Maya Angelou, we will miss you!

I saw Maya Angelou, a source of great inspiration to me,  at St. Mary's College when I was a student there.  It really touched me when she passed away on Wednesday.  Maya Angelou was poor as a girl and grew up in the segregated South, she made her way to San Francisco and went on to become one of the most influential literary figures of her time.

President Obama said, "Her soul-stirring words have taught us how to reach across division and honor the beauty of our world.

Resources:

San Francisco Chronicle
"Maya Angelou, 1928-2014, Self-Made Inspiration"
Thursday, May 29, 2014
SFCHRONICLE.com

Toy Tractor is fun for hanging out in our garden

I asked my son this morning about his favorite class and he said, without hesitation, gardening class.  I asked, "Where?"  He said, "Mama gardening class!" Wow, that really tore at my heartstrings, especially as we are just now creating a garden in our front yard, and have been spending extra time lately tending to our elderly roses (especially after reading the book, Little Prince, together.)  There is something about being in the garden with me with our gradual accumulation of tools big and small, and garden gloves we each have that his grandma and uncle got us, that he loves!  It hasn't been an easy journey.  At first, I tried to trim the roses with my clipper tool and my bare hands and ended up with bandaids all over my hands.  He was sympathetic but also found it a little funny as my hands were filled with purple bandaids.  He then saw the importance of the right tools, such as garden gloves.  It is a journey that I will continue to chronicle.

Resources:

Tractor
Made in USA
Greentoys are made from 100% curbside collected, recycled plastic.
Safe and nontoxic, Greentoys contain no BPA, PVC, or phthalates.
Greentoys are safe to use with real food, and dishwasher safe too.
Green Toys Inc.
912 Cole St., Suite 283
San Francisco, CA  94117
www.greentoys.com
SKU#TRT0-1042

Where can you have a beach fire for roasting marshmallows, cooking hot dogs, etc?

I am looking forward to sitting around a beach fire at Ocean Beach this summer, or another beautiful beach and staying warm, cooking some yummy treats such as s'mores, and staying warm.  There is a listing of beaches that allow beach fires at the website, beachcalifornia.com.

Binoculars for kids- Beastly Binoculars from Wild Republic- great for adventure kit

When we were at Gatorland in Florida, I got my son some Beastly Binoculars, shaped like alligators.  It is fun for his nature pack.  I reminded him not to look into direct sunlight since that is so dangerous!  These binoculars are 4.5 X 29 powered.  This item is in Billy's adventure backpack!

Resources;

Beastly Binoculars
Wild Republic
$9.99
(Purchased from Gatorland, in Orlando, Florida)
www.wildrepublic.com
A division of K & M International, Inc.
1955 Midway Drive
Twinsburg, Ohio  44087  U.S.A.

Recommended long sleeve shirts- Lands' End Kids

My son is fair skinned and with spring here I worry about too much sun exposure on his arms and face especially, and I don't always have time to slather on sunscreen.  I found some really nice long sleeved shirts at Lands' End Kids in Sears, and my son likes wearing them!  I got him only the shirt in red, but I'll be back for more.

Resources:

Long sleeved polo shirt, no emblem
red
KSN#70460608-6
landsend.com
1-800-800-5800
$20.00

recommended water bottles

I like the eco kids brand water bottles or zippy.
Resources:
#304 Stainless Steel
Eco friendly
www.crocodilecreek.com
HA2155-ZJ-0713

Foodie Kids- Y is for Yogurt

Billy loves the Trader Joe's Organic low fat cherry yogurt squashers.  He first discovered them from his grandma who likes them herself!

He also loves plain yogurt with maple syrup, especially cousin Jeremy's!

Bath Paints- Fun for drawing on the tiles of the bath-spring fever solution!!

My son got bath paints for a present and I waited a little while to open them up.  When I first let my son use the bath paints in the bath he went wild, there was drawing everywhere and he had a ball!

Resources:

Bath Paints
Ages 3 plus
Bathroom Graffiti
4 colors
Fun in the tub!
"Paint the tub, tiles, and shower with the bath soap paint.  Great remedy for spring fever!"  Teacher Mama

Natural Science Industries UK
3 Tresham Road, Orton Southgate
Peterboro, England  UK  PE2  6SG

Oakland Zoo- Oakland, CA

I've been to quite a few zoos, and the Oakland Zoo is a really nice one.  There is a great playground, train, and other extras too!  My son loves to climb on the sculptures.

Resources:

Oakland Zoo
P.O. Box 5238
Oakland, CA  94605

Sand play- Living Sands for ages 3 plus!

I discovered the "living sands" toy through a sample that was set up at a local toy store, I don't even remember which one.  As I touched the sand, even as an adult I was mesmerized how it appeared to come to life in my hands!  After playing with it myself, it wasn't long before I decided to get some for Billy, my son.  It includes a set of tools.  According to the box it never dries out, you can use it again and again, and it cleans with water.  Ours hasn't dried out.  This is a fun toy, especially with summer coming up!

Foodie Kids- C is for Cocoa, Cookies, and Carrots with Cowgirl ranch dressing

Favorite chocolate syrup
Santa Cruz Organic
Chocolate flavored syrup
Distributed by:  Santa Cruz Natural, Inc.
P.O. Box 369
Chico, CA  95927
USA
www.santacruzorganic.com
888-569-6994
"This delicious syrup has no high fructose corn syrup, and is delicious even for mamas."
Teacher Mama

Favorite chocolate chip cookies from a bakery
Chocolate Chip Cookies  (Mama loves the gluten free oatmeal cherry chocolate chip, heavenly!)
Sweet Bar Bakery
Oakland, CA
"The owner was once Michael Johnson's personal chef and all their flour is organic!"

Favorite carrots:

Favorite Cowgirl ranch dressing
Annie's Naturals
Berkeley, CA  94710
Made in USA
Certified Organic by Oregon Tilth
www.Annies.com
1-800-288-1089

Fiddle camps and workshops in the United States

I found a listing of fiddle camps and workshops across the United States.  Many of these also had programs for children.

Resources:

Fiddler Magazine
U.S. Fiddler
Camps and Workshops
http://www.fiddle.com/camps-workshops-U.S.A

Fiddlekids- fiddle day camp for children ages 7 to 13 in El Cerrito, CA

My son started playing violin and fiddle in September when he was 5 years old.  I have heard rave reviews about the Fiddlekids program through Freight and Salvage.  The ages this camp serves is 7 to 13 years old.  There is a final concert on the last day of camp.  It is requested that children have 1 year of violin before camp.

Resources:

Fiddlekids
Freight and Salvage
www.freightandsalvage.org/fiddlekids

Free jewish bedtime stories and songs- PJ Library

PJ library is a great way to receive free jewish bedtime stories and songs!  Plus, it is free.  All you need to do is sign up!

Resources:

PJ Library
Jewish Bedtime Stories and Songs
Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay
300 Grand Avenue
Oakland, CA  94610

Book of the Day: Steam Train, Dream Train by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld

Billy chose Steam Train, Dream Train to be the book of the day because he loves trains!  He especially loves overnight trains!  This book combines toys, overnight trains, and fun characters, all of which create a magical story, especially good to nighttime!

Resources:

Steam Train, Dream Train

by Sherri Duskey Rinker and Tom Lichtenheld

ISBN# 978-1-4521-0920-6

www.chroniclekids.com

Disneyland Monorail

Tools for Outdoors in spring- The Digger by Reeve and Jones

We are having fun doing gardening this spring.  My son uses "The Digger" for picking up dead plants, and he even used it today at a park to pick up a piece of plastic to throw in the garbage (without once using his bare hands!)

Resources:

The Digger
"It's the one that gets the job done!
Ages 2 & up
Reeve & Jones Ltd.
804-6 Energy Plaza, Granville Rd.
Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon, H.K.
Made in China, Zhaoqing
12309GR

Gardening class today at Chabot Space and Science Center, Tyke Explorers

Tyke Explorers is a program I have wrote about extensively in this blog.  The program is 2 to 3 days a month, and each month a different theme is focused on.  This month the theme is gardening and nature. Last session we actually worked with live worms such as Night Crawlers!

Article Review - Why a teacher, Pauline Hawkins, resigned after 11 years as a teacher

A friend texted  me the article, "Why I'm Resigning After 11 Years As a Teacher," by Pauline Hawkins  in April, and today I revisited it.  This article is a about Pauline Hawkins, a teacher, who taught for 11 years in Colorado.

Some of her interesting points:

1.  For her, up to five years ago, students still had a sense of pride in whom they were and self-confidence in whom they would become someday.

2.  She noticed an increase in students participating in self-harm and bullying.

3.  She questions whether our current educational system is punishing students for their inadequacies rather than helping students discover unique talents.

4.  She wonders if we are creating a teach to the test mentality

5.  Her question she keeps asking is, "Is this good for the kids?"  Her answer keeps coming up as , "No!"


Resources:

Article, "Why I'm Resigning After 11 Years As A Teacher," by Pauline Hawkins

Pauline's blog is paulinehawkins.com.

Foodie Kids- S is for Strawberries, Strawberry Shortcake, Strawberry edible fruit straws.......

Billy loves edible fruit straws placed in a glass of cold milk, yum!

Resources:

Organic Fruit Straws
real fruit snacks
Distributed by:
Nest Collective, Inc.
Emeryville, CA  94608
1-877-914-PLUM
info@plumorganics.com
(no artificial flavors or colors, I pick these up at Whole Foods Market.)

Billy's Book of the Day- The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint Exupery

One of my favorite books is The Little Prince by Antoine St. Exupery.  (To be continued)

Kids Tools for Gardening

My son and I are gardening,  I got Billy a small rake and shovel that are perfect for 6 year old hands, these tools really work!

 Kid-sized "Dig It" Wheelbarrow:

Raking:

Digging (and check out the gloves!):

Live-action shots of the rake:

And a kid-sized spade shovel:

Resources:

kids tools
Ages 5 & up
Garden Rake and shovel
Toysmith
Item # 2292
Sumner, Washington  98390

Red Wheelbarrow
Toysmith

My mom and brother picked up a Trowel garden tool from Target, which has a picture of nickelodeon's teenage mutant ninja turtles on it.  My son got a kick out of it.
www.Nick.com/TMNT
www.bbdesignsonline.com
2013 Viacom Overseas Holdings C.V.
This tool is not recommended for children under 3 years of age.

Children's and adult garden gloves
Target
(My mom and brother picked up mommy and son garden gloves at Target in Concord, CA.  A few days before I had gotten cuts all over my hands from doing pruning on our rose garden, ouch!)

Recommended Reading Specialist in the San Francisco Bay Area- Amy Brain

A friend of mine is having her son work with Amy Brain, a Reading Specialist in the Walnut Creek area of California.  I recently ran into her at Civic Park in Walnut Creek, and she is amazingly kind sweet, the kind of teacher that a child could really feel safe and learn from!  She works with children who are both home schooled as well as teachers in public and private schools.

Resources:

Amy Brain
Educational Consultant
Reading Specialist
(925) 935-3236
Amymortonbrain@att.net
Amy@Early-Elements.com
www.Early-Elements.com

Foodie Kids Alphabet - E is for Eggs and Egg Pizza

We love eggs!

A yummy place for egg pizza every Saturday and Sunday is at Oliveto Cafe in Oakland, CA.  Here are some pictures!

Foodie Kids alphabet - R is for Ravioli

My son loves ravioli!  I took my mom to a Trader Joe's near her house and decided to do some shopping of my own and so I picked up some dinner items.  One item I got was Trader Joe's Four Cheese Jumbo Ravioli and some spaghetti sauce.  My son loved it!  It is not organic, but I looked at the ingredients and the ingredients looked fine.

I also picked up a gluten free variety from Pasta Prima for me.  Mine is cooking right now.

Resources:

Four Cheese Jumbo Ravioli
Dist. & Sold Exclusively by Trader Joe's, Monrovia, CA  91016

Pasta Prima
Gluten Free
Five Cheese Ravioli
Manufactured by Valley Fine Foods Company
Benicia, CA   94510
(707) 746-6888
www.pastaprima.com

opentable.com is wonderful way to make reservations, we used it today!

Today we went to Pier 39 for Mother's Day lunch.  My mom loves this place and we decided to go to P

Academy of Sciences in San Francisco open today, plus great restaurants on site!

Today is last day for Georgia O' Keefe exhibit at the DeYoung Museum!

Mother's Day at Pier 39

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers, mothers to be, and those who mother in the world!

Punta Gorda - Fisherman's Villiage

Punta Gorda has a great mall/tourist area on the water called Fisherman's Village.

We had a great meal at Village Fish Market.  One unique dish we tried - the Lobster Mac and Cheese.

More Babcock Ranch

A few more pictures from our visit to the Babcock Ranch Preserve:

Babcock Ranch Preserve

More pictures from the Babcock Ranch Preserve.