Get a Voki now!

I hope you liked my voki. I had a chance to learn about this tool (and many others) while working as an online teacher. It is just one example of some technology out that there your tweens may know about and you don’t. While creating a voki is rather harmless when done this way, even it could be used for less than positive purposes.

My boys are still relatively young tweens but they do use the computer from time to time to play PBS games or view a Cartoon Network video. I know that one day, very soon, they will be surfing the web and know way more than I do. I just want to do my best to stay on top of what is out there so I can minimize any surprises or issues as the boys get older.

The Internet is a wonderful place where Jake and Sam can learn a lot but I also know there are pitfalls and I want to try to get ahead of those as much as I can.

Do you try to stay on top of new technologies? Are there any barriers you have faced?

I recently went to see the movie Tooth Fairy with my kids.  There was a line from the movie that stuck out to me when a character said, “You know what your problem is…you can’t say, ‘what if?’”  It all correlated to believing.  It made me think about how often as a parent I may react before believing.   Can I see the potential?  As I have gotten older,  I am tainted by experiences, life and trust and believe a little less.

Tonight as I listened to a conversation between my husband and daughter I realized that I do this, too.  We assume we know a situation and react, usually blaming the older child without listening to their side of the story.  Even if we listen, we may not believe them and react negatively anyway.  For example, our middle child was screaming and our daughter was near him.  Dad’s assumption was that she had hurt him and he reacted.  My daughter tried to talk and ended up screaming and yelling that “she was always at fault and that he is NOT her friend.”  Sound familiar?

Tweens are at a fragile age of asserting themselves and pressing boundaries to see how far they can go to get away with things.  They want to know if we are listening.  If they don’t think we are listening, they react .  In reality, they are repeating our behaviors to a certain extent.  How we react during this developmental stage can greatly effect their self esteem and how they learn to communicate.

What if we listened more closely?  What if we let our children finish before reacting and assuming?  What if we took the time to understand or evaluate why they are misbehaving before making it worse?   What if we believed our children?  There are so many “what ifs” to give the benefit to our children.  This process of thinking will take more effort, but I believe will benefit our family in the end.

We should believe our children.  We should trust that we have taught them well.  I know I want my children to believe.  I want my children to question.  I want my children to continue talking to me and opening up, even if it’s not what I want to hear.   I want to treat them as the people I know that they can become.  What if I took a little more time in making sure that I’m listening and believing.  These are the random thoughts in my head inspired by the movie. And the film was pretty good too.

Do you believe in “what if?”  If so, how do you foster the belief  in dreams or goals with your children?

Much to my shock, the girls have already started the whole “poster” thing.  Yes, apparantly they’re into the Jonas Brothers and the Chipmunk girls.  I’m honestly taken aback by all of this; it seems like yesterday it was the Doodlebops and Sponge Bob.  Now, very suddenly, they’re turning into kids and they’re not babies anymore.

It’s made me think about a lot of things.  For example, Lady Gaga’s video that everyone seems to be in an uproar about.  It makes me consider different ways to encourage my kids to idolize positive role models instead of just worshipping whomever is the most popular or idolizing the hot trend among their peers.  Look, I’m not unrealistic; I know that they’ll idolize people who I’m not necessarily crazy about, but on the same token, there are certain people, Mia Hamm, Shania Twain, Condi Rice, etc who have the values I admire and have met challenges facing many girls.  I want them to look up to and respect people who have a good work ethic, women who can rise to a challenge, who can face adversity and rise to the occasion.  I don’t want them thinking that trust fund babies are cool; that they shouldn’t have to work for the things that they need.

I guess my question really is, who and what makes a good role model for tween girls?  Of course they’ll look up to famous people, because I think every little kid, at some point or another, dreams of being famous.  How do you encourage your kids to have idolize the “right” people and not the latest fad?  Please, share your ideas and thoughts below, because I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Looking at things in a new way can boost creativity!

When it comes to finding tools to help children succeed in life, there’s nothing like perusing through the resources for educators. With all the emphasis on learning in a classroom, sometimes teachers don’t have the luxury of stressing creativity. So it comes back to parents to help boost this much needed skill.

An article for educators listed five areas that I thought really hit on the target on the best ways to boost creativity. Here is a sample:

1. Seize the opportunity

If you see your tween start cooking or drawing, nudge and nurture that creative spark along. You never know where it could take them.

2. Challenge Assumptions

I always think that teaching someone to think critically is really the key to success. It’s not about memorizing facts. But helping kids see things from lots of different angles. Toys like puzzles, word jumbles, Scrabble and even kaleidoscopes help to rearrange ideas.

3. Take Risks

This is a great one and can often be accomplished outdoors. I love seeing tweens playing on jungle gyms or expanding their reach further than they thought they could. Often they take these accomplishments back indoors.

4.Get a New Perspective

Helping see an idea or situation from another perspective can widen one’s own thought process. Many of our mommy bloggers this month have shared how they buy costumes and encourage their kids to put on plays or shows. Stepping into someone else’s shoes is a great way to get a new perspective

5. Think Ambiguously

I like the idea that everything doesn’t have to be set in stone. This idea doesn’t work for concrete skills like math or science but in history and English. Make sure your tween has a well-rounded educational experience.

To read the article in full, visit here. But thinking about these five areas can begin an interesting voyage of creativity!

How do you incorporate creative play in your tween’s life? Please share below.

As some of you know, my older son Jake just built his Leprechaun trap for the year. He escaped again, but he sure had fun planning and making it and you better believe he is convinced that there was a leprechaun in there at one time….he just got out. 

Jake has always had an imagination. He is starting to write stories now in school with titles like the “Cookie Mystery” and “The Legend of Darkbeard.” He has entire worlds going on in his little head and he loves taking the time to write about them or set up elaborate “scenes” in our living room with battles and lots of army men.

My younger son, Sam, has never showed this same propensity for imaginative play. He was always happy to wander around the house and play with whatever struck him at that moment, whether that’s a stuffed animal for a few minutes then on to his drum set. He was not into “creating” like Jake was. But that has all changed in the past two months.

Sam has discovered a love for all things that have to do with amusement parks. He draws rides, reenacts them with his stuffed animals and he has even vowed to ride a roller coaster now during our upcoming trip to Busch Gardens. As you can see in the video above, his love for the amusement park has no end!

 It has been fun to watch his imagination blossom as he shows off his coaster called “Ice Monster” or he writes about having enough tickets to ride Griffon, the mega coaster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg.

I know kids come in all shapes and sizes and so do their imaginations. I never expected (or wanted) Sam to be just like Jake. It has just been a joy to see him find that something that has allowed his creativity to soar.

What do your kids like to imagination? As tweens, have you seen things change? Are they more imaginative or less?