Area Day Care Providers and their Compliance Ratings
Here's a new web site that provides the public with the compliance histories of the child care providers in this area - Wisconsin's Licensed Child Care Search.
For simplicity, I've included direct links to some of the local day
cares and their history. You just need to click the compliance history
date to view details. Keep in mind that this web site is new and lacks
specific details about listed violations. Additional information is
necessary to make the right choice with a child care provider; however,
this web site is a great start and a great tool. It's about time this type of information was made public.
Book Publisher for Kids - Tikatok
What happens if I do nothing but let the kids play and dream their summer away -
- They sit in the house, stare at the TV, and become good, personal friends with Ben 10.
- Monkey bars become permanently attached to their feet.
- My worst enemy becomes the distant sound of an ice cream truck.
- Guitar Hero fills my days ... and enters my dreams ... and, in the end, makes me hum the words to Barracuda while I work.
Of course, I'm all for relaxing summers. And I'm all for vacations and fun and teaching my son how to download Kiss songs from iTunes or hiding under blankets "camping" with my four year old. However, I still want to encourage my kids to read and write and use their imagination, even during these warm, relaxing months. I heard that children lose about 2 months of knowledge over the summer. This is very believable, considering that, through association, I'm starting to laugh like Spongebob.
This site looks like fun and encourages kids to really use their imagination. Tikatok
Flying a Freak Flag
Here's a great video. You know - once or twice - we may have had Fruit Loops for dinner. Unfortunately, there were no freak flags!
Recycling Old Computers
Years ago, on the news or in the paper or on the radio as I drove to work, I learned that computers and monitors have toxic metals and - if put in a land fill - the toxic metals can end up in our drinking water. This really spooked me and since then, I developed a collection of old dead computer equipment to either cram in my closet or donate to computer savvy relatives.
Currently my closet cannot hold any more dead electronics and my computer savvy relatives are ignoring me.
