Bath Paint for a 3-year Old

 Yes, I'm going for the Mom-of-the-Year award and think that the bath paint will get me there.

While searching the Internet for kid-friendly projects, I ran into a bath paint tutorial. Since Camila, as most kids, loves bath time, I decided to give it a try. 

Camila loves it! She spends a great amount of time coloring the bath walls, rinsing it, and coloring it again. To make it more interactive and help increase motor skills, I draw on the walls circles, stars, and letters with bath crayons. I then ask her to fill in the drawings with the paint. Love it!

Ingredient (I cut the tutorial recipe in half since I have kid-friendly containers that hold 1/2 paint)

• 1/2 cup of tear-free clear liquid soap
• 2 Tbs of corn starch
• Food coloring 

Directions

• Whisk together all the ingredients and pour it into a plastic, kid-friendly container. Done!

Baby Boy

New baby boy

The nine month wait is finally over. My baby boy was born on Easter, April 8th, after 17 hours of labor!

Baby and mom:

Aquarela Kids Above:

Throughout the preg, I opted not to know the sex of the baby. Since knowing but not allowed to talk about it was too much pressure, hubby also decided not to know the sex of the baby.

We would have been more than happy with either sex, but the idea of having a little boy and girl, a couple, was top on our list. Needless to say, we were and are thrilled to have a little boy. He is going to learn how to dance with mom and will become a soccer-fan-cake-baking little boy with dad!

Baby and Dad:

While at the hospital, we were given the option to circumcise him. To be honest, I know little of the benefits or disadvantages associated with the procedure, but hubby felt no need to go through with it. After a little research, I discovered that C is on the decline in the U.S. Excluding cultural or religious reasons, parents and doctors see little benefits to it.

After asking around, a friend sent me this video on circumcisions. It's a little long and graphic but informative.

Bringing up Bebe

Vive la France!!

As a new parent for the second time, I often think about the successes and failures of the first run-through. I often ask, "Am I doing a good job? Should I do this differently?" The list of questions can be extensive.

Needless to say, I often look for information and strategies that will help me be a better parent (oddly enough, some of the information and strategies help me improve as a teacher. Something about classroom management and patience). Lately, I began reading Bringing up Bebe and can't put the book down. Pamela Druckerman, author of Lost in Translation, compares the parenting styles of French and American parents and notes differences in the behavior of French and American children. According to Druckerman, French parents are doing a great job, which leaves me to think that not only are the French great soccer players, make great fries, and sound sexy every time they speak, they are also great parents. Who knew?!?

I haven't finished the book, but have noticed reoccurring ideas: 1) talk to your kid as if he/she is a rational person who can understand and deal with concepts, b) be very firm with a few rules but give kids lots of freedom to explore, grow, and be kids, and c) don't let parenting get in the way of you being an adult. Parents also need their space, individuality, and entertainment.

From little princess to little diva!

"Whatcha looking at?"

Toddler and Mommy Book Selection

April Book Selection

Finding engaging, culturally diverse, and entertaining books for Camila is always a top priority. Though I have mentioned it before, I strongly believe that a love for books and literature will prep Camila for a successful academic and professional future. Thus, Camila and I regularly search the aisles of local book stores or the public library for something catchy and interesting. This month, I want to share two great books.

Priscilla and the Pink Planet by Nathaniel Hobbie:

As with many little girls, pink is the color of choice. Camila is no exception. Priscilla focuses on a little girl who lives in a pink world but eventually decides to search for other colors.

Camila loves the book because Priscilla and the butterfly happily walk away after achieving their goal. I love the book because of the book's allusion to Alice in Wonderland.

Noddy and the Sunny Day by Enid Blyton:

On Camila's first birthday, a friend gave her the book. Since it is a pop-up book, Camila, at the time, destroyed many of the ages, but it still remained one of her top choices.

Camila loves the story line...a little boy who unsuccessfully tries to entertain himself only to realize that the best activities are those shared with friends. I, on the other hand, love the book for its diversity. Noddy, at the end of the story, leaves his toys behind and decides to join his friends for a game of soccer. Yes, soccer! On Sundays, Camila and hubby watches Globo Esporte, a Brazilian version of ESPN Sports News. Consequently, Camila is very familiar with soccer but has no clue of football or baseball. When we reach the last page, she often yells football (Portuguese accent) or Vasco, hubby's favorite soccer team.

Benefits of Being Bilingual

Bilingual

Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I'm surrounded by bilinguals, trilingual, and polyglots. It's great! When I get yelled at in traffic, it's often in some foreign language that make "Fuck you!" sound eloquent and pretty. You may find it strange, but it's true. Next time you yell at someone in traffic say, " Merde" (maird) and note all the great smiles you get in return ;)

Needless to say, speaking additional languages brings great benefits. Check out a New York Times article on the benefits of being bilingual.

For Portuguese/Brazilian parents, I recently discovered the Instituto Brasilia de Educacao e Cultura (IBEC). It's a cultural center that teaches kids Brazilian Portuguese. For more info go to www. ibec-ca.org.For those interested in combining their love for Brazilian music, martial arts, and Portuguese, ABADA Capoeira in San Francisco is the place for you or your kids. For first and second generation Brazilians, you may want to ask about Ponto de Cultura. Click on the links above for more information.

Personalized Story Book

Personalized Story Book

I strongly believe that by exposing Camila to a variety of texts she will grow to be an avid reader, good student, and successful individual. Well, to maintain my goal and add a little extra oomph to the reading materials we read, I composed a story book for my little girl. I combined my love for reading with a project--can't get better than that!Using Kodak Projects, I composed a fairy tale that blends text and photos. In the story, relatives and friends are transformed into magical characters who help Princess Camila along her journey. The end result is fabulous and we are having fun reading it.The photo book cost less than $30 and we love reading it :)

Imaginative Play and the Behavior of Kids

Call me old fashion but should babies have an iPad case? Hell! Should they have an iPad?

Fisher Price recently released an iPad case for toddlers. The case, which costs less than $40, protects the iPad against biting and drooling. They actually market it that way...crazy!

I'm pro entertainment and using educational resources to motivate, guide, distract, and teach kids, but what has happened to letting kids use their imagination to build, discover, create, learn, and self-monitor? What is wrong with imaginative play? What is wrong with letting kids be bored? What is wrong with Fisher Price?

I'm sorry, but the Fisher Price case has really gotten me fired up!

A few years ago, I heard a great report on NPR about imaginative play, which I'm sharing with you. It provides a hypothesis to why some believe kids are less mature today them they were in prior years. I found the report very informative and it helped shed light on the disruptive and immature behavior of some of my students. As a parent, the report reminded me that kids need time, space, and opportunities to be creative and free-thinkers.

Please read the article. You may be surprised to learn that it began with toys.

Here is another great article:

Imaginative play for Toddlers

Once a Week

Blogging Once a Week

I sure am tired. I don't know if it's a result of the pregnancy, or the demanding college courses, or the stack of essays that I must grade, or a culmination of all three. All I know is that I sure am tired.

My week plays out in the following way: Mondays and Tuesdays are fine. I am productive at work, school, and home. By Wednesday, I feel like a dementor is slowly sucking the energy out of me and only Harry Potter can save me. Thursdays are difficult; it's the white-flag-I-surrender day. Come Friday, energy slowly creeps back into my body. On Saturdays and Sundays, I recharge my batteries and am whole again--right now, I love the weekend and nap time :)

I 'm not in my pajamas. I really look this good when I'm studying.

With my not so active disposition, something has to give. Consequently, I have reduced my blogging time :( to once a week, and I hate it. I truly enjoy sitting with my laptop thinking of nothing better to do but write a blog entry about things I have no business writing about. I like adding photos, sharing my thoughts, looking at my followers, and reading my fav blogs. I really do! Oh well, I need to accept that I can't blog as often as I did, and that a once a week entry is better than nothing.

The show must go on!

Comments Students Make

When I tell others that I'm a high school teacher, the reactions are usually a mixture of sympathy and horror: "OMG, how do you do it? I don't have the patience." I then go on to explain that I enjoy my job, that one needs to learn to laugh at all the crazy things, and that kids are funny.

In fact, here are some of the best lines I have heard over the years. I'm also including test answers from F in Exams by Richard Benson.

• "Ms. J, did Shakespeare write this play on paper or stone tablets?"

• Once when teaching inferences, I began with a riddle: It's something a person makes and sells to others. The person who buys it never uses it and gives it away. The person who uses it, does not know he/she is using it. What is it? A student replied by saying, "Is it an STD?!" Gotta love it. By the way the correct answer is a coffin.

• A kid who had not done his reading asked, "How do I use a quote from the movie?"
  

• I asked kids the social expectations placed on women during the 50s. A student replied by saying, "They made sandwiches."

Though the following do not come from my students, I think these quotes are fab:

• Describe the chemical difference between H2O and CO2? ------H2O is hot water and CO2 is cold water.

• What happens during puberty to a boy?------he says goodbye to his childhood and enters adultery.

• Is the moon or the sun more important?----The moon gives us light at night when we need it. The sun only provides light in the day when we don't need it. Therefore, the moon is more important.

• Explain the phrase "free press."-------When your mom irons pants for you.

• What happens during a census?----During the census a man goes from door to door and increases the population.

• Express the term "stereotype?"------It is the kind of CD player you own.

• Explain the word "migration?"----A migration is a bad headache.

• Discuss the style of Romeo and Juliet.----It is in Islamic pentameter. The play is full of heroic couplets, one example being Romeo and Juliet.

Literacy and Kids

I'm fortunate to have a daughter who loves to read. Ever night, she selects 3 of her favorite books, we lay in my bed, and we read together. During this time, I assess her reading skills by asking simple comprehension questions. I'll point to a horse and call it a cow. She immediately corrects me--this is a fun game!

e-books:

At the library:

Though she loves to read, I like to keep the excitement and importance of reading constant. We visit the library once a month so to check out new books. I make it a point of letting her check out and return the books--she loves doing this. I also make it a point to give her a book as a gift on her birthday and Christmas. I want her to think of reading as a fun activity and not a task she needs to complete.

I do this because I am well aware of the benefits of reading. Regularly, I tell my students that a good reader is a good writer, speaker, and thinker. As a teacher, it's clear which of my students read for pleasure. They often have a more elaborate vocabulary and writing and critical thinking skills than students who seldom read. Studies also show that students who enjoy reading do better academically. Go figure!

Here are some of Camila's favorite books and a great article on literacy and kids. I'm also including an article on parent involvement and academic success and on Finland's school success--it has strategies the U.S. educational system should consider. Enjoy.

• Goodnight Moon. Since birth, I have read this book to Camila. She loves it and knows all the words. I read that the consistency and repetitiveness of reading the same book helps kids build their confidence. By knowing the book well, the kid feels confident letting mom know what will happen next.

• Search and Find books. This type of book allows kids to look at an item on a picture bank and then identify it in the story. Since there are few words, I end up making elaborate stories before asking Camila to find the pictures.

• Daddy's Girl by Garrison Keillor. Both Camila and I love this book. The little protagonist has curly hair like Camila. On one page, the little girl is without a diaper so Camila and I make it a big deal that her tushy is showing.

FYI: In the past, I read an article encouraging parents to tell stories to their kids. According to the article, which I can't find online, kids who enjoy listening to stories told by their parents get some of the same benefits as those who read with their parents. Since young kids are still too young to actually read and decipher words, they pay attention to the narration of the story and from there build their cognitive skills. In other words, you don't always need to read a book. Use your imagination and create a story in which your kid is the protagonist ready to save the world!

Brazilian Desserts

Each week, I receive e-mails letting me know how my baby is developing inside of me. The posts are cute and often compare the size of the baby with a fruit or vegetable. Since this week the post compared my baby's size to corn and I feel like a little pamonhinha with a belt around my waist, I started to think of great Brazilian dishes.

Pamonhia:


Below are a few top recipes of Brazilian goods:


Pao de queijo or Brazilian Cheese Puffs/Bread:
Pao de Queijo is well known in the central region of Brazil. It's simple, easy, and tasty. Best of all, you can make the dough, roll the balls, and freeze until it's time to bake.

My family loves it and I often make it for breakfast on a lazy weekend morning!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/3 cup milk
  
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups tapioca flour
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 beaten eggs

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Pour oil, water, milk, and salt into a large saucepan, and place over high heat. When the mixture comes to a boil, remove from heat immediately, and stir in tapioca flour and garlic until smooth. Set aside to rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Stir the cheese and eggs into the tapioca mixture until well combined. The mixture will be chunky like cottage cheese. Roll rounded, gold-size balls of the mixture. onto a baking sheet. The best way to make the balls is to moisten your hand with oil, scoop a spoon full of the mixture into your hand, and roll the mixture into the size of a golf ball.
   
4. Bake in preheated oven until the tops are lightly browned, 20-30 minutes.

Brigadeiros or Chocolate Truffles
I love brigadeiro but noticed that non-Brazilians either love it or hate it. On special occasions, I make the truffles, roll it with cocoa powder, and serve it with strawberries...yum!

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan over medium to low heat, combine cocoa, butter and condensed milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Or scrap the spoon across the bottom of the pan. If the mixture takes a few seconds to once again cover the pan, it is ready (Sorry for my very scientific and detailed assessment strategy, but know that it works). Remove from heat and let it rest until cool enough to handle. Form into small balls, sprinkle the balls with chocolate sprinkles (if desired), and eat at once or chill until serving.
   
2. Note: At my home, I never roll the ball or add the sprinkles. I just use a spoon and surprisingly enough am able to eat it all during an episode of House.

Olho de Sogra or Coconut Candy

If you have not noticed, the method to make Olho de Sogra, which translates into mother-in-law's eye, is the same as the brigadeiro; you only substitute the cocoa powder for coconut flakes and stuff the coconut mixture into prunes, which you can omit if you prefer. This is a huge hit every time I serve it and the prunes...well, you know.

Ingredients

• 1/4 to 1/2 cup of coconut flakes
  
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• Whole Prunes
  

Directions

1. In a medium saucepan over medium to low heat, combine coconut , butter and condensed milk. Cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 10 minutes. Or scrap the spoon across the bottom of the pan. If the mixture takes a few seconds to once again cover the pan, it is ready (Sorry for my very scientific and detailed assessment strategy, but know that it works). Remove from heat and let it rest until cool enough to handle. Once cool, scoop a small amount of the mixture and stuff it into a piece of prune.
   
2. Note: At my home, I just use a spoon and surprisingly enough am able to eat it all during an episode Desperate House Wives. Fortunately, House and Desperate House Wives are on different nights.
   

Pudim de Leite or Milk Flan
Pudim has to be one of the top Brazilian treats. It is always a hit, easy to make, and tasty.

Caramel:

• 1 1/2 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of water
  

Flan:

• 1 can of condensed milk
• 1 can of whole milk
• 4 eggs

Directions

1. To make the caramel, melt the sugar in a sauce pan at medium to low heat. Once the sugar has a golden color, add 1/2 cup of hot water and mix. Let mixture boil until the sugar has completely dissolved. Pour the mixture into a flan pan and set aside. For additional guidance, click on the link. Please know that the recipe and steps in the link varies a little. They add 5 eggs and omit the water.
   
2. In a blender, Cuisinart, or with a mixer, combine the condensed milk, milk, and eggs. Pour mixture over the caramel and cover it with foil. Place the flan inside a banho-maria, a baking pan filled 1/2 way with water. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to 1 hour. The flan is ready when it develops a custard-like consistency. Let it cool in the fridge for up to 2 hours. Once cool, remove the flan from its baking pan and serve.

I love the above recipes and am always pleased with the results. As I mentioned before, it is easy, fast, and tasty. Enjoy!