On the Go with NW Kid Chaser

The Wonder of Weather...

7/5/2013

In preparation for the upcoming First Lego League 2013 Season,
our Lego team recently visited the local experts
who forecast the weather.

Our first stop was the Portland office for the National Weather Service.

This great tour gave us general info. on how this agency works to monitor, predict, and warn citizens about severe weather or natural disasters. Click here to schedule your own tour.

Next, we stopped by the Portland Preparedness Center.

This small store has everything you need to prepare, stay safe, and rebuild after natural disasters.

Finally, we were welcomed to KGW Channel 8 by Chief Meteorologist Matt Zaffino.

We were awed by the buzzing TV studio and the groovy-cool green screen. With TV, the internet, twitter, and Facebook, KGW can give you the latest weather info. any time of the day.

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    Knowing where you are going is often the hardest part of the journey. As my children have entered school, I've worked hard to show them how the skills and knowledge they gain now, can help them later. Math helps in cooking. Reading and writing help you communicate and learn. Music feeds the soul.
   I've also been talking to my boys about the schooling that comes after high school. Want to be an engineer? There's a college for that. Want to sail the ocean? You can make that your career with an oceanography degree. College offers specialized classes for whatever it is that your heart desires and the fun of dorm life, campus activities, and study-abroad are a true gift.
   Here is Salem, I've made sure my boys spend time on the local University campus: Guest speakers, concerts, art museum, the campus green space. This past summer, I also made sure they saw the beauty that is: Ford Hall.
    Ford Hall is the most recently built building on campus and as home to the math department - is uber cool. A few of its highlights include:

Natural light, comfy sofas, and open work space!

Benches made from the trees harvested from the land on which the building now sits!

Frosty white boards for collaborative work!

Modern art and treasures found in every corner and crevice!

Willamette University has a variety of great children's programs as well - both during the school year and in the summer. The ultimate planner -- I have to say: It's never too early to think ahead.

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Quiet Time...

3/11/2012

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My husband and I testified at a planning commission meeting this past week. That means our first grader was asked to sit quietly (and still) for more almost two hours. This is a tall task within the uncomfortable City Council Chambers of City Hall. Mommy bragging moment: our boy handled it beautifully.

This wasn’t our first meeting at City Hall. When we go to these events, we go prepared. A bag (with books, paper, crayons, snacks and water) holds all our trusty supplies. As a last minute addition, I threw in a handheld calculator as we headed out from home.

Wowza: What a success! My son quietly busied himself with this calculator for at least half the meeting. He added. He subtracted. He multiplied. He divided. He said “Hello.”

An oldie, but a goodie!

I’ve now added a simple hand-held calculator to our ‘quiet time’ supplies. What a gem. Hooray for citizen involvement and numerical distractions!

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Time for Learning..

9/26/2010

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From the outside looking in…
being my kid opens the door to great fun.
But take a closer look and…
being my kid can also bring a bit of torture.

Case in point:
My eight year old son is on the cusp of mastering the analog clock. As he is learning to “tell time,” he has tried to convince me that analog clocks are out of date and that only digital clocks will exist in the future. Cue the rolling of my eyes.

To begin our lessons, I pulled the kitchen clock off the wall and we practiced the art of o’clocks and half-pasts. My five year-old was in charge of moving about the clock hands. My eight year-old was in charge of telling the correct time. I was in charge of giving high-fives all around.

Fast forward to another day:
I packed the boys in the car and headed to the local clock shop. I’d like to say that my boys were shocked by this turn of events, but they’re old enough to know their Momma well. Cue the rolling of their eyes.