Fabulous Miss S.

PBS Kids and Super Why!

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a luncheon at PBS Headquarters in Arlington,Virginia to learn about PBS Kids and Super Why!  We got a behind-the-scenes look at how each episode is conceptualized and produced.  "Super Why" is targeted at pre-schoolers and designed to teach them or supplement their learning of how to read by emphasizing that letters make up words and words make sentences and sentences have meanings. 

It was a really interesting day and I'm psyched and encouraged to be a part of the group of moms that PBS wants to talk with about their programming to find out what we think of the shows and our kids reactions to the characters and story lines.  

PBS Kids makes a bunch of high quality shows for young children including "Clifford", "Sid the Science Kid" and "Word Girl".   

Tech Savvy Mama is way more word savvy than I am, apparently, she didn't sit at a conference table with a cracker-eating, crumb-producing twenty-five pound toddler on her lap, so I offer you her synopsis. Her children happily stayed in the childcare room.

"SuperWhy" is amazing because it includes all the literacy concepts a child needs to know to move towards reading fluency... With shows that are only 30 minutes, "SuperWhy" packs in concepts like letter recognition, letter naming, word families, letter sounds, rhyming, retelling, word recognition, and spelling into shows that are based on classic stories like The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, Jack and the Beanstalk, etc.

Gayle, from Everyday I Write the Book summarized a press release that PBS announced last week.

PBS announced last week that research from two separate studies has actually shown that children, especially from low income families, are learning early literacy skills from "Super Why", including letter and sound naming skills, symbolic and linguistic awareness, and reading comprehension.

I think it is wonderful that the producers of television for children have taken the necessary steps to reach out to those children most in need of enriching television shows.  These statistics are encouraging.

Above all, I'm flattered to have been asked my opinion, but more so, I think it speaks volumes about the network and the producers when they care and make the time to ask parents what their thoughts are on what their kids are watching on television.  

Growing up, we were discouraged from watching television.  I constantly heard that it "rotted my brain" and "ruined my eyes".  SHOCKING DECLARATION:  I didn't have cable television until I went to college.  We lived in a rural area, it wasn't available and my parents didn't want satellite.  I also grew up in the 80s, the MTV-Generation.  I remember a time before the Internet.  While majoring in American Studies in college I became very interested in media and cultural history.

And then I became a blogger and went to PBS. I digress....

As a parent I am not shying away or trying to shield my son from media influences and opinions, but rather viewing them with him and planning to use what we view on television and other media as a springboard for honest discussions and learning opportunities.  PBS embraces this concept and has reached out to parents to get their opinions and thoughts about kids reactions to what they deem educational television.

Road tripping

In a few weeks we are embarking on a little weekend road trip of about 450 miles.  Each way. 

Short of sedating us all and employing some teleportation devices we are going to need some serious distractions and car-friendly games to get us through the eight hour drive. Sedatives, too, maybe. 

True to form I am obsessing over every detail and potential occurrence as if I was an incident investigator. ....Read the rest over at DC Metro Moms.

Grace in Small Things, 25 of 365

1. Redesigning my blog and making it pretty, sort of. 
2. Being able to redesign my blog, even adding bits of CSS even though my technical knowledge is on par with that of a worm.
3. Noah taking a two and a half hour nap, allowing me a brief dabble into the world of web-design.
4. Enjoying a breezy and crispy Spring day with Noah.
5. Hearing the neighborhood kids come home from school and knowing that bedtime is only about four hours away.

Break, PBS, Mother's Day

I ended up taking a break from the computer last week as I imagined I would end up doing.

I went to bed remarkably early.  I exercised.  I ate well.  I even read and watched some television.  These are all the things I did without hesitation before I had a blog blogs to maintain.  I spent a lot of time with Noah and really enjoyed it.  We sat on the floor and played. Well, he played, I watched.  We took walks, we cuddled and read books. It's been nice. 

I had an uneventful but enjoyable just the same, Mother's Day.  I wanted to experience the joys of motherhood without the responsibility meaning, I wanted to sit around and be waited on, have food brought to me, shower when I felt like it, sleep even though they child was awake, you know, basically just enjoy a normal Sunday like my husband would.  I got about half of my wish so I'm satisfied for now.
It was a relaxing day and I enjoyed it. 

I also went to PBS Headquarters last week (along with the other DC Metro Moms) and was treated to a nice lunch and a presentation about SUPER WHY and the kind of learning moments that PBS Kids is trying to create.  It was fabulous. I was not.  Noah did very well in the childcare room for most of the event and then he did very well sitting on my lap for part of the time.  I felt largely out of place and unprofessional as much as I tried to put my old working self back into gear long enough to sit up straight at a boardroom table. 

If I try to write anything else now, Noah will empty yet another closet......

Hairy, but in a feminine kind of way

What is worse: Having a mustache or having evidence that you took measures to have one removed?

At one of my recent and far too infrequent visits in the eyebrow waxing chair at a local salon the technician asked if I wanted my upper lip waxed to which I replied, "Do you think I need it?"

Always one for tact and courtesy, the lady handed me a mirror so that I could examine for myself that, yes, indeed, in extremely harsh light, without make-up or a shower, I just might have a few darker than preferred hairs on my upper lip. 

First off, lets call a spade a spade, it's not an upper lip, it's a mustache. 

After the waxing I spent the next week trying to cover up the little pimply bumps that broke out all over the area south of my nose and north of lips. I wasn't happy and blamed the salon for using less than totally sanitary germ-free UV-radiated sterile equipment.  (Then I remember that I tend toward OCD at times.)

I decided that I liked the waxed the look but didn't want to pay twenty-five dollars for what to me seemed to be a botched and zitty job.  Falling prey to commercial marketing, as I am wont to do, I bought some Nads Strips to try at home.  A few weeks later upon noticing some regrowth, I locked myself in the bathroom one evening to try and regain my femininity. 

The first time I used these I was successful and had no telltale bumps. The second time I was rushed and not as careful, didn't wash my face first and had to re-do one spot and ended up with a few little bumps that lasted a few days. 

So, I ask you, what's worse, the actual mustache or evidence that beauty is not without pain?