ACTIVITY: Bean plant

Read the story of Jack and the Beanstalk to your children. Then, try growing this bean plant:

You will need:

1 small jar (baby food)

cotton
water

beans

Place the beans (2 or 3) at the bottom of the jar, being careful they fall to the sides. Add cotton and wet. Observe with your children as the plant starts to grow. (First roots, then stem and leaves). Make sure your plant gets enough sunlight and water. (The cotton should always be damp.)

DAILY RECIPE: Tuna Bread

2 loaves white bread

4 cans of tuna

1 tomato

1/2 onion

salt and pepper

1 bag spinach (cooked and seasoned)

milk

Dice onion and tomato and sautee in a little oil. Add tuna and season with salt and pepper. Cut ends off bread. Taking one piece at a time, lightly wet in milk and place in a rectangular pan. Once you coat the entire bottom add a layer of tuna. Then bread again. Add a layer of spinach. Bread again. Continue adding layers, ending with bread. Place a heavy pan over the last layer and refrigerate. Turn over and coat with mayo.

TIP OF THE DAY

When attending a school meeting always take a notebook and pen with you to jot down quick notes or to write short reminders of everything you want to discuss with the teacher.

ART: Rain Stick - musical instrument

You will need:
1 thick, long wrapping paper roll
hair pins
beans and rice
posterboard
tissue paper
glue

Cut slits all along the roll. Cover one end with posterboard and secure. Pour in several beans and a handful of rice. Insert hair pins in each of the slits, pushing in all the way through. Cover the other end and glue. Cover the roll with tissue paper, let dry. Once dry, you can hear rain as you turn the stick upside down and downside up.

ACTIVITY: Family Book Club

Reading is an important part of growing up. We should encourage our children to read using different tips and ideas (reading to young children every night, for example). When your family gets into the habit of doing this you can start a family book club. One night a week get together after dinner or after Sunday breakfast, for example, to talk about a book or a chapter of the book you´re reading. Get children excited by having them name characters and what the book is about, if they liked it or not and why. Great topic for conversations, extra family time, reading encouragement, public speaking skills and basics for book reports and reviews: all developed with this activity that won´t take you more than 15 minutes of your time!

DAILY RECIPE: Ranch Pasta Salad

1 bag short pasta, cooked and drained
1 cup turkey breast strips
1 cup cooked zucchini (diced)
1 cup bell pepper strips
1/2 cup onion (diced)
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 bottle ranch dressing

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl. Refrigerate and serve.

TIP OF THE DAY

Natural anti-mosquito spray: Place several bay leaves in water and bring to a boil. Boil for several minutes. Remove leaves, cool and place in a spray bottle.

ARTICLE: Toddlers´First Time Offense!

Toddlers have great imaginations and wonderful ideas and we never know what they´ll think of next. However, when one of their innovative ideas means danger or a mess that we do not want, we must stop them immediately. For this behavior one may think a consecuence or punishment is in order, but no. If our child did not know that his or her behavior was inadecuate, we have to stop them, be firm, explain, but the consecuence or punishment has to come only if they repeat this act. This is so they are clear on what the rules are. If we punish them for things they did not know were wrong, our act/consecuence system will fail to function. So, next time you walk in to a crayon decorated wall, take a deep breath, stop your child from being Picasso for the afternoon, explain that we don´t do that and pass them a coloring book. If he repeats the action (hopefully no, for your sake) then apply the consecuence. Good Luck!

DAILY RECIPE: Flan (Custard dessert)

5 eggs
1 can condensed milk
1 can evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients in blender. Pour into a white corning ware microwable pan. Microwave for 8-10 minutes on Hi until set. Let cool and serve.

TIP OF THE DAY

1-2-3 art smock? Cut 3 slits on an old pillowcase (1 on top for the head, and two on the top cormers for the arms). Voilá!