I support the following faculty:

Manuel Blum, Roger Dannenberg, John Lafferty, Luis Von Ahn

Photos

PARENTING
"Perfectionism & motherhood cannot possibly coexist." -Amelia Williams

Developmental Update - Kayla can spell her name. recite her full home address (including zipcode) and loves to learn math. She likes to do 5x7 puzzles and uses the scissors quite well. She can fasten/unfasten zippers and buckle herself in the car seat. She is also an artist in progress...See her recent drawing.

Kayla's Photos

Advice To Families with Young Toddlers

• Tell your toddlers that daycare is “school”. This is a great motivator and will also get them excited about learning
• When correcting your toddlers bad behavior, stoop down, look them in the eye, use a stern voice, then tell them not to do it. This really works!!!
• Don't just count from 1-10 with your kids and then stop. Continue counting through 20.
• Teach your child another language. Their brains are molds of clay at this age.
• Instill morals in your kids beginning ASAP. They are sponges and will absorb all you teach them.

Kayla's Toddler Talk

• "Mommy, the black shoes are not working anymore, but the purple ones will work." TRANSLATION: Her way of saying one pair is too small, the other pair is just right.
• "I want to fix cars" GRANDMA'S REPLY: You can't do that right now. "But Grandma, I WILL be grown up and I WILL fix cars."
• "It's too loud. You can't bounce it in the house, Mommy." ANALYSIS: Don't do what you tell your kids NOT to do.
• NEWFOUND LOGIC : "Mommy, are you doing stretches? Do you have to take lessons?" and "Look at the steeple up there. I need a ladder."
• SCIENCE HUMOR: "The balloon is dancing." RE: She sees a balloon filled w/ helium moving around the room.
• OUT-OF-THE-BOX INTELLECT: "But it's too big to carry." Her response when I told her that the house was up for sale
• UTENSIL CLARIFICATION: "Mommy, this is not silverware. It's a spoon."

Observations

• Kayla is fearless, but of course with boundaries-- She will jump from amazing heights! She will let go of the 6' high monkey bars if I catch her; she wants to go the maximum height and speed without falling out of the playground swing; she will let me grab her feet and swing her round & round;she enjoys watching TV upside-down.
  
  Could all this mean a future gymnast is in the works?

ACTIVITIES
See New Adventures

"Variations in life put the enthusiasm in our hearts. " -Amelia Williams

• Adventure-Richard Petty Experience at Daytona International Speedway; Traveled to Paris, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada, New York City & other U.S. States; Skycoaster & Pitfall rides at Kennywood; Spent ½ hour of my life w/ a live tiger cub at Amazing Exotics in Umatilla Florida (No bites!); Love to ride in anything that goes faster than the Pennsylvania state speed limit; I climbed up the Moro Rock Mountain trail at Sequoia National Park in Three Rivers, California, and stood at the summit: an elevation of 6,725 ft. Did a balancing act on one leg at Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado.
• On The Go-Rollerblading, Ice Skating, Biking, Weight Training.
• To Do-skydiving, bungejumping, aviation rent-a-rides, hotair ballooning, travel to Italy & Germany, wild safari in Africa & Australia. .
• Not to Do-snowboarding / skiing in Pennsylvania, fly from Belgium to Pgh (6 hours) with a 17-month old, long roads trips on minimal sleep, red-eye plane flights, watching too much TV, going to sporting events.
• Intellectual Interests-Critical thinking, current events, reading, politics, process improvement, problem solving.
• Other-arts/culture/music/

THINGS I’VE LEARNED

Look like a million bucks, but don’t spend it… Every piece of junk is worth something… Don’t judge a remodeling job by quality of materials…Credit cards can actually save you money… Try everything once... Faith works!