Learning through song is super important to kid's development. Come by and learn some of my favorite songs.

Moon Rabbit and Brown Rabbit in the City By Natalie Russell

April 11th, 2011

Whenever we go to the library I get a little overwhelmed with all the books available. How do you pick a good book for your child without reading the entire thing? I guess adults have the same issues. Let’s be honest: we DO judge books by their covers. Is the front picture eye catching and are the guest blurbs on the back enough to interest you to actually, crazy as it may sound, open the book?!

Moon Rabbit

Today I am here to recommend two children’s books that I found by this very pathetic method. When I first came across Moon Rabbit I was mesmerized by the silvery metallic color mixed with the flat blues and muted greens. And how could I resist that sweet little white bunny? I opened the book and fell in love with the simple and heartfelt story.

Little Rabbit lives in the big city. She longs for a friend like her to spend time with. In the park one day, Little Rabbit meets Brown Rabbit and a beautiful friendship begins. The two friends spend all night in the park, listening to music and watching the heavens. This book can help children identify with loneliness and encourage them to look for friendship.

Brown Rabbit in the City

After reading this book I looked on Amazon to see if Natalie Russell had written anything else. I was so happy to see Brown Rabbit in the City. Much like Moon Rabbit, Russell used a metallic copper with warm reds, browns and sage green.

In this book Little Rabbit rushes around the city while Brown Rabbit tries to keep up. Eventually Brown Rabbit takes a rest and Little Rabbit doesn’t notice she’s alone. The rabbits learn to slow down and enjoy life (maybe this lesson is for the grownups).

Being an artist myself, illustrations are very important when I pick out a book for my kids. The illustrations in these books are so beautiful they could be entertaining without words. However, the story is just as captivating–full of depth and insight but easy and light to read. Natalie Russell’s drawings will lure you into a sweet story and her sweet story will capture your attention.

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Wait! Don’t throw that away.

April 3rd, 2011

I love doing crafts with my kids. But sometimes my overworked brain just can’t think of any great activities. I’m sure most of you have looked at the empty toilet paper role and said, “Surely there is something else we can do with this.”

I’ve discussed this before in Wait! Don’t throw that away. In our fast paced life it is so easy to simply discard something before thinking about their other possible uses. But to your child the possibilities are endless. To inspire your young inventor to create a treasure of assorted crafts.

How to make a craft treasure box:

Get a largish box. Not a shoe box but not a refrigerator box either. Make sure the box is big enough for lots of crafty stuff but small enough to store out of the way when not using it. If you use a cardboard box, getting your kids to decorate it could be exciting for them.

Fill the box with anything and everything. Before you throw one more thing out, look at the item through the eyes of your child. I love collecting milk carton lids. Kids find great ways to use these.

My Treasure Chest

When you are organizing you own hobbies think about donating items to the treasure box. I am an avid scrapbooker but trends in paper and stickers come and go. Instead of throwing out the stickers and paper scraps I don’t want I  put them in the treasure box. These types of things are special because they came from my personal stash.

To make this treasure super special I highly recommend that you only bring the box out when you need some peace. Make it a big deal. You could even make a treasure map and help your child find it. This is also a great activity for play dates and birthday parties. But you will have to replenish your treasure after the party.

Awesome list of keepables:

  1. Toilet paper rolls/paper towel rolls
  2. Milk cartons and lids
  3. Tooth picks
  4. Broken crayons
  5. Empty soda bottles
  6. Glitter
  7. Feathers from a broken boa
  8. Pictures that I didn’t use in my scrapbook
  9. Stickers
  10. Magazine- your child could cut out letters and make some interesting collages
  11. Yarn-long and short pieces
  12. Google eyes-kids will put them on anything
  13. Pom-poms
  14. Felt
  15. Old socks-make sure you wash ‘em
  16. Paper-tissue, construction, wrapping, any kind will do
  17. Paper bags
  18. Beads-not too small
  19. Fake flowers
  20. Jewels and gems-plastic of coarse!
  21. Plastic bowls-the kind that come with premade jello and fruit
  22. Cereal-this should be fresh
  23. The list goes on and on.

Your child will never forget how much fun your treasure box of crafts are. Take pictures of their creations and share them with their friends and family. A treasure box of crafts is a great way to open your child’s imagination to endless possibilities.

*Please make sure that you supervise your child while they play with the treasure box. Some of the items are small and may be a choking hazard for small children.

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3 Little Ducks

February 15th, 2011

This is a cute song about ducklings. It teaches children to subtract, add, and sequence in stories. Read the lyrics, try the hand movements then watch my sweet daughter in the video below.

Lyrics (actions)

Three little ducks went out to play (pass three fingers in front of your body)
Over the hills and far away (make a hill with you left arm and pass your right 3 fingers over the left arm)
Mommy duck said “Quack, quack, quack, quack.” (make a duck mouth with both hands, open and close them 4 times)
And two little ducks came running back. (pass two fingers in front of you body from left to right)

Two little ducks when out to play (pass two fingers in front of your body)
Over the hills and far away (make a hill with you left arm and pass your right 2 fingers over the left arm)
Mommy duck said “Quack, quack, quack, quack.” (make a duck mouth with both hands, open and close them 4 times)
And one little ducks came running back. (pass one finger in front of you body from left to right)

One little ducks when out to play (pass one finger in front of your body)
Over the hills and far away (make a hill with you left arm and pass your right 1 finger over the left arm)
Mommy duck said “Quack, quack, quack, quack.” (make a duck mouth with both hands, open and close them 4 times)
And no little ducks came running back. (shrug shoulders and pass head left to right)

Then Daddy duck said “Quack, quack, quack.” (make a big duck mouth with both hands, open and close 3 times)
And three little ducks came running back. (pass 3 fingers in front of your body from left to right)

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Funding Schools with Snickers?

February 5th, 2011

Our children are inundated with advertising. They see it on television and computer, billboards, on the side of buses and many other places. Why would I want to encourage large corporations to put ads on school desks or inside their school buses?

This week there was a huge snow storm and we were inside for 4 days. By day 3 we were out of milk, cheese, ice cream, the basics. It just so happens that there is a Brahms down the street, so I bundled up and headed out. On the radio, Diane Rehm was addressing this controversial subject.

As I was listening to Diane’s guests, I started to think about advertising in schools as an asset that could help fund programs and bring back teachers. There are so many pros and cons that I couldn’t come up with a strong opinion.

Diane and her guests went on for about an hour weighing the pros and cons. Let me give you the highlights:

Problem

Schools are underfunded and expected to achieve more with less. So how are they going to do this? Through “outside influences” coming into the schools. What does that mean? Corporations like Coke and Pepsi,  juice companies etc. are paying schools to set up ads in hallways, in bathroom stalls and in the cafeteria.

What are the cons?

According to Susan Linn, Director for the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood:

  1. Advertising promotes materialism in our youth which breeds low self esteem and discontent.
  2. Advertising products such as soda and candy promotes child obesity and poor health.

Those make sense but they also want us to believe that this type of advertising will bring about promiscuity, violence and lessen creativity. Not sure I agree with those. Are schools allowing ads for rated R movies and violent video games?

What are the pros to a corporate presence in public schools?

The obvious, according to me:

  1. Allowing companies to advertise will bring money to the school.
  2. Then the money can be used to fund programs and hire more teachers.

The not so obvious, according to Brett Pawlowski, president of DeHavilland Associates:

Companies who expect to hire future employees from these schools fund programs in schools that encourage kids to excel in subjects that benefit those companies. For example a company that hires engineers may fund the local schools math coarse.

Unfortunately these pros can turn to cons when the school boards allow to be dictated solely on how much money they will get.

Where does that leave us?

I want to hear your opinion. Should we allow Snickers to fund our music program and risk the health of our kids? Or should we continue to limp along with underfunded schools with little to no extra programs?

If you would like to read the entire transcript or listen to the program you can visit Diane’s web page, The Diane Rehm Show, Private Funding in Public Schools.

If you want to do more research on this topic check out the following sites:

The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood

The Center for the Analysis of Commercialization in Education

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Amazing People

November 19th, 2010

This article is the first in a series that is going to highlight amazing people. I may not know all of them personally but they have touched my life or influenced me in some way.

Aaron

A boy. A man.

I want to kick this off by telling you about a man. He wasn’t always a man. When I met, Aaron, he was 12. He was a skinny guy who wore black from head to foot. His glasses were way too big for his face (that was the style, I had them too), and he always had his nose in his scribble book.

At this young age, Aaron was a writer. He wrote stories about dragons and brave boys who rescued damsels. He wrote some impressive poetry (that’s how he won my heart). And he was so confident that he would always be a writer. He convinced me.

As time went by, our lives together took shape and he began to realize that his dream was just a dream. When Aaron was a man, he took a job as a Tech Writer and all but gave up on writing fiction. Tech writing stripped Aaron of much of his passion for writing.

That’s not to say that Aaron completely gave up on his dream. I wouldn’t call him amazing if he had.

The Amazing Part.

After 19 years of ups and downs, Aaron is a published author. That’s a fact and I’m proud to say it.

When Aaron wrote Gods Tomorrow a couple years ago, I was amazed. It isn’t about magicians or romance like the stuff he used to write. It’s full of dialog and action. The book let my imagination take over and piqued my curiosity with mystery. Oh, and the technology was fascinating. I wonder at how someone could come up with a story and share it so vividly.

Like I said, it’s been a couple years, and now the book is a reality. I can hold in in my hands and see the beautiful cover. I ask Aaron nearly everyday, “How many copies were bought today?” My heart swells with pride that he has sold more than 60 copies in six short weeks.

Gods Tomorrow

Gods Tomorrow has been available for sale since mid-October. I know that sales will continue to increase, especially once the sequels start hitting shelves.

If you love a great mystery, I highly recommend you check out Gods Tomorrow by Aaron Pogue.

Where can you find this great book?

Early next year he will be releasing Ghost Targets: Expectation, the second book in what will be a long-running series. And more should follow quickly! He’s finishing book four right now.

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Posted in Amazing People, Articles | 4 Comments »

Music for kids

October 24th, 2010

A few weeks ago you may remember I wrote an awesome article about Pandora radio. It was all about how you could use it to create unique stations that your entire family would love.

After posting that article, I received an email from someone unexpected. Frances England’s publicist. She said that Frances was happy to see her name in my list of favorites. And she wanted to send me a copy of her new album.

I was so shocked I read the email several times then went to tell my husband the amazing news. He was pretty excited about it, too. After that, I told tons of people about this amazing artists and the amazing opportunity she’d offered me.

When the album came in the mail, I ripped the envelope open and immediately put the disk in the stereo. We listened to that album everywhere we drove for the next two months. My three-year-old daughter quickly learned the words and always sang along.

First Things First

First let me share some info about Frances. Her musical career began in 2006 when she recorded music for her son’s fundraiser. Little did she know that she would win the impressive Oppenheim Platinum Music Award in 2007 for her first album, Fascinating Creatures.

Frances released Family Tree in 2008. Many critics praised her for her folk-rock sound and originality. I personally love Family Tree. The whole album is about how each unique person comes together in a group to create a beautiful family.

My favorite song on the Family Tree album is You and Me. When I hear the lyrics my heart swells and I picture my own babies growing up. Frances has a gift for writing songs that capture how moms truly feel about their children. I’m sure it stems from her own experiences.

Mind of My Own

Now, let’s get to the meat. When I saw the album’s title, Mind of My Own, it immediately brought my daughter to mind. I constantly find myself reminding her who’s in charge. After listening to the title track, she realized that one day she will be in charge of herself. And at the same time, I learned that she does know a few things — maybe a little more than I give her credit for.

My daughter’s favorite song is Vacation Delight. When we get in the car, Annabelle says, “Mom, can you play that song about sitting in the car playing the guitar?” And she loves the chorus. It’s so fun to hear her sing, “Va-cation, va-cation, de-lights.”

Frances has provided all her music on her website. You can hear Mind of My Own here, too. On November 9, you can also buy the album on Amazon, on iTunes, or on her website.

I have had so much fun discovering Frances and sharing her with my family and friends. Have fun listening and discovering how special this artist is.

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September 25th, National Museum Day!

September 20th, 2010

Everyone knows how I’m always looking for inexpensive outings for my family. So when my dad told me about an article he saw in his local paper about a free day at the museum, I was over joyed. He suggested that I see if any museums in my area were going to be free too.

So I started my search on the web. It took a while to find what I was after but I finally found it: Smithsonian Magazine’s 6th Annual Museum Day, September 25th, 2010.  This website is full of helpful information about Museum Day.

  1. What museums are participating?
  2. How do I get in free?
  3. How many people can get in free?

What A List

I did a search for which museums in Oklahoma were participating in the Museum Day and found this list:

How does this work?

Ok, go to the Museum Day website. Fill in all the appropriate information and they will send you a link in your email. Make sure you are certain which museum you want to visit, you will have to specify during this process. Follow the link and print your ticket from your home printer. Fairly simple.

Wish you could take your whole family?

Well, this free ticket will get you and one other person into the museum for free. Everyone else will have to pay. But if you have small children, they may get in free. Check with the museum before you go.
We are heading to the Science museum. It’s my daughter’s favorite museum in town. Click here to see my review of the Science Museum of Oklahoma. Let us know how you spend your Museum Day.

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My Mentor By Karla Charboneau

September 7th, 2010

Karla Charboneau

Well I promised that my next article would be about my mentor.  The fact of the matter is that I have several mentors. Let me tell you about them and why I choose them to follow.

3 Wonderful Mentors

The first mentor I had was a woman that I went to church with, her name was Betty.  At the time I was a very young wife and mother, about 18 years old. Betty taught a class that I went to and she just seemed like the perfect person to follow.  With patience and understanding she taught me so many things that I didn’t know, things like why writing thank you notes was important, what looking people in the eyes meant, how a mom could be soft spoken and still get the attention and respect of her children.  Every time I went to Betty’s house I always heard her greet people with, “please, come into my house.”  Everyone that found themselves in her home felt welcomed and wanted.

The next mentor I want to tell you about is my husband John.  This is rather hard for me to write because shamefully I have complained about him many times.  But I must give him credit for some of the wonderful things he has modeled for me.  This man has a sense of forgiveness like none I have ever seen.  He has an ability to think the best of others and to be hopeful in all circumstances that just blows me away at times.

There is a woman that is in my life right now that is a great mentor to me, I’m not sure that she knows that I see her that way but she is someone that I look to. Her name is Kim and she happens to be my boss. I see in her the grace that anyone I know longs to have in their lives.  She sees my mistakes in light of her own imperfections. She filters people’s failure through the incredible love and patience that she has received. She sees me for what I am and values me anyway.

A Perfect Mentor

That leads me to my most perfect mentor, He has many names but I just call Him Father God or sometimes Papa.  He has all the qualities the people I have previously mentioned have and so many more.  He teaches me what love is, how to get it and how to give it.  I learn from Him how to have patience for others and how to make others a priority without loosing myself.

He shows me just how much joy I bring Him and in return I feel that joy to share with others. His great forgiveness for me demonstrates his kindness and gentleness that I simply don’t deserve, and how can I have less for people in my life. It maybe hard to believe, (not) but there are moments that I just turn my back on people but not my Papa, He is always faithful and true to me beyond my wildest imagination.

How on earth does this relate to being a good parent?????  Well the fact of the matter is….You can’t give away what you don’t have. Hmmm. Where have I heard that before? Anyway the first step to being a good parent is to find yourself a good mentor and pattern your life after that person.  My best advise is when you look to people don’t expect them to be perfect, because you will be disappointed.  Accept the best from them and leave the rest behind giving them grace for their shortcomings. But always look to the perfect one for the best mentor.

My Best Interest

I have to ask myself why I choose these people to follow.  I think basically it is for one reason.  I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they all had my best interest in mind. I never had to question or doubt their motives when it comes to me. Wouldn’t it be great if every child every where could say that of their parents. Maybe there would be less abuse, maybe there would be less rebellion, maybe there would be less hatred and violence, maybe we would be the peaceful people that we were intended to be.

Read more articles from Karla Charboneau: A Good Place to Start as a Parent

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One of my favorite things: Pandora Radio

September 2nd, 2010

Annabelle rockin to her favorite Pandora station.

Like most things in life the advice of a good friend led to an amazing discovery. When we moved from Tulsa in 2006, my friend Rebecca recommended that I check out a website that allowed a person to listen to music for free with limited commercials. At the time I wasn’t too interested in music that I didn’t already know. I had my CDs and NPR to keep me happy.

When my daughter was a baby we mainly listened to NPR. Let’s be honest,  though: it put her to sleep. Aaron listened to hip hop and claimed that Annabelle loved it. When she got old enough to start reciting some of the lyrics I said that was enough hip hop, too, and decided something needed to change.

That’s when I took Rebecca’s advice and checked out Pandora. Pandora is an internet radio that allows you to make your own stations–as many as you want. Of course they want you to buy the music they help you find, but you don’t have to buy anything. Apart from a 30-second commercial every four or five songs, the music is free.

My Advice for Using Pandora with Kids

I really recommend starting a station for your kids. If you have more than one child, you may want to start a station for each child, or you could have multiple stations for different types of music like one for lullabies, one for kids’ worship, and one for music from your child’s favorite TV shows or movies.

To start a station, click the Create a New Station button. Type in an artist’s name or a song that you may have heard your child sing. Or you can choose Find a Genre Station. The more suggestions you give for an individual station, the better the station will be at guessing what your little one wants to hear.

After you’ve made a station, listen to the music Pandora chooses. If you like a song, press the thumbs up button and it will keep playing music similar to that song. If you don’t like one, press the thumbs down button and it will not suggest music like that anymore. Some unwanted songs may creep up sometimes, but just thumbs down it and Pandora will skip to something else.

If you need help getting started figuring out what kind of music to look for, go to iTunes and search the children’s music there. At iTunes you will have access to a huge selection of music and you can preview a few seconds of each song. Unfortunately not all music on Pandora is available on iTunes yet.

My Favorite Music (for the kids) on Pandora

I’ve been doing all that for six months now, and I’ve developed some wonderful stations for my kids. I’ve also encountered tons of new artists I never would have run into without Pandora. Here are some of my favorites from the kids’ stations:

  • Yo Gabba Gabba!
  • Sesame Street
  • Justin Roberts
  • Renee and Jeremy
  • Frances England
  • The Laurie Berkner Band
  • Robert Bobert and the Bubble Machine
  • They Might Be Giants
  • Bare Naked Ladies

And so many more!

Sharing Your Stations

After you’ve made stations for your kids you will want to sing the praises of Pandora. Pandora has thought of that, too. When you’re playing a station you will see a button called options. Press options and then pick share this station with a friend. You can put in an email address and write a message explaining how great your station is.

You can also check out what your friends are listening to. Click on check it out under Friends’ Music. This will take you to a list of people you know who also listen to Pandora. You can view their most recent songs and see what their favorite artists and songs are. If you like what you see, click on the song and it will create a new station on your profile.

There are so many options on this website that bringing good music to your kids has never been easier. I highly recommend taking Pandora with you on your phone. We listen at home and in the car. It’s great on trips. It could be fun for your family to create a station for a certain trip. Make it a project for the whole family.

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New Feature-My Faves

June 30th, 2010

My Favorite Family

Let me tell you a little secret. I do not enjoy writing. Aaron thinks my articles are too short and I struggle to get what I can.

I’ve realized over the years that I am a woman of few words. Some of my family will laugh at that statement. But I pride myself on being careful with my words. I’ve had some slip ups that were uncomfortable and I didn’t like it.

Then why do I blog?

I started this blog so that I could share my knowledge and other interesting stuff with my friends. And I wanted to do that all one time. Not sending tons of emails or making lots of calls. See, back to the concept of fewer words.

To help me keep my ideas concise and easy to understand I am starting a new feature called My Faves. This feature will be the length of a Tweet, about 120-140 characters. My Faves is located on top of the current article and will convey a product, place or whatever strikes my fancy at the time.

With just a few sentences My Faves give you a glimpse into our daily lives. These snippets are often books that my family and I are reading now, movies that we watch a million times, or places that we go to often.

If you and your family have a favorite that you would like to share with us, contact me by hitting the contact button on the right. You can also follow me on Twitter or friend me on Facebook.

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