November 9th, 2010 by El Ed Mom

Fans of this site know that I am a huge fan of Mrs. P.  Parents no more excuses about finding time to read to your child, this free website does all the work for you with the amazing Mrs. P.  But now, Mrs. P has an interactive fairy tale book to help kids learn to read!  WOO HOO!!! Check it out…

MrsP.com Releases First Interactive Fairy Tale Book

Kids Learn Reading Skills in Conjunction with Free Website

MrsP.com, the popular, award-winning children’s storytelling website, announced the publication today of its first interactive storybook, which uses Internet technology in a new way to help kids learn to read.  Mrs. P’s Four Favorite Fairy Tales and Funny Stories collects in book form stories and introductions available on video at the free website and at the iTunes Store.  Children will be able to follow along in the book as Mrs. P, played by The Drew Carey Show star Kathy Kinney, reads the stories with them.

“I’m very proud of Mrs. P’s new book because of its unique ability to help young readers improve their skills,” said Kinney. “Children and parents can open the book and read along with me at my website.  We even have a Magic Dictionary at MrsP.com, so if kids comes across a word they don’t know, they can just pause the video and easily find out what it means.” 

Studies have shown one of the most productive ways for children to improve their reading skills, particularly for learning ‘sight words,’ is to see the words as they are read to.  “Everyone’s worried about the Internet making books and reading obsolete.  We’ve found a wonderful way to make them work together,” Kinney said. 

The new book includes “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” features 90 original color illustrations and offers new, comic introductions to the stories from Mrs. P. 

“Mrs. P’s Four Favorite Fairy Tales and Funny Stories” will be available to the public at Amazon and other booksellers across the country via online ordering.  Additional information, including a downloadable flyer, can be found at http://www.mrsp.com/Purchase.aspx

Ten percent of all MrsP.com’s after-tax profits from these sales will be donated by Mrs. P Enterprises, LLC to literacy organizations.

“Mrs. P’s Four Favorite Fairy Tales and Funny Stories”

ISBN: 978-0-615-39355-1 Binding: Paperback Trim: Color 8.5 x 8.5 in Pages: 126  and over 90 original color illustration Genre: Juvenile Fiction: Fairy Tales & Folklore – Anthologies Target Audience: Children ages 4 to 10

Cover Price: $19.95

Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/Favorite-Fairy-Tales-Funny-Stories/dp/0615393551/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1288744154&sr=1-1

Also see Mrs. P’s special video about her new book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKFak9xSmUQ

Photos and other info about Mrs. P can be found at her press site. http://www.press.mrsp.com/

October 25th, 2010 by El Ed Mom

Does it always have to be just another manic Monday? Well, stop wishing it were a Sunday and let Amy McCready, founder of Positive Parenting Solutions, help you get a grip on your family’s morning routine and quash the counterproductive chaos.  Seriously those manic mornings can take a toll on your own mood and productivity; Amy has some great tips in her appearance with The Today Show’s Katie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb to help with your morning routine:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/39778257#39778257

September 3rd, 2010 by El Ed Mom

It’s back to school time!  In honor of Heidi and Megan going back to school we are giving away a set of our books!  Feel free to share this great news! 

Leave a comment (including your email address) to be entered to win!  We will ship globally to a winner!  This contest ends September 30th!

August 19th, 2010 by El Ed Mom

Now that summer is ending, many of us are thinking about the upcoming school year and how to create an atmosphere of success for our children. Regardless of age, a blank notebook, a fresh backpack, new pencils, pens, markers, and/or crayons should be joyful and yet, for many children, it elicits feelings of insecurity and fear of failure.  It is up to us, as parents and educators, to make certain that our kids are emotionally, socially, cognitively, and physically ready to meet new challenges.  Children need guidance, time, and reminders in order to successfully transition from the more carefree days of summer to the more rigorous routines of the school year. Proper manners should be reinforced, kindness acknowledged, reading, listening, and practicing skills encouraged and healthy eating and sleeping patterns enforced. Since children mimic our attitudes and behaviors, it is critical to speak in positive ways about the school year, teachers, school, and curriculum.  It is also important to set realistic expectations so that your child/children can tackle their new experiences and challenges with self confidence and with the knowledge that you will be both their cheerleader and confidant. Please note that I am not encouraging parents to make excuses for or to complete assignments for children, but rather, am advocating an environment of open dialogue, where discussions focus on both positive and negative emotions, behaviors, and experiences. 
Creating a solid foundation is critical to buildings constructed from brick and mortar as well as those more gentle structures made up of feelings, ideas, and knowledge.  Let’s work together towards building a foundation that supports a love for learning, a respect for self and others, and a dedication to excellence, diligence, and empathy.

I wish everyone a successful and lovely school year!!

Magical Educating!

Donna Mavrides
Magical Moments
www.magicalms.com

December 17th, 2009 by El Ed Mom

Name of Activity: Animal Actions

Purpose of Activity: To help students practice and master various locomotor or traveling patterns.

Prerequisites: How to take turns and if necessary momentarily wait a turn. How to belly crawl, dog crawl and jump, either two-foot to two-foot pattern or a leap, one foot to opposite foot pattern.

Suggested Grade Level: PRE-K

Click Here to read more…

Materials Needed: 8 Mini 6″ cones 8 Medium cones 10-12″ 8 larger cones 12-18″ 12 pool noodles 24 noodle connectors 4 XL 24″ cones

December 14th, 2009 by El Ed Mom

Happy Holidays! We’ve put together a holiday curriculum for young children and their families. We hope these ideas will encourage you to take time to read and play together this holiday season and to celebrate old traditions while making new ones. Enjoy these fun filled holiday activities!

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December 1st, 2009 by El Ed Mom

My Picture Story
Allow your child to draw and color anything he or she wants.  When finished, as your child to tell you about his or her picture.  Write your child’s story and then read it hack to him or her. Lots of suggested picture books that parents can use with their preshool childen to encourage literacy are  in Preschool Books Listed by Themes.

Newspaper Fun
Parents read a newspaper comic strip to your preschool child.  Point to each frame as you read the words.  Talk about  the message or funny story with your child.  Next, ask your youngster to choose a colorful comic strip and tell you about the pictures.  Let him or her make up a story to match the actions in the frames or ask if he or she can guess what the comic strip is about by looking at the pictures.

Click Here to read more…

November 16th, 2009 by El Ed Mom

From sharing to symbolism, get the scoop on what your preschooler will be learning this year — and find out how to be sure she’s making strides at preschool.

Learn about the educational milestones your preschooler should hit this year:

Social skills

Cognitive concepts

Language leaps

Click Here to read more…

October 7th, 2009 by El Ed Mom

Falling for Leaves
When one thinks of autumn, the first thing that often comes to mind is leaves. “We like to go on a fall walk and find really big, colorful leaves,” says Melissa Durante, a mother of three from Bartlett, Ill. “My daughter likes to keep one of each color she finds.”

Rachel Del Rio, an early-childhood educator in Elgin, Ill., says that toddlers and preschoolers may like to take the treasures from their nature walk and glue them to construction paper, perhaps making a person by using an acorn for a head and leaves for the body. Here’s another fun idea: Collect some freshly fallen leaves. Place them on a board. Place a thin cloth (like a piece of sheet) over the leaves and have the child hammer the leaves. The leaf color and shape will imprint on the cloth.

Of course all those beautiful leaves need to end up somewhere – and many will undoubtedly be in your yard. While you toil to pick them up, let your child “work” alongside with a plastic rake or scamper around the yard with a dump truck (the bigger the better) to collect leaves to be deposited onto a main pile. Don’t be surprised, though, if a pile or two ends up a mess. Jumping and rolling in leaves is tempting fun for many toddlers (and some parents, too)!

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September 24th, 2009 by El Ed Mom

The physical education games that are described in this article can be played at the beginning of gym class as part of a warm exercise, during the period wholly or partially devoted to games or physical education activities or at the end of class as part of cool down exercises.

In addition to the obvious benefits of providing good exercise, combating obesity and developing motor skills, the other skills that I wanted my students to demonstrate when they play these games are co-operation, sportsmanship and enjoyment.

Here are 6 examples of physical education games that my students and I enjoyed.

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