“Yes, he’s an African American just like President Obama.”

“Ya, and did you know that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to ride a bus that light tan people were riding on? And the dark brown people were not allowed to ride it and they kicked him off!!??”

“Really??”

“So Martin Luther King Jr. solved the problem and  just made everyone dark brown so then they could all ride the bus!  Isn’t that cool??”

“Yes, very!”

The conversation BC had with me the other day was so sweet and innocent.  But I think the thing I enjoy  the most is that having this conversation made me appreciate even more that we live in a community where my kids are surrounded by people of all different colors, beliefs, and orientations.  And my kids will grow up to know that no matter who a person is and whether or not you have the same beliefs or skin color, people are people and we can all get along.

For that I am so grateful!

MLK Jr. from a 4 year old’s perspective

Inauguration Day

There’s still time to enter the Leapster Didj/Hannah Montanna software giveaway!

John Stewart & Mike Huckabee Discussion

Well, as all this was going on I was also in contact with a gal from Leapfrog who offered for me to host a Didj giveaway on my own site!  How cool is that?

This week I’ll be giving away a Didj Gaming System ($89.99)  plus Hannah Montana software ($29.99).

To enter to win, please:

1.  Leave a comment in my comment section.  The comment button is located above my post just under the title.

2. When prompted, leave a valid email address.

3. To be entered twice, please link to my post in your own personal blog and leave an additional comment with the link.

Comments will close Sunday, December 14, 2008.  I will announce the winner Monday, December 15th.

Everyone is eligible.  Now go enter!!

———————————————–

Didj™ Custom Gaming System
Currently available | Ages 6 to 10 | MSRP: $89.99
The Didj handheld is the fi rst grade-school system that lets kids create the
game and parents customize the learning. Using the included PC– and Maccompatible
LeapFrog® Connect Application, players fi rst select and personalize
an avatar. Then they design the game, choosing background scenery, color
schemes or music. Most important, parents and kids can then customize content,
connecting gameplay with schoolwork. Multiplication hard to master? Kids can
choose to be quizzed on the 6s, 7s and 8s tables. Spelling a stumbling block? Kids can create
a custom spelling list from the 10,000-word database and practice for next week’s test.
Continuing the standard set with the Leapster® Learning Game System, the Didj handheld
auto-levels, adjusting games to children’s particular skills and progress, so players are
appropriately challenged. All this is delivered in a sleek unit off ering the high-quality graphics
and classic gameplay that kids demand.
The LeapFrog Connect Application allows kids to move specifi c curriculum content for each
game on and off their Didj handheld—just like managing digital camera or MP3 fi les. Every time
players connect the Didj system to the computer, the points they’ve earned for correct answers
upload to become Bitz usable for enhanced customizations. Best of all, each time parents connect
the Didj system to their Mac or PC, they can view their children’s progress along LeapFrog’s
proprietary Learning Path, available at leapfrog.com/learningpath,

Do you want to win a Leapster Didj?

Enjoy!

Car wreck, man in a white tank top, and 4 old ladies.

Turns out, I was pleasantly surprised that absolutely no sales pitch given to us.  None.  We were asked, but not required, to leave a comment on Leapfrog’s community forum.  We were not even asked to blog about our experience.

OK, now I’m listening…

In lieu of a sales pitch, Leapfrog enlisted the help of Dr. Cunningham, a Leapfrog advisory board member and director of the Joint Doctoral Program in Special Education at UC Berkeley.  Dr. Cunningham engaged us in an hour long discussion regarding the importance of frequently speaking and reading to your children ages zero to five.

Recently I had the opportunity to listen to a podcast from NPR’s This American Life in which they did a segment narrated by “Whatever It Takes” author Paul Tough entitled Baby College.  He findings show that the typical middle class family speaks to their infants and toddlers dramatically more often and more positively than the typical lower income family does.  Fascinating!  His work focuses on breaking the cycle of generational poverty by focusing on the children.  If you have 30 minutes to listen about his ongoing work in New York, it’s truly worth your time.

Dr. Cunningham suggests that we should expose our children to rich language through our words, books, and technology, and in turn our children will have a better chance of reading fluently and comprehending difficult vocabulary at an early age.

What a powerful connection, and a fabulous discussion.

I left the event with a gift bag full of the latest Leapfrog products.  My children will be getting some pretty sweet Christmas gifts this year, thanks to our new favorite toy company, Leapfrog.

OH, did I say toy company?  I should clarify.  Leapfrog first identifies the skill that needs to be taught, then creates a system in which to teach that skill.  Kinda like a really smart teacher, huh?  So I should say that thanks to our new favorite teacher, Leapfrog, my children will have hours of fun learning through play!

*****Leapfrog also provided us with a coupon to save $10 off any order of $50 or more when you shop at leapfrog.com which is good through November 15th, 2008.  So shop away!  I know I will be.

Coupon Code: HY8BHPR

Thanks Leapfrog!!  I’m a new convert.  I’ll promote you.  I’ll consult for you.  I’ll work with you.  Heck, I’d even help birth some of your cute little froggy guppies if I could!  I appreciate how nicely you treated us mom bloggers!!

Leapfrog, an educator’s perspective.

After we voted, the kids and I rode our bikes down to our local Starbucks to get our free cup of coffee.  Could the morning have been any better??

So now it’s your turn.  Did you vote?  Are you voting absentee?  Do tell!

I voted. Did you?

I was feeling so proud of myself.  Ahead of schedule and all! I actually wouldn’t be walking my absentee ballot into the polling place on the day of the election as I did last year. I sealed up my ballot, signed the back and set it aside to put in the next day’s mail.

Ya.

Then this happened.

You see, the day I voted was the same day my son got a letter in the mail.  He opened his letter with excitement.  A few minutes later, eClaire ‘found’ a letter for her.  It wasn’t until I heard BC admonishing his sister that I realized what happened.

After a loud scream (by me) and lots of tears (by her) and a fiercely loyal protector (him protecting her against me???) I determined that it was in fact not the end of the world. I simply have an unmailable, partially opened ballot sitting in my house.  And I am again waiting until election day to vote.

Sigh.

I always knew my daughter would give me a run for my money.  But this soon??

Partially ripped ballot or not, I WILL be voting in this year’s elections.  I guess I’ll just have to wait until November 4th, once again.

I voted!! Errr… At least I tried.

Anyway, my dad had written a very eloquent note regarding Proposition 8 and why he will be voting NO on this proposition.  With is OK, I’ve decided to duplicate his note here on my blog.  I couldn’t agree more with his words.

I urge you to think deeply about this issue as you head to the polls in the next few weeks.

—-

I realize different people have different positions on Prop 8, but consider these thoughts. Far-right conservatives often deride what they consider a trend toward government fostering a nanny state — where government pokes its nose into those areas of our lives that should rightfully belong to us alone. None of us likes anyone or any organization looking over our shoulders and telling us what we must or can’t do, particularly when those things don’t directly impact others.

Yet when it comes to denying the right of same sex couples to marry, those same conservatives don’t have any problem enforcing their own moral convictions on the personal behavior of others. In my opinion, this is a clear contradiction. What many forget is that today, conservatives may successfully force others to behave according to the moral or religious convictions of conservatives. But tomorrow, others may return the favor, and then you will hear howls of righteous protest.

Of course I acknowledge the right of society to draw certain lines, but doesn’t it make more sense, when considering behaviors that are strictly personal, to allow each individual to make those choices that seem right to him or her? Isn’t it wiser for us to live our lives as well as we know how, and to change the personal choices and behaviors of others through gentle persuasion, rather than by using the hammer of the law?

The issue is bigger than same sex marriage. It’s about personal freedom. I’m urging a No vote on Prop 8.

California Proposition 8

Hubby, who was previously Boyfriend, called my apartment early in the morning.

Hubby: SM, wake up.

SM: What’s going on?

Hubby: We’ve been attacked.  I have to go into work early today.  Our city is on high alert.

SM: What do you mean??!!

Hubby: Go turn on your TV.

And on it went.

I woke up my roommate and we sat in front of our television, jaw firmly planted on the ground. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. After sitting, paralyzed, for far too long, both my roommate and I headed to work. Our students would be waiting.

To read more from this post, click on over to Silicon Valley Moms Blog.

September 11th