Cyber Slang

“WU? WIBNI we could meet IRL? I’ll keep my FC to CU F2F. P911! GFN!” 

Translation: “What’s Up? Wouldn’t it be nice if we could meet in real life? I’ll keep my fingers crossed to see you face-to-face. Parents are coming! Gone for now!”

Literacy no longer simply means the ability to read and write. Today, it’s about making sense and being engaged in reading, writing, speaking, viewing and listening in both academic and casual settings. Throwing a monkey wrench in, technology has become an ever-present venue of communication through blogging, texting, and social networking.

Our children are on-line literary masters. As parents, we need to educate ourselves to prevent cyber bullying, identify theft, and social coercion.  Technology has made the inaccessible accessible in lightning speed.  Therefore, we have a momentous responsibility to become educated in cyber slang.

For example, there is more than just one way to let a friend know that a parent is around:

• P911: Parents are coming!

• PA: Parent alert

• PAL: Parents are listening

• PANB: Parents are nearby

• PAW: Parents are watching

• PIR: Parent in room

Share this with others to help keep our children safe and thriving!

Note: Source of information:  INOBTR.org (“I Know Better”) – An organization dedicated to protect children and keep families safe through proactive education and public awareness.

Grocery List

If your children (boys in particular) are like my own, any mention of shopping results in protest.  Shopping with children can actually be a delightful and learning experience if adults are thoughtful of children’s needs.  Grocery shopping provides grand opportunities for literacy development. Here are some tips that I hope you find helpful:

• Have the shopping list be written by your child. Kids love colorful paper, markers, pens, etc. Using your smart phone is also a way to keep your child interested!
• Set rules before heading out, rather than having to engage in an all out war in front of others. For instance, “you can pick out one snack of your choice”.
• Have kids do the shopping. Using the prepared shopping list, have your child find and place items in the wagon. Weighing fruits and vegetables touches upon math skills. Figuring out coupon savings is also another way to build math awareness.
• Educate. What a wonderful opportunity for parents to educate their child about eating healthy. Point out nutrition labels and discuss how to determine good choices.

Have fun while grocery shopping. It is an untapped venue for great learning and conversation!

Only 6 shopping days left, and the email keeps coming! There are all sorts of deals out there for Internet shoppers…Free shipping, new markdowns, 40% entire purchase, and on and on.  I’ve pondered over the right gift for many, and books are always a sure hit.  I know you’ve heard the cliche many times, Books are gifts that can be opened again and again. Click below for a Holiday Gift Guide from the Reading Rockets website.

I’ve come up with my own reasons for why books are such wonderful gifts.  Early shoppers, it’ll give you time to consider for next Christmas.  Procrastinators, I hope this helps!  Top 5 reasons to give a book:

1. To make personal meaning of the world we live in.
2. To have empathy for people and places unlike ours so we become empowered to change stale mindsets.
3. To gain different perspectives without having to agree or disagree, but to simply introduce us to new ideas.
4. To be a leader, a princess, a warrior, and just about anything that we are curious about.
5. To understand what other people think, feel, and hope for to better appreciate the things we have.

Happy Christmas!

2012_Holiday_Gift_Guide_All-Ages(1)

Kalopa State Park

I could have found a long list of reasons to decline an invitation to camp with 4 other families this summer at Kalopa State Park: mosquitoes, the unfavorable weather forecast, and sleeping on smelly mattreses (not to mention bed mites) on wooden bunks.  I instantly accepted the offer, and it was the best decision I’ve made in awhile! My sons were beside themselves to finally go mountain camping!

One of the first strings of text messages among the families was the idea of leaving all electronics home.  The overwhelming response was yes.  Even cell phone usage by parents was rare.  (By the way, only AT&T plans have coverage at Kalopa).

This weekend of disconnect sparked curiosity and imagination in our children.  They carved wood, went on endless hikes, encountered sightings of “ghosts”, performed skits, and played board games.   Dealing with mosquitoes, I believe, have made them better people.

The adults also went on hikes, played board games, talked story, and sang the lyrics of what could be remembered from the hits of the past.  (No song was ever sang in its entirety). Nevertheless, the ukulele and guitar kept its tune.

We all got to know each other even better, but the greatest gift was getting to know our own children better.  They have the curiosity and imagination living inside of them, our kuleana is to provide opportunities where both can be nurtured.

Christmas is coming and so are the school holidays: over the next several days, in the midst of shopping, present-wrapping and decorating, one question in the minds of parents of school age children is: should we be leaving time for school work?

Here are ‘two R’s’ for the school holidays: Rest and Recreation – all underpinned by a ‘third R’: Re-connecting with each other and with some Christmas traditions.

A time to rest: relax and re-charge batteries With a long tiring term behind them, encourage your kids to have a proper rest. While it is tempting in this season of goodwill to over-indulge the appetite in all kinds of ways, catching up with friends and family is an important part of the Christmas scene. Especially for children, plenty of sleep, a good diet and (some but not too much) celebrating must be the order of the day. Beware the schedule that does not allow space and time to recuperate and re-charge the batteries; it is an easy trap to fall into, especially at this time of year.

Real recreation: re-connect as a family – Christmas should be a time for families to re-connect with one another. Statistics show that family conflicts can come to a head at this time of year, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Leave space in the margins for spontaneous activities like a walk at Liliuokalani Park, shopping trips for stocking stuffers, cooking together and take advantage of whatever is local to help you do so: church, local and community events. And don’t let Christmas dinner be the only meal you sit down to together this holiday.

`Oli `Oli Kalikimaka!

Source adapted: www.telegraph.co.uk

Aloha mai kākou!

Welcome to the 2011-12 school year! All engines have started and are revving at high speed. I’ve seen most of your keiki either in testing, having lunch or in passing on our walkways. Everyone looks fresh and excited to be a part of something new.

Summer was hectic. Most of my time was spent transporting my own kids to and from their summer sports and activities. It was lunch on the run, lots of sunscreen and a raccoon face (from the outline of my sunglasses) for myself. But you know what? I wouldn’t have had it any other way! For real!

The link below (RR-BackToSchool) will connect you to a list of 10 recommendations to ease your family back into school. All credit goes to the Reading Rockets website which I have featured before on my BLOG. Let me know which tip was the most helpful!

RR-BackToSchool

My two boys and their first snowman

Happy New Year! Don’t you think this weather we’re experiencing definitely feels like winter? And in Hawai`i? My family and I enjoyed a “White Christmas” in Sun River, Oregon. As you can see from the photo, snow was falling all around us! You can also probably infer that someone in my family is a Duck fan…my husband is an alumnus.

It’s always refreshing to go on vacation, but returning to normal routines brings back clarity. Reconnecting with colleagues and our haumana are a grand way to begin a new year, every year. This year was no exception. Kumu Crabbe handed me an article as I was entering Mrs. Pai’s classroom today. I just took some time to read it through and thought a part of it fitting to share. Credit goes to Ira Zunin, medical director of Manakai o Malama Integrative Healthcare Group. The article titled, Resolve to seek healthy balance in the year, appeared in the Honolulu Star-Avertiser on 1/1/11.

New Year’s resolutions tend to be overzealous and unattainable over time. Dr. Zunin suggests 7 resolutions that seek balance without going to the extremes. I’d like to share one: `Ohana. “Spend quality time with those you care about and remember that loving relationships need to be fed and nourished. So much of successful parenting depends on our ability to support the budding interests of our children and to set aside our own bright ideas about what is best for them.”

I wish you a joyful 2011!

It’s already been a month back in school, and I can see that your keiki are revved up to learn!  I apologize for the abrupt end to my blog last March.  My teaching kuleana took me back to the classroom for the last 8 weeks of school, which didn’t make it possible to continue my language arts resource position. But I’m back in this school year and feeling quite energized!

I plan to continue my reading and writing tips as well as book reviews. My goal is to provide parents with some good websites that are user and home friendly that will provide an extension to what is being taught in school. Wish me well with this! Please feel free to give me any suggestions that you may have that would enhance my blog.  I look forward to a most joyful school year!

Welcome to my very first blog!  I’m cautiously excited to begin this venture as my technology skills are of a generation x-er whose first experience on a computer was in her senior year of high school! To explain further, my college papers were due on a floppy disc!  Anyway, I hope my blog will provide parents with some useful tips and resources to guide their young readers to enter the world of adventure and curiosity.  Read the word and read the world!