September 2011

Do You Like to Dance? Win FREE Tickets to Yo Gabba Gabba

I Like To Dance–Yo Gabba Gabba Do you like to dancey dance? Take the kids to see DJ Lance Rock, Muno, Foofa, Brobee, Plex, and Toodee in this live event that includes music, animation, games, singing and dancing. Special guests rock their favorite Dancey Dance moves and join the party on stage for the Super [...]

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Trick or Treating To Do Good

by Sandra Foyt

Children look forward to that one day of the year when the candy coffers are opened wide and they can bring home enough sweet treats to keep dentists in business the rest of the year. Yes, we’re talking about trick or treating on Halloween. I’m all for this tradition – I’ve done my fair share [...]

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You’ve Been Booed!

by Sandra Foyt

Leave it to Hershey’s to commercialize our neighborhood tradition. Every year an anonymous neighbor leaves a ghostly gift at our door in the weeks leading to Halloween, merely asking us to pay it forward. This year,* we were “phantomed” just two days before Halloween, so we rushed to Target to put together our gift. The [...]

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The Half Moon Is In Albany–“Eight Bells and All Is Well”

by Sandra Foyt

Despite recent historic weather events, the Half Moon – a full-scale, operating replica of the Dutch ship of exploration that Henry Hudson sailed in 1609 – arrived in Albany on September 19 to a grand water display and cannon fire. For three weeks, the Half Moon will be docked at the Albany Riverfront Water Pumping [...]

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How Do You Like Them Apples?

by Sandra Foyt

Sunlight in autumn casts a warm glow on ruby red apples and fallen golden leaves, beckoning us to apple picking farms for our annual indulgence of Honeycrisp apples, cider donuts, and apple cider. “Surely the apple is the noblest of fruits.” — Henry David Thoreau, Wild Apples “Why not upset the apple cart? If you [...]

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Join the Drum Circle and Stay for the Keller Plays for Kids Show (Family Four-Pack Giveaway!)

by Sandra Foyt

Some folks argue that there is more to a drum circle than just the beat, “A drumming circle induces harmony, euphoria and rhythm to the chaos of today’s life,” says Stacey. I don’t know about that, but you can find out for yourself when Ken Crampton & Everybody Drum open the Keller Plays for Kids [...]

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Confessions of a Kumon Mom

by Sandra Foyt

I confess. It’s my fault that my son doesn’t like math. Before he entered 1st grade, I thought it would be a great idea to give him the same advantage enjoyed by many successful Asian mathematicians. The media often reminds us that Americans are losing the math wars, and I didn’t want his path to [...]

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Taking the SCAT Test and Testing for Talent

by Sandra Foyt

When these articles first appeared on www.TheJourneyMom.com, my eight-year-old son had just taken the SCAT test. In the years since, I’ve come to appreciate the inherent value in learning not to fear standardized tests as well as the opportunities that this admission test opens up – not least of which is the Johns Hopkins family [...]

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Learning About Outdoor Cooking

by Sandra Foyt

One of the many things that I like about Girl Scouts is that girls learn new skills, and quite often, it’s from each other. In this photo, taken at an Outdoor Cooking Class, Zali taught Kayla and Rachel how to slice onions for a Campfire Beef Stew. While slicing onions is a common cooking skill, [...]

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Is your child’s car seat safe? Get a car seat safety check!

by Sandra Foyt

Did you know that “3 out of 4 kids are not as secure in the car as they should be because their car seats are not being used correctly?” (NHTSA) I can well imagine that’s true. No matter how carefully you read the manual (and often it’s unintelligible in any language,) you’re never certain if [...]