Yoga With Kids

I'm new to Yoga. It's a whole new world for me and I love it. I practice some at home in the afternoons and sometimes the kids are around to watch. Well, wouldn't you know that the kids just joined right in? Kids are naturals at this stuff. Eli makes up his own yoga moves and gives them silly names, but oftentimes they are actual yoga moves.As soon as the kids started showing interest, I frantically started searching for "Yoga for Kids" books. I found a really great book and dvd combination called Yogakids. It's a Yoga Program for kids developed by Marsha Wenig, a certified yoga instructor.

What I like about the Yogakids book is that it gives parents step-by-step directions to each pose, tells you why it is important, and gives you silly information and other activities to try while doing the pose. It also gives you helpful hints on ways to help your child with the pose, some dos and don'ts and more information on helping your child use yoga during more trying times in their lives. For example, taking deep breaths when you are feeling anxious, thumping their chest when they are feeling sluggish, etc. And Ms. Wenig wants it to be fun and admits that it can get kind of crazy and out of hand and that that is perfectly ok.We checked out the dvds from the library and they follow the book, and have some interesting songs. Eli and Sadie both join along and try the poses that they feel comfortable with and Sadie sings "Namaste, namaste, namaste". Kids learn so fast too. I can tell Eli to get into Cobra, Down Dog, or Lion and he can do it without batting an eye, though his favorite pose is the pose of the child. I have to admit that that's my favorite too.

Book: Living Simply with Children

I recently finished reading Living Simply with Children: A voluntary simplicity guide for moms, dads and kids who want to reclaim the bliss of childhood and the joy of parenting by Marie Sherlock and thought it was worth sharing with you. This book guides you through ways to "downshift" your life in order to live more simply and have more free time to spend with your family. Time to explore interests together, volunteer together, do chores together. Time to get to know each other, learn from each other and enjoy each other.

From the very beginning of the book, the author asks you to question America's idea of success -- wealth and the accumulation of stuff. She goes on to say that most people will say that family is the most important thing in their life, but where most people spend their time and energy is not at home with their family, instead it's at work chasing the almighty dollar. Yes, you do need money to meet your living needs, but just how much money does one need? That is why this is a "voluntary simplicity guide". She wants you to ask yourself how much money do you really need and then to start simplifying from there. Can one parent quit their job and stay home? Can you reduce your work hours? Can you work from home? Retire early?

Ultimately, having less money means that there will be some sacrifices that need to be made. Ms. Sherlock questions if these things are really necessary anyways: a 3,000 square foot house, brand-name clothing, going out for dinner several times a week, or getting everything you want right now. She encourages you to avoid following and teaching the values of the American "consumer culture" and instead to follow and teach the things that you value: compassion, love, family, charity, respect for people and the earth, honesty, peace, tolerance, and responsibility, to name a few. She leads you step by step through the simplifying process as you do some soul-searching, brainstorming and goal-setting. She also lists techniques for dealing with peer-pressure, speaking with family members about your decision to live simply, ways to limit the TV, and teaching kids to be better consumers.

Simple families have many things in common: they care about the planet; are conscientious consumers and buy less; spend time in the outdoors biking, fishing, hiking or camping; are very involved in each other's lives; volunteer; limit outside activities; have down-time, quiet time, and guard family time; have family rituals; and enjoy simple pleasures.

Before I read this book, I knew that living simply is how Dennis and I want to live and raise our children. It probably helps that we are both naturally frugal people and that we were both raised pretty simply. Dennis is a lot better than I am and sometimes he kiddingly asks me if my desires are a "want or a need" only because he knows I'm working on it (otherwise, he would sound like a really cruel husband). Currently, our financial situation is forcing us to live simply. We still go on trips (usually to visit friends and family), go shopping (at garage sales), and eat out (on picnics)! But, with Dennis being a student it allows us to spend summers together and it allows Dennis to leave later in the morning and come home earlier in the afternoons than most people can. Advance planning and student loans mean that I can stay home too! I don't feel like we're deprived of anything. In fact, we are very blessed.

This book gave me loads of resources to turn to during the trials and tribulations of simple living and also gave me some great ideas for discussions to have with the kids, and teaching about the powers of the media. I think this would be a useful read for anyone who is contemplating simple living or for anyone who is in the midst of it and needs a little extra support. It's nice to know that there are others out there living like you are and are trying to slow down and enjoy every moment that life has to offer!

Author Of the Week: Lois Ehlert

Lois Ehlert is an award-winning author/illustrator with many books under her belt. She is known for her bright, bold collage style illustrations. You might recognize her artwork in the popular children's book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. She is also a noted author in her own right with sweet, simple and often rhyming text that matches each of her colorful collages perfectly.

As a *former* teacher, it's really hard to pick up one of her books and not instantly think of a fun activity to do after reading them. In fact, you may remember me planting a rainbow with my kids after reading Ehlert's book Planting A Rainbow. After reading Eating the Alphabet: Fruits and Vegetables from A to Z a great activity would be to have a tasting of some of the more exotic vegetables she mentions. An obvious activity for Leaf Man is to make a person or animals out of leaves. Make vegetable soup with your garden's bounty after reading Growing Vegetable Soup. The ideas are endless. Tomorrow, I will show you an activity inspired by Ehlert's book Oodles of Animals.

Even if you don't have an activity in mind when you read Ehlert's books, they're enjoyable to read and even more enjoyable to look at.

Author of the Week: Byron Barton

Byron Barton is the author/illustrator of numerous children's books. Most of his books are geared toward the toddler/pre-school set as the text is very simple and the pictures are bright and bold with simple shapes and lines. As an extra bonus for those of us who have kids that are really hard on their books, most of them come in board-book form. He has a set of books about transportation vehicles that Eli totally digs and I love that I can get Sadie to sit and listen to The Three Bears or The Little Red Hen. He's a great author for us to go to right now as my kids are the perfect age for his books. He just might have the perfect book for your child too.

Author of the Week: Eve Bunting

Eve Bunting is one of those authors that is always on my radar. She's the author of over 250 books! That's a lot of books each one illustrated by a different illustrator so each book is a surprise. While I don't go to her every week like I do some authors I do visit her quite frequently. She has a wide range of books for all ages written about a wide range of topics. If you have some sort of topic, theme or problem that you're working on at your house, Ms. Bunting has probably written a book about it. Moving into a big boy bed? Yep. Teacher having a baby? Yep. Visiting a grandma in an old-folks home? Yep again. Mom getting remarried? Yes. Monster's under the bed? She's got that one covered. Homelessness? She's got that one covered twice. Adopting a baby? Mom having a baby? Surrogate mother? Teen Pregnancy? Seriously, this lady has a book about it.

She has fiction books about America's past historical moments: coming to America, pioneers moving westward, Visiting the Vietnam Memorial, and the Los Angeles riots.

She has holiday books from Father's Day to Hanukkah, Thanksgiving to St. Patrick's Day.

Yes, there are some less serious stories too. Hurry, Hurry is one of the cutest books I've ever read. And Little Badger is funny too.

While you probably won't go and pull one of her books off of the shelves just for the heck of it, she's a good author to keep in mind when you're dealing with a new issue in your house.

Author of the Week: Frank Asch

One of my favorite book characters of all time is Moonbear created by author/illustrator Frank Asch. While Mr. Asch has written many books, his most well known books are the Moonbear books. Moonbear is a sweet, curious and adventurous little bear. Along with his friend, Little Bird, Moonbear plays with the moon and believes that the moon is playing back because of mother nature's mysteries: echoes, clouds, and shadows to name a few. Moonbear's innocence is charming and delightful. The illustrations are bright and bold and out-lined which makes the pictures seem to glow. These books are simple enough for even the youngest child, but enjoyable for the young school-age crowd as well. Check out Moonbear, delight in his ways, and go back for more!

Author of the Week: Kevin Henkes

In case you didn't know, I was a teacher before I changed my job title to SAHM. I've taught grades 6, 2, 3, 1, transitional-first, and kindergarten, in that order! Not that it in any way makes me a great author reviewer, but it does mean that I've read A LOT of children's books. Some books are good, even fewer books are great (where you can read them over and over and over and never tire of them) and lots of books are just ho-hum.

When I had my own classroom, after recess the "student of the day" always got to choose a book for me to read. This is going to sound horrible and I'm sure I'm going to offend someone and get some hatemail for saying this, but I always dreaded this story-time, even though the kids loved picking a book for me to read. For whatever reason, kindergartners and first graders love Clifford, Berenstain Bears and Curious George. They love that they can relate to what happens in these stories and that the characters are familiar. However, after reading Clifford for the 100th time, I'm about ready to die of boredom, I can hardly muster the energy to be enthusiastic about reading (don't get me wrong though, any book is better than no book and if your kid loves one of those characters by all mean keep reading it to them)! So, when it was my turn to pick a book to read aloud, I often reached for my all-time favorite author, Kevin Henkes.

Henkes is the author of a series of books with the most lovable mouse characters: Lilly, Chrysanthemum, and Owen to name a few. Each of these characters is humorous, lovable, and they are easy for everyone to relate to. They come with issues, real-life pre-school issues, like getting a new sibling that they don't enjoy too much in Julius the Baby of the World, not loving their name in Chrysanthemum, giving up a favorite blankey in Owen, being mean to their favorite teacher in Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse, or incessant worrying in Wemberly Worried. The issues are dealt with with humor, compromise, love, acceptance and self-discovery.

The best part is that they are so fun to read. The words are lovely and lilting and they roll off of your tongue; there's repetition and alliteration and jokes only parents will get. Each page will make you smile. The pictures are charming and delightful. When you finish the book, you will wish for more. They're just that good :)

I should mention too that Henke's has other picture books as well (Eli loves Bailey Goes Camping). He has won the Caldecott Medal for Kitten's First Full Moon, which is a lovely book and geared toward the toddler/pre-school set. He is also the author of several novels. How great is that? An author your kid can grow up with. Cool.

Author of the Week: Pat Hutchins

I love when I've found an author that no matter what book I grab of hers the kids are going to love it. Pat Hutchins is one of those authors. Every week, I grab one of her books (she has a lot of books; we've barely scratched the surface) and it's an instant hit, a nightly read for the whole week until we make it back to the library to exchange it for another Pat Hutchin's book. In each of her stories, the illustrations tell the story, without them the story wouldn't be the same. One of her popular books is Rosie's Walk, where a little red hen is unknowingly out-foxing a fox. I personally love Good-Night Owl, because the illustrations are so cheerful and so perfectly retro. But apparently, Titch is her all-star. I'd never heard of Titch until this week when we checked out Titch and Daisy. Then, when searching the internets, I discovered this: a whole web-site dedicated to him, a tv series and books based on the series (which I'm sure I'd dislike a whole lot--much like the new Curious George and Clifford books... whole 'nother topic.). I'm not here to promote tv watching, I'm all about the books and I like her books A LOT. I think you would too. So, go to the library and check her out. Then, tell me what you think.

Author of the Week: John Butler

My 1 1/2 year old, Sadie, is a very particular little girl. She knows what she wants and she won't accept anything but. When I start reading a book she doesn't find particularly interesting she'll grab it from me, throw it across the room, and shout "NO!" at the top of her lungs. Needless to say, reading with her is a bit frustrating. She loves touch-and-feel books, lift-the-flap books and books that are about a familiar song, but getting her to read anything that doesn't include one or more of those things is a bit of a challenge. Then, we discovered John Butler.

John Butler writes simple books with beautiful life-like illustrations that do not include flaps, touchy-feely things or a special tune. His books are all about animals, baby animals. There are few words on a page so Sadie doesn't tire of listening to too much rambling. And the illustrations are to-die-for cute. The animals look so fluffy, cuddly and sweet you'll want to pet the page and "ooh and ahh" over the cuteness of the animals. Sadie will read these books over and over and Eli, my 2 1/2 year old, loves them too. What? Books we can actually read TOGETHER as a family?? Crazy. John Butler unites us. You've gotta love that, especially at bedtime.