Cinema Sunday: PULL THE PLUG FOR CCFC’s SCREEN-FREE WEEK

Posted on April 17, 2011 by viviankirkfield

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Usually on Sundays, I review a movie that I feel others might find enjoyable. But today, I’m devoting my post to informing you about Screen-Free Week.

From April 18 – April 24, thousands (or maybe hundreds of thousands) of families across the country will be pulling the plug of their TV sets and computers in honor of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood’s SCREEN-FREE WEEK. Families can participate by turning off their TV’s and computers for entertainment and turning on to other activities.

What a fantastic idea!

Please don’t get me wrong…there definitely are some great programs on TV for adults and children…many of those can be found on your local PBS stations.

But no child should spend too much time in front of the television or computer screen, no matter how educational or valuable the show is.

How can your family benefit by taking part in this week-long event?

More family time together. “To be in your children’s memories tomorrow, you need to be in their lives today.” Sit down together and plan a family trip. As a family, go through those photos that have been piling up and put together a family album. Play board games or charades.
More time to go outside. With the obesity rate climbing in this country, both adults and children will benefit from outdoor exercise such as walking, hiking or other outdoor activities.

More time for reading, crafting and cooking with your children. If you need some ideas, please check out my book for parents of preschoolers which is an excellent resource. It highlights 100 picture books every young child should hear and provides an eco-friendly craft project and a child-friendly healthful recipe for each recommended story. And, if you have older children, how about having them participate by reading the story to their younger brothers and sisters and then assist with the craft and cooking activities.

For more information on this event and other family activities, you can go to the website of the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood: http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/screenfreeweek/

They have lots of other ideas of what you can do when you turn off your screens.

Earth Day 2011: Preserve, Protect, Promote…How Parents and Their Preschoolers Can Participate

Posted on April 16, 2011 by viviankirkfield

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Have you noticed how much your preschooler wants to be like you?

Look over at your child while you are engaged in some activity like reading, talking on the phone or even cleaning the house.

More often than not, you will see your preschooler mimicking you…the book may be upside down and the imaginary phone conversation may be on a toy…but emulating parents is what young children love to do.

With Earth Day 2011 quickly approaching (Friday, April 22), here are seven simple steps that parents can take to preserve the planet for future generations, protect our natural resources and promote environmental awareness with their preschoolers.

1. Buy gently used clothing and toys at consignment shops or places like Goodwill and donate your child’s gently used items as well. This cycle of recycling really helps.

2. Use homemade natural solutions to clean your home. They are better for your family and better for the planet. Here are a couple of links where you can find great “recipes” and other tips: http://housekeeping.about.com/cs/environment/a/alternateclean.htm, http://www.ehow.com/about_4777601_natural-homemade-cleaning-products.html, http://organizedhome.com/clean-house/pantry-recipes-homemade-cleaning-products. Happy cleaning!!!

3. Walk; don’t drive, to local destinations, if possible, like the store or the library.

4. Spend the day at a local park…bring a picnic lunch, gloves and a big garbage bag. Walk around and have your child help you pick up any garbage you find.

5. Bring your own bags when you shop…you might want to get smaller reusable bags for your young children so that they can help carry groceries in a more responsible way.

6. Buy local. I realize it is not always possible or feasible to buy organic, locally-grown or produced food. However, this not only benefits your family, but also the planet. The carbon footprint left by foods that are flown or trucked across the country is huge…and buying locally helps the growers and manufacturers who must compete with the large corporations. The nutritional benefits to your family include not having to worry about artificial colors, preservatives and genetically modified foods. If you are looking for healthful recipes, my book for parents of preschoolers, Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking, includes 100 easy child-friendly cooking activities, as well as 100 simple eco-friendly craft projects.

7. Buy in bulk with as little packaging as possible. Many stores now have a special section where they offer a wide selection of foods that can be purchased by the pound or less. The price is usually significantly cheaper than buying the product in a box with a name brand listed on the front.

Seven simple steps…if you only do a few, you will be making an important contribution to the preservation of our planet for future generations.

Seven simple steps…if you allow your children to participate with you, you will be encouraging them to protect our natural resources.

Seven simple steps…if we all follow them, we promote environmental awareness and the well-being of the world.

You can “like” b-kind-2-earth-day and go here for more information about what lots of other people are doing: http://www.facebook.com/BKind2EarthDay/posts/139097546162617#!/BKind2EarthDay

Follow-Me-Fridays: Where’s Miss Vivian?

Posted on April 15, 2011 by viviankirkfield

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Yesterday I walked into Bristol Elementary School…the halls are brightly decorated with the artistic efforts of the students. The two kindergartens where I was to do my presentation are separated by another room which serves as an office for the two teachers and their assistants…what a great set-up!

The children were eager to hear the story of Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready For Bed? by Barney Saltzberg. The teacher had introduced me as ‘Miss Vivian, who used to teach kindergarten many years ago and now she wrote a book about books and she is going to read to us today’. I opened the picture book to the inner title page and began, “This is a story about a little pig named Cornelius who does some very silly things…Cornelius P. Mud, Are You Ready For Bed?” I have to tell you how amazed I was when one of the boys asked, “And who is the author?” Usually I do say the author’s name after I tell them the title…this time I didn’t, and it was great to hear such a question from a 5-year old. 🙂 After I told them the name of the author, the same child piped up, “And who drew the pictures?” We talked a minute about the fact that in this particular book, the author was also the illustrator and then we read the story about the little pig getting ready for bed. When Cornelius brushes his teeth with soap and a body brush, the kindergarteners laughed. And when the little pig chooses a pile of TWENTY books as his bedtime story, the children knew that his father would NEVER read so many books at one time. But when Cornelius feeds his fish CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES, one girl raised her hand and said, “If you feed your fish cookies, they will die because cookies have sugar and fish can’t eat things with sugar.” I agreed and added that it was a good thing that this was just a story and that many stories are just “made up” and those events didn’t really happen. “That’s because it’s fiction!” exclaimed another child.

WOW!!!!!

I guess that is one of the things that I love most about young children…they are sponges for knowledge…what an opportunity parents and teachers have! It is so important to spend those precious moments with little ones…just 15 minutes is all it takes to read a picture book story or do a simple arts and crafts project or prepare something together in the kitchen. Those 15 minutes (or more if you have it) of “quality” time, participating positively with a child, leaves an impression that builds self-esteem, develops pre-literacy skills and creates a life-long parent-child bond.

After the story, I showed the children the No Tick-Tock Clock craft project and explained how we would proceed to make it. I loved the way the teacher wrote the steps on the board as I spoke…using a simple picture (like a bottle of glue) and then a word (like glue)…to give the children a reference to follow as they worked on their clocks. The children really enjoyed working on the simple craft project and were excited to be able to bring it home to show their parents and use it to help them know when it was time to get ready for bed.

If you are interested in getting a copy of a great resource that provides story suggestions, simple craft projects and easy healthful recipes, I hope you will take advantage of a very special sale going on right now to celebrate The Week Of The Young Child and to help enable young families to purchase a copy of SHOW ME HOW! BUILD YOUR CHILD’S SELF-ESTEEM THROUGH READING, CRAFTING AND COOKING. You can check it out by going to my website…if you pay by check or money order, you can get the book for $14.95 (plus postage…U.S. only)…only one copy per address, no dealers, please (April 10-April 16). This is an amazing 66% off the cover price of $44.95. The book is a great resource for parents with young children and I am trying to make it available to as many parents as possible.

For those of you who are interested in the Read with Max Book Blog tour, to find out more information about Leader Dogs for the Blind or to follow Max on the rest of his book blog tour: http://readwithmax.com/blogbooktour.html

Also, please don’t forget that I will be taking part in the EASTER EGGSTRAVAGANZA GIVEAWAY BLOG HOP from April 20 – April 25. It will be the first time I will be giving away a copy of my book on my own blog, although it has been part of many reviews and several giveaways on other blog sites. The other really cool thing is that there are over 200 bloggers taking part…you will be able to hop from one to another…read their posts and enter their giveaways. So keep your eye on my posts for more information. http://iamareadernotawriter.blogspot.com/p/giveaway-hop-page.html

Please stop by tomorrow for Saturday Ramblings: Preserve, Protect and Promote…Earth Day 2011