By Dr. Tom Olson

1. They are leaders as well as parents. They don’t rely on the schools, the government, television, the movies or music to teach their children values and the difference between right and wrong. They do it themselves.

2. They have a vision for their family and its future, one that is discussed and shared often. And they support the vision with clearly articulated, clarified and communicated values and beliefs. Every action, behavior, and decision is taken with those values and beliefs firmly in mind. They constantly emphasize the relationship between family successes and acting in accordance with the values and beliefs. They make a clear distinction between right and wrong. Everybody is clear on how things are to be done and why.

3. They are behavioral models for their children. Their behaviors reflect those that they want the kids to emulate. They are honest because they value honesty; open because they value openness; forgiving because they value forgiveness. They make tough decisions when necessary and they take responsibility for the results. They don’t just tell their children what to value and believe; they show them through words and deeds.

4. They enable their children. They communicate high, but achievable behavioral and performance expectations and provide the spiritual, emotional, physical, intellectual and financial resources the children need to successfully achieve them. They know that self-esteem is a function of achievement.

5. They talk with their kids, not at them. They develop feedback loops so the children can come to understand the impact of their behavior on others. They make sure the kids understand the relationship behavior and consequences. And they distinguish between the child and his or her behavior so, when there are problems, they unconditionally love the child while looking for a solution to the problem.

6. They take pains to understand how children develop. As the children are finding their way in the world these parents use a combination of maturity and skill to firmly direct when direction is needed; discuss when the circumstances merit; push the kids away when they are ready to make provisional tries when they are ready to and, finally; they set them free altogether. Through it all, the door is left open for the kids to come back if they needed to.

7. They take an active role in their children’s education, both formal and informal. They are active contributors to both the schools and communities. They enrich the home environment in every way they can. They go to concerts, games, on camping trips and, unfailingly, to the ceremonies that mark the graduations from one stage to the next.

8. Although their children are outstanding in any number of ways, these parents freely admit their kids were anything but perfect. They accept and openly talk about the fact that, while good kids, their children are just as prone as others to the vicissitudes of growing up and, on occasion, their behavior reflects that fact.

9. When the time comes, they discuss the future and provide appropriate advice and guidance regarding career and other life choices that children must eventually make.

10. Through it all they encourage independent, critical thinking so, in the final analysis, each child becomes his or her own person.

© Dr. Tom Olson 2004, all rights reserved Permission to reprint article granted as long as this signature remains intact.

About the Author
Dr. Tom Olson is the author of Don’t Die With Your Helmet On. Visit www.Dontdiewithyourhelmeton.com for more information about Dr. Tom, the book and his work. Contact Dr. Tom at info@dontdiewithyourhelmeton.com.

By Candice Silsby

We are all overwhelmed by constant advertising. Parents are likely overwhelmed by all the challenges of being parents. I was an early childhood teacher for six years and I have been a children’s entertainer for over eight years. When I browse through K-*rt and the like, I think “landfill waste” and crying children.

I hear over and over again, “she has so many toys” While I love the idea of moderation and know that this culture has way too many possessions, I am concerned about the quality of the toys children have and how carefully they were selected.

A close friend of mine is constantly says “no” to her children when we are shopping- perfect strangers comment to me about how good she is at saying no to her kids as if they have never heard a parent do so. She refuses to buy them cheap junk that they beg for…I suppose they are attracted to the bright colors or the anticipation of the plastic ball coming out of the gum ball machine.

I say value is everything. Selecting a toy should be a careful process- not one motivated by “mommy I want…” Play is so important to child development. Shouldn’t the toys they play with be an educational investment?

These are my personal pointers: 1) What will the toy teach my child? This answer should be obvious and there should be more then one answer.

2) How safe is this toy?

3) *** this one is so very important in the electronic age- Is it an active toy for a passive child or a passive toy for an active child. I am sorry to say that too many are active toys for passive children which is not only lacking in educational benefit, but also encouraging children to be passive therefore uninvolved, anti-social and inactive.

4) How long will this toy last? What is the guaranteed offered by the company selling the toy? Believe it or not Discovery Toys has a lifetime guarantee on all toys.

5) How long will my child make use of and learn from this toy? Does the toy grow with my child or does the child grow out of the toy? Remember if there is a lifetime guarantee younger siblings will also enjoy your toy investment.

About the Author
Candice Silsby has an extensive background in Early Childhood Education and Human Dev elopement. She have six years experience working with young children as a pre-school teacher and caregiver for children under 3. She worked with special ed children for two years. She has eight years experience as a child entertainer and currently has her own business doing puppet shows for children. She is a Discovery Toys Educational Consultant because the toys are educational and developmentally appropriate. These toys meet the high scrutiny of her Developmental Education background. Discovery Toys improve the quality of life for children and families therefore the world.

by Laura Bankston

Did you know that cooking with your kids is a natural way for them to develop motor skills? If you’ve never looked at cooking that way before, think again. There’s a reason why kids have a universal love for cooking – just like for stacking blocks and banging!

Cooking is especially good for preschoolers and here’s how:

1. Two year olds are developing large muscles in their arms: They will enjoy stirring and stirring and stirring . My two year old is always asking to stir; and her subconscious knows why! At 2 years old, a child naturally imitates circular strokes as part of their normal physical development. So, let them stir at every opportunity.

   Here are some ways to encourage arm muscle development through cooking:

   • stirring: flour, eggs, pancake batter, gelatin making, etc.
   • scrubbing potatoes and vegetables
   • cleaning the cutting board: Give them a washcloth and some lukewarm water with the cutting board in the sink. They’ll have a blast rubbing the wet washcloth up and down the cutting board to clean it.
   • pouring from large measuring cups into a bowl

    

2. Two year olds are developing the ability to turn pages: Another motor skill developed during the preschool age is the ability to turn pages.

   So – just pondering here…is it the story they love so much or just turning the pages of the book? Well, actually both. They need the motor development of turning the pages; and the pictures and vocabulary improve their intellectual development.

    

3. Two year olds love “patting” and “pressing”: From being fascinated with “patty-cake” chants at an early age, preschooler’s still love to pat and press.

   I’m sure you’ll recognize your preschooler doing this at the park: scooping up rocks or sand, piling them up, and patting the top into different shapes.

   Well, here’s some suggestions to bring the “patting” inside:

   • packing down brown sugar in the measuring cup
   • gently pressing a fork on top of peanut butter cookie dough on the cookie sheet
   • patting to level off the top of a cup of sugar
   • patting and pressing on pizza dough
   • pressing down with a cookie cutter on rolled sugar cookie dough

    

4. Two year olds love to dip – and this develops arm muscles skills too!: it takes a lot of coordination to dip! Getting the food in the dip, then moving the arm and somehow getting it into your mouth. If it wasn’t difficult, they wouldn’t get food all over their face!

   So, unless your 2 year old always has a clean face when he or she is done eating, here’s some dipping opportunities:

   • carrots in salad dressing
   • french fries in catsup
   • dipping a spoon in the emptied batter bowl to clean out the goodies
   • dipping fruit in a fruit dip or chocolate (like frozen bananas or strawberries)
   • dipping chicken or fish in a batter for you to cook
   • dipping the bread in French toast mix

    

So, instead of “shooing” your preschoolers and 2 year olds out of the kitchen, let them dive in with these simple tasks that not only give them great pleasure, but help them develop their age appropriate motor skills.

About The Author
Laura Bankston is author of Internationally selling Cooking with Kids Curriculum: “Homeschool Cooking in a Box” and the “Homeschool Cookbook”. She currently home schools her three children, maintains home school support websites, and manages their family-owned service business. For information on her curriculum and free home school support services, please visit www.homeschoolcookbook.com.  laura@homeschoolcookbook.com

by Armin Brott

Dear Mr. Dad. I’m taking a childbirth class with my wife but it really seems geared toward the perfect birth. I know they can’t cover every single unexpected thing that could happen, but how can we prepare for contingencies?

Armin answers: As important as childbirth education classes are, there are a few things they won’t teach you but that you really should know.

First, it’s okay to ask questions—as many as you need to. No matter how much reading you’ve done or how wonderful your class was, something unexpected is bound to happen during labor or delivery—it almost always does. In those cases, don’t let the hospital staff steamroller you. Have them explain everything they’re doing, every step of the way. If you miss something the first time, have them explain it again.

Second, it’s okay to stand up for what you want. Most people are wowed by academic credentials and degrees and have a tendency to step back and let the doctors and nurses take control of the whole process, particularly when something a little out of the ordinary happens. Unless it’s a true medical emergency, keep in mind who’s baby is about to be born and insist on having things done your way, to the extent possible.

Third, don’t give in too quickly. Like most busy people, doctors and nurses are sometimes too quick to say “No” to requests–not because it’s the right answer, but because it’s easy. But here’s the deal: If you want the lights dimmed for the delivery and the staff refuses, do it yourself (assuming, of course, that there’s no medical reason not to). If you want to videotape the birth and the doctor won’t let you, ask for an explanation. If you don’t get a good one, do what you feel you should do.

Keep in mind that there’s a big difference between being assertive and standing up for yourself (and for your wife) and being overbearing, obnoxious, and antagonistic. So be nice.

And finally, it’s okay to ask for help. Most childbirth prep classes focus on how you can help your wife—breathing with her, rubbing her back and her legs, telling her stories, feeding her ice chips, and all sorts of other things. But you’ll rarely, if ever, hear that it’s exhausting and sometimes even scary and that you—yes, you—could use some relief and comfort too. One excellent solution to this problem is to get yourself a doula.

About the Author:
Armin Brott, hailed by Time as “the superdad’s superdad,” has written or co-written six critically acclaimed books on fatherhood, including the newly released second edition of Fathering Your Toddler: A Dad’s Guide to the Second and Third Years. His articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, American Baby, Parenting, Child, Men’s Health, The Washington Post among others. Armin is an experienced radio and TV guest, and has appeared on Today, CBS Overnight, Fox News, and Politically Incorrect. He’s the host of “Positive Parenting,” a weekly radio program in the San Francisco Bay Area. Visit Armin at www.mrdad.com.

by: Anita York

Do you know what these famous people have in common?

• Alexander Graham Bell
• George Patton
• Albert Einstein
• Benjamin Franklin
• Winston Churchill
• Agatha Christie
• George Bernard Shaw
• Will Rogers

If you guessed that they were all homeschoolers, you’d be correct. This is a very short list of famous and successful people who were educated at home. If you would like to expand this list, do a search on the Internet for famous homeschoolers. There are many websites that list these people and some provide detailed biographies. There is even a book called, aptly, Famous Homeschoolers, by Nancy and Malcolm Plant. (http://www.fun-books.com/specials.htm)

The point here is to get into the mindset that people can be educated and become successful adults without attending public school. And because I can almost hear what you are thinking, no, it is not necessary to have a high school diploma to go to college.

So what is homeschooling? In the broadest sense, homeschooling is educating your children at home. You, as parent, become teacher. Parents homeschool for more reasons than you can imagine. Some want to avoid having their children exposed to violence and peer pressure. Some homeschool so that they can make sure their children’s education adheres to their religious beliefs. Some live a different lifestyle perhaps they travel a lot and want their children’s schooling to be flexible enough to fit around that life style. And some, like me, simply enjoy being with their children. They don’t want the public school to interrupt and weaken the parent/child bond that they have been working hard to create for the first five years of their child’s life.

Just as there are many reasons to homeschool, there are many methods of homeschooling. All the way from un-schooling (learning by doing, learning from life, not using textbook type materials) to school at home (using textbooks at desks set up in a schoolroom at home) and everything in between. It’s very easy to find hundreds of homeschool Websites by using a search engine, but just to get you started, try:

Jon’s Homeschool Resource Page www.midnightbeach.com/hs/

When I decided to write this article, I thought hard about what I could offer that wasn’t being displayed on thousands of Websites on the Internet. I realized that the only thing I have to offer anyone interested in homeschooling is my experience. So everything in the article below comes from my fifteen years of experience homeschooling my four youngest children. I hope it is of some use to you.

Deciding to homeschool your child may be one of the most important decisions you ever make as a parent, and it will take a lot of thought and soul searching. To the newcomer, it may seem impossible, overwhelming and very, very lonely. But like most huge obstacles, once it’s broken down into smaller pieces, it becomes manageable. We’ll take it one step at a time, in small enough chunks to get a hold of. So, if you’re game, roll up your sleeves and let’s get to work figuring out if homeschooling is for you and your child.

First things first. Organization is the key. Get a three-ring binder (homeschooling parent’s LOVE three-ring binders) and put a label on the front. (If you’ve made the transition to digital record keeping, you can just start a folder on the computer. But it’s not as much fun.) Label it something serious, like My Homeschooling Plans or Homeschooling Thoughts. Put some paper in the binder, find a really comfortable ink pen, and sit down somewhere quiet.

Ready? Good. Now, let’s get started.

What are your reasons for considering homeschooling? Even if you haven’t actually made the decision to homeschool, the fact that you are here reading this article says you are curious. Perhaps you honestly don’t know the answer yet and that’s ok. The remainder of this article is going to try to help you start to find those answers.

Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, but each state has it’s own set of laws that must be followed. Compulsory (how I hate that word) education here in Washington State starts at the age of 8. Even though I had been homeschooling him from birth, to stay legal once my son reached 8-years old, I was required to become certified. That meant I either had to have two years of college education, or take a certification class. I met this requirement by taking an independent correspondence class, during which I was asked to put on paper my goals, philosophies and reasons for wanting to homeschool. I’d like to help you do the same right now.

Start a page–either the tree kind or a file on the computer and title it My Educational Beliefs. List what personal beliefs you have about education especially the education of your own children. Get as detailed as you can here–the value is in the thinking process behind the list. Take your time, I’m in no hurry.

As an example to get you started, I’m going to share with you what I wrote on my list nine years ago.

My Educational Beliefs

1. I believe my child’s attitude about learning should be:
   One of continual curiosity and seeking of knowledge.

    

2. I believe my child’s learning should lead towards a lifestyle that is:
   Rural, physically active, creative.

    

3. I believe these basic values should be part of my child’s learning:
   • Respect for others
   • Loyalty to family and friends
   • Honesty
   • Generosity

    

4. I believe children learn best:
   Through hands-on learning experience, reading, workbooks.

    

5. I believe a teacher should:
   • Provide side-by-side assistance and direction.
   • Interact with the child.
   • Provide the structure within which the child may explore, experiment, study and achieve.
   • Provide a good example of excitement in learning.

    

6. Other beliefs:
   I believe my child should grow up to be self-reliant and occupationally secure in a field of high interest to them.

Now, that wasn’t too bad, was it? Don’t give up on this until you have at least something written down, but don’t agonize over it either. You can come back to it later if need be. Next, start a paper or file titled Life Goals For My Child.

I want you to write down what kind of person you envision your child being as an adult. What are your hopes and dreams for him/her What educational gifts do you hope to be able to help them find that will serve them their entire lives?

I’ll share mine from 9 years ago, just to get you started.

Life Goals for My Child

• Be literate.
• Be self-reliant.
• Compete well in their chosen field of occupation.
• Appreciate art, music, and literature.
• Be creative.
• Be inventive and resourceful.
• Be healthy, mentally and physically.
• Co-operate with others.
• Maintain a strong sense of self-worth.
• Maintain a life-long curiosity, seeking knowledge as a way of life.
• Look to the future with a sense of excitement and adventure.

For the last exercise, start a third paper titled: Why We (I) Am Going To Homeschool Our (My) Child? (Yes, single parents can successfully homeschool their children.) You may not have all the answers for this one yet either, but just get something down. All of these ideas and beliefs can start getting mixed in with other people’s opinions once we start educating ourselves in depth about homeschooling, and you’ll be glad you have these lists tucked away.

Okay, here’s my old list:

Why We Are Going To Homeschool Our Children

• Our family consists of myself, my husband, a 21-year-old daughter, a 19-year-old daughter, an 8-year-old son, a 7-year-old daughter, a 4-½ year old daughter, and an unborn son due in 6 months. My two oldest daughters (from my first marriage) were in the public school system for the whole of their educational years. It is largely a dissatisfaction with the public schools and all it’s attendant problems (academic, social, and moral) that has caused us to make the decision to homeschool our youngest children. We decided, even before our 8-year-old son (the oldest of the younger set) was born, that somehow we would find an alternative to the public schools.
• We want to homeschool for some additional reasons. We want added closeness with our children. We want more independence, greater control over our family’s moral and philosophical values, and better awareness of our children’s interests.
• We dislike the thought of any government agency–no matter how well meaning–directing the raising of our children.
• We intend to homeschool because we do not want our children’s academic, social, and moral education taken out of our hands.
• We believe these areas of a child’s education are a parent’s responsibility, right, and pleasure.

I’d like you to spend some time going over these lists until you feel they accurately reflect your feelings about homeschooling your children. When I did these exercises, I had only a vague idea about why I wanted to homeschool and what kind of education I wanted to help my children acquire. These simple exercises helped me to solidify my ideas and provided the basis for our future homeschooling methods. I hope they help you to do the same. Keep these lists in a safe place and add to them as you explore the possibility of homeschooling your child.

About The Author
Anita York has been homeschooling her four youngest children for the past 15 years. In addition, she teaches other homeschoolers at two resource centers, and is a contracted Senior Editor, Editor, Copyeditor and Manuscript Screener for three publishers. Her book “You CAN Homeschool Your Child” is available from One-At-A-Time Enterprises, the business she started with her homeschoolers. Available at: www.L7S.net/Item.php?ID=YC000. Her home business, EagleMountain Reading, Writing, and Research Services www.L7s.net/eaglemountain provides a variety of services geared towards helping beginning as well as established authors with various aspects of the writing process. support@L7S.net.

by: Barbara De Oliveira

When children start to walk more steadily, run, push, pull, climb and grab things – they are growing from infants to toddlers. Between their first and second birthdays, they are self centered and get busy doing various things like – to flip light switches, pour things in and out of containers, unwrap packages and empty drawers. The toddler stage is very important in a child’s life. It is the time between infancy and childhood when a child learns and grows in many ways. Everything that happens to the toddler is meaningful.

How do I know this?
I am a mother of two boys who I love dearly. I decided to stay home and raise my children with the best education and values I could provide. We made sacrifices and reorganized our lives for them. I learned the importance of educational toys as we saw our sons playing together with toys all around the house. This is when I realized the value of educational toys and started lulu-baby.com, to help other parents provide greater richness and diversity to their children. I truly believe that educational toys are the one option that can make every parent’s dreams true.

A toy which is worthy, gives colorful success in the end. Same goes to educational toys too. Each toy can have some educational benefits. Sometimes you may have to ask your self, “How can this toy be educational to my child?” The answer may be obvious, or you may have to dig a little to find a lesson or value with the toy. But, the rewards are worth it as you watch your children play with the toys in a meaningful way, and actually learn something in the process.

Here are some ideas to encourage your children to get more out of their fun time.

Baby Einstein
Infants and toddlers are apparently big fans of the Baby Einstein series, with titles like Baby Mozart, Baby Shakespeare, and Baby Van Gogh making regular rounds in their family’s DVD. I learned the importance of educational toys. The shine in my sons’ eyes while watching several of the Baby Einstein Videos taught me that I can provide happiness to the little one. “These videos have a lot of colors and shapes that hold his attention,” says another Mom. The complete line of Baby Einstein educational videos and DVDs stimulate the growing mind.

And what child doesn’t love the magic of puppets? Whether it’s a ferocious dragon, a wiggly octopus or a friendly dog. These lovely puppets offer terrific “hands-on” fun that is sure to ignite any child’s imagination. Playing with Baby Einstein Puppets with a parent or adult helps babies interact with others and aids in language development.

Little Tikes
These are for babies 6 to 36 months and are aimed at giving children experience. My older son enjoys climbing up and down the Castle Climber has been one of our best investments towards our children’s growing up.

Little Tikes offers a variety of play sets that help fuel their imagination. Little Tikes toys do not entertain children the way so many toys and products do. They allow a child’s imagination to run free and expand. There are not a lot of bells and whistles, but children do not need that all the time. They get sensory overload. Little Tikes produces toys that not only allow children to educate themselves, the toys encourage imagination and education.

Little Tikes makes shape sorters, infant sensory stimulation toys, outdoor toys that promote large motor skill development, and even furniture for a nursery, toddler or preschooler’s bedroom or playroom.

Already the leader in plastic furniture for children, Little Tikes is building on its established reputation for safety and durability by launching its first line of wooden furniture – natural interiors. So the furniture looks great “as is” or decorated with paint to match a child’s personality. The light wood furniture -including a table, chair, desk, easel, toy box and storage center- is perfectly scaled for kids and designed so that its looks at home in any interior or room of the house.

I can go on for another page as a typical Mom. But I would encourage you to visit my web site lulu-baby.com for more information. You may be wondering where the name lulu-baby came from. You will know once you visit my web site.

We, as Moms are very busy, we are always running around to take care of our babies. Online shopping is a great help for us busy Moms. Buying good products from the convenience of my home has become part of my life.

Our web site aims to be more than a web store, but a good resource for Moms, a place to find good products for you and your child.

With our deepest love for children, let’s bring a lot of laughter into our homes.

About The Author
Barbara De Oliveira. Mother of two children. Lulu-baby.com website owner and RN (Registered Nurse)

by: Shelley Ruiz

Nurture and Teach
The single most important thing caregivers can do for a child is provide a nurturing environment. By doing this, we influence children’s brain development and their ability to learn. Introducing nurtured children to learning opportunities every day will help them become happy, well-adjusted adults. In all stages of child development, each experience builds on the one before it. The most basic foundations can serve as the basis for the comprehension of more complex ideas in future years.

Learning Begins at Birth
We are born with billions of brain cells – in fact, all we will ever have. What is missing is a large amount of connections – synapses – between those brain cells. Synapses start developing based on a child’s experiences. Children’s brains develop faster from birth to age three than any other time; and more learning takes place during this time than any other. The more learning opportunities parents provide for their children from birth until school age, the more synapses are made. The connections will serve as a pool of knowledge for a child to access in later years.

Because children’s earliest experiences affect how they will think, learn and behave, helping children learn from birth to school age is a crucial activity. Parents and other caregivers can create a strong foundation for learning by providing a nurturing and rich learning environment from the very beginning.

Children Seek Learning Experiences
Not only do children need to be physically active, it is their nature to look for opportunities to learn. They participate in learning by using their senses and asking countless questions in order to more fully understand the task at hand.

Creating a Learning Environment
Children enjoy learning when they can master an activity. Begin with a simple task and expand or complicate it after your child has enjoyed some successes.

Create a safe and secure learning environment. This will help children do their best learning rather than distract them. Key to creating this environment is treating your child with respect and caring.

Where Do Children Learn?
Children learn everywhere from school to the doctor’s office to the grocery store. As do adults, children learn from interacting with others and watching their parents’ behavior. Kids are highly influenced by the people in their lives, especially adults who they are close to.

Not All Children Learn in the Same Way
In the book Frame of Mind, Howard Gardner described his theory of multiple intelligences. We all have a certain way we prefer to learn. The seven multiple intelligences Gardner points to are interpersonal, intrapersonal, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, musical, logical-mathematical and linguistic. We have the most success teaching our children when we can recognize their style of learning (as well as our style of teaching) and incorporate activities accordingly.

Playing and Learning
The main way children collect and process information is through play. Play is the repetition that reinforces old skills and encourages new ones. Because play is enjoyable, children’s minds are open. Children are capable of much learning through play because they are very receptive and relaxed. Take advantage of this benefit and select activities that are fun and educational. Your children will learn, and you will both enjoy the experience.

About The Author
Shelley Ruiz is a homeschooling parent and the owner of Magic Lark Learning which provides parents and teachers with resources for making learning fun, including a free quarterly online journal of poems and stories for kids. anything@magiclarklearning.com.

By Cheryl Tallman and Joan Ahlers

Entertaining your children’s friends is never an easy task and coming up with an idea for a birthday party is often harder. Recently, Fresh Baby creator Cheryl Tallman’s son Spencer turned five and the event was celebrated with a cooking school extravaganza. For 2 1/2 hours Cheryl and her husband transformed their home into “The Cooking School for Brilliant Kids.” Here she shares just how she did it!

We started out doing a little research on the Internet and found a neat web site called www.kidsaprons.com. We ordered disposable chef hats and aprons, and picked up a few kidsized cooking utensils to use in the take home gift bags. We also planned the menu and developed a schedule for the party.

Before the children arrived, we covered a ping pong table with white paper, did some prep on the foods, and decorated the dining room table for the birthday luncheon with balloons and the Star Wars tablecloth and plates that Spencer picked out.

When each kid arrived, they were fitted with their chef hat and apron, and we took a digital photo. We printed out their names (i.e “Chef Spencer”) on plain paper, cut it out, and used clear packaging tape to stick their name on their apron and hat. While we were waiting for all the guests to arrive, the children were given stickers to decorate their chef hats. This gave them something to do and also gave them some time to get comfortable.

The party menu included French bread pizza, pigs in a blanket, carrots sticks and green beans, and for dessert, ice cream and cupcakes. Our school started with a “group” experience of making ice cream. Each child took a turn pouring, measuring, or whisking, while the others watched attentively. We poured our ice cream in the machine and moved on to making lunch.

We spread the kids out around the table and started with the French bread pizza, each child took a piece of bread and “painted” it with pizza sauce, sprinkled cheese, added pepperoni, and placed their creation on a cookie sheet. The pigs in a blanket were next. Each child took a piece of crescent roll dough that were already separated onto a piece of wax paper. They picked up a hot dog with tongs and then rolled the dough around the hot dog, and they were placed on another sheet pan.

After the main course was prepared, we took a class photo, and it was time for a break while the master chef (me!) put everything in the oven. The kids all went into the living room for a game of “Pin The Mustache On The Chef”, and a magic show put on by my husband Roger, who picked up some magic books at the library the week before. By the time entertainment was done, the kid’s masterpieces were ready to be served. In the dining room each child’s plate had a piece of pizza, a pig in the blanket, some carrot sticks and green beans. The kids were so excited about their accomplishments. They all happily and proudly ate their lunch.

After lunch, it was back to cooking school for cupcake decorating. We had colored icing bags (tied at the top) and an assortment of sprinkles. This was the BEST event of all, the kids had great time. The creativity of a five year old is absolutely precious. After about 20 minutes, it was back to the dining room, were we sang “Happy Birthday”, and gobbled up our cupcakes and homemade ice cream. After that, we opened gifts and gave out the take home gift bags. Two and half hours seemed to fly by.

Spencer’s thank you notes were sent with a certificate (printed on our home computer) from “The Cooking School for Brilliant Kids”, and it included the child’s picture and the class photo.

If you are thinking of having your own cooking extravaganza, here are few tips that you might find useful:

As the beginning of the school year draws near, parents and children alike are storming the stores for all the back to school gear they will require. High on most priority lists are clothes, shoes, notebooks, pens, pencils, and highlighters. The one item some parents may not have thought about is a booster seat. School-age children, who have outgrown car seats with a harness, need to use a booster seat to ride safely.

A 2003 study by Partners for Passenger Safety (www.chop.edu/carseat) found that 100 % of children below 1 year of age and 96% of 3 year olds involved in traffic collisions had been using a car seat or booster seat at the time of a crash. However, only 59% of 5-year-olds, 14% of 7-year-olds, and 9% of 8-year-olds were restrained at the time of the crash. Most people are well aware of the need for infants, toddlers and small children to be in a car seat that is appropriate for their age and weight. Regrettably, few parents understand that most children need booster seats until they are age 8-11, depending on the child’s size and how the vehicle seat belt fits.

California law requires that children ride properly restrained in the back seat until they are at least 6 years old or weigh 60 pounds. California is one of 33 states that require use of a booster or other child restraint beyond age 4; some states have increased the requirement to age 8. NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) recommends that ALL children age 12 and under ride in the back seat. A recent study suggests that children ride in the back seat longer – until they are at least 15 years old.

By law, older children must also ride properly buckled up. Regardless of age or size, if the seat belt does not fit correctly because the child is too small, too thin or just not mature enough to sit in a seat belt correctly, the parent or driver can be fined more than $350. Even more tragically, the child could be injured or killed if there is a car crash. So, before you move your child out of a booster seat, try the 5 Step test. Ask your child to sit using the vehicle lap and shoulder belt without the booster. If you answer “NO” to any of the questions below, your child still needs to ride in a booster seat.

5-Step Test

1. Does the child sit all the way back against the auto seat?

2. Do the child’s knees bend comfortably at the edge of the auto seat?

3. Is the shoulder belt centered on the shoulder and chest?

4. Is the lap belt as low as possible, touching the thighs?

5. Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip?

Booster seats come in a wide array of shapes and sizes, including high back, backless and high back with removable back. The backless booster might be a good choice for carpools and play dates. It may be preferred by an older child since it cannot readily be seen from outside the car.

For more information or a low cost car seat or booster, call Safely on the Move at (619) 594-0784 or toll free (866) 700-7686 or visit www.safelyonthemove.sdsu.edu.

About the Article:
This information provided by the San Diego State University Foundation.