Peninsula Family, January 2012

familyService-Minded Kids

LEARN HOW TO RAISE THEMPage 6

PENINSULA

MEDIA OVERLOADChildren in the U.S. watch an average

of 3 to 4 hours of TV a day, which

can have negative health implications.

A healthier choice? Playing outside.

L ive Well Now.OMC and Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe are working together for healthier kids.

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published by the Peninsula Daily News Main offi ce: 305 W. First St., Port Angeles, WA 98362 360-452-2345

John C. Brewer editor & publisherSteve Perry advertising director

Jennifer Veneklasen section editor

PLEASE LET US KNOW WHAT YOU’D LIKE TO SEE in the next issue of Peninsula Family, which will be published in April.

This quarterly publication welcomes input and new contributors. Educators, parents and professionals in their fi eld are invited to contribute

informative and educational articles or columns for consideration.For articles, save as a text document attachment or in the body of an email

and send to Jennifer Veneklasen, section editor, at [email protected]. (Note the period between the fi rst and last name.)

For photos, please email or send a CD with JPEGs scanned at least at 200 dpi/resolution.

We cannot guarantee publication due to space and content considerations. If your submission is accepted, we reserve the right to edit it.

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Other features:page 3 . . . . . . . . . Preschool on a college campus page 5 . . . . . . . . . Teen movie nightpage 7 . . . . . . . . . YMCA Mentoring Programpage 8 . . . . . . . . . Paws to Read page 9 . . . . . . . . . Top baby names

page 10 . . . . . . . . Toddlers and technology

On Page 6, read an article about how to raise service-minded children

and also fi nd a list of volunteer opportunities that toddlers, school-

aged kids and teens will enjoy.

Owen Oaks asked guests to his sixth birthday party to bring nonperishable food items as gifts. At right, Owen is

shown lugging a bag of those donations to the Port Angeles Food Bank. >>

Cover story

2 Peninsula Family, January 2012 Peninsula Daily News

Peninsula College, a place where

continued on Page 4 >>

YOUNG MINDSSOAR

Photos by Jennifer Veneklasen

Top picture: Ashley Keeler-Reis and her son Cohen Seiler, Savannah Boulton and Emily Boling enjoy

interactive storytime at the Peninsula College Educare Center.

Middle: Romeo DeBello, Jackson Pankey and Griffi n Tanner watch

teacher Susan Herbert stir the “soup” during storytime.

At right: Mary Louise Melly, director of the Peninsula College Early

Childhood Children’s Programs.

ach year, about 28 children, ages 3 to 5, attend preschool at Peninsula College’s Educare Cen-ter located on the west side of campus.

The classroom is one big space of exploration with shapes, colors, numbers, letters and sensory objects in every nook and cranny.

In addition to classroom time, teachers use the col-lege’s large campus as a playground and teaching tool for their students’ fertile young minds.

The center’s programming focuses on the active exploration, meaning that hands-on activities provide opportunities for children to develop their social emo-tional, physical, cognitive and language skills in a nur-turing environment.

Everything is labeled with a picture and name to help kids with reading and in learning to put things back in their place — all this done with the goal of using the environment productively so that the kids see themselves as successful and capable learners.

Art projects and family boards with photos fill the walls, and there is nary a television in sight.

Every Monday, with teacher encouragement, each student tells his or her class about what he or she did over the weekend.

In doing so, the children are beginning to learn the art of public speaking and storytelling.

They sing songs and are assigned classroom jobs. Connection with one another and the larger commu-

nity, as well as self control, are stepping stones of focused development at the school.

“All of our activities are really purposeful,” says director Mary Lou Melly, who has been at the center for more than 18 years.

“We are getting them ready for kindergarten, but we also want them to feel part of a community because that teaches them about the world.”

Both Melly and Susan Herbert, an early childhood specialist who has been with Educare for 15 years, agree that children who have a sense of community have less behavior problems when they get into school.

This is because, Herbert says, they get a sense that “we’re all in this together.”

STORY BY JENNIFER [email protected]

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Preschoolers are taken on excursions that weave through wooded trails behind the Peninsula College campus, they get to play on the new track that sur-rounds the school’s soccer field, attend concerts in the Pirate Union Building and visit the 27,000-square-foot, $14 million “adult” library, built in 2008, where they check out books on all sorts of topics.

On Fridays, those 28 anxious little bodies get to play in the main gymnasium where they’ve learned that the Pirates host basketball games.

Herbert frequently takes her class for walks around campus just to explore the many happenings, beautiful grounds and changing seasons.

Last year, her class stumbled upon a big white tent and inside found a huge cedar log that sparked their curiosity.

The class went back to the tent regularly for weeks to watch Jeff Monson of the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe carve a welcome pole that was set to be erected in front of the college’s House of Learning Longhouse.

By observing what their students were naturally interested in, Herbert and co-teacher Ginny Peterson planned lessons and an art project accordingly.

“They love the big library,” Herbert says — so she took them there to check out books about totem poles, and with several books in hand, the class trekked back to the Educare Center and began to learn more about the art of what was happening in the campus tent.

Peterson and Herbert offered them the chance to participate in a group art project in which each child made a black box with a painted face.

From those boxes, the children created two “welcome poles” that the teachers thought were so good, they entered them in the Clallam County Fair where they won a blue ribbon.

To finish their project, the kids attended the pole raising ceremony at the Longhouse where Mon-son’s pole now stands.

The welcome pole is just one example of how the center utilizes college events, and the adults on campus, to broaden the preschoolers’ education.

Melly periodically puts out a call to faculty asking for “anyone interested in sharing their ability” to come do a presentation for the kids.

Bonnie Cauffman, director of human ser-vices, and Nina Pitts, the Peninsula College library supervisor, volunteered to share their love of quilting with the kids.

After their presenta-tion, Peterson offered the children a fun, interactive presentation that included

each child drawing a self-portrait. Those individual square portraits were sewn together to create a quilt which graced the room for many months.

Enrollment

Because the Educare Center exists to help Peninsula College students succeed by giving them a safe place for their kids, first priority for placement in the pre-school is given to children of enrolled students.

College staff have next priority, and if there are still openings, then those spots go to the community.

Children at Educare enjoy a continuity of care that helps them to feel safe. The same two teachers and director are there for them every day, as well as rotat-ing teaching assistants, many of whom are working toward their associate’s degree in early childhood edu-cation through the college.

“They even know the campus security guard and the college president,” Melly says.

Parents can choose to have their children enroll in 4- or 5-day morning preschool, with options to extend care into the afternoons until 4 p.m.

Perhaps the best part for student parents is having their kids on campus — which means they can pop in between classes for a hug or “how you doing.”

Stacia Kiesser, a nursing student at Peninsula Col-lege, has her son, Hayden, enrolled at the center.

“Hayden and I love the Educare Center,” she says. “What I appreciate the most is how involved the

staff are with Hayden’s education. It seems like he has something new to tell me every day.”

She says her son’s favorite activity is Fri-day’s gym day and that he also loves circle-share time and using the water

sensory tables.“I love the fact that he is just a few doors down from

my classes. I know that if I have a break and I want to see his face I can just stop and visit,” she says.

“It really gives me something to look forward to when I need a break from studying . . . It also gives me peace of mind to know that if there was an emergency that I am just a minute away.”

The Educare Center’s philosophy acknowledges that parents are the most important influence in their chil-dren’s lives and as such, parents are asked to be involved with the preschool.

“We take parents where they’re at,” Melly says.That means that some parents may have the time

and energy to come volunteer inside the classroom an hour or two each week, while others may help out by taking home laundry, doing some outside sewing or cut-ting out felt shapes for art projects.

There are also opportunities to take home parent/child interaction projects, or as the kids like to say, “homework.”

“Kids will see their mom or dad lugging home a backpack full of homework, and they’ll say, ‘I want to do homework, too,’ ” Melly says.

There are also family nights during which preschool-ers are actively involved in party preparations — mak-ing placemats for dinner and sending out invitations to their parents.

For more information on the center, contact Melly at 360-417-6530 or email [email protected]. ■

Educare Centercontinued from Page 3


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NIGHT

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eens can sit back and relax at the first in a new monthly series of Teen Friday Movies at the Sequim Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave., on Friday, Jan. 27, at 5:30 p.m.

Movie selections are all based on novels, and audience members are encouraged to read the novels before coming to the movie.

• The January movie will be based upon the novel I Am Legend by Richard Matheson.

• The movie based upon the popular Ian Fleming novel, Casino Royale, will be shown at 5:30 p.m. on February 24.

• At 5:30 p.m. on March 30 teens can see the exciting movie based upon the true event detailed in the novel, Bringing Down the House by Ben Mizrich.

The goal of this new program is to provide a safe and free entertainment option for youth, ages 13 and older, on Friday nights.

The program was suggested by the newly-formed Young Adult Advisory Group in hopes that the library will serve not only as a place for learning, but also as a community gathering place where teens can be with their friends.

All movies are shown under the terms of a licensing agreement through which the North Olympic Library System can hold public showings of selected titles.

On movie nights, only the meeting room and lobby of the Sequim Library will be open. Staff will supervise the free event, and movie-type refreshments will be provided.

For movie titles and more information about the Teen Friday Movies and other activities for young adults at the Sequim Library and the North Olympic Library System, go to www.nols.org, or contact the Sequim Library at 360-683-1161 or email [email protected].

The North Olympic Library System can also be found on Facebook and Twitter. “Like” or “follow” the North Olympic Library System to get regular updates in your feeds.

wen Oakes’ sixth birthday party has the trappings of any kid party: cupcakes, cards, presents and a very excited child.

What’s different about this gathering at the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center (or SARC) is the box where guests are putting non-perishable food that Owen will later donate to the Port Angeles Food Bank.

Owen’s mom, Kayla Oakes, included the food bank donations in the party invitation because Owen mentioned that he’d like to collect food for people who need it.

Kayla says she suggested Owen use his party

as an opportunity to ask friends for donations and pointed out that it’s a way that he could give back and fill other people’s buckets.

“As good as he feels when someone does some-thing special for him, he can help create that same feeling for someone else,” she says.

“It’s important for kids to think beyond them-selves and to empower them to reach out and be a part of a solution.”

Kayla’s sentiments echo what I think all parents want for their children: to be kind, giving people.

We want them to be able to see outside of themselves and think about what is happening in the world around them.

Volunteering with kids is a great way to help instill these values.

Collecting donations or money for a charity is a simple and great way to involve younger kids in volunteerism, but it’s also possible to go further and really get your kids’ hands “dirty” with mean-ingful work.

Teens and older children can usually join right in on any projects adults are involved with, but littler children do better if parents give some extra forethought about what they’re going to do.

Choosing what our children do in the name of doing good can be a little tricky.

Be certain to follow the interests of your child or children and make sure the work leaves the kids wanting to do more and not overwhelmed by the problems of the world. Parents should also check in with agencies before bringing children along for service work to make sure the projects are age-appropriate and safe.

One great place to start your search for a ser-vice project or volunteer opportunity is the North

Olympic Volunteer Center. As part of the Clallam County YMCA’s mission

supporting social responsibility, Jacques Livings-ton has been the director of the volunteer center for about three years. Contact the center and you will be connected to local volunteer opportunities.

A few of Jacques’ favorite projects include gleaning produce from Nash’s Organic Farm to donate to local food banks, helping serve dinner to more than 100 people every week at the Friend-ship Dinner at the Port Angeles First Methodist Church, and the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day volunteer blitz that is sponsored by the local AmeriCorps team.

This year’s program bussed volunteers to mul-tiple locations for different projects.

Another way to get involved in supporting your community is through a new organization: Com-munity Cares of Clallam County.

Bonnie Schmidt was inspired to help local fami-lies support other local families over the holidays.

What started as a group of moms meeting in her living room with kids in tow last fall, turned into a successful gift and warm clothing collection that outfitted more than 35 families served by Serenity House programs.

My 6-year-old chose a kid to help, added $8 of her own money to our family cash and picked two pairs of shoes and a warm coat to donate.

Other children were involved in collecting donations, wrapping gifts and delivering items to Serenity House just before the holidays.

Bonnie hopes that Community Cares of Clal-lam County sponsors a service project quarterly.

RAISINGkids

SERVICE-MINDEDSTORY BY CARRIE SANFORD

Photo by Carrie Sanford

Owen Oaks asked guests who attended his 6th birthday party at the Sequim Aquatic Recreation Center (or SARC) to bring non-perishable food items with them to the party. Owen later donated the gifts to the Port Angeles Food Bank. continued on the next page >>

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The Building Futures Mentoring Program, overseen by the Olympic Pen-insula YMCA, matches students ages 6 to 11 with supportive, caring adult and high school mentors in Port Townsend, Chimacum and Port Angeles.

Young students in the program (aka mentees) are referred by teach-ers, counselors and parents who feel the child would benefit from one-on-one mentoring.

Once paired with an adult or high school mentor age 15 or older, the “matches” get together weekly for conversation, games, art and crafts, reading and other relationship-building activities.

Though the program is not academic in nature, there are times when aca-demics sneak in to their time together, says Kim Hammers, Jefferson Coun-ty’s program coordinator.

Matches meet for one hour every week on a des-ignated day and time, ensuring consistency in the child’s life, for an entire school year.

Building Futures’ mis-sion is to provide a strong and genuinely positive influence in a child’s life, to empower a child with self confidence and trust that he or she can have a suc-cessful future.

Currently there are about 50 matches in the programs in Clallam and Jefferson counties.

Kim says that through this type of focused attention, kids in the pro-gram learn that they are important.

“A one-on-one relationship reaps many benefits, including self-confi-dence and self-esteem,” she says.

“They develop a friendship based on trust with a person who is there for them when they want to talk.”

Kim says that when she is talking with kids in the program and asks how things are going, it is always with a smile that they tell her all about what they’ve been doing — whether it’s beating their mentor in a board game or learning something new together.

Mentors, Kim says, are given the opportunity to be a kid for an hour a week — a kid who is a consistent role model for their mentee.

And, they see first hand the impact they’re making in a child’s life.Matches can continue up to four years with a high school mentor and

up to seven years with an adult mentor. It all begins with a one-year contract, agreed upon and signed by both

mentee and mentor. The contract is renewed each year as specific to the individual match.

A handful of matches are closed due to attrition with high school men-tors leaving for college, mentees and mentors moving and, of course, a natural closure when both mentor and mentee feel the program has “done its magic,” Kim says.

However, many matches stay in contact with one another and carry on a lifelong friendship, she says.

Training for volunteers begins with an interview and continues with match support, brown-bag lunches and coffee meet-and-greets, held con-tinually throughout the year.

For more information on the Building Futures Mentoring Program, go to www.olympicpeninsulaymca.org or phone Kim at 360-774-6342. ■

— By Jennifer Veneklasen

Mentoring program, a win-win for participants

>> In its purest form, providing service to community is in the everyday, simple acts that we perform in front of our children: holding the door for someone whose hands are full, taking a grocery cart back to the store for someone in the parking lot, taking a meal to a neighbor when he or she are ill or just had a baby, picking up trash when it’s in the wrong place or smiling at someone we don’t know just because they look sad.

Raising service-minded kids starts with how we live our day-to-day lives and how we treat others.

Children definitely do what we do and not always what we say.

So, whatever you choose to do with your kids, the most important thing is to do some-thing, anything that makes this world even a tiny bit better.

Children will follow our lead. Who knows: Maybe your kid will ask to collect donations for the food bank at their next

birthday party, like Owen did. ■

Carrie Sanford is a mama, wife, educator, artist and cook. She lives in Port Angeles with her 6-year-old daughter, Abby, and husband, Tom. She keeps a blog full of delicious recipes, many that focus on local, in-season produce.

Visit her blog at www.rhubarbsky.com.

For more information about the North Olympic Volunteer Center, visit its website: http://tinyurl.com/7xwx6pz or contact Jacques Livingston at the Y: email: [email protected]

For more information about Community Cares of Clallam County, join their Facebook group: www.facebook.com/CCofCC or contact Bonnie Schmidt by email at: [email protected].

VOLUNTEER IDEAS FOR KIDS:Tiny Tots• Pick up trash at a park or in your neighborhood.• Make art and bring it to a nursing home for the residents.• Collect money or donations for a favorite charity (one of the Peninsula food banks or humane society, Serenity House, First Step and Healthy Fami-lies of Clallam County are all great examples).• Donate clothing and toys from their rooms that they’ve outgrown or are done with.• Plant crops at a community garden.

School Aged• Tree planting.• Help sort food at a food bank.• Pet and walk animals at an animal shelter.• Ask neighbors if they can collect fruit from their trees to donate to the food bank.• Get involved with the Washington Coast Savers spring coast cleanup.

Middle and High School Aged• Help at your local library, the Feiro Marine Life Center, the Port Townsend Marine Sci-ence Center or any other place that matches the child’s interests• Organize a food, clothing or coat drive.• Sew hats or quilts for babies or families in need.• Mentor or tutor a younger kid.

Photo by Kristen Johnson

Author Carrie Sanford has encouraged her daughter, Abby, to do service work in the community since she was very young. Carrie says that Abby still remembers planting trees when she was just 2- or 3-years-old.

Imogen Williamson and Madison Pruitt, a Port Townsend high school mentor, help out with the Jefferson County Family YMCA’s “Dine Out For Kids” held last April in which the YMCA program recruited 22 local restaurants to pledge 15 percent of their proceeds to support the mentoring program.

“Your children become what you are; so be what you want them to be.”

— David Bly


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Tally, a Gentle Paws therapy dog, enjoys a book with a friend at the Forks Library.

ibraries across the North Olympic Peninsula often open their doors to furry four-legged friends for special programs geared to encour-age children to improve their reading skills.

Olympic Gentle Paws members bring their canine companions to public libraries in Sequim, Port Ange-les and Forks to allow children of all ages a chance to practice their reading skills during free Paws to Read events.

Gentle Paws, a volunteer-based group, also takes dogs for visits to schools, libraries and nursing homes after dogs are trained and certified following Therapy Dogs International guidelines.

A similar summer program, known as Read to Rover, encourages youngsters to read at the Port Townsend and Jefferson County libraries.

No registration is necessary for any of the free programs and children can participate at any time during the hour long events.

“The benefits of children reading to a dog are two-fold,” says Chris Cornell, coordinator of Gentle Paws.

“Children have a chance to prac-tice their reading skills in a non-judgmental setting because dogs never judge if children are having difficultly pronouncing a word or are slow readers. Kids also have a chance to interact with a well-trained dog in a comfortable setting.”

Gentle Paws dogs and trainers also visit nursing homes in Sequim and Port Angeles and schools including Greywolf, Hamilton, Roosevelt and Jefferson elementary schools and Olympic Christian School.

“A lot of the children know the dogs already because Gentle Paws visits their elementary school so they are excited to have another chance to read to and pet the dogs,” says Antonia Krupicka-Smith, Sequim youth services librarian.

Librarians at each of the participating libraries say experience has shown that interacting with ther-apy dogs can help children build reading skills and confidence as readers.

The Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St.,

will host Paws to Read at 2 p.m. Saturdays, Feb. 11 and March 10.

Patti Swingle, the youth services specialist at the Port Angeles Library, says four or five Gentle Paws dogs and their trainers will visit the library offering children a chance to read in the coming months.

“It is a wonderful opportunity for children who don’t normally have an chance to interact with a dog,” Swingle says. “The dogs are well behaved and are very attentive listeners.”

In Forks, a Gentle Paws therapy dog named Tally, and her trainer, Sherry Schaaf, will visit the library, 171 S. Forks Ave., at 3:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Feb. 21 and March 20.

“The kids really enjoy seeing a dog in the library,” says Pam Force, North Olympic Library System’s West End youth librarian.

“If children are of reading age, they can read to Tally. If they are too young to read, they can pet Tally while someone reads to them.”

STORY BY BRENDA [email protected]

PAWS TO READFOUR-LEGGED FRIENDS PROVE GOOD LISTENERS

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Upcoming Paws to Read events

Port Angeles LibrarySaturday, Feb. 11, at 2 p.m. andSaturday, March 10, at 2 p.m.

Sequim LibrarySaturday, Feb. 18, at 10 a.m. andSaturday, March 17, at 10 a.m.

Forks LibraryTuesday, Feb. 21, at 3:30 p.m. andTuesday, March 20, at 3:30 p.m.

The Social Security Adminis-tration says Jacob was the most popular name for baby boys in 2010. Isabella was the most popular name for baby girls.

Jacob and Isabella are coin-cidentally the two of the main characters in “Twilight,” the popular young adult vampire series from Stephenie Meyer.

Elvis, meanwhile, has left the list of the 1,000 most popu-lar names for the first time since 1954.

Jacob is on a 12-year run at the top, followed by Ethan, Michael, Jayden and William.

Isabella sits at the top for a second year, followed by Sophia, Emma, Olivia and Ava.

Maci was the fastest-rising name for girls, and Bentley for boys. Maci Bookout starred in the reality TV show, “16 and Pregnant.” Her son is named Bentley.

Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue says he will leave it to others to explain the phenomenon.

— The Associated Press

“Children have a chance to practice their reading skills in a nonjudgmental setting because dogs never judge if children are having diffi cultly pronouncing a word or are slow readers.”

— Chris Cornell, coordinator of Gentle Paws

Top baby names have ‘Twilight’ infl uence

>> The Sequim Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave., will host five to six dogs during Paws to Read events at 10 a.m. Saturdays, Feb. 18 and March 17.

Paws to Read started in Sequim in September and has received great response from the community, says Krupicka-Smith.

“Some of the dogs perform tricks, which the kids really enjoy and the program motivates children to gain extra reading practice with a nonjudgmental audience because the dogs are always patient and never judge.”

For more information about Paws to Read, visit www.nols.org, or contact your local library.

Port Townsend Library, 1220 Lawrence St., and the Jefferson County Library, 620 Cedar Ave. in Port Had-lock, will announce dates for the summer Read to Rover as summer nears. ■

In this fi lm publicity image released by Summit Entertainment, Kristen Stewart, left (Bella), and Robert Pattinson are shown in a scene from “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”


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here’s a new routine these days whenever Amber Mullaney goes out to eat at a restaurant.

While waiting to be seated, she asks her husband to get the phone ready to hand over to their 2-year-old daughter, Tatum.

The phone — with its ability to stream episodes of Dora the Explorer — is a godsend, Mullaney says.

Attempts at going out without whipping out the gadget have been disastrous, the mom says.

Her curious, independent toddler gets into every-thing. Salt shakers are fiddled with, drinks are spilled.

“She’ll color for a little bit or talk with us for a lit-tle bit, but it’s short-lived,” Mullaney says. “It’s miser-able because all she wants to do is get out.”

With the iPhone, however, Tatum sits quietly in the booth while her parents get to enjoy a meal.

Mullaney, a marketing manager for a technology company, sometimes wishes they could do without the phone because she doesn’t want people to think they’re using technology to shut their child up, but

she also doesn’t want to give up going out.“Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do,” she

says.Mullaney is in good company. About 40 percent of 2- to 4-year-olds (and 10 per-

cent of kids younger than that) have used a smart-phone, tablet or video iPod, according to a new study by the nonprofit group Common Sense Media.

Roughly 1 in 5 parents surveyed said they give their children these devices to keep them occupied while running errands.

There are thousands of apps targeted specifically to babies and toddlers — interactive games that name body parts, for example, or sing nursery rhymes.

It has become commonplace to see little ones flick-ing through photos on their parents’ phones during church or playing games on a tablet during a bus, train or plane ride.

Parents of newborns rave about an app that plays white noise, a womb-like whoosh that lulls screaming babies to sleep.

In fact, toymaker Fisher Price has just released a

new hard case for the iPhone and iPod touch, framed by a colorful rattle, which allows babies to play while promising protection from “dribbles, drool and unwanted call-making.”

Denise Thevenot acknowledges that some people would look askance at the idea of giving a child a $600 device to play with — she had the same con-cerns initially.

Then she discovered the sheer potential.“The iPad is movies, books and games all wrapped

in one nice package,” says Thevenot, who works in the New Orleans tourism industry.

The iPad, she says, keeps her 3-year-old son Frankie busy for hours.

And, when needed, taking it away “is the greatest punishment. ... He loves it that much.”

Kaamna Bhojwani-Dhawan is an unapologetic pro-ponent of the trend.

“If you’re raising children, you’ve got to raise them with the times,” says Bhojwani-Dhawan, who lives in Silicon Valley and founded the family travel website Momaboard.com.

SQUIRMY TODDLER? There’s an app for that

story by RASHA MADKOUR, The Associated Press

continued on the next page >>

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Math Tutoring • Private Educationprovide the foundation you need to succeed.

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I’m Sean Dodds, an aspiring US Naval Officer.I’ve known Andrew Martynanov for over 10 years, during which time I’ve come to know him as a dedicated math instructor of great integrity who shows great enthusiasm for mathematics and his students. Prior to him, I struggled with math. His instruction has given me the head start I needed to excel in the Navy and at the world’s premier aerospace university, Embry Riddle.

As a full time homeschooler I depended on Andrew Martya-nov’s outstanding instruction in math and physics, as well as his guidance for enabling me to become a naval cadet and a graduate of the United States Naval Academy.Nicholas Carr, US Naval Officer

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“If adults are going all digital, how can we expect children to be left behind?”

Her 2 ½-year-old, Karam, loves the Good-ieWords app, which explains complex con-cepts like “shadow” and “electricity.”

Other favorites are a memory matching game with farm animals and a drawing program.

Bhojwani-Dhawan points out that Karam also has books, crayons and Legos.

“It’s not replacing any of these things; it’s one more thing he’s getting exposed to,” she says.

Experts say balance is key.“It’s really important that children have a variety

of tools to learn from. Technology gadgets can be one of those tools, but they shouldn’t dominate, especially when we’re talking about very young children,” says Cheryl Rode, a clinical psychologist at the San Diego Center for Children, a nonprofit that provides mental health services.

“If kids are isolating themselves or if it’s narrowing their range of interest in things — everything else is boring — those are big red flags,” Rode says.

“You want them to have the ability to find lots of different ways to engage themselves.”

For public relations consultant Stacey Stark, one red flag was seeing her 1 ½-year-old cry if she wasn’t allowed to hold Stark’s iPhone.

Little Amalia has dropped the phone, leaving it with a small crack on the back.

She has also called a colleague of Stark’s and almost shot off an email to a client.

For all those reasons, Stark and her husband have started to cut back on how much they let Amalia and 4-year-old Cecelia use their phones and tablets.

“It became an issue. We’re trying to make it go away,” she says.

“It was easy for it to become a crutch.”Since scaling back, Stark says, she has seen her

daughters engage in more imaginative play. Still, there is a positive side to the technology,

Stark says. She thinks Montessori reading and spelling apps

have accelerated her older daughter’s learning in those areas.

“But,” she adds, “it’s such a delicate balance.”

Wake Forest University psychology professor Debo-rah Best, who specializes in early childhood, agrees that children can benefit from programs that are age-appropriate and designed for learning.

But “interacting with devices certainly does not replace one-on-one, face-to-face interaction between chil-dren and parents, or children and peers,” Best says.

Those interactions, she says, help children learn such skills as reading emotions from facial expressions and taking turns in conversations.

Joan McCoy, a bookstore owner and grandmother of five in Seattle, worries that this new generation will lack some of those social skills.

When her son and daughter-in-law get together with other parents and their kids, they give the children mobile phones to play with, or the children bring along toy computers.

“There is absolutely no conversation among them or with their parents. They are glued to the machine,” McCoy says.

It’s a different story when the youngsters, ages 2 through 7, are out with their grandmother.

McCoy brings along books, sometimes ones with only pictures, and asks the kids what they think is going on

and what they would do in a similar situation.“They just talk and they’re excited and they’re

engaged,” McCoy says. “They never ask for my cellphone, which is amazing

because when we go with the parents, that’s the first thing they ask for.”

McCoy acknowledges she has the luxury of being a grandparent and having the time to do these things.

“It’s harder. It takes more discipline, it takes more time, and it requires interacting with the child as opposed to the child being entertained on their own,” she says.

Eileen Wolter, a writer in New Jersey, readily admits to taking the easier path with her 3- and 6-year-old sons: “I’m buying my kids’ silence with an expensive toy.”

When her in-laws get together for a family meal, iPhones get passed to five children.

The adults talk while the kids play, their contribu-tion to the discussion typically limited to announcing they have cleared another level on a game. When that happens, Wolter starts to think, “Eek!”

But then she says to herself, “Yeah, but we had a nice dinner.” ■

Parents of newborns rave about an app that plays white noise, a womb-like whoosh that lulls screaming babies to sleep. In fact, toymaker Fisher Price has just released a new hard case for the iPhone and iPod touch, framed by a color-ful rattle, which allows babies to play while promising protection from “dribbles, drool and unwanted call-making.”


S E Q U I M A Q U A T I C R E C R E A T I O N C E N T E R

683-3344

Thirty Day Passes

Adult (18 & up) $50.83Youth (8-17) $25.42Child (3-7) $12.71

Daily AdmissionAdult (16 and up) $8Youth (8-15) $4*Child (2-7) $2*Infant (0-2) Free

*Must be accompanied by a person18 or older in all areas of the facility.

Play Place, 8:30-Noon, W–Sat, Ages 1-7

Six Month Passes

Adult (18-61) $255.41Senior (62+) $234.70Youth (8 17) $127.71Child (3 7) $63.85Family—2 adults in same household $451.78Add to family W/ 6mo pass: Youth $63.86 Child $31.93

Everyone on a family pass must reside in thesame household. Six month and annual passes

provide a discount on monthly class prices.

Annual Passes

Adult (18-61) $386.57Senior (62 & up) $358.96Youth (8-17) $193.29Child (3-7) $96.65Family—2 adults in same household $652.26Family—1 adult $347.91 (must add youth or child to get this price)Add to family W / annual pass: Youth (8-17) $96.65 Child (3-7) $48.32

Annual passes are based on 11 months due to our annual 2-4 week maintenance closure. With a twelve

month expiration date.

FOR KIDS! Waterslide, Land and Water Basketball, Pool Rope Swing,

Diving Board, Zumbatomic®, Swim Lessons, Open Swim, Racquet Ball,

Pickle Ball and Volleyball

Zumba™ is dance fitness with international music and dance moves. Zumbatomic™ is Zumba™ special for kids. This class is best for ages 4 8 but kids of all ages are welcome to join us. Class is $2 plus admission. Parents, feel free to bring your kids to dance with us while you get your own workout or join us for this cardio party. Mondays and Wednesdays 3:30 - 4:15

BASKETBALL COURT

Basketball M & W: 5:00am - 8:00am 10:30am - 12:00pm 3:00pm - 7:45pm F: 5:00am - 8:00am 10:30am - 12:00pm 3:00pm - 6:30pmT & Th: 5:00am - 6:00am 7:00am - 8:00am 3:00pm - 7:00pmSat 8:00am - 7:45pmSun 11:00am - 3:00pm 6:00pm - 7:45pm

Volleyball and pickle ball M-F between 1pm and 3pm. Reserve the gym for pickleball or volleyball.

Included with S.A.R.C. admission.

SHALLOW POOL

Open Swim 5am - 10am M-F12pm - 3:45pm M, W12pm - 8:30pm T, Th & F 6pm - 8:30pm M-F 8am - 7:45pm Sat11am - 7:45pm Sun

Swim lessons Feb 1 - 27 3:45pm - 6pm M & WRegistration Jan 25Children with Pass $21Without Pass $42

Pool area limited to one lap lane, hot tub and saunas for 18 and up.

MAIN POOL

Lap Swim* 5:45am - 9:00am M-F12:00pm - 1:00pm M-F 8:00am - 10:00am Sat11:00am - 1:00pm Sun

Open Swim 1:00pm - 3 pm M-F 6:00pm - 8:30pm M-F Slide Friday 6-6:30pm10:00am - 7:45pm Sat 1:00pm - 7:45pm Sun Slide Sat & Sun 4:30 – 5pm

*Everyone welcome at lap swim as long as they can swim laps with out assistance (single file).

mmmmmmmmmmmmm

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Peninsula Family, January 2012

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Transcript of Peninsula Family, January 2012