Monday, June 21, 2010
Sensory Friendly Toy Story 3
Don't miss our Sensory Friendly showing of "Toy Story 3" this Saturday, June 26, at participating AMC Theatres! More info at http://www.autism-society.org/
Every Little Bottom
Did you know 1 in 3 American and 1 in 5 Canadian mothers struggle with diaper needs and have had to cut back on basic necessities including - food, utilities, or even childcare in order to provide enough diapers for their babies? Learn more about Huggies® partnership with diaper bank leaders in the U.S. here: http://www.everylittlebottom.c
Midwestern Region Diaper Banks
Diaper Bank of Northern Indiana
Northern IndianaProviding diapers to low-income families with young children, and to the disabled and elderly, through an established distribution network of nonprofit organizations.
The St. Paul Diaper Bank Partnership
McHenry, IllinoisHelping to meet basic needs and working to partner the community’s compassion into action on behalf of those in need.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Keeping Kids Safe
I originally read this post on the WrightsLaw blog, then went back to read the original point of contention: preventing abuse when using seclusion and restraint. The bill is currently in the Senate and is causing much discussion on the use of restraints and physical intervention. It's quite intriguing.
Secretary Arne Duncan's PTA Speech
For a full copy of his speech "Beyond Bubble Tests and Bake Sales" given at the 114th Annual National PTA Convention (which isn't long at all) - you can find it here
Autism Society of America Conference
Whether you are a parent, professional, or interested person, the ASA Conference is worth your while. With abundant resources and speakers, you can't help but learn new strategies, stories, and successes ; )
To check out the Conference Overview, click here ; )
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Obama in the Washington Post
An article posted in today's Washington Post about President Obama pleading for $50 billion in state and local funding -- check it out! Be sure to let your legislators how important education is!
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
GLAD to Give!!!
What a fantastic mission Glad has - Cookies for Cancer, You Can Bake a Difference!
GLAD® is a proud supporter of Cookies for Kids’ Cancer™, a non-profit organization committed to raising money to support pediatric cancer research through bake sales. Now there are three simple ways you can be a good cookie and get involved.
BUY Specially marked Gladware Products and they'll donate $1 for each code entered onto the website
SHARE your recipe - enter the contest!
HOST a bake sale!
So get involved and get baking!
Beyond the Backpack!
So with a preschooler in the house, we're apt to watching the typical kids channels - PBS, Sprout, Disney, you name it. Lately, Cayden's been tuned in to Nick Jr. on a Dora the Explorer-Spongebob-Fanboy and Chum Chum kick. After today's enthralling mermaid episode of Dora there was a commercial featuring Salma Hayek promoting Beyond the Backpack with Dora to encourage child readiness for Kindergarten. I thought - Man! That's a great idea! Dora's so popular and a large chunk of kids aren't ready for school nor do their parents know the steps to take in order to best prepare them (through no fault of their own, they just don't know - can't blame people for what they don't know). So what a fantastic idea to combine Dora with readiness skills and activities that parents and kids can engage in together! It's easy to navigate, has a countdown calendar and is accessible in both English and Spanish. Supported by the National PTA and Children's Defense fund, BTB is a worthwhile venture for your child's education. Check out the site: Beyond the Backpack with Dora!
Here's the blurb from the site itself:
Just as Dora the Explorer's friendly Backpack keeps her prepared for each adventure, every child deserves to be well prepared for their first school experience with the resources, skills, and support they need to be successful and start their education on the right path. Beyond the Backpack is a new pro-social initiative from Nickelodeon's Dora the Explorer to champion overall school readiness for preschoolers on their biggest adventure yet--going to school.
The first five years of life are critical to kids' lifelong development. However, too many children enter kindergarten with physical, social, emotional, and cognitive limitations that could have been minimized or eliminated through early attention to child and family needs. Research shows that children who are not performing proficiently by the end of third grade are at very high risk of poor long-term outcomes, such as dropping out of school, teen pregnancy, and juvenile crime.
Beyond the Backpack is about the navigational tools--emotional, physical, experiential, and actual that kids need to start school. Beyond the Backpack engages parents, educators, and the community at large in the four areas critical to school success: 1) social and emotional "know-how," 2) early literacy and math skills, 3) parental involvement in schools, 4) health and wellness. Families and communities are a critical part of the solution for the well-rounded development of young kids.
The initiative launched in March 2010 and provides parents, educators, and community leaders with tools to engage in activities year-round that support educating the "whole child." Because school readiness is a multidimensional challenge, Nickelodeon is joining forces with the leading organizations in child development, access to education, and parental involvement, including the National PTA and Children's Defense Fund, to develop an infrastructure of support that gives every kid the best start to school.
The first five years of life are critical to kids' lifelong development. However, too many children enter kindergarten with physical, social, emotional, and cognitive limitations that could have been minimized or eliminated through early attention to child and family needs. Research shows that children who are not performing proficiently by the end of third grade are at very high risk of poor long-term outcomes, such as dropping out of school, teen pregnancy, and juvenile crime.
Beyond the Backpack is about the navigational tools--emotional, physical, experiential, and actual that kids need to start school. Beyond the Backpack engages parents, educators, and the community at large in the four areas critical to school success: 1) social and emotional "know-how," 2) early literacy and math skills, 3) parental involvement in schools, 4) health and wellness. Families and communities are a critical part of the solution for the well-rounded development of young kids.
The initiative launched in March 2010 and provides parents, educators, and community leaders with tools to engage in activities year-round that support educating the "whole child." Because school readiness is a multidimensional challenge, Nickelodeon is joining forces with the leading organizations in child development, access to education, and parental involvement, including the National PTA and Children's Defense Fund, to develop an infrastructure of support that gives every kid the best start to school.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Race to the Top
On March 29, 2010, Ed.gov posted a press release with the very first two winners of distributions from the Race to the Top Grant. According to the press release:
The $4.35 billion Race to the Top Fund is an unprecedented federal investment in reform. The program includes $4 billion for statewide reform grants and $350 million to support states working together to improve the quality of their assessments. The Race to the Top state competition is designed to reward states that are leading the way in comprehensive, coherent, statewide education reform across four key areas:
- Adopting standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college and the workplace;
- Building data systems that measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals how to improve instruction;
- Recruiting, developing, rewarding, and retaining effective teachers and principals, especially where they are needed most; and
- Turning around their lowest-performing schools.
Forty states and the District of Columbia submitted applications for the first phase of grants. Delaware (who will receive about $100 million) and Tennessee (who will receive about $500 million) were selected from among 16 finalists who presented their proposals to panels of peer reviewers earlier this month.
Currently, the reviewers are processing the Phase II applications. Only 35 states and the DoC applied for Phase II. To see if your state (which IL is one) applied, click here. What's super cool is you can check out your state's application, scores and reviewer comments from Phase I. Hopefully IL wins a part of the initiative to keep jobs and boost quality of education! Let's go Illinois!
Healthy Kids!
Healthy Kids Competition Deadline Set for June 30
As part of the first lady’s Let’s Move campaign, the Apps for Healthy Kids Competition invites software developers, game designers, students and others to develop applications helping children and their families eat healthier and engage in physical activity, with a focus on targeting 9-12 year olds.
The application must incorporate the USDA’s Nutrition Dataset located at http://www.data.gov/details/1294. Prizes totaling $60,000 are available.
Visit http://www.appsforhealthykids.com for more information.
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