Grandparenting Archives - Page 5 of 5

Dec 18 2018

Tips for Managing Holiday Stress

It is that busy time of year! All of us struggle with maintaining a sense of balance and calm in our daily lives. During this time of year, I struggle with juggling a demanding work schedule and maintaining my serenity with more demands for childcare and holiday celebrations. [Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert

Mary Ann Burke, Ed.D., Digital Education Expert, is a substitute distance learning teacher for Oak Grove School District in San Jose, California and the author of STUDENT-ENGAGED ASSESSMENT: Strategies to Empower All Learners (Rowman & Littlefield: 2020). Dr. Burke creates digital language arts and substitute teaching K – 12 activities for teachers and parents. She is the Cofounder of the Genparenting.com blog. Burke is the former Director II of Categorical & Special Projects for the Santa Clara County Office of Education that supports 31 school districts serving 272,321 students in Santa Clara County. She is also a previous Director – State & Federal Compliance for Oakland Unified School District, the former Director – Grantwriter for the Compton Unified School District, and was the initial VISTA Director for the Community Partnership Coalition in southern California. Much of her work focuses on creating innovative digital trainings and partnership programs for teachers and families to support students’ learning. These programs were featured as a best practice at a National Title I Conference, California’s Title I Conferences, AERA Conferences, an ASCD Conference, the NASSP Conference, and statewide educator conferences.

Dec 04 2018

Toy Buying Considerations for Our Children

It’s the season for giving and many parents ask us what they should consider when buying children’s toys. We have observed that children learn best when playing with toys that can be used in many different ways.

Toys for All Ages

Summarized below are our seven favorite types of toys for children of all ages:

Cuddly toys provide bonding, cuddling, and lots of situational and pretend play. These include stuffed animals, dolls, character blankets, busy blankets, toys with different types of tags, and puppets.
Situational toys support children’s creative expression and lifestyle problem-solving skills. Cooking items, food supplies, kitchen appliances, and cleaning supplies can be used to play house. Situational play kits that may include pirate ships, school houses, and cabins with furniture and supplies can be used to act out various imaginary activities.
Building and construction toys help children develop eye-hand coordination, manual dexterity, and foster our children’s cognitive skill development. Building blocks, Lego, Magna-Tiles, and Brio kits provide endless options for constructing a multitude of items and reinforce Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) skills.
STEM exploration kits stimulate science, technology, engineering, and math problem-solving observations, experiments, and product construction. Elenco’s Electronic Snap Circuits, KEVA Catapult, Engino’s STEM Machines Engineering Kit, Rubik’s cubes, math puzzles, games, and science lab toys provide endless opportunities for children to apply math and science explorations and problem-solving skills.
Large muscle toys aid muscle growth and essential coordination skills. Push toys, wagons, trikes, bikes, scooters, balls, sand toys, and gardening tools support healthy large muscle development.
Books of all types help our children discover the world of reading, imagination, and problem-solving. When we read with our children their abilities to explore expand as we can discuss many possibilities of how a story can relate to our lives. Nonfictional books help our children learn about the world beyond their daily experiences. Artistic books without words allow are children to create their own stories and conclusions.
Art supplies help our children express their creativity, imagination, eye-hand coordination, and manual dexterity. Large crayons, marking pens, finger paints, watercolors, collage objects, glitter, glue, stickers, and lots of different types of paper and shapes reinforce our children’s discovery of art in relation to their world.

[Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert

Nov 20 2018

How Our Children Can Support Diverse Cultures

In this season of Thanksgiving, many of us meet with friends and family to celebrate our blessings. When reflecting on our culturally diverse friendships, the GenParenting bloggers have previously published blogs on how we can raise culturally sensitive children by modeling acceptance, sharing interests, participating in interfaith events, and partnering in community services and school activities. We have shared thoughtful experiences of how our children have shared their American culture with children from other countries. And we have celebrated various heritages at diversity events per the calendar of events at www.diversitycentral.com. [Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert

Oct 30 2018

Yikes! Brandon’s Twin Sisters Turn Three!

We just spent a wonderful couple of days with our almost three-year-old twin granddaughters. Although their baby years are documented in three CreateSpace books, they continue to love to read their stories about themselves and their relationship with their older brother, Brandon. We have also captured their life stories in their own photo albums. Anna and Maria love to look at themselves as babies growing up. Although they look alike, they consistently inform us which baby they are in each photo. They also keep telling us they want to dress differently, but when given choices they will still pick out the same outfits and giggle as we clarify which child we are dressing. [Read more…]

Mary Ann Burke, Digital Education Expert

Oct 09 2018

Developmental Disabilities

A couple of months ago, I shared about identifying educational services for children who have special learning needs When Learning Disabilities Arise. Today, I am sharing about Developmental Disabilities. This subject is close to my heart because one of my sisters has this type of disability.

Some children have conditions that require deeper attention and support. These conditions may interfere with their growth and development. When parents realize that their child is not developing as other children do, they often ask:

- Could my child have a developmental disability?
- How can I get help for my child and myself, as a parent?

[Read more…]

Rosemarie Perez, Parenting

Rosemarie Pérez has worked with English learners and their families in public education for more than twenty years. She has served as a bilingual teacher, professional developer, and district administrator. Administrative roles included serving as the Director of English Learners for an elementary school district and as a Coordinator of Reading and Language for the San Mateo County Office of Education. Rosemarie continues to work with families as she leads the Santa Clara County Office of Education’s Parent Engagement Initiative during the past three years. Ms. Pérez provides expert guidance to teachers, school site staff, and school administrators in creating culturally sensitive parent training modules and academic curricular units. She facilitates parent education and Common Core Standards workshops. Engaged parents are further trained to become parent leaders and advocates. Rosemarie is the mother of five adult children and three grandchildren.