolers- Let's Get Ready! Sesame Street (find the videos on the right)
Kinders-6th graders- FEMA For Kids
Know what 2 do kids! (They have fun printable activities)
Discovery Education

Back to School: Ready...Set...Go

Orange County schools are up and running today. Exhausted parents, refreshed teachers, and eager students with new shoes await at the doors of the 2010-2011 school year.

Here is a great craft from Little Birdie Secrets for you to do now that your nest is empty for the next 6 hours. All you need is an old clipboard, a page of scrap booking paper, decorative ribbon, chalk, and chalk board paint. If you don't have chalkboard paint run over to Home Depot and pick up a quart can of chalk board paint for $9. They even have chalkboard paint in fun, cute tints instead of your plain black variety. Just visit Little Birdie Secrets and follow her tutorial to get a great back to school gift for your successful schooler.

New and Renewed

I'm starting a blog for mothers, fathers, families, educators, mentors, and the curious so they have an elementary education network to discover and explore fun tools and activities, crafts, community happenings, to increase the educational level of your child, grandchild, niece or nephew, client, or friend. I am an educator with a new small one-on-one in home tutoring business located in Newport Beach. My story took me through the public school roller coaster but has given me the opportunity to do what I am passionate about....educating children.

After slaving in college for 6 years, getting my bachelor's degree in Liberal Studies and Children's Art and receiving my Elementary Teaching Credential I began a great job at Dixie Canyon Avenue Elementary in the Los Angeles Unified School District.
I worked as a 2nd grade teacher there for two years. During those two years I accomplished many of my own career goals in such a short time. I immersed myself in the school life, its community, took many extra facility positions and genuinely grew as an educator by collaborating with teachers, principals, parents, and paraprofessionals, and discovered my own teaching style that is best for all of my students. My life with Los Angeles Unified was short lived because of dramatic budget cuts in California's school systems and this particular school district's wasted money and poor leadership. I was laid off in June of 2009 not because my performance but because of my low seniority.
I knew there had to be better opportunities out there to expand my teaching experiences. I was left with a garage filled with cardboard boxes that carried my career in them, my books, children's books, manipulatives, plastic trays, paint brushes, crafts, puzzles, balls, globes, sanitary wipes, crayons, colored copy paper......you get the idea. Filled with crushed dreams, tears, and sweet memories of classroom managment, decorative bulletin boards, and happy students I closed the door to Mrs. Cannon's class in room 7 behind me.
Then, the question was, what now? I have a college degree, beyond extrorandory letters of reference, and an extensive elementary education resume. I have the knowledge to lead grade level meetings, run effective lessons, manage 30 eager students, and so much more. I decided after I couldn't find the right fit in a private school that the simplest way to continue doing what I do best is to tutor. As I began to gain clients and work consistently I received a call from a good teacher friend who needed me to take her class for the 2009/2010 school year. Teach another 2nd grade class? Why not? This class changed my teaching philosophy for the better. I learned that all children navigate their learning in ways that logically work for them. This is when I learned that a differentiated class can and does work. I began to incorporate many techniques I was using in the classroom to my tutoring lessons.
I spent another school end with the same questions I walked away with the previous year. This time it knew I didn't belong in the public school system and decided to continue the tutoring company I had begun a year ago. I have a renewed sense of self that this, tutoring and educating children, is what I need to be focusing my career goals on. I am beginning a network in Orange County as well as continuing my company in the San Fernando Valley.
With the past behind me and the present so bright I look forward to these new experiences that I love to call Live, Learn, Grow Tutoring Co.