Going Green – Ideas and Products

Recently, I have been surrounded with people who are GOING GREEN –  focusing more on our environmental impact:  Kindermusik International, and my daughter’s school, Lakeland Montessori.   

This blog posting is intended to list some great websites, blogs, etc. that I recommend for learning more, learning how, and learning about some really cool products that are available (if you really need to buy anything at all.)  I will continue to add things here as I find them – just to keep all the Green Stuff on the same posting.

You can reference my thoughts about Kindermusik’s new efforts here, or you can go directly to their blog, http://www.kindermusikgreen.blogspot.com , where they have a lot more information than JUST what Kindermusik is doing.

If you are interested in keeping up with all the aspects of becoming GREEN, check out:  http://www.thedailygreen.com/  – a website that is “the consumer’s guide to the green revolution”.  Includes blog postings with creative & inexpensive ways to “be more green”.  And there is a newsletter to which you can subscribe. 

 

I thought their gift ideas were quite unique!  For example, check out these websites for plantable paper, handmade paper that can be planted, and wildflowers will grow.

 

http://www.plantablepaper.com/index.htm 

http://www.swallowtailfarms.com  (click on Plantable Paper)

Lakeland Montessori found an excellent website that offers a wide variety of products to help in this process.  At www.greenraising.com , everything offered promotes reducing the impact we have on the earth, as well as supporting hard-working people in fledgling companies in third world countries.  Any purchases during the next year offer 10% of the sales to our school.  During the check out process, just select “Lakeland Montessori Schoolhouse-FL” from the drop-down list of affiliates.    Highly recommended items: 

• Wrap-n-Mat – this ingenious mat replaces sandwich baggies, wrapping around food items and closing with Velcro.  Then, it opens up into a clean, reusable placemat.  Easy to clean!  I ordered 2 and switch them out every other day – and no longer use zip lock bags in Cora’s lunch.
• Aluminum or Stainless Steel Bottles – stop using plastic bottles, this works everyday!  I NO LONGER buy plastic bottles of water!!!  You can also get these locally at your sports stores.
• TWIST Euro cloths & Loofah Sponges – made with cellulose from renewable tree farms.  These work great, and even run through the dishwasher well to sanitize them.  I like the Loofah sponges the best.

Flowers, Dewdrops, and Gardens Resources

The theme for the Kindermusik Village –  Dewdrop Semester, all about flowers and gardens.

My favorite poem that fits right into the theme is the following.  Below the verse, there is a list of more resources on the subject.

The Flowers    by Robert Louis Stevenson

From “A Child’s Garden of Verse”  It can be found as a Little Golden Book.

• All the names I know from nurse:
• Gardener’s garters, Shepherd’s purse,
• Bachelor’s buttons, Lady’s smock,
• and the Lady Hollyhock.
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• Fairy places, fairy things,
• Fairy woods where the wild bee wings,
• Tiny trees for tiny dames –
• These must all be fairy names !
• Tiny woods below whose boughs
• Shady fairies weave a house;
• Tiny treetops, rose or thyme,
• Where the braver fairies climb !
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• Fair are grown-up people’s trees,
• But the fairest woods are these;
• Where, if I were not so tall,
• I should live for good and all.

 

Favorite Books on the theme of Flowers and Gardens:

 The Carrot Seed, by Ruth Krauss, illustrations by Crockett Johnson, Harper & Row Publishers, 1945       This is the author of Harold and the Purple Crayon.   This is just as wonderful of a story about a young boy taking care of his plants, even though everyone is telling him it WON’T work.  His patience and persistence pay off with a HUGE carrot. 

 

TLC, Grow With Me!  by Lissa Rovetch, ill. by Chum McLeod  – A Do-Re-Me & You Publication  A young girl gets a present from a neighbor, a surprise in a pot of dirt.  She gets hints along the way to learn how to make the surprise appear.  Excellent for children just learning the art of gardening.  Since it is DRMY, of course it comes with a CD of fun songs for gardening.  You may find it on a good sale at www.shopkindermusik.com .

 

Dandelion,  by Don Freeman,       Scholastic, 1964         (Excellent author)    A Lion decides to dress up fancy for a party, but everyone is glad when he gets back to being himself.       

Chrysanthemum, by Kevin Henkes,     GreenWillow Books, 1991  

A young mouse girl is lovingly named by her parents, but once she starts school, she’s not so sure how much she likes her name. 

I absolutely love the extended vocabulary that Dad uses in this book. For 3 and up.

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Inch by Inch, The Garden Song,  by David Mallet and Ora Eiten;  Trophy Picture Books, 1997.  This song is a classic song from the 60’s days of love and peace, and becoming more self-reliant.  The illustrations are simply, yet poignant, and you’ve got to love the biggest beet in the world that is harvested.  I love reading AND singing this to my daughter.   This one is actually very good for even young readers, and they will love you to sing the song – the melody is written on the back pages.

A recorded version is on Mary Miche’s Earthy Tunes album (see below).

Blog Postings on the subject for your enjoyment:

• Dewdrops  (NEW) – Beautiful pictures of dewdrops and rich musical sounds – video format
• Mary Miche’ – Earthy Tunes & Songs for Teaching website – cool gardening songs, including “Inch by Inch”, “Dirt You Made My Lunch”, and so many more.

 

• Musical Flowers and Trees (NEW) – 1932 Disney videos of flowers, trees, and babies

         

 

Traveling with Trains by books, music, and more.

These are some of my favorite resources about life surrounding the magical world of train travel, from historical, to classic, to silly, to futuristic imaginations.  I guarantee you, each of these resources have been experienced and loved many times.

There are several Kindermusik semesters that include train themes, see this list on my blog posting:  Kindermusik Programs with themes of travel & vehicles . 

Please feel free to add your favorites to the comment section as well!  I’ll look for them.

Musical Recordings:                                .

All Aboard – John Denver;  Family Artist Series from Sony Wonder, 1997   Avail. at large music stores.   A marvalous, kid friendly collection of songs ALL about trains.  You’ll love Choo Choo Ch’Boogie.  There are several available at www.Amazon.com, as well as other online and local music stores. 

The Little Engine that Could       .

The Little Engine That Could      A Platt & Munk Classic book by Watty Piper;  A little engine saves a train full of toys.        

The Little Engine and The Big Chase   2nd book in the series, and just as fun.  The silly little clown has gotten whisked away by a big diesel engine, and the Little Engine and his friends have to rescue him.   

The Little Engine That Could – An MCA Home Video, Inc. Presentation. 1991.  The classic tale gets a wonderful make over that keeps the classic feel, but flushes out the characters and the story very well.

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The Little Engine That Could – One selection from the Read With Me DVD Series.  Fisher Price has come up with a cool device that allows children to use the DVD player to have classic books read to them, and allows them to be interactive with the story, answering comprehension questions about the story, or playing games based on the story.  Scholastic has met the challenge with a nice selection of DVD books to choose from.  Find the device at www.fisher-price.com, then find the stories at www.scholastic.com .  My 4 year old daughter LOVES these.  Thanks, Valerie!————————————————–Thomas the Tank Engine:  The Complete Collection by Rev. W. Awdrey    Random House Publishing.   I love this book because it includes all of the stories, as well as some background on the author and the development of these stories.

www.thomasandfriends.com   A website full of fun for Thomas fans, includes links to the following:

• Videos
• Games
• TV – leads to information about television shows that include Thomas stories
• Events – information leads to character appearances, as well as
• A Day Out with Thomas, where a real engine has been designed to become Thomas the Tank Engine, and pulls train cars full of children all around the country.  His schedule can be found when you follow the links.

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Other Favorite Train books:

Tootle   A Little Golden Book by Gertrude Crampton; Ill. by Tibor Gergely.   A young engine attends school to learn to be useful.  He has a hard time with “Staying on the Rails, No matter what!”  We LOVE this story about learning to follow the rules.

 

 

Smokey Houghton Mifflin Co.      Written & Illustrated by Bill Peet.    An old rusty steam engine finds a new use, once he is no longer needed in the rail yard.  The ending is a wonderful surprise.  Teachers love it!

Tracks    Scholastic Inc.  by David Galef; Ill. by Tedd Arnold.  

Albert, the railway construction designer, builds a crazy railroad track when his eye glasses break. 

FUNNY picture book!

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I’ve Been Working on the Railroad       Scholastic   The words presented are the same as the classic song, but the pictures tell a bigger, much more fun story.  We spend LOTS of time just talking about what’s going on in the pictures.

Down By the Station  by Will Hillenbrand   Scholastic has done it again.  Classic song, but a whole new story is told through the pictures.  The conductor, the teachers, the baby animals, and the children combine for a wonderful read together book.  Cora pours over both these books, all by herself, singing the songs, and talking about the antics of these creatures.

Other Videos                                                                             .

There are two other videos are described in the blog posting:  Children’s media resources for vehicles and travel

• Cowboy Pooh
• Imaginaria

Florida rail lines:   Take a few of the books with you to enjoy on your REAL TRAIN RIDE.

• Inland Lakes Railways:    www.inlandlakesrailway.com
• Florida Railways Museum:  www.fgcrrm.org 

Best Railroad game:                                                                                                    . 

Rail Baron  – I LOVE this game, but it is definitely for at least 10 years old and older.  It is so cool that the railroads on the map are based on real rail lines that were some of the original built.  The goal of the game is to ride the rails from one destination to another, and collect the payment for making the trip.  The money is used to buy railroads which you can then ride for free.  WAY FUN!  I have the version released in 1984.  I’m not the only fan, you can read about the history of the game at http://www.railgamefans.com/rbp/rbgame.htm 

 

There has not been a new release in quite awhile, but you can find some good used copies on ebay.  Because it is rare, it can be a little spendy – but it is worth it!  If you find a game that doesn’t have all the pieces, it’s ok, you can buy replacement pieces if you follow the links on the website listed above.  There is even an online version that you can play on the computer.

Smart Moves: Why Learning is not all in your Head

In Kindermusik, we incorporate movement so much, that it is known not just as a music class, but as a music and movement class.  Our creative team goes into extensive research from a variety of sources on how children learn, and there are many professionals over the centuries that show how important movement is in the learning process. 

If you want to read a great book that describes, in scientific detail, the importance of movement in the learning process, I  HIGHLY recommend “Smart Moves” by Carla Hannaford.  There is fascinating information in that book, based on extensive research, which she lists, and is written in a way that makes it very understandable.  She talks a lot about the development of neural connections in the brain, and how movement is KEY to developing strong connections, and a foundation for further learning.  It also talks about movements that help your left and right brain hemispheres to work together.  She introduces a lot of Brain Gym activities, which refer to the process of using specific movements to set up the body for doing particular activities – a science called Educational Kinesiology.  (When I told my husband that, he said “Bless You” – he never takes any of this seriously.)  The information in this book just truly got me excited about the big picture of learning, and I encorporate a LOT of her ideas in my teaching methods.

 

At a Kindermusik Conference in 2006, I also was fortunate enough to see her present information about her new book, “Awakening the Child Heart”, which takes her theories a step farther than the nuts and bolts of the body’s hardwiring.  I thoroughly enjoyed this book as well, and the whole vision of the interconnectedness of our bodies, and our connections to each other in this world.  It’s a bit more philosophical, and I do recommend reading “Smart Moves” first.  But if you are up for a book that will make you really stop and think about human beings and how integrated our body systems are – and how even little things make such a difference – pick that one.  From Carla, to me, to you:  I wish you Coherence.

St. Patricks Day Music for Children

• Knock, Knock
• Who’s There?
• Irish
• Irish Who?
• IRISH you a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!!!

Lots of Irish jokes for children, as well as crafts, history, games, printable art, recipies, etc. can be found at http://holidays.kaboose.com/saint-patricks-day/ .  Look around on this website,  www.kaboose.com , it is HUGE and chock full of cool information for moms and fun things for children. 

If you want to check out some fun Irish songs FOR CHILDREN, check out Mama Lisa’s World for both the words and melodies to the following:

Cockles and Mussels  (which is, by the way on the Creatures at the Ocean CD) Me Mother is Gone to Church

Michael Finnigan, (featured, even in book form, in the Imagine That!  Hello Weather semester in the Fall.)

Too Ra Loo Ra Loo Ra   (Featured in the Village Dew Drops semester, This was James’ favorite lullaby song)

You might also have some fun with Limericks, reading a few (clean ones), and making up some of your own.  It can be FUN!  Read about them on Mama Lisa’s blog posting:  A Little about Limericks .  Here’s my attempt:

There once was a lady of song,

She sang and played all the day long,

With children, with families,

with Kindermusik-ologies,                         (yes, I make up the word!)

Pure love of music, just can’t go wrong.

Classics for Children – Great set of classical music

Classics for Children

Released by Decca Recording Company

I HIGHLY recommend this 2 CD set for every parent with young children. 

This is a top notch collection of classical music that was specifically written for children.  It includes:

• Peter & the Wolf – Prokofiev; 
• The Carnival of the Animals – Saint-Saens; 
• The Flight of the Bumble Bee – Rimsky-Korsakov; 
• Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra – Benjamin Britten
• The Sorcerer’s Apprentice – Paul Dukas
• The Toy Symphony – Leopold Mozart 
• and many other musical pieces about animals, toys, and other things interesting to children. 

 Please see the FULL LIST OF SELECTIONS on these 2 CDs.  This link also leads you to an online site that is currently selling this set for just $14.95. 

My advice… Just get it!  You will be exposing your children to classical music written specifically for them from composers throughout history. 

And don’t just listen to it;  draw the animal that the music is about; pretend to be the animal, moving the way the music makes you feel, talk about the animal, and why someone would write music about it!  The pamphlet that comes in the CD features just such artwork by children, and they have several great ideas for interactive and creative ideas to do with your children.  Who could ask for more?

Music storytelling from Africa and Pete Seeger

I was able to share some wonderful musical folk tales with some preschool students today.  We had a blast with about four stories.  I’d love to share them with you, and of course, I want to start with one that you can access right away, “Abiyoyo”.  Keep returning to this site, and I’ll share more fun musical folk tales with you.

 The story of Abiyoyo was handed down generation by generation through storytelling.  It is the story of a giant named Abiyoyo, and the young boy and his dad that save the village from this giant through music and magic. 

Pete Seeger discovered the story in Cape Province, South Africa, and was able to bring the story to the written page in his book: ABIYOYO, Pete Seeger’s Storysong, illustrated by Michael Hayes) 

Amazingly enough, I found both the story and the song located on it’s own website,   www.abiyoyo.com .  This is a wonderful introduction, but I promise you, the book is worth the $8 you’ll spend at Amazon.com, or other bookstores.

Learn to play guitar and sing with your children

Do you have a guitar, but don’t know how to play it.  Would you like to start by playing chords to songs that you and your children can sing along with?

The following video details some McIntosh software that it set up to make this happen for you.  This process makes it amazingly easy to learn to play simple guitar chords, and use them to sing specific children’s songs that you and your family will enjoy.  Check it out…

Click twice on the picture above, and it will take you to YouTube, where you can see more of the videos that would be on it.   OR  link over to the The Wheels on the Bus blog posting on my other blog, http://musiconnx.wordpress.com  to see the version of this song with his little puppet friend, Capo!

By the way, you don’t need to play the guitar to enjoy singing songs with your chidren, just SING and MOVE AROUND and HAVE FUN!   Try out a Kindermusik class, and you will see how easy it is to encorporate music into your everyday lives.

Fall Fun at Green Meadows Farm

  

I LOVE to take my children to Green Meadows Farm in the Fall.  Of course, my children have a great time petting LOADS of animals, milking a cow, riding a horse, chasing the chickens, and taking a train ride. 

One of my favorite aspects about taking them in October, is that they have a field FULL of pumpkins.  Each child gets to pick one to take home, and I get some of my favorite Family Pictures in such a serene setting.

Green Meadows farm is located just south of Kissimmee, Florida.  Check out what all they have to offer, and more details at www.greenmeadowsfarm.com .

mama merit badges

I met up with Amy Bowers, one of my Kindermusik moms, at the Mega Monday for Moms Event at the museum today, and realized that she has developed a wonderfully creative way for mom’s to get the recognition we deserve, the mama merit badges. 

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These small merit badges depict scenes from which we mothers glean some of our most challenging moments, and rise to the occasion to deal with them the best we can. 

Check out her website:  www.mamameritbadges.com

In the “about” area, you’ll find out that these are simply offered, so that mothers can note and reward themselves for the times that parenthood has taken them beyond normal boundaries.

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The beauty is that each mom decides when they have earned each badge, and that it will be forever connected to a specific story about their children. whether you organized the most fabulous and extravagent birthday party ever, or dealt well and made it through some horrific event like poop explosions in the middle of a photography session. 

I love her comments on the FAQs page:

Why did you create these?

The simple answer is because I wanted them and they did not exist. Life as a parent has stretched me so far beyond my boundaries and comfort levels that I could literally feel my self changing and growing. After my many adventures with my brood I would actually say, “I need a merit badge for this!” (Do go on to read the rest in this area.)

AND it is simply fun to read the stories of what prompted some moms to award themselves specific badges in “merit badge tales”.  Amy is also planning to have some get togethers with local folks to share stories of how they earned their merit badges!

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This is a mom who always seems so calm, cool, and collected, and her children are very sweet and well mannered.  She’s always reading the best books on creative parenting.   This is an enlightening aspect of her personality, and helps me realize that no matter where we are in our motherhood process, that we are amazing, and can be recognized by ourselves, or by others.  I actually think it will be fun to give them as gifts.  

In addition, I would recommend that we have a Kindermusik, or even musical patch, as I know of several mothers who deserve such a patch, including Amy, who has each of her three children in their respective age appropriate classes.  Congratulations Amy, on being a great mom, and for coming up with a wonderfully creative way to recognize and celebrate our amazing mom moments.