The articles found within Cultivate Your Relationship are designed to promote learning and help you connect with your child through fun, thought-provoking, and hands-on activities.

by Farmer's Wife

In the spirit of fall and the holiday season, involving the kids in preparing festive decorations is fun.  And as the weather becomes more inclement, children need more indoor activities to keep them occupied.  Here are some crafts our family has done to welcome fall. 

Stamping 

My children enjoy stamping and designing fall and holiday-themed napkins.  If you scrapbook, you may have a lot of these supplies already on hand.  If you do not, watch the flyers for your local crafts stores that often have a “50% off stamping supplies” sale about once a month.  Additionally, they offer coupons for discounts on other items you might be able to use. 

Supplies: 

Nice paper napkins (white is preferable but you may choose different colors)

Fall stamps: leaves, cornucopias, fruit, fall-related phrases

Permanent ink stamp pads in various fall colors (permanent ink is required so that your guests doesn’t end up with ink on their faces) 

Have children choose a stamp and ink color, then let them stamp one side of each napkin.  They may also choose to use more than one stamp and color on each napkin, too. Just be sure to have the children clean the stamps after each use and before using with another color.   

Set napkins aside to dry.  Once dry, you can display the napkins at place settings and/or in a napkin holder.  You can also use this idea to monogram your own napkins for dining events. 

Place card holders 

Place card holders are another fun craft for children.  This one is for a turkey place card holder that you can also use as a napkin ring. 

Supplies: 

Toilet paper or paper towel cardboard insert

Green cardstock or construction paper

White or colored cardstock

Glue

Paint or crayons

Scissors

Google eyes (optional)

Colored feathers (optional) 

Cut the cardboard insert into 1½-inch rings. Have the children cut a 6-inch circle from green cardstock.  This will be the grass the turkey place card holder will sit on. 

Have the children trace their hand on either white or colored cardstock, depending on whether or not they want to color their handprint (which will be the feathers of the turkey).  Have them cut out their handprint. Small children may need assistance. 

Cut out the turkey body in the shape of a yellow squash - smaller on top and larger on the bottom.  Have kids draw in eyes and a triangle beak, or glue on google eyes and yellow paper triangles.  

Be creative!  Kids can even glue colored feathers to their handprint. 

Write the name of your guests across the bottom of the turkey body. Glue the colored side of the handprint to the backside of the cut cardboard ring.  Glue a turkey body to the front of the cardboard ring. Be sure the bottom of the handprint, turkey body and cardboard ring all line up flat so you can easily glue them to the green “grass.” 

Glue the bottom of the cardboard ring in the center of the green circle; this gives the appearance that they turkey is sitting in the grass. 

These turkeys can also be used as napkin rings.  Simply eliminate the steps involving the green circle of cardstock.  Roll up napkin and slide into ring.  

I hope these ideas prove fun and even inspire some new fall craft ideas.  The important thing is spending time together and having fun!

Farmer's Wife is a Glass Half Full Gal.

image courtesy Farmer's Wife

by Christine Kirk

If you are the parent of a 5th or 6th grader, it is likely that your child will have the opportunity to take part in a school-based outdoor education program.  If you were lucky enough to participate in an effective outdoor education program as a child, you probably remember it fondly, as there are not many people who do not enjoy these programs.  However, if you are uncertain about the true value of such a program, you should know that all effective outdoor education programs adhere to a few common objectives.   These programs approach academic curriculum in a way that makes the subject matter real for students.  They teach critical skills for achievement in school and in life.  Outdoor education programs also aim to foster an appreciation for nature in kids.   

Keeping it real 

The challenge posed by education in the classroom is that it is sometimes difficult for teachers to make a connection between the subject matter they teach and real experiences. 

For example, flat photographs in a text book and a lecture about how “topography is shaped by the weathering of rock and soil and by the transportation and deposition of sediment” can leave students bewildered.  They may be able to memorize and write the definitions of glossary terms and regurgitate concepts discussed during the lectures for tests, but a true understanding of what happens to the earth when there is a torrential rainstorm or when winds blow through foothills is never achieved.   

The outdoor education approach to sixth grade earth science concepts is different.  By walking through one of the small canyons at the bases of foothills with an experienced outdoor educator, the concepts of topography, weathering, deposition and sediment pop into clear focus.  At the top of the canyon, the rocks feel smooth and clean.  When they close their eyes and imagine a howling wind or a drenching rain, it is easy for them to realize that the smoothness they feel is caused by those factors.  By hiking down into the canyon, students can see and feel smooth places where water and wind have worn the earth.   

In short, they experience how the topography of the canyon is formed by this weathering and deposition.  The experience is not flat.  The information integrates into their entire person, so they can understand and share, rather than memorize and regurgitate. 

Thinking critically  

Too often, elementary school-aged science is not based in the true scientific method.  Instead, students are presented with a pre-written set of instructions that they are to follow.  If students follow all of the instructions and fill in the blanks, then they can produce a report that will get passing grades.   

When students get a chance to ask their own questions and are then encouraged to form hypotheses, make predictions, collect and analyze data and draw conclusions based on their own analyses, the scientific method becomes real.   During a hike in a natural area, students may notice birds flocking around a shrub, while a shrub on the other side of the trail completely lacks bird activity.  An experienced outdoor educator will help students form a hypothesis or a list of hypotheses about why this is happening.  Through investigating the shrubs students can find data that either supports or rejects their hypotheses.  The outdoor environment is a natural place for questions to form in kids’ minds.   

Learning the process for answering their own questions gives students critical skills for thinking that they can use throughout their lives.  Process-based activities meet the needs of a range of learning styles.  Students who have experienced difficulty in traditional school settings due to high energy levels, short attention spans and some learning disabilities frequently get a chance to shine during outdoor education programs.  One reason that schools have incorporated outdoor education programs into their curriculum is to get the results that occur for these students.   

A 2003 research study entitled Advancing Education through Environmental Literacy by the Alexandria, Va., based Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, and others like it, show that students often do better in school after their class has been through a multi-day outdoor education program. 

Developing an environmental ethic 

Students who have been exposed to the outdoor environment in an intensive, submersion-style educational program gain levels of knowledge and comfort with natural systems so that they have the capacity to perceive, interpret, and take appropriate action to improve the health of these systems.    

A lack of knowledge about natural systems leads to environmental problems.  People who do not understand that the most fertile soil is found in the top layer of the soil horizon will not do anything to preserve it.  People who do not understand that a large percentage of the fresh water that we use comes from aquifers in the ground will not do anything to prevent groundwater contamination.  People who do not understand that wetlands help to buffer inland areas from flooding and storm surges will not do anything to protect wetlands.  

A person who has seen and learned about the soil, water cycles, and local flora and fauna will know the values of all these things.  These deep, personal experiences stay with learners because they involve all of the senses.  Later in life, the appreciation that they gain for natural systems filters into other areas of life as well, creating well-rounded, healthy, caring individuals. 

So, when your child comes to you and says, “I need money to go to camp.” You might say, “What?  Why?  Is it worth it?”  Yes, it is. 

Indeed, the trip will be worth every penny, because it will afford your child the opportunity to get real in every sense of the word.  He will get a real experience of the outdoor environment; he’ll get a real education in the scientific method as applied to his surroundings even as he creates lasting memories of all his experiences, experiences that will help foster great achievement in school and in life. 

Christine Kirk, director of the Outdoor Education Center, has a passion for nature and helping people understand the value of preserving Southern California’s natural resources and cultural heritage. This passion, combined with proven leadership skills, is a key to her success as the director of the Outdoor Education Center. As director, Kirk’s responsibilities include managing the Outdoor Education Center’s staff and developing educational and recreational programs that will provide local youths an outdoor adventure close to home. She has worked closely with an advisory committee that included both educators and representatives of youth membership organizations to create programming for each of the Outdoor Education Center’s three themed camps – Astronomy Camp, Ranch Camp and Mining Camp.  www.outdooreducationcenter.org.  

image courtesy Donna St. Jean Conti

by Shannon McGinnis

Designate space. Create homes for all of your children’s clothes and toys, both in their rooms and throughout the house and garage.  Make areas for toy containers and spaces for larger items to be stored so that everything has a “home.” 

Choose child-friendly containers.  Allow your child to choose containers, baskets or toys that are easy for them to pick up and put away.  Hooks, shelves, and over-the-door pockets create spaces for things to be put away easily. 

Label each container. Together, draw pictures and write words to label each area.  For example, DOLLS go in this basket, BLOCKS here, CRAYONS in this bin, and LEGOS in this container.  Also, label dresser drawers for socks, t-shirts, and pants. 

Make clean up time fun. Play music or sing a song as you clean up.  

Schedule daily clean up. Expect your child to completely clean up every day, at whatever time is most convenient for your family. 

Be a great role model.  Parents can pick up their things while the kids are organizing their rooms so that the entire house is clean and tidied within minutes. 

Foster teamwork by being supportive.  When the entire family cleans up at the same time, it creates a sense of harmony within the household.  Also, it alleviates resentment and argument about who should be doing what.  Each child can take responsibility for his or her things throughout the house. 

Create a memory box for each child. File away the kids’ artwork during the school year, knowing that at the end of the school year they may need to make decisions about what to keep and what to let go. This also keeps the volume confined to what will fit in the box. 

Schedule major cleanups for every few months. It’s especially important to do this before or after birthdays and holidays when a large number of toys might find their way into the toy box.  Use the opportunity to teach kids that so of the older toys must go to make room for what’s new. 

Celebrate that your child is learning excellent life skills!  By teaching your children to be more organized and how to clean up quickly and easily, they will learn life-long skills that will help them be more successful in all that they do.   

Shannon McGinnis is Santa Cruz's only Certified Professional Organizer and the founder of Organized 4 Success, Inc.™  Shannon publishes the monthly "Strategies 4 Success Ezine" which offers free tips, articles, and advice on how to be more organized. If you enjoyed this article, you can receive your FREE Strategies 4 Success newsletter from Shannon now at: www.Organized4Success.com