Active Family Services » Resources

Kids on the Internet

peter — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 02:19:04 +0000

Hooray! A guest post! Thanks to Heather Chou for sharing her article, Kids on the Internet.

Is it okay to let my kids play on the internet? Sure. As soon as your toddler is able to manipulate to mouse or press keys on the keyboard, he can begin interacting with the computer. By the time children are preschool age, they can navigate the internet with confidence. While some kids might not show much interest, others may want to play on the internet all day. You’ll most likely want to limit their time on the computer. With that in mind, make time on the internet a positive and educational experience.

The key is to provide your child with developmentally appropriate computer activities. A number of studies have demonstrated the positive effect of early computer use on children’s physical and psychological development. Computers seem to be most beneficial for children when they are able to relate their experiences in the real world to those on the computer. It seems, also, that structured curriculum on the computer enhances the experience.

The first thing to keep in mind when starting off your little one on the computer is his health and safety. Set up the computer to be kid friendly and then set some rules. If possible, put the computer in a central area where you can easily monitor its usage. Next, set up a user account for your child (don’t forget to password protect your own user account). Both PCs and Macs will allow you to set up personalized accounts for each user. As the administrator, you can set limits on usage, allowing access to only certain applications. Set up strict restrictions on web page viewing. You can always allow access to pages later if needed. Set up time limitations; set both the maximum usage for your child as well as what time of day you will let him be on the computer.

Once you’ve made the computer kid friendly, it is time for you to research which websites you’re comfortable with him visiting. You’ll want to preview the sites and put the ones that you want your child to visit on the bookmark bar for him. For the first few times, and occasionally later on, sit with him while he navigates the sites. Be familiar with what your child is learning and ask him about it later.

If your curious kid is asking questions about how things work, use the internet to show him. There are plenty of great resources on the internet for learning. Don’t limit yourself to pages designed for preschoolers, either. When your child show an interest in dinosaurs, for example, check out the website for the American Museum of Natural History. While some of the information is presented for kids at this site, it is for older kids. But, your preschooler can still enjoy it if you help navigate the site and explain some of the concepts to him. And, don’t discredit YouTube. After a visit to a grain mill last summer, my daughter was confused as to how the water made the wheel turn (it wasn’t turning when we were there.) On YouTube, I found at least a dozen videos of mill wheels turning and even a kinetic energy water sculpture, using the same principles as the water wheel. Watching that helped her to understand more and we were able to relate it to her real visit in a way that I could not have done without the internet.

Remember, that the internet is not a replacement for real life learning. Your child still needs time to play, alone and with others. After all, it is the work of children to play. The computer does not replace quality time with you, either. For most of us this is intuitive, but worth saying again.

Resources

Effects of Home and School Computer Use on School Readiness and Cognitive Development Among Head Start Children: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial by Li, Xiaoming, Atkins, Melissa S, Stanton, Bonita
findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3749/is_200604/ai_n17187489/
Safety on the Internet
www.safechild.org/internet.htm
A Parent’s Guide to Internet Safety
www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/parent-guide/parent-guide
Child Safety on the Information Highway
www.safekids.com/child-safety-on-the-information-highway/
SafetyNet
safetynet.aap.org

Kid Friendly Websites

My favorite sites have little or no ads, are easy to navigate, and have enough material that my child can dig deeper into interesting subjects.

Babies & Toddlers (with a parent)

Preschoolers (and some early grade school)

School-aged Kids

Ashburn MOMS Club Annual Preschool Forum

admin — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 12:44:20 +0000

Info about the upcoming Ashburn MOMS Clubs’ preschool forum is quickly spreading through various moms groups throughout the county. The announcement follows.

The MOMS Clubs® of the Ashburn Area are pleased to present:

Ashburn Preschool Forum

Saturday, January 23, 2010
9:00am – 12:00pm
The Mills Recreation Center
43895 Grottoes Drive in Ashburn Village

Are you considering preschool for your child?

Come get the parents’ perspective on our local schools!
Information about the preschools in our area will be available and moms with children in the various schools will be speaking about their personal experience with the teachers and schools.
Open to ALL Ashburn Area parents!

For more information, please contact MOMSClub@tjdjmail. com

**** We’re currently looking for parents of children in the preschools to speak at the forum. This is the 4th year we’ve held the forum and the people attending always seem very grateful to have some “inside knowledge” about the schools.
Here are the schools we hope to include at the forum, so if you’d like to volunteer to speak for about 5 minutes about your experience with one of these schools please email momsclub@tjdjmail. com. We also hope to have some of the special needs programs represented so if you are willing to share your experience with those we’d love to have you. Your participation would be very much appreciated!

A Child’s Place Preschool
Arcola Christian Preschool
Ashburn Children’s Center
Ashburn Village Country Day School
Audubon Nature Preschool
Bean Tree Learning
The Boyd School
Briar Woods Early Learning Lab (Preschool at the Woods)
Broad Run Early Learning Lab
Busy Bees (Kari Vance)
Celebration
Chesterbrook Academy
Christian Fellowship School
Classroom of Discovery
Claude Moore Preschool (formerly Sterling Annex)
Discovery Oaks Academy
Dulles South Preschool
Fit 2 Learn
Goddard School (Belmont Greene)
Goddard School (Ashburn)
Golden Pond
Growing Minds (Judi Ratcliffe)
Heaven Sent Christian Preschool
Hope Christian Preschool
Kids Under Construction
KinderCare Learning Center
KinderWorks in Brambleton (formerly Winwood)
Little Learners Academy
Little Sprouts Preschool
Loudoun Country Day School
Minnieland
Montessori Academy at Belmont Greene
Montessori Children’s House of Loudoun
My Favorite Place Preschool
Open Arms Christian Child Development Center
School of Spanish (Magnolia Inmon)
Sha’are Shalom Rosie Uran Jewish Education Center
South Riding Children’s Center
St. David’s Episcopal Preschool
Sterling Annex Preschool
Stone Bridge Early Learning Lab
Virginia Academy/Ark Preschool
Willow Montessori
Winnie the Pooh
Winwood Children’s Center

Seafoodwatch.org

admin — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 16:53:58 +0000

We visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium on our recent trip to California and were introduced to the Sea Food Watch program there. The program seeks to educate little and grown folks alike about the environmental impacts of our fish choices through their interactive exhibit and website. Sea Food Watch also offers a well-researched and regularly updated regional pocket guide that you can access via your iPhone or download and print for your wallet to remind yourself which seafood choices are most sustainable.

While on their website you can bookmark the activities and printables for a rainy day. Have fun & pass the word along!

Here’s a glimpse at our other favorite exhibit at the aquarium in which a simulated wave breaks above and around you while you stay dry:

Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary & Historic White’s Ferry

admin — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 02:29:33 +0000

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

We snagged a great book from the library recently! In A Plump and Perky Turkey (written by Teresa Bateman and illustrated by Jeff Shelley) the turkeys all skip town before Thanksgiving and the town-folks try to trick them back, but (after pages of engaging illustrations and rhymes that please me) they end up eating shredded wheat on Thanksgiving. Luckily for us meat eaters, our Loudoun turkeys weren’t quite as savvy as those in the book. I know Thanksgiving has passed, but if you feel like embracing your inner locavore the rest of this holiday season, the folks at Buy Fresh Buy Local Virginia have put together a list of local turkey providers by county.

Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary

Our family kicked off Thanksgiving week with a trip across White’s Ferry to visit the Poplar Spring Animal Sanctuary in Poolesville, MD, where we spent an afternoon celebrating an early Thanksgiving with the Turkeys and participating in a vegan potluck with hundreds of people. The animals at the sanctuary were spread out with plenty of room and the atmosphere was peaceful and inviting despite the freezing temps and the surprisingly large crowd. The sanctuary does not have any upcoming events or visiting hours listed on their website now, but I definitely recommend visiting it.

Turkeys feasting at Poplar Spring Sanctuary

More on White’s Ferry

If you are looking for a change of scenery on a day home with sick kids, a drive through the county and ride across the river on the only ferry still operating on the Potomac River might fit the bill. You can keep your kids and their germs in the car the whole time, but share a special adventure and most importantly get out of the house! A round trip ticket costs $6 ($4 one-way) and the ferry runs from 5am to 11pm year-round.

View from the car on White’s Ferry

Buy Fresh, Buy Local Virginia

admin — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 03:56:24 +0000

If you’re looking for a way to simplify your hunt for local foods in Virginia, you’ll want to check out the buylocalvirginia.org site created by the Piedmont Environmental Council of Charlottesville, VA. The site contains a wealth of information, including:

why it is a good idea to buy local
events and news concerning the local food scene
a searchable database of farmers markets, CSAs, U-picks, caterers, and other local food resources.

Meetup.com

admin — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 04:12:30 +0000

Meetup.com is a great resource.

If you are new to motherhood or just getting settled in a new neighborhood it is worth searching for groups in your area. Meetup is not just for moms… so if you are looking to connect with other aspects of your identity you may even find a non-mommy group.

If you already have a moms group and are looking for a way to infuse some new energy and use an existing internet resource to simplify the coordinating of details, tracking of RSVPs, and allow for folks who cannot make events due to work schedules, naptime, etc. to connect virtually without inbox clutter, meetup.com may be to tool for you. The message boards are simpler than most online forums, and you can set them so they are seen only by group members. At first glance, the cost to start a group looks steep, but if you succeed in getting folks to join you may be able to collect dues to offset the cost.

Got allergies?

admin — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 05:25:37 +0000

I remember trying to find places to shop when we went dairy free, and I have seen many more moms go through the same transition when allergies took over their pantries. Now that we have grown out of our dairy issues I have found the perfect resource. Check out the Loudoun Allergy Network for lists of places to shop, restaurants, and lots of other support!

Jammin’ Java in Vienna presents Tot Rock

admin — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 15:29:33 +0000

227 Maple Avenue
Vienna, VA 22180 (map it)
(703) 255‑1566

Now that I have been to three of the weekday morning Tot Rock shows that Jammin’ Java offers, I feel somewhat qualified to talk this venue up. I get the sense that Jammin’ Java would be a great place for a night out sans kids, but I haven’t gotten there in that capacity yet! Maybe the grown up venue is part of what I like about taking the kids there. Despite my uncool clothes and my permanent post-partum tummy, I feel hipper the moment I walk in the door. We have seen Rocknoceros, The Banjo Man, and Mr. Knick Knack. All are totally different types of shows, and either have been or will be reviewed individually on our blog.

The more kids you bring, the steeper the $5 per kid entry fee feels, but in my opinion it is a great morning out so is totally worth it. If you need a place for a picnic afterwards, check out Glyndon Park. It’s been a few years since my kids and I have been there, but we remember it fondly.

Speaking of eating, Jammin’ Java sells snacks geared towards kids and asks you not to bring your own food and drink, but no one is checking your sippy cups at the door. As with many cafes that offer more than just food and drink, the coffee service is slow, but that’s OK by me.

Bonus tidbit: Since they offer beer, wine, and liquor during their evening shows, Jammin’ Java also falls into my new unofficial category of bars with changing tables. I wonder if there’s a demand for a nationwide listing of these? www.barswithchangingtables.com might be a profitable endeavor.…

Ready to move on to a mommy car?

admin — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:35:31 +0000

My family and I are preparing for the end of a ten year relationship with a well-loved station wagon. In replacing it we are saying goodbye to the vehicle that carried us through our twenties and are embracing a new type of family adventure vehicle for our thirties, which we hope will facilitate carpools, daycare field trips — 5 carseats (ack!) — and an evolved version of the road trips of past years.

Like many others out there, we are trying to do the impossible: minimize the price and fuel usage and maximize the passenger capacity and durability of the vehicle. We also want to make sure we have space inside for dogs and room on top for boats, skis and large pieces of furniture bought via craigslist. In a perfect world, maybe we could even find a way to not give up the all-wheel drive.… It goes without saying that we require a safe and dependable vehicle.

I googled and googled and couldn’t find a great online solution to appease our obsessive need to analyze and research without pressure from a salesperson. When I didn’t find what I wanted I went to the wise women of the local moms clubs and was given a list of useful websites. The one that seemed to be exactly what I could not find on my own was motherproof.com. It is an excellent resource for researching a mommy car that combines the raw numbers with readable narrative from actual moms.

I would still like to find a database or spreadsheet listing what carseat combinations fit in what vehicles.… if anyone knows of one I would appreciate a tip. Until I find one I would love to use the comments feature on this post to collect your impressive carseat combinations. Please include make, model, year, order of carseats, and any tips you have for fitting them in there.

Infant & Child Product Recall Notification

admin — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:33:41 +0000

While we are talking recalls… there’s yet another list you can join to receive info on infant & child products. This one is put out by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.