We were first introduced to this App, Letter School, by my son's Occupational Therapist. She wanted to work with him to build more confidence in his fine motor skills, while helping him prepare for things to come. My son, RJ, will be entering Kindergarten in the Fall. This application is great! So creative and makes learning fun! It works on my iPhone and iPad.
This application has certainly helped my son become more proficient in knowing and writing the alphabet. The kids love it and even use a stylus to make sure that they are gripping the "pen" right. This app is right on track to help my son to be better prepared for Kindergarten.
Book Review: When I Grow Up by Al Yankovic, Illustrations by Wes Hargis.
Of course, the parental red flag has to go up when you see "Al Yankovic" as the author of a children's book. Instantly visions of "Eat It" and "Like a Surgeon" pop into my head. I decided to pre-read the book while the kids were getting ready for bed just to make sure that it was a suitable bed time book to share. Afterall, I didn't want them to go to bed with ridiculous (and even scary) ideas in their head. Generally surprised, the book left me with a smile on my face and being a career services professional, I thought it was a great message to share with the kids.
I decided that I wanted to take the kids around downtown Cincinnati to view "Cincinnati Canstruction." I thought this would be a positive opportunity to show the kids that companies and organizations of the city of Cincinnati give back to the people. So much food is donated to the Freestore Foodbank, it is amazing! The sculptures are so creative! This event runs from February 28 through March 18, 2012 at the following locations: Cincinnati Arts Association’s Weston Art Gallery in the Aronoff Center for the Arts, with satellite locations at Macy’s Fountain Place, the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County downtown branch, and the Scripps Center on Walnut Street.
At first the kids are were like "What are going to see cans?" in a very suspecting voice. Once we visited a couple of the locations, they couldn't wait to see what would come next. We had a great day to visit the various locations. Each location had 2 - 4 canstruction displays. The only location that we did not make it to was the Scripps Building.
This is an activity that you can certainly make an afternoon of. We parked at Fountain Square and walked up Walnut and Vine Streets to each of the destinations. Additionally, we spent a good amount of time at the Cincinnati Public Library. Of course the kids loved the books and activities right at their fingertips.
Overall, the kids gave this activity a thumbs up. They loved the Canstruction sculptures and couldn't even pick a favorite because they loved them all.
