Getting ready is as much fun as "the" day, or is it more fun?  So many choices for establishing family traditions are available to us. 

One tradition is making a gingerbread house.  If you've ever tried this from scratch, you may never want to do it again.  Fortunately we came across an easier way for you!

Children love diaramas.  My favorites were the miniature winter scenes: a hilly village (shoe boxes and pots under the cotton),  snowy (cotton with silver sparkles) village around a lake (mirror) with little lights in the houses and skaters on the lake.  We could hardly wait until it was dark to turn on the lights.

The nativity scene was another favorite.  My four brothers and I had running disagreements about the positions of the angels, shepherds, wise men, camels, lambs, goats, Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. That lively interaction became part of the tradition of cutting new straw, unwrapping the statues and setting it up.

Setting up the trains was a day long project.  This involved all the miniatures of train yards with scenery and station stops along the journey.  There were logs to pick up and drop off, water towers to visit, whistles to blow, and our favorite --smoke tablets to place in the lead engine.

By far the most treasured tradition was getting the Christmas tree and decorating it in precise sequence: lights first, next silver tinsel, then the ornaments and last, the icicles, all timed to coincide with the dark of evening.  We strung popcorn and cranberries for the tree outside our dining room picture window and watched the birds enjoying their treats.

Living in this mild climate has changed some of our Christmas traditions.  We put sparkly white lights on the cactus or palm tree, go walking on the beach instead of sledding on the hill;  ride sleighs on wheels, not runners, and after Christmas dinner we bask in the sun instead of ice skating on new skates.

Enjoy the season, Parmalee

There are times when I'm sitting with other moms and we're talking about one of the standard subjects: If there's a mom with a baby, we're talking about nursing or sleeping. If there's a mom with a toddler, we're talking about a house full of mayhem. Any kid-related topic that comes up gets us talking about that subject, even if we're long past it in our child-rearing lives.

Those times are wonderful and create such a great bonding experience, especially between moms. But then, occasionally, it occurs to me that we could actually be talking about something else. The thing is, we may know very little about the other parents amongst us outside of their child-rearing lives. Do we know what she thought she'd be doing as an adult when she was a teen? Do we know the bawdiest story she has from her days working as a barrista? Do we know about her former passion for roller derby? Do we have any idea what she used to talk about before she had kids?

That's why I'm a big advocate of.... continued>>>>>

Links to A Few Articles on Education to Stimulate Your Thinking

At Top Public Schools, the Arts Replace Recess  What do you think of cutting out recess for the arts?

How the Food Industry Eats Your Kids' Lunch  Please, is this really going on?  Is this a re-occuring story?  I thought we fixed this one!

Parental Rights  or the UN Convention on the Rights of the child  Become informed on the positions about who should make decisions about children on these two websites representing opposing approaches.

Link to California Department of Education

California Department of Education.  Go here to find all kinds of information: curriculum and instruction, testing and accountability, educator professional development, finance & grants, data & statistics, learning support and specialized programs.  For example I found out that in Santa Cruz County in the 2010-2011 school year there were 4,192 students in private schools.  I'm still looking for stats on the number of students in home schooling programs, but found interesting information on homeschooling. 

Click here to find questions and answers about homeschooling.

Making a gingerbread house and garden is a great family, or family and friends, project, especially with pre-baked houses! 

These ingredients will give you ideas and choices --you couldn't possibly use all that candy, could you?  Use your imagination.  Let the children get creative. 

Does it have to be perfect?  NO!!

A few book ideas from Hoagie's for your consideration!

"If You're So Smart, How Come Can't You Spell Mississippi?
Katie always thought that her dad was smart; he is one of the busiest attorneys in town! People are always asking him for advice! She has been a bit confused since asking for help with her weekly spelling list. How can her "very smart" dad struggle with one of her spelling words? This definitely did not make sense. The word "Mississippi" had changed everything...

Anthony and the Magic Picture Frame: The Story of the Boy Who Traveled into the Past by Stepping through the Picture Frame on His Bedroom Wall by Michael S. Class
Turns American history into a grand time-travel adventure. Gorgeous hardcover with phenomenal illustrations that bring the reader right into history. Anthony walks on the moon with Neil Armstrong, plays baseball with Lou Gehrig, and flies from New York to Paris with Charles Lindbergh, storms the beaches of Normandy on D-Day, cries with survivors of the Holocaust, and watches battle-weary marines raise the American flag on Iwo Jima. He is with Thomas Edison at the invention of the phonograph, the light bulb, and the motion picture camera. He meets FDR, and works with Doctor Jonas Salk to conquer polio. Be sure to visit Anthony's authors' blog The Right Frame of Mind for more discussion on the lessons of history.

The Zippity-Do-Dot: The Dot Who Dared to Pick Her Knows The escapades of a feisty little dot who pursues her dreams...

The Big Wave by Pearl S. Buck
The famous story of a Japanese boy who must face life after escaping the tidal wave destruction of his family and village...

Go Figure!: A Totally Cool Book About Numbers by Johnny Ball
Filled with puzzles and problems to solve, 4 sections--Where do numbers come from? Magic numbers, Shaping up, and The world of math--cover the history of counting, zero, number theory, Pi, chance, logic, fractals, and more, including brief histories of mathematical greats from Ahmose to Einstein...

Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies: A Guide to Language for Fun and Spite by June Casagrande
We all know one, some of us is one... a Grammar Snob! A fun way to learn grammar, while we learn to laugh at ourselves...

Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
Unflinchingly honest portrayal of childhood problems and emotions changed children's literature forever --remains one of the best children's novels ever written. The fascinating story is about an intensely curious and intelligent girl.

Take Control of Asperger's Syndrome: The Official Strategy Guide for Teens With Asperger's Syndrome and Nonverbal Learning Disorders by Janet Price and Jennifer Engel Fisher
Unique handbook for kids and teens on living successful lives with these disorders by taking control of their strengths to overcome their weaknesses, including tips on understanding the disorders, living with the symptoms, succeeding in school, completing homework, talking to others about strengths and needs, making friends and socializing, and using technology to connect with other kids and teens with these disorders. Includes ideas, information, and advice for students, by students just like them...

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson,
From primordial nothingness to this very moment, A Short History of Nearly Everything reports what happened and how humans figured it out. [Bryson's] aim is to help people like him, who rejected stale school textbooks and dry explanations, to appreciate how we have used science to understand the smallest particles and the unimaginably vast expanses of space...

The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking
It's no secret that many people who own A Brief History of Time have never finished it. Hawking's The Universe in a Nutshell aims to remedy the situation, with a plethora of friendly illustrations to help readers grok some of the most brain-bending ideas ever conceived..."

Developed by Dr. Linda Silverman

"Parents are excellent identifiers of giftedness in their children: 84% of the children whose parents say that they fit ¾ of the following characteristics score at least 120 IQ (the superior range). Over 95% show giftedness in at least one area, but are asynchronous in their development, and their weaknesses depress their IQ scores.

Compared to other children, your child's age, how many of these descriptors fit your child? (For actual scale, click here, please.)"

The Characteristics of Giftedness Scale was originally developed in 1973 after 10 years of teaching and counseling experience with the gifted. In 1978, it was published in the Colorado Association for the Gifted and Talented Newsletter. It appeared in the first brochure of the Gifted Development Center (then, the Gifted Child Testing Service) in 1980. The descriptors were selected to meet the following specific criteria:

(a) representative of the majority of children tested;
(b) applicable to a wide age range;
(c) generalizable to children of different socioeconomic backgrounds;
(d) gender fair;
(e) easily observed in the home environment;
(f) brief and clearly worded for ease of interpretation by parents.

To learn more visit Gifted Development Center

Below is only a partial list

of upcoming events and activities.

Click on our EVENT CALENDAR for more!

Submit your event!

Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre presents the holiday magic of The Nutcracker for the ninth time at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium with the Santa Cruz Ballet Orchestra conducted by John Larry Granger. Performances are Friday, Saturday and Sunday, December 16-18.

Continuing twenty-nine years of dance excellence in Santa Cruz County, Artistic Directors Robert Kelley and Diane Cypher stage an enchanting production that delights balletomanes and family audiences alike.

Set to the unforgettable Tchaikovsky score played by a 55-piece orchestra in full view of the audience, Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre's The Nutcracker comes alive with beautiful sets and sparkling costumes. Guest artists join the cast as the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier: Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre alumna Melody Herrera, principal dancer with Houston Ballet, and alumnus Lucien Postlewaite, principal dancer with Seattle's Pacific Northwest Ballet.

The Nutcracker is one of the worlds' most popular ballets, and has become a part of American Christmas tradition. Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker music is undeniably a wealth of unforgettable melodic invention.

Norman Peck, percussionist with the Orchestra, spoke about Tchaikovsky as a master of orchestration, about Maestro Larry Granger's high expectations for the muscians, and about being a part of this glorious production that Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre presents.

Indulge your senses, whether it be your ears full of the live orchestra, or eyes full of dancing dolls, whirling snowflakes, and waltzing flowers. Continue your favorite Christmas tradition or create a new tradition for your family and friends.