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Articles
Read the published parenting articles written
by Angela Russ

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| Published Links:
CA Headstart |
CA Head Start "I am Moving. I am Learning" Published
4-2007
Note: Selections from abridgeclub.com music CDs are used in
the IMIL training. The popular CD music titles, "Smart & Tasty 1:
Good Food Moves," and "Smart Moves 2" continued to be the featured
titles in ongoing training throughout the regions.
California Head Start Association Summer Health Institute
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June
6, 7 & 8, 2007 Marriott Oakland City Center
In collaboration
with the Region IX Office of Head Start, STG International, Inc.
Region IX Technical Assistance Network and the California Head Start
Association, the National training team
from I am Moving, I am Learning (IMIL) was featured at the Summer Health
Institute.
IMIL was created
in response to regional and national trends toward childhood
obesity. The project was designed to fit within the Head Start
Performance Standards and the Head Start Child Outcomes Framework
through enhancements, chosen by the individual Head Start program,
to current teaching practices by providing more focused guidance on
quality movement, gross and fine motor development and child
nutrition. Additionally, IMIL goes beyond the classroom teaching
practices to enhance the approach family service workers take with
Head Start families in the area of movement and nutrition as well as
in the approach Head Start health staff takes in working with
children and their families. IMIL uses a train-the-trainer model
with directors and their management teams attending a 2˝ day
training event.
The Summer Health Institute was held
at the Marriott Oakland City Center, in California.
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Published in print:
Potpourri News
May 2006
(IL Assoc. for Child Development)
Glory Cloud
Publications
Published online:
ABOUT Fatherhood
Interactive Dads
Alphabet Soup
Learn a Little
Eating Diet
Spider Den
Pure
Directory
PR Web
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10 Fun Ways to Get Young Children
to Eat Healthier Published
2-2006
March is National
Nutrition Month
10 Fun Ways
to Get Young Children to Eat Healthier
Parents and caregivers have the sole responsibility to introduce
healthy food choices to young children. Children learn from the meals
you offer, the way you serve food, the way you shop, and the examples
you set. They develop habits
early that, once learned, can last a lifetime, so it’s never too early
to make a change. It’s important to take every opportunity to promote
a healthy active lifestyle. Try these ten creative ways to get young
children to eat healthier.
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Prepare Healthy Meals Together
Engaging children in the
preparation of kid-friendly healthy dishes is so fun and so very
messy, but children are more likely to eat something that they have
helped to prepare. So bring out those props, such as chef's hats and
aprons, and then those bowls, spoons and cups. While kids are
helping, it is a good time to introduce portions, simple fractions,
and units of measure. Even young children can be challenged to pour
from one cup into another, or stack paper cups to work on their fine
motor and cognitive skills.
When you are finished preparing
something to eat, show children how to set the table, so that you
can all dine together. Children who eat meals with their families
tend to have better diets, not just because they are consuming
planned meals, but because of the positive examples that are set at
the table. It’s also a great time to discuss the events of the day,
master the use of utensils, and practice table manners.
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Get Creative
Design silly food faces out of
fresh fruit and vegetable slices, and come up with amusing,
ridiculous names for the healthy foods you prepare. Celery and
raisins become “ants on a log,” peanut butter and pretzels can be
“mud on a stick,” and spaghetti with tomato sauce can turn into
“wiggly worms.”
The golden words that keep children
eating healthy foods are “distraction” and “imagination.” The apple
wedge is a boat, and our mouth is the river. Toss goldfish in a bowl
of soup and see if they can swim. Raisins are thirsty grapes. Peas
are a food made out of green (from the children's book entitled, "I
Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato"). Tie life's everyday fun
activities to a dining experience. Then become a consummate actor or
a verbal Picasso to get children to taste something new.
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Pack Snacks Together
Children can also benefit from
packing snacks for the day, or packing for a picnic. When planning
a long-term getaway, encourage them to help with bagging individual
portions of fruits, chilled veggies, cheese sticks, Cheerios,
crackers, raisins, dried fruits, trail mix, water, 100% juice boxes,
and other good choices. These are the images the kids will carry
with them throughout their day. When they crave a snack, they will
choose wisely.
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Take Children Shopping
Young kids love to play grown-up.
On a real excursion to the grocery store, try to avoid flying
through each aisle like a secret agent on a mission. Slow down and
turn shopping into a learning experience. Allow the children to pick
a new fruit or vegetable to try at home. Let them weigh their fresh
choice, bag it, and put it on the shopping cart. They can select a
boxed choice, as well. In the end they get to put it on the conveyor
belt, and even pay for it. Once home, let them help prepare and
present it to the family for everyone to enjoy.
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Plan a Family Taste Test
Typically, caregivers cook what they know how to cook, and what
they enjoy eating, which leaves little opportunity for new taste
experiences at home. Slice a variety of apples such as, Fuji,
Granny Smith, Red Delicious, and McIntosh. Set out different
kinds of breads such as Sourdough, Rye, Potato, Whole Wheat,
Pita, and Tortilla. Taste various dressings for the salad. Many
people like certain vegetables cooked, but not raw, or certain
fruits baked or dried, but not fresh, or vice versa. Present a
fruit or vegetable in a variety of ways. After each taste test,
compare the various textures and characteristics while
discussing your favorites. The most affordable time to taste
test is during a buffet dinner.When children
think they'll get to try a new and exiting skill, they tend to
forget all about the food that is involved. Introducing culture
and traditions is a unique way to develop new dining skills such
as using chop sticks, sopping up sauce with flat bread, or
sipping directly from a soup bowl.
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Show Kids How to Grow Food
Many local growers are happy to share
the farming experience with young children if you call ahead of time.
Take a trip to your local farmer’s market where you will often find
fun activities for kids. Children are more likely to eat fruit or
vegetables that they have grown and picked themselves. Use a planter,
or assign a small piece of your yard to start your own private garden.
You can begin with tomatoes and build from there.
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Sing and Dance to Good Food Songs
Find songs with lyrics that promote
healthy eating and an active lifestyle. If you can’t find music in
your local retail store, there are some great offerings available
for young children online. Music CDs like “Smart & Tasty, “Bon
Appetite,” “Groovin’ Foods,” or “Smart Fruit & Veggie Songs,” can be
found with a simple Internet search. Be prepared to pass the
potato, count the bananas, scissor kick your celery sticks, interact
with your children, have fun, and basically act like a fool.
If you don't have access to music,
make up silly, rhyming, rhythmic chants about new foods. Shake your
hips and try this simple chant: "Apples on the table, green grapes
in a bowl, make me shake and shake, straight down to my toes.”
8. Explore Healthy Foods Through Books
Find coloring books, puzzle books,
sticker books, or picture books that introduce fruits and vegetables
as characters, or have interesting stories that revolve around
healthy foods. “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” explores the lifecycle
of a caterpillar after he eats his way through different foods.
“Food for Thought” uses food art to entertain the youngsters as they
learn basic standards. “We Eat Food That's Fresh” uses a whimsical
chef to introduce new fruits and veggies to kids. And, "We Love the
Company" gives kids a view of table etiquette. These and many other
books make for some great fun and educational reading, while keeping
the healthy message alive. A quick and easy resource for
nutrition and
health education books for children is www.neatsolutions.com.
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Plan a Craft Activity
Let your child design something
artistic such as a paper craft that can be proudly displayed on the
refrigerator, a fruit face that can be eaten, pasta art on a plate, or a personalized placemat that
can be laminated for repeated use. Some web pages offer free
downloadable or printable activities that engage children. Search for
your favorites or visit www.5aday.org, www.dole5aday.com, and
www.nutritionexplorations.org
for some interesting offerings.
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Play Fun Games That Involve Healthy
Eating
Children who have fun with healthy
foods are more likely to want to taste them. Instead of “Duck, Duck,
Goose,” play “Grape, Grape, Juice.” Play target practice by tossing
play foods into grocery paper bags. Act like you are in a grocery
store, and let your child ring up the healthy choices and check you
out. Have a tea party, and compliment it with fresh veggies, dried
fruit, cucumber sandwiches, or cheese and crackers. Play restaurant,
and order a nutritious meal that your child can prepare using fake
food.
Play verbal “I spy a color” games using fruits and vegetables.
Complete puzzles that contain healthy images. Play board and card
games that promote healthy eating and educate young children about
good food choices. “Mamma Mia” lets kids complete a pizza order. Pea
soup, French onion soup, and mushroom soup are what's on the menu
with “Too Many Cooks.” The "Makin' Faces Card Game" uses characters
built out of fruit and veggie pieces to capture and hold a child's
attention. And, “The Fruit and Veggie Race” challenges kids to
obtain as many fruit and veggie cards as they can to win the game.
* Empower your young children to be
agents of change in and away from home. They will not only eat better,
they will inspire others to do the same.
Angela Russ is a mother, artist, educational trainer,
and award-winning producer of music for young children. She presents
music & movement to teachers nationwide, is a member of the Recording
Academy, and is sole owner of the Russ InVision record label. For
more information on Angela and her workshops and accomplishments visit
www.abridgeclub.com.
© 2006, Russ InVision. All rights reserved.
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Published in print: Potpourri News
(IL Assoc. for Child Development)
Vol. 32, Issue 6, June 2006
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Smart & Tasty Chants for Young
Eaters Published 6-2006
Songs and
simple chants are a great way to introduce young children to healthy
food choices. Short or long, serious or whimsical, they are easy to
make up, and offer wonderful diversions while commuting, waiting in
long lines, introducing a subject, or transitioning from one
activity to another. Combining finger plays or instructions for
movement, and a little imagination makes a delicious recipe for fun.
Chants also
offer a variety of ways for children to embrace rhythm, rhyme,
repetition, structural sequence, and other language skills that are
stepping stones for emergent readers. With the addition of imaginary
play and physical activity, children can build a foundation in
listening skills, spatial awareness, coordination, memory, and body
awareness. Here are a three smart and tasty chants to try on your
little ones.
To “Twinkle,
Twinkle Little Star”
We are fruits so sweet
and bright
We are growing day and night
With the sun, up high we grow
Vines and leaves spread out, like so
We are blowing to and fro
Growing day and night, you know
We are fruits
so sweet and bright
We are growing day and night
Without sun we cannot grow
Without water, we droop low
No more blowing to and fro
Back down to the ground, we go
To “5 Little
Ducks”
Five fruits &
veggies rolling by
Under the farmer’s watchful eye
Say “Hi” to the orange, big and round
Say “Hi” to the berries, on the ground
Say “Hi” to the apple from the tree
Say “Hi” to the lettuce and its leaves
Say “Hi” to the onion that you see
All 5 fruits & veggies, just for me
1, 2, 3, 4, 5
5 fruits and veggies rolling by
Farmer,
Farmer, what do you see?
Farmer, Farmer,
what do you see?
I see a blueberry ready to eat
Blueberry, blueberry, what do you see?
I see a green broccoli ready to eat
….purple grape
….white onion
….yellow lemon
… red apple
….orange orange
….hungry children
Children, children, what do you see?
We see a purple grape, a white onion, a yellow lemon,
a red apple, and an orange orange, ready to eat.
Angela Russ is a mother,
artist, educational trainer, and award-winning producer of music for
young children. She presents music & movement to child care
providers and teachers nationwide, is a member of the Recording
Academy, and is the sole owner of the Russ InVision record label.
For more information on Angela, her workshops and accomplishments
you are welcome to visit
www.abridgeclub.com. © 2006, Russ InVision. All rights
reserved.
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15 Creative Ways to Teach Young Children While Driving! Part 1
How much time do you spend in the car with your
children? Think about the quality time you could be using to
educate them while on the road. You can’t get that time back once
it’s wasted. Whether on a short 15-minute trip or a 6-hour long
drive to visit grandma, you can use these precious moments to rev up
your young child’s listening, language, and literacy skills a notch.
It is also one of the best times to engage them in conversation.
Turn off the radio and the DVD player. Hang up the phone. Talk to
your kids. Ask questions, listen to their concerns, offer them
advice, play educational games, and teach. They will learn from
experience, and so will you. Try one of these creative activities
when you have children in the car who range from preschoolers to
kids in early primary grades.
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Sing traditional
lullabies or chant traditional rhymes. The “ABC” song can help a
child learn the alphabet, "This Old Man" teaches counting. The
repetition and rhyme helps young children learn to memorize
through verse, and it is lullabies and rhymes like these that
help children memorize basic grammatical structures and patterns
in the English language.
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Make up your own
silly songs, change the lyrics to well known lullabies or to
traditional rhymes. “Old MacDonald had a frog...” “Jack and
Jill hopped down the hill...” “Drive, drive, drive the car…”
Children need to learn that they are free to be creative.
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Practice verbal
sequencing. Name something you do every day and break it down
into simple steps. You start with the first step, and everyone
takes turn stating the next step. At the theater: “Walk to the
counter, hand over the money, get the ticket, take the ticket,
walk to the ticket taker…” Washing hands: “Turn on the water,
wet your hands, pick up soap, scrub your hands, rinse your
hands….” This helps children practice simple sentence
structure.
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Take turns
making up funny rhyming words. “Ooey, gooey, chewy, achooey…”
No, they don’t have to make sense! Rhyme is important in
developing phonemic (hearing) awareness in children. It helps
children break down the sounds of a language into smaller units,
which can lead to reading and writing success.
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Play "I Spy." -
Look for colors, shapes, letters, numbers, and things. Visual
games can help build a child's vocabulary!
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Assign each
child a letter or number. They can put a hash mark on a piece of
paper every time they see their letter or number on license
plates or signs. Count and total on arrival.
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“A to Z” Game:
Point out all the letters of the alphabet in order, from A to Z
by finding words in the signs you pass. The simplified version
is to use any letter that appears in a sign. For a challenge
find words that start or end with the next letter. One letter
per sign, and once you pass the sign, you can’t use it anymore.
Q = Quality Cleaners, Z = Toyz and more.
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Play “20
Questions”: One person secretly thinks of an animal, food, or
thing. The other passengers ask yes-or-no questions, such as
"Can it fly?" or "Does it grow in the ground?" or “Is it
green?” After 20 questions, everyone makes a guess.
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Q & A about
books you’ve read or movies & TV shows you’ve recently seen.
"Which character would you want be?" If you could fly, where
would you go?
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Play “Would you
rather be…” Ask silly questions and let everyone explain their
answers. “Would you rather be a pet rat or a pet bird?” “Would
you rather be a dragon or an airplane?” “Would you rather be a
famous cook or a famous painter?”
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Children can
still be captivated by the simple magic of telling a story. Tell
it in the round. Everyone can add a little piece and the story
can be as long as you want it to be. When kids have to create
their own stories.
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Listen to an
audio book together in the car. Listening to the story helps
children paint pictures in their heads. No one’s glued to a
screen or a cell phone, the whole family shares in a story that
can be discussed afterward.
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More vocabulary
building! Name words that start with each letter of the
alphabet. A = apple, B= book, C = cat, etc. Continue the
alphabet as far as you can, then start again using different
words..
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Phonics with
license plates. Think of words and silly phrases using the
letters on license plates. PYD 239 = “Pretty yellow dress.” 4XM
2B0 = “X-ray my 2 bones.”
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Set-up a reading
station in the car so that your children can select a book to
flip through or read at any time. If they are emergent readers,
they can explain what they see. If they can read the story on
their own, they can summarize it for you. Sharing the story with
others will help them improve their comprehension.
Angela
Russ-Ayon is a mother of 2, as well as an educational trainer,
award-winning children’s recording artist and author. She presents
music & movement to teachers nationwide, is a member of the
Recording Academy, and is sole owner of the Russ InVision record
label. For permission to reprint this article or for information on
Angela, her workshops or her titles, please visit
www.abridgeclub.com.
© 2011, Russ InVision. All rights reserved.
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Contact us for
questions and information
info@abridgeclub.com
AbridgeClub.com is owned and operated by Russ InVision Company
Russ InVision Records
3219 Conquista Ave, Long Beach, CA 90808
P: 562.421.1836
Fax: 562.420.9101 |
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