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domestic_engineer

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    Toddler books

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted · Edited by domestic_engineer

    Oh, where to begin?!?

    Karma Wilson's books about Bear ... Bear Snores On, Bear Wants More, Bear's New Friend, etc.

    Jeremy London's Froggy books ... Froggy Gets Dressed, Froggy's Day Out, etc.

    Brush Mona Lisa's Hair (and other books in the series)

    Chicka Chicka Boom Boom

    Silly Sally by Audrey Wood

    Color Dance by Ann Jonas

    Night in the Country by Cynthia Rylant

    Piglet & Mama by Margaret Wild

    If you give a mouse a cookie by L. Numeroff

     

    And some books to grow into:

    Caps for Sale

    Toot & Puddle Series by Holly Hobbie

    You can do it Sam! (and other books in the series) by Amy Hest (and also her Duck series)

    Duck & Goose Series by Tad Hills

     

    And as others have said ... Jessie Bear books, Sandra Boynton books, & Curious George books.

     

    oh and I completely agree with the Spin the bottle reference in Arthur. What's up with that?!?!

    graduation gifts ideas needed

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    A snack pack? A plastic container (always useful for storing something in a dorm room) filled with hot chocolate, microwave popcorn, dishcloth, gift cards to a fast food/coffee place on campus, and other snacky or munchy food. maybe a nice mug (w/ school logo?!) ... One can never have enough food while studying ... well, I guess you can have *too* much food. :P

    How to change e-mail...

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted · Edited by domestic_engineer

    Here's one way to solve your problem; I happened to have written it yesterday for a friend ... Hope it helps!

     

    (1) Make sure you are logged in to yahoo.

    (2) Go to the group's main yahoo page

    (3) Then, at the top of the page on the left hand side, above the rectangle with your group's name, click on the link to "Edit Membership"

    (4) On the Membership page, for Step 1, the second selection will be to choose which email address you want to use. (Click on the "Add New Address" link, if you need to.)

    (5) Still on the Membership page, for Step 2, you can choose to get each individual post sent to you or if you want the daily digest.

    (6) Continue down the Membership page and click on the "Save Changes" button.

    You'll have to do this for each group.

     

    Alternatively, you MAY be able to do it in one step this way:

    (1) Make sure you are logged in to yahoo.

    (2) Go to your Groups page: http://groups.yahoo.com/mygroups

    (3) Then, at the top of the page on the right hand side there should be a link for "My Email Preferences". Perhaps if you go through this link and delete all but the email address you want to use, then it would automatically use that one address for all your groups?!?! I don't know if it will work or not, so you would want to check your groups by going thru the first set of steps above.

    Yard sale divas, help with pricing?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    As a buyer, these are my pricepoints (and I'm only used to buying baby and little kid's clothing):

    * Worn or play clothes $0.50 - $1 depending on if it's baby or bigger kid's clothing.

    * Name brand stuff (Old Navy and higher end things) would start at $1 depending on condition.

    * Stuffed animals - dirt cheap; I don't know that there is much demand for them.

    * Books - 25 -50 cents for paperback (kids books); 50 cents - $1 for hardback.

     

    While these may seem low to you, especially in a high cost of living area, I think these prices will get the stuff out of your garage! If you are having a multi-day sale, you may want to price them higher at first and then have these prices the last day (1/2 off sale, etc).

    Please Help Me Choose a Bag

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    MONEY BELT

    Should I just stick with a money belt and not bother about buying a new bag?

     

    I’m embarrassed to say this, but I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to myself. I never judge how others dress or look. I’m more critical with myself.

    Will a belted wallet make me look bulky and fat at the waist? And what if I'm wearing a skirt or dress, which is probably unlikely, since I imagine that most of our times on the metro or Tube - I'll be wearing pants - nonetheless. Would a belt look silly?

    If not, I love the practical aspect of a belt. I'm just not sure how it would look or feel on me.

     

    ----

     

    I am of similar stature and hated the money belt. I felt that it made me look bulky - especially during the summer when you are wearing more form fitting clothes. (Money belts and low rise pants are also not a good combination). The wise thing to do is to carry your passports in our money belt, but they are sooooooo bulky and do not really curve to your body ... especially if you are carrying more than one passport. I tried the belt with both pants and skirt ... and even with the skirt you could see the outline of the rigid passports.

     

    Some alternatives that I have read about:

     

    • wear the belt with the pouch along your back and not your front.
    • Get a necklace style pouch. Wear it around your neck or crossbody (and under your clothes obviously.) Here's a link of the type of hidden pouch.
    • There's this kind that you can put around your leg (if it's not sized exclusively for men)

     

    Honestly, I never found a hidden solution for me. I just went with a crossbody bag with a zipper closure held in front of me ... and if need be, let DH carry our passports. Just remember to be aware at all times, especially when things get crowded and squished.

     

    Either way, have fun shopping and traveling!!!

    What to do instead of saying "Wipe that look off your face!"

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    What about a kindness chart where the girls have to work together to get to the goal? (Say a giant sunflower that you have to climb to the top?) Each time you see one of the girls being kind, thinking of the other person, etc. they get to move one spot towards the goal ... reward and point out kind behavior. You could also have them move away from the goal when they misbehave. (This would ensure that one girl isn't doing all the "good" work and both reaping the benefits.) It would be another visual way to enforce that actions have consequences.

     

    Hmmmm ... I sound like Supernanny :tongue_smilie:

    Want to help me pick out baby shower gifts?

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    I also recommend the Aden & Anais blankets ... they are great swaddling blankets (size & weight) and they will be used long after they are babies because of their softness and weight. If you buy a pack of 4 and then split it between your nieces, it would bring the cost down. Just roll the blanket(s) into a log & wrap raffia around it!

     

    Other ideas ...

     

    • Christian lullabies (may be more soothing to the mama than the baby) ... http://scripture-lullabies.com/
    • Music for Babies CDs from advancedbrain (not Brainy Baby) ... The Peaceful Baby CD really calmed my little ones; we also still enjoy Playful Baby ... http://www.advancedbrain.com/index.php?option=com_ixxocart&Itemid=58&p=product&id=111&parent=5 ... again, maybe you can give each niece 2 CDs.
    • Soft sole "shoes" with the elastic around the ankles (will stay on when socks will not) Leather: Robeez (which are washable, I think) or the Target equivalent (which are not washable) or Shooshoos Handmade/Crocheted: My SIL makes some, and I love them!
    • If they are the type of ladies who will make their own baby food then a baby food mill (make sure the grinding parts are not plastic) & Ruth Yaron's Book & ice cube trays & the small 8 oz (?) round ziploc containers.
    • A gift basket to pamper the new mama. :) I found this to be a nice devotional.
    • A gift card to Subway or some other restaurant (again for the mama; nice to know on a rough day that you have the option of not cooking and getting take-out!)
    • Books for the baby! It's never too early to start building their library. In fact, I love it when baby showers are book showers! Always the standby classics (Pat the Bunny, Goodnight Moon, Very Hungry Caterpillar), but then also some newer authors (Karma Wilson). And don't forget a treasury of nursery rhymes!
    • A baby carrier ... I prefer a Babyhawk Mei Tai to an Ergo, especially for newborns & infants. Just thought I'd throw another option out there; but it is a very personal decision.
    • HALO Sleepsack (or some other brand) ... there's all different kinds of weights/warmths & materials. One thing to compare between brands is how it opens. HALO has their zipper down the middle. I liked a hand-me-down sleepsack from the GAP where the zipper was along the sides & bottom.
    • If you're looking for unique, trendy gifts, this store has neat stuff & their customer service is great!
    • If they are planning on nursing, I'd agree with the nursing stool & suggest a nursing cover.
    • If you get clothes, I had one friend put all the clothes on a cotton clothesline (w/ clothespin), stuck it in a wicker laundry basket, and covered it with a blanket. Then the new mama was instructed to slowly pull one end of it out & lo and behold, out came a clothesline of cute baby clothes (plus if you buy a 5 pack of onesies, it'll look like a lot more! :D). You could also include a bottle of Dreft or your preferred laundry detergent.
    • And my last idea is a gross one, but it works! The Nosefrida Nasal Aspirator. It works so much better than the bulb syringes, and there's really no way the stuff will get in your mouth.

    Have fun shopping & thanks for letting us "shop" too!!!

    A couple of ? about taking your baby on an airplane

    in General Education Discussion Board

    Posted

    As PP noted, you'll have to take the babe out of the carrier during taxi, takeoff and landing and hold the babe in your arms ... but if you're using a bjorn with the baby facing towards you, it should be pretty easy to transition between using the carrier & your arms. When I've flown with a baby, most of the time the flight attendants have told me I need to take the baby out, but I've never been unable or greatly inconvenienced to comply (I've used a Bjorn, soft structured carrier, and a MT).

     

    Even though you didn't buy a ticket for a seat for your baby, you might see if there are any empty seats available on the plane that the airline would let you have one for your baby (may require some other passenger to move so that your two seats are together) ... especially for the longer segment of your travel plans. It can be argued that it's safer for the baby to be in the car seat at altitude.

     

    As for the birth certificate, you most likely won't be asked for it if you are traveling domestically.

     

    Hope your travel goes smoothly!

    Comparing and Arranging Commercial Readers by level

    in K-8 Curriculum Board

    Posted

    This thread is exactly what I've been fuming over the last several weeks! I even asked our librarian for help finding books and she pointed out the Level 1 readers (which are all thrown in together with levels 1-5) should be appropriate. When she pulled out a Level 1 book to show me, the first page was "Hannah was excited." Ummmm, "Hannah"? "excited"? Those are *not* words for beginning readers!!!!

     

    I go to the library all the time and it takes me ages to get a good group of books, I'm going to have to develop something to use....some sort of rating rubric for these readers....hmmm....

     

     

    Yes! It takes a long time to find a good group of books, and it's near impossible when you have to mind a curious toddler in the library!!!

     

    As for a rating rubric, have you looked at the Lexile measure at this website? Like the PP's link, you can look up the measure of books you've already read to get a feeling of where you are at and other comparable books the library may have. I just started exploring this site last week. It'll take a lot of legwork on the parent's part ...

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