Gardening

Parents and grandparents are always trying to find the best possible city to raise their children and grandchildren. It is important for a family to live in a safe environment and for babies to grow up in a good neighborhood. Some places are better to raise children in than others. However, many parents and grandparents do not have a way to move to the best places they can find because of their jobs, family ties, medical conditions, and other reasons.

One way to find the most appropriate place to live in is to look at the list of the top places to live in the United States. This famous list is published annually by CNN/Money and Money magazine and it is called 100 Best Cities to Live in the United States. CNN/Money and Money magazine looks at a lot of factors including housing, median income, number of school, crime rates, air quality and come up with the top 100 places. When thinking about a place to bring up their children or grandchildren, parents and grandparents can look at this list and decide which cities are best suited for their situations.

Plymouth, Minnesota, tops the most recent list of big cities to live. It has topnotch schools, good jobs, affordable housing, low crime, an active outdoor culture, and plenty more to offer. The city’s main school district is ranked among the top three in the state. For culture, Plymouth’s open-air amphitheater, the Hilde Performance Center, hosts numerous summer concerts. It is also near the Mall of America, the nation’s biggest mall. But, Plymouth, MN can get quite cold in the winter with temperature dropping to about F 3.7° in January.

If you are looking for somewhere with a little higher temperature but not hot, then Overland Park Kansas has also consistently ranked in the top 10 of the list. Overland Park is located in the Kansas City Metropolitan area and has won many awards. Among many Overland Park City Awards is an award for being one of “The Best Places to Raise Your Kids in 2009”. There is a lot of free places to visit in Overland Park and the majority of them are excellent for children. If you live in the area, you can find out from watching Overland Park news all about free, award winning, kids friendly events in the area.

There are lots of cities on the CNN/Money and Money magazine’s list that families say are very near perfect. But, it is up to parents and grandparents in charge to find the best places for their families to live in.

Nothing is as important to academic achievement as your grandchild’s ability to read well. However, there is more to being a good reader than just being able to read the words accurately. Just as important, is the ability to understand what has been read. Here is some advice on ways to help your grandchildren become more effective readers.

Special time – set aside a regular time to read to or with your grandkids whenever they come and visit. Research shows that reading aloud regularly with  children will produce significant gains in reading comprehension, vocabulary and the decoding of words.

Provide what they need – surround your grandkids with reading material whether bought or borrowed from friends or the local library. Children who have access to a large array of reading material in their homes score higher on standardized tests. Tempt your grandkids to read by having a large supply of appealing books and magazines at their reading level in your home.

Establish a  reading period – when your grandkids come to visit or stay for the week-end, set aside  a 15 to 30 minute daily time-slot when everyone reads together silently. Seeing you and you read will inspire your grandkids  to read. Just 15 minutes of daily practice is adequate to increase their reading fluency.

Read everywhere – do what you can to make reading a fundamental part of your grandchildren’s lives. Have them help you read menus, point out road signs, read game directions, weather reports, movie and television time listings, and other practical everyday information. Also, make sure they always have something to read in their spare time when they could be waiting for appointments or riding in a car.

Join the library – entice them to read more by taking them to the library every few weeks to choose new reading material.

Gain knowledge – ask your son or daughter  about your grandchildren’s progress. Note what reading skills they are expected to have at each grade level. The school’s curriculum will give their parents this information – show interest and that you care about your grandchildren’s progress.

Be alert – look out for reading problems. Teachers (and parents) do not always detect every child’s reading problem until they have become serious. Find out if your grandchildren can sound out words, know sight words, use the right context to identify unknown words and clearly understand what they read.

Get help – if you feel your grandchild has reading problems, make sure he or she receives necessary help from his/her parents,  teachers, tutors, or learning centres as soon as you discover an issue.

Variety is the spice of life – to help your grandkids improve their reading, use textbooks, computer programs, books-on-tape and other materials available in stores. Games are especially good choices because they let little ones have fun as they work on their skills.

Reward their efforts – praise will go a long way to encouraging your grandkids to read, however there are many rewards that will motivate them even further and they need not cost very much at all. Consider maybe printing a certificate for them; a quick Google search for ‘reading award’ should result in a few options that you could print and fill in with your granchild’s name. Stickers are good motivators too and coloring pages are well received as well. At sites like Hello Kitty Coloring Pages you’ll find the best while little boys would perhaps enjoy the coloring sheets at Pokemon Coloring Pages.

Be interested – show enthusiasm for your grandchildren’s reading. Your feedback has a great influence on how hard they will try to become good readers. Be sure to give them genuine praise for their effort.

Reading can expand children’s thinking. Words and books can excite them. Stories can inspire them to create their own works. When you help your grandchild to become a good reader, you are enriching is creativity, his knowledge and his academic future too.

Fine motor skills are described as the coordination of the small muscle movements which usually occur in the fingers and usually in coordination with the eyes. When related to the hands (and fingers) the term dexterity is most commonly used.

Manual dexterity is the ability for the hands and fingers to make coordinated movements. Strong fine motor skills, such as used with writing, knitting, sewing and other activities that involve the hands and fingers, rely on manual dexterity.

In young children, manual dexterity is developed normally through routine activities that also require hand-eye coordination. Some children’s fine motor skills develop faster and are stronger than those of others and some children with weak fine motor skills may struggle when learning to form letters and beginning to write.

Because there are many reasons why fine motor skills and manual dexterity may be affected, paediatric occupational therapists often work with children to improve their manual dexterity.

Thankfully, there are several ways to help your grandchild improve manual dexterity through simple every day, hands-on activities. Exercising a child’s fingers and hands can dramatically improve their manual dexterity so do try some of the following activities:

Threading cereals that have an O-shape – Threading cereal onto yarn is an activity that requires fine motor skills and is repetitively exercising the same muscles, all the while practicing hand-eye coordination and manual dexterity.

Sewing with yarn and cardboard – This is another activity that can improve manual dexterity and builds on fine motor skills. Children simply feed the yarn back and forth through holes which requires concentration and can also satisfy a child creatively.

Coloring pages – Coloring in – more so than ‘random’ drawing, requires children to grip crayons and stay within the lines of the image they are trying to color. This too requires concentration and gives the child an end result to be proud of. At sites such as Bratz Coloring Pages you’ll find the best Bratz color pages for little girls, while little boys would perhaps enjoy the Pokemon coloring sheets at Pokemon Coloring Pages.

For particularly young grandchildren who cannot color yet or play with small objects, a classic shape sorter toy is a great place to start. For older grandkids, small, interlocking building blocks such as Lego or Duplo are great ways to play while improving and strengthening their manual dexterity.

Bill Cosby---Grandparents

The birth of their first child is supposed to be one of the most memorable events in a parent’s life. Unfortunately, it can be most distressing for the parents if the grandparents are fighting. Sometimes even those who are supposed to know better just don’t. Maybe they don’t like having to share with other grandparents or maybe there are reasons for their aggravating behaviour. Sometimes there is a difference of opinion about the suitability of either parent (in the in-laws opinion) or a difference in religious or economical ideas. Whatever the reason, it is very unpleasant for the new parents to have to deal with disputes or friction amongst their nearest and dearest.

Sometimes divorce, remarriage or similar circumstances among the grandparents will create a problem for the new parents. They will not want to offend or upset either parent but will want all parents to share their joy.

When I grew up, we had grandparents who lived very close to our town. I remember how I loved to take the train to Wolseley in order to spend the day shelling peas, visiting neighbours or shopping with my dad’s parents. They would do things that I thought were unique. They made their own soap, canned fruit and make interesting furniture out of tin cans and wooden spools. I loved it when grandpa would sing a ditty to us or grandma would take us swimming in the dugout.

When I went to Regina to see my maternal grandmother, we would sit in the park, visit the Exhibition or be introduced to all the staff members in the Co-op cafeteria where she had lunch every day. She taught me how to begin the “Lord’s Prayer” in Norwegian and shared stories of our ancestors.

When grandparents use their time with their grandchildren to teach skills, recall memories or instil values, everyone wins. On the other hand, however, if they form alliances that degrade parents or diminish respect, everyone loses.

I have six grandchildren and, of course, they are each amazing! When they visit with me I try to focus on how I can provide them with unique experiences, information that will increase their sense of “family” and living examples of my values.

The most important thing is to enjoy being a new grandparent. It doesn’t matter what you’re called, or what you think of those people you will probably only see a couple of times a year, or what they think of you, the things that matter are the important ones- your children and your grandchildren. Don’t let anything get in the way of your special time with your first grandchild.

Resource Author Francisco R. Higueras
Understand How to Make Money Without Money Today
Todo sobre Juegos para gente que le gusta jugar
Encontrar un Trabajo – Empleo es fácil si sabe dónde buscar

Many believe that Tinkerbell – the fairy who appears in the 1953 Disney’ Peter Pan movie – is a creation of The Walt Disney Company. Not so. Tinkerbell is a character that was created almost half a century before the Peter Pan movie was released.

Tinkerbell, also known as Tink for brevity, is a fictional character that first appeared in a 1904 play by J M Barrie and later in a novel he wrote entitled Peter and Wendy that was published in 1911.

Tinkerbell was described by J M Barrie as a fairy who mended kettles and metal pots and pans just like an actual tinker would. Her dialogue in the play and in the later novel consists of the sounds of a tinkling bell, which is understandable only to those familiar with the language of the fairies. Though sometimes ill-tempered and vindictive (for example she coaxes the Lost Boys to shoot arrows at Wendy), at other times she is helpful and kind to Peter. The extremes in her personality are explained by J M Barrie in the story as being due to the fact that her small fairy size prevents her from holding more than one feeling at a time, so when she is angry she has no counterbalance such as compassion or kindness.

At first Tinkerbell was only a supporting character described by J M Barrie as “a common fairy”, however – following her success in Disney’s Peter Pan when children the world over fell in love with her animated incarnation, Tinkerbell has become a widely recognized as the unofficial mascot of The Walt Disney Company and recently as the centerpiece of its Disney Fairies media franchise including the direct-to-DVD film Tinker Bell.

Tinker Bell was originally part of the Disney Princess franchise but she was removed from this in 2005 to take her place as the central character of the new Disney Fairies franchise. At Disneyland, guests are able to interact with Tinkerbell at Pixie Hollow’s meet-and-greet area opened in 2008,.

Tinkerbell has fans the world over and many websites are dedicated to this delicate yet mischeivous fairy. For example at sites like Fairy Coloring Pages you’ll find the best coloring pictures of Tinkerbell

Interestingly, the copyright to the Tinkerbell character is owned by the Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, England. A bronze sculpture of Tinkerbell is located in the hospital’s grounds to commemorate the fact that the Scottish born J M Barrie bequeathed the copyright to the character to the children’s hospital upon his death in 1937.

Today, millions of families around the globe are separated by distances that are too vast to make a day-to-day relationship possible. Think of the people you know or work with – how many of your friends, neighbours or colleagues live in families with two or three generations living nearby? Not many hey?

Whether in search of new pastures, to heed the call of adventure or to further their careers, people have been on the move for centuries. But whatever the reasons, we know that distance adversely affects family closeness and especially the grandparent-grandchild relationship.

Many families hope that the old saying ‘out of sight, out of mind’ doesn’t hold true. Parents ask themselves, “How can I keep my children better connected with their grandparents?” and grandparents wonder how they too can keep closer ties with their grandkids.

Here are a few ways grandkids can feel a little closer to their long-distance relatives.

You’ve got mail – Everyone loves receiving hand-written letters and postcards, so encourage your children to write, even if it’s just a line or two. They can also mail (or email!) art projects, copies of school report cards, class assignments or hand-written stories. Involve the child from beginning to end, from addressing the envelope to going to the post office and licking the stamps. Alternatively, there’s always email and your trusty scanner.

Share photos – Belinda Romer keeps her parents and in-laws in the UK up to date on her 11-month-old son Jacob’s development by uploading digital pictures every week or two. “I use Flickr.com, but there are many more such photo sharing sites. I take pictures of a typical day — Jacob waking up, eating breakfast, being bathed, playing and at bedtime,” says Belinda. “The grandparents on both sides absolutely love it because they get to see Jacob grow and they feel so connected.”

Movie time – Watch a television show or a rented movie ‘together’. For instance, plan to watch ‘Ice Age’ and then share your thoughts via a phone call, letter or e-mail.

Send them a task – Email your grandchildren a word search to complete or a sudoku puzzle to solve. Younger grandkids however might prefer a coloring page to complete for you. At sites like Fairy Coloring Pages you’ll find the best fairy colouring book  to send to a grand-daughter, while at Spongebob Coloring Pages you’ll find many coloring pages that feature Spongebob Squarepants who is a hit with little boys.  Email a coloring picture to your grandkids and ask them to color it in for you and scan it back – you can then send them a photo of their colored picture once it is displayed on your fridge!

Install a web cam – Set up a web cam on your computer (and your relative’s, of course) so the kids can chat with their grandparents, in real time. You could agree a web cam schedule based on everyone’s time zone (for example every Friday at 6pm) and it will give everyone something to look forward to. Tanya Cotlings’ children have fortnightly webcam meetings with their grandparents, “It’s great that my Mum is able to see the boys and can even comment on whether she likes their new haircuts!”

Story time – Younger children love to receive a recording of their grandparents reading a bedtime story for them. Maybe they could prompt this by sending a recording of themselves reading or reciting a bedtime story and singing some songs for Grandma and Grandpa to fall asleep to.

Children thrive in environments where they are nurtured and loved. They learn about the world that surrounds them when those closest to them – and those further away – join in their play, interests and share in their activities. Whether grandparents live near or far, they have a vital role to play  in child development. It’s crucial to actively promote this intergenerational bond and consider the positive impact it holds on your child’s future.

In J. M. Barrie’s 1902 novel The Little White Bird, in a chapter about Peter Pan a story about the origin of fairies appears. Barrie who also created Tinkerbell as a character, wrote, "…when the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies.”

Fairies, also known as fays, feys, faerys, faeries and collectively as fae, wee folk and good folk are tiny, humanoid, supernatural creatures. Sometimes winged and often mischievous, in many cultures fairies are also known to possess magical powers. Sometimes the term fairy describes any magical creature, including goblins or gnomes: at other times, the term only describes a specific type of more ethereal creature.

Their origins are unclear, with some sources describing them as being akin to some type of angel, others as a species completely independent of humans or angels while others still believe they represent the spirit of the dead. Among all the folklore that surrounds fairies, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly when and where the Tooth Fairy legend began. In early Europe, the tradition was to bury the teeth of a child once they had fallen out, and some believe that the Tooth Fairy evolved from the tooth mouse depicted in "La Bonne Petite Souris" (The Good Little Mouse), an 18th century French language fairy tale. In the tale a mouse changes into a fairy to help a good queen defeat an evil king by hiding under his pillow to torture him and knocking out all his teeth.

This combination of ancient intercontinental traditions has evolved into one that in one form or another is present almost worldwide. For example, in Spanish-speaking countries, the Tooth Fairy is in fact a cute little character called Ratoncito Pérez, a little mouse created around 1894 by the priest Luis Coloma. Coloma, as court priest, was asked to write a tale for eight-year old royal Alfonso XIII, as one of his teeth had fallen out and Ratón Pérez appeared in the tale of the Vain Little Mouse. In Italy also the Tooth Fairy (Fatina) is often substituted by a small mouse and in France this character is called La Petite Souris (the little mouse).

From certain parts of Scotland comes thetradition of the Fairy Mouse: a white fairy rat which purchases the teeth with coins. In some Asian countries, such as India, Korea and Vietnam, when a child loses a tooth the usual custom is that he or she should throw it onto the roof if it came from the lower jaw, or into the space beneath the floor if it came from the upper jaw. While doing this, the child shouts a request for the tooth to be replaced with the tooth of a mouse. This tradition is based on the fact that the teeth of mice go on growing for their whole life, a characteristic of all rodents. In Japan, a lost upper tooth is thrown straight down to the ground and lower teeth straight up into the air; the idea is that incoming teeth will grow straight.

Regardless of their origins, children world wide have a fascination with the Tooth Fairy and with all types of fairies. From the Cicely Mary Barker Flower Fairies book first published in 1923, to today’s Disney Fairies of Pixie Hollow, fairies have a timeless and universal appeal. Many sites are dedicated to bringing you fairy tales and activities and at sites like Fairy Coloring Pages you’ll find the best fairy colouring pictures

Certain times during our life, and indeed more frequently when we have young children to bring up, we would want to do some detective searches. Lots of parents have lived through a period when their daughter is hanging out with a new buddy. It is probably just a hunch or even a mother’s sixth sense that highlights something could potentially be not wholly right. It could even be a new flatmate for your older daughter who gives you an eerie feeling, or something else completely. Whatever it is, there are instances when you just don’t feel right about someone. As a parent, you feel you should take action and get involved, but you don’t want to be far too nosey! What should you do in this circumstance?

There is a quick solution. Using this web site http://www.gov-criminal-records.com you can easliy and quickly retrieve someones criminal records by simply knowing their name. The searches are free and for a low fee you have access to all the records you require.

Lots of parents feel they need to not snoop on their child’s life. However, they’d think about the stress that is part of being a mom. It is very difficult to evaluate the safety of your son (when you cannot be really certain if they might be in real danger) against their need for privacy. There is no one precendent when it comes to a situation like this, but if the notions you have are so real that you are truly in fear of your child, you have options.

Simply by conversing with your child could give you the necessary information you require to feel better or to stop panicking. Often, children will open up their feelings with their parents but often they won’t. Commonly a dad resorts to find things out by themselves. With new advances in search computer, you can take the name of that member of the public you feel strange about to retrieve large amounts of related records. And how you could ask? Websites like the ones above allow you to enter in just a person’s name, on its own or with other info you may have, enabling you to display data about the background of that individual. You can identify if that person has ever been in jail. It is impossible to consider your child hanging out with a criminal, but it takes place more frequently than you think. If it is the case, it’s likely that your child is unaware it’s occurring.

Grandparents can play a pivotal role in encouraging creativity and stimulating the immagination of their grandkids by simply providing them with the time, resources and the space for making art.When your grandchildren come to visit you, set aside some interruption-free quiet time for drawing, in a mess-proof zone – so that their creativity can run wild. Make sure you cover all surfaces so that any splashes of paint or scribbles of crayon are ‘caught’ – because nothing squishes creativity more so than a Nanna or Pop  saying “Don’t make a mess” every 2 minutes!

Choose the right drawing materials too as this is very important. Many craft materials can be improvised, but when drawing tools and paper are required, opt for a small selection of good quality age-appropriate products, rather than loads of inferior products. Be sure to check safety information and follow instructions. During any ‘art-time’ children should always be surpervised because many necessary materials – such as crayons – pose a choking hazard.

Surroundings: As with writing or working at a computer, good posture and a comfortable position are important for drawing. A child-size table and chair is actually preferable to an easel. If the chair is a little high, provide a phone book for a footrest. A coffee table and an inexpensive plastic chair work well. A small kitchen storage trolley is ideal for containing supplies, or if space does not permit, a portable tackle box is a good option too. Untidy toddlers may need a drop-cloth and supervision to avoid ink-stained walls, as even ‘washable’ pens often don’t deliver on that promise!

Art Materials: Avoid cheap markers, too-hard pencils and thin paints – these types of materials are discouraging to the child and therefore a waste of money. Provide many sheets of blank paper to inspire their crativity and occasionally invest in a large canvas so that your child can paint something ‘grand’ and chances are you’ll want to hang it on your wall! Provide also coloring books or coloring pages which are bountiful online – coloring pages are not so great for creativity, however they do provide children with the chance to practice their fine motor skills and sometimes it’s very relaxing and just what they need to simply color in without the ‘pressure’ of thinking about WHAT to draw.

Nothing much has changed since your children (their parents) were small – little boys still  typically enjoy coloring pictures of cars and trucks while little girls usually prefer coloring images of fairies and princesses – at sites like Princess Coloring Pages you’ll find the best free princess colouring

When it comes to drawing and coloring, at each age/stage of your child’s life provide….

Toddlers

• Child-safe markers and wipe-off boards
• Chalk boards and safe chalk
• Plain paper and coloring pages

Juniors

• Sketchbook
• Student colored pencils
• Washable Markers
• Oil pastels
• Plain paper and coloring pages

Middle School

• Sketchbook or scrapbook
• Graphite Pencils
• Watercolor sketch paper
• Watercolor pencils
• Marker pens, marker paper
• Plain paper and coloring pages

High School

• Sketchbook or scrapbook
• Quality drawing papers and boards
• Graphite Pencils
• Artists’ quality colored pencils
• Illustration markers, marker paper
• Pastel paper and hard pastels if liked
• Plain paper and canvases to work on

All ages

• Safe sharpeners, erasers, dusters, stencils and rulers
• A folder for storing large pieces
• Storage boxes for smaller pieces
• Consider photographing or scanning pieces for a permanent record.

The simple acts of drawing and coloring are  literally childs’ play, however, they both play an important role in your grandchild’s physical, emotional and cognitive development. Like no other activity, drawing  and coloring allows young children to express emotions, experience autonomy and build their confidence. 

Parents and caregivers such as grandparents can promote drawing and coloring  as a way to improve physical, social, emotional and cognitive development-and to have a lot of fun along the way too. Here are some suggestions:

1.  Provide your grankids with nontoxic materials, blank sheets of white paper and coloring pages.

2.       Model drawing. Show children that you enjoy drawing and coloring too – make designs but do not show your children what they should draw.

3.  Encourage all drawing and coloring activity and efforts by talking about the beautiful colors, the lines and shapes the child has made.

4.       Rather than ask ”What is it?,” say “Tell me everything about your drawing”. Asking “What is it?” suggests to the child that s/he has failed to depict what they intended.

5.       Talk about concepts like  thin, thick, wide, narrow, dark, light, edge, shape, contour, etc.

6.       Display their art on the kitchen fridge, in their room and in places where visitors to your home will see them. Point them out to visitors, friends and relatives – the praise fthey will receive for the work will boost a child’s self esteeem and confidence. 

7.       Give children the freedom to choose the subjects of their drawings and of their coloring sheets. Some argue that coloring sheets do little to foster children’s creativity – however they play a pivotal role in developing a child’s fine motor skills – a pre-cursor to writing – and often encourage children who wouldn’t otherwise draw and color to pick up a crayon to color in their favourite character. For example little girls  may enjoy coloring images of  fairytale princesses while boys enjoy coloring images of favourite characters such as Pokemon or Spongebob Squarepants and at sites like Spongebob Coloring Pages you’ll find many Spongebob coloring Always supervise younger children while they draw and color – crayons pose a choking hazard.