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Idaho Kids Read the Same Book
Communities across the U.S. have discovered that choosing a book to read simultaneously brings together friends and strangers to discuss good literature and ideas. The Treasure Valley began its program in 2001 with Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson, adding children’s titles in subsequent years, so that the whole family could participate.
Books are chosen by a committee that includes representatives from local libraries, teachers, writers, and readers of all ages. The committee chooses a book based on literary merit and relevance to local readers. This year’s selections for Kids Read the Same Book are:
Picture Book: Mrs. Muddle’s Holidays by Laura Nielsen — There are already plenty of holidays on the calendar, but Mrs. Muddle finds a world of special things to celebrate and special ways to celebrate them.
Older Elementary: Countdown by Ben Mikaelsen —When 14-year-old Elliot Schroeder is selected by NASA to be the first Junior Astronaut, he has no way of knowing the profound effect it will have on Vincent Ole Tome, a Maasai herder who is also 14. An unexpected event puts the boys in contact via short-wave radio, and an African drought and an in-space emergency bring about a climactic face-to-face meeting.
Junior High: The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt — Holling Hoodhood has just started seventh grade with Mrs. Baker, a teacher he knows is out to get him. The year is 1967, and everyone has bigger things than homework to worry about. Follow Holling as he finds motivation and courage in unexpected places.
Senior High: Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer — Miranda’s disbelief turns to fear in a split second when an asteroid knocks the moon closer to the earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? In her journal, Miranda records the events of each desperate day.
For more information and a program schedule, visit www.idahokidsread.org. Contact your local library to see how it is participating in the program.
Celebrate Chinese New Year
Celebrating the Year of the Tiger, which kicks off on February 14, is a fun opportunity for families not only to celebrate but also to learn more about the traditions of other cultures. Here are a few tips, provided by realasianmadesimple.com, to help you decorate your home with symbols of good fortune.
Tradition: Bright red represents happiness; gold/orange represents wealth and good fortune. Tip: Hang red banners or couplets with New Year wishes on walls and doors. Use red paper lanterns for lighting to set a lucky and festive atmosphere, and place baskets or oranges or tangerines on tables.
Tradition: Decorations with the incoming zodiac animal, the Tiger, are said to represent good luck for the coming year. Tip: Place paintings or pictures of the Tiger in multiple rooms around the house. Have kids create their own pictures of the Tiger to add a more personal touch.
Tradition: Flowers are believed to be symbolic of wealth and high positions in one’s career. Tip: Place flowers in your home ahead of time. If flowers bloom on New Year’s Day, it is said it will be a prosperous year.
Tradition: Gifts of good fortune are given to family and friends on New Year’s Day. Tip: Give lucky bamboo arrangements to your guests, and red envelopes filled with “lucky money” to the kids as parting gifts for a year full of good fortune.
For additional Chinese New Year ideas and recipes, visit www.realasianmadesimple.com.
Meanings in Motion Cards Help Families Connect
Local author and social worker Jennifer Sengelmann has created a sturdy, laminated deck of 22 oversized cards designed to allow you and your children to focus on powerful life skills that often get missed in the rush of daily life. Each Meanings in Motion card has a life lesson, questions to inspire insightful discussion, and fun activities. Topics include honesty, gratitude, diversity, intuition, goals, responsibility, and many more.
These cards can be used as a tool—regardless of age—to prompt discussion on a meaningful level. Young children can be introduced to words and definitions, and given real life examples as they apply to them, while older children can participate in deeper discussions and activities about each life skill. Adults will have the opportunity to share their insight, experiences, and stories that relate to each topic.
Cards can be used at home (how about one card every Sunday night at dinner?), in small group settings, in a classroom, on a plane ride or car trip, or just in a quiet moment. You can find Meanings in Motion cards locally at the Children’s Store, Cassis, and A Novel Adventure, or at amazon.com.
Children’s Capital Corner
Idaho Voices for Children (IVC) is a statewide organization that develops and promotes a policy agenda that improves child health, education, safety, and family economic security. Visit idahovoices.org for more information and to see how you can get involved.
Some highlights of IVC’s efforts in the coming weeks during the 2010 Idaho Legislative Session:
• Currently the state of Idaho ranks 49th in the nation on childhood immunizations. The IVC Health Committee is working with the state to figure out a way to buy immunizations in a cost effective way to make them more available to all children in the state.
• Working with legislators regarding Idaho’s de facto custodian laws, to support “grand” families, to enhance the legal process and strengthen the legal support for relatives caring for related children in the absence of their parents. And, to help better define the individual’s standing as a de facto custodian and how they can pursue custody of a child and their legal rights when custody is granted by the court.
Touchdown Tater Tidbits
As you watch Super Bowl XLIV on February 7, share some appetizing and fun football/potato facts, provided by The Idaho Potato Commission.
• The average American eats 126 pounds of potatoes a year. It would take 5,704 pounds of Idaho® potatoes to fuel a football team & staff for one football season (of course, this does not account for football-sized appetites).
• The 2009 Idaho® potato harvest produced nearly 13 billion pounds of spuds. That’s enough to fill one football field nearly 500 times!
• One Idaho® potato has 26 grams of carbohydrate. Superior athletes like Olympians and football players need at least 60–70 percent of their diets to be comprised of complex carbohydrates like those found in potatoes.
• Each 5.3 oz. Idaho® potato is only 110 calories, contains zero fat and cholesterol, and is packed with nutrients, including 45 percent of the daily value of vitamin C, nearly two times as much potassium as a banana, fiber, protein, vitamin B6, and complex carbohydrates. At about 25 cents per potato, that’s a lot of nutritional bang for your buck—and even better, your quarter!
• Feeling anxious about the big game? Eating potatoes can actually calm you when you’re feeling stressed because potatoes and other carbohydrate-rich foods contain serotonin, a chemical in the brain that regulates mood.
• Idaho® potatoes can make you smarter. Studies have shown that foods high in carbohydrates encourage greater mental clarity.
For more information about Idaho® potatoes and some tasty potato recipes, visit www.idahopotato.com.
History of the Olympic Games
The first modern Olympic Games were held in the summer of 1896. The organizers added skating to the Summer Games in 1908 (ice rinks could be kept cold even in the hottest weather), but eventually decided that winter sports were perhaps best left to the winter. The first Olympic Winter Games were held in 1924, in Chamonix, France.
In that first Olympic Winter Games, 16 nations participated, bringing 258 athletes (11 women, 247 men) to compete in 16 events. During the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games, many more athletes (about 2,500) will compete in 15 sports and over 86 separate medal events.
The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony will take place at Vancouver’s BC Place on February 12, 2010. The Closing Ceremony will be held on February 28, 2010. Visit vancouver2010.com for up-to-date information about the Games and the Games’ televised schedule. Keep an eye out for Idaho’s Olympians too!
Working on Your Household Budget
If there ever was a time to find creative ways to do more with less, that time is now. 99 Things to Save Money in Your Household Budget shows you how to save money with a new way of thinking and prioritizing.
The “doing more with less” mentality is easier said than done. Mary Hance (a.k.a. Ms. Cheap) offers simple tips and tactics to help creatively stretch your hard-earned dollars, allowing you to be who you are and do what you enjoy without going beyond your means. Learn how to:
• Have a budget: How to sit down and figure your worth and what you spend.
• Keep in mind that nothing is a bargain if you don’t need it.
• Use a credit card to your fiscal advantage.
• Take advantage of garage sales for home improvement and adding to your wardrobe.
• Go green to save green: How less power usage is good for both the environment and your wallet.
Valentine’s Day – I Love You
Here are a few Valentine’s Day tips from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
• Use plenty of positive words with your child. Try to avoid using sarcasm with your child. They often don’t understand it, and if they do, it creates a negative interaction.
• Respond promptly and lovingly to your child’s physical and emotional needs and banish put-downs from your parenting vocabulary.
• Make an extra effort to set a good example at home and in public. Use words like “I’m sorry,” “please,” and “thank you.”
• When your child is angry, argumentative or in a bad mood, give him a hug, cuddle, pat, secret sign or other gesture of affection he favors and talk with him about his feelings.
• Use non-violent forms of discipline. Parents should institute both rewards and restrictions many years before adolescence to help prevent trouble during the teenage years. Allowing children of any age to constantly break important rules without being disciplined only encourages more rule violations.
• Make plans to spend time alone with your young child or teen doing something she enjoys.
• Mark family game nights on your calendar so the entire family can be together. Put a different family member’s name under each date, and have that person choose which game will be played that evening.
• Help your child foster positive relationships with friends, siblings, and members of the community.
• One of your most important gifts as a parent is to help your child develop self-esteem. Your child needs your steady support and encouragement to discover his strengths. He needs you to believe in him as he learns to believe in himself. Loving him, spending time with him, listening to him and praising his accomplishments are all part of this process.
• Don’t forget to say “I love you” to children of all ages!
Tips provided by the American Academy of Pediatrics, www.aap.org.
Colossal Cabbage Contest
The national Bonnie Plants cabbage-growing program illustrates the best form of teaching, making learning fun and engaging. It provides third grade students enjoyable lessons on plants, patience, and perseverance as they attempt to grow the biggest cabbage in their state.
Students across the country participating in the Bonnie Plants Third Grade Cabbage Program receive a free Bonnie O.S. Cross—an “oversized” cabbage—to to cultivate. The cabbages often grow bigger than a basketball and can weigh up to 50 pounds.
At the end of the season, teachers from each class select the student who has grown the best cabbage, based on size and appearance. A photo of the cabbage and the student entry is submitted to Bonnie Plants. That student’s name is then included in a statewide drawing to receive a $1000 scholarship towards education. The winner of each statewide drawing is chosen by the Commission of Agriculture, state to state, in a random drawing.
Deadline to register your school is April 15, 2010. Register as early as possible, including all third grade classes in one registration. For information and registration, visit www.bonnieplants.com.
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