Pregnancy, Parenting and Beyond

 As a part of son's community service project, we (or I must really say He) decided to host a Book Exchange - along with a few neighbors. As the days passed, J got more and more excited and spread the word. With the generous donations from well-wishers, we were able to host it as a Book Sale - all proceeds of which we are to donate to St Jude Children's Research hospital.    We created a Raffle box - and picked out a winner at the end of the event. The little 9 yr old girl was over  the moon and brimming with joy. Also, as we waited for our patrons to show up, some of the children and J made bookmarks. The children were super excited to learn how to fold the paper and then embellished them with glitter - (sadly no pics as I was enjoying with them). But below are a sample of what we made. Courtesy:  Creative M by Meetu G For step by step instructions click here :  Bookmarks

Thanks to our growing up children and especially J's school that encourages the children to do for and give back to our community. With the Book exchange/sale, it was a project within our community. As for the community as a whole, we decided to deliver meals to senior citizens via the Meals on Wheels program of the Newark Senior Center, DE. We promptly picked up meals at half past 10 and since we were new, we were given an easy route. From carrying out the lunches to our car... J's journey began with following directions to the patron's address.... walking down to the front door, knocking ever so gently or "bang on door" were instructions on some of the front doors.  It was wonderful to say "Here's your lunch!!" and we got plenty of smiles and blessings on the way. Something that we would definitely consider doing again... Coz J was totally elated by the experience.  If interested... Call Stephanie at the Newark Senior Center , DE. ...

Courtesy Kindergarten dot com It is very important to make sure a child can sustain play .  When a child plays he or she is building social language, imagination and creativity.  Sustained play will teach a child how to focus on one topic at a time and help develop natural conversation skills .  More importantly, playing teaches a child new concepts, cognitive, fine and gross motor skills.  Using simple blocks as an example, a child may learn about construction, spatial awareness, balance, colors, sizes, shapes, etc.  If a child has delayed language, an adult could model a lot of functional language by simply talking about what kind of building he or she wants to build, suggest who might live in the building, or compare her building to something else. You may have a child that is easily distracted, hyperactive or sensory seeking.  He or she may not know how to play with a specific toy and become easily frustrated.  One of the best things you...

Reposting this for my audience. I am so proud that my 4yo loves our reading time. Most books that we repeatedly read every night, he can now recite the stories to himself. Once Dad or I finish reading him a book, he then flips pages of 3 books. Of them, he recites themm to himself.(some days of course he is just so tired and will flip over pages and fall asleep) But, its like music to the ears to hear your child read out loud to themselves. I come from a family of teachers, and I know that my mum will be so proud of her Grandson. He is totally into Disney Cars Dinosaur Train (the PBS series) Little Critters series by Mercer Mayer Franklin series by Paulette Bourgeois, Brenda Clark and Jane B Mason Sesame Street Character short stories Recently, I started getting the Golden Book Series - such an amazing collection We purchase books that we really like and then I mostly get books from our local library.  I stumbled upon this list of books on another blog that I follow an...

Kids Love Stickers You can buy a package of stickers and a package of construction paper and help your toddler put the stickers on. They really enjoy the process, although they aren’t too interested in the finished product at this toddler stage. But they will have fun putting the stickers on, with your help. Make a Collage Buy a roll of clear contact paper. You can cut a piece and tape it to the surface of the table you’re working on. Your child can then easily make a collage with any kind of material that sticks on the contact paper, such as confetti. Your child will enjoy dribbling the confetti over the paper, and then pressing it down to make it stick. You can also rip up construction paper into smaller pieces and use that instead of confetti. When you are finished, place another piece of contact paper of the same size over the first one, and voila! You have a lovely work of art suitable for giving to Grandma or hanging on the refrigerator. Play Dough and Finger Paint The t...