The FABULOUS FRIDAY INTERNET SALE is back! Here’s the SNEAK PEEK for June 10th.
CHOOSE from 3 designs for ONLY $5.00 Each
ON JUNE 10th, CLICK ON ANY POSTER TO ORDER.
MyPyramid PortionSized Poster
MyPyramid for Expecting Moms Poster
MyPyramid for Kids Poster Set
What’s the best way to teach the alphabet to K-5 children? Make them move their arms fast. Or hop over a piece of paper. Or pretend to push open a giant door.
Those are a few of the activities in Alphabet on the Move, a new literacy and activity curriculum from Learning ZoneXpress.
“We wanted to bring together movement and literacy,” explains Jennifer Bridges, co-creator of Alphabet on the Move. “They’re the foundation upon which everything else is built: playing, reading, and learning. And we knew from experience and studies that improved physical activity ties in directly with improved academic performance.”
Alphabet on the Move gives each letter a week’s worth of tracing, writing, and physical activities. On Monday of B is for Balance week, for example, a child will balance on her right foot for three seconds, then traces and writes a capital “B.” On Tuesday, it’s the left foot and a small “b.”
The curriculum also comes with tracing and coloring pages for the students, 26 colorful posters for the classroom, and helpful week-at-a-glace pages for the teacher.
Bridges designed Alphabet on the Move with fellow kinesiologist Karen Abels to meet the standards of the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE).
Jennifer Bridges is a Professor of Kinesiology at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan, and Karen Abels is an Associate Professor of Kinesiology at the University of North Texas. Both are busy developing more movement-centered learning activities for young children.
Brought to you by guest blogger, Michael Lotti.
Kids won’t eat what they don’t know. That’s why LANA the iguana introduces kiwis, sweet potatoes, and a whole rainbow of fruits and vegetables to preschool children across the nation.
The Minnesota Department of Health developed the LANA program – Learning About Nutrition through Activities – in 2006 as a way to address poor eating habits among children. The idea behind the program is simple: Introduce children to fruits and vegetables through their natural love of toys, play, and hands-on experimentation. LANA the iguana – a plush hand puppet – uses storybooks, menus, food-based craft projects, and eight different stuffed toys to make fruits and vegetables an everyday part of a child’s world.
No threats or bargains (“You won’t get a popsicle until you eat your vegetables”) are involved. Just a vegetarian iguana who, with the right groceries nearby, can teach preschoolers that fruits and vegetables are worth trying, yummy and – perhaps most importantly – normal.
The LANA program includes materials to connect class activities to home environments, so parents find it easy to incorporate the lessons into their home meals and snacks.
The LANA program has been proven effective. The initial 24-week pilot resulted in increased fruit and vegetable consumption among 500 children in childcare centers. In 2009, 75 licensed home childcare providers in Dakota County, Minn., put LANA to the test and found that, after the program, more than two-thirds of the children were more likely to eat fruits and vegetables and 92 percent were more likely to try new foods. In addition, 81 percent of parents offered the targeted fruits and vegetable of the LANA program more often, and a majority of parents reported reduced food “pickiness” in their preschool children.
Brought to you by guest blogger, Michael Lotti.
Bullying is a big problem in schools today, but fortunately there are great resources available to do something about it. We wanted to share this fantastic resource available free to schools: a 40 minute documentary film, Bullied, available from Teaching Tolerance (http://www.tolerance.org/bullied). This documentary chronicles one student’s ordeal at the hands of anti-gay bullies and offers and sends an inspiring message of hope to those being bullied toady. Also available is a free downloadable teaching guide to go along with the video that includes both classroom activities and a guide schools and districts on bullying.
Some interesting bullying statistics from the teaching guide:
• An estimated 160,000 US students skip school each day to avoid being bullied.
• Behaviors commonly associated with bullying include impulsiveness, disliking school and getting in trouble often; most bullies have confidence and high self-esteem
• 35% of 9th graders believe their teachers are interested in trying to stop bullying
For more resources to educate students about the danger in bullying and cyberbullying (bullying through the use of the Internet, mobile phones, or other electronics), see these LZE products:
Cyberbullying Poster
7 Ways to Block a Cyberbully DVD
Put a STOP to Bullying Bulletin Board Kit
Disney has a new upcoming show called “Ant Farm” (accelerated natural talent) and has contacted Learning ZoneXpress for permission to incorporate our posters into their set design. How fun! It gives our company a charge each time we get a chance to expose our health and nutrition messages on the tv screen.
You might be surprised how often we get these requests. About once a month, we are contacted by a movie or tv program to get a release from us. We are pretty easy going about having our posters on screen, our main requirement being that the show is not x-rated! From there, its hurry up and wait – it can be up to a year before we actually get to see the posters hanging on a tv or movie set wall. Most recently, we saw several of our posters in the cafeteria of the show Glee.
For Disney’s Ant Farm, the requested Learning ZoneXpress posters are Color Power and 50 Ways: Physical Activity Poster. We hope you join us in watching for these when the show airs – kind of a “Where’s Waldo” effect - ”Where’s the LZE Poster?”.
Color Power Poster on Disney Set
50 Ways Physical Activity Poster soon to be seen on Disney's Ant Farm
We were excited to see how the Institute of Food and Ag Sciences in Florida used one of our favorite poster designs to promote their booth at the North Florida Fair in Tallahassee, FL. With Learning ZoneXpress’ permission, the FACS division of Bay County Extension created a fun, educational and 3D booth based on the design of our Active Kids MyPyramid Poster. Congratulations are in order as they won 2nd Prize at the Fair! It’s always a great thing when we can promote physical activity in a FUN and COLORFUL way that kids really relate to.
Active Kids Pyramid from Learning ZoneXpress
Enter to WIN $100 Gift Certificate!
Post a review on our Facebook page of a Learning ZoneXpress (LZE) product and qualify to win $100 gift certificate. Reviews must be posted before the end of February (02/28/2011); the winner will be announced March 3, 2011.
How do I do it?
1. Write your review – must be between 200-400 characters
(Facebook limits wall posts to 420 characters)
2. Please include the full name of the product so that we can add a link to it.
3. Post your review on our Facebook wall.
Do you only want positive reviews?
No we want your honest feedback whether that’s positive or not. If you have a criticism for us, we want to hear it. If you think we’re on track with something, we want to hear that too. If you don’t tell us, who will? We do ask that all reviews are respectful. We will delete reviews that use inappropriate language or could be considered disrespectful.
How will the winner be selected?
Randomly. We will find the online equivalent to throwing the names of reviewers in a hat. We will notify the winner via Facebook.
Any small print?
Each Facebook fan is invited to post one review. Employees of LZE are not eligible to win. Gift certificate is not redeemable for cash.
Our little hometown of Owatonna, MN is hosting a festival on Sept. 25th. Called “Culturfest” it is a “multicultural outdoor festival to celebrate your heritage”.
One of the fun events is the new sculpt-a-culture contest which is sponsored by Learning ZoneXpress. Using local produce from Clinton Falls Farms, contestants are challenged to create cultural sculptures out of these farm fresh goods. Read more here. People attending CulturFest will vote on winners by donating money to a ballot box by each sculpture and the money will go to the community Thanksgiving Dinner.
. If you’d want to participate, enter the contest here!
I ran across this great article from WebMD.com and wanted to share it with you. Life is busy and full of media bombarding us with information. That is why this quick checklist is wonderful – not only is it concise, but it carries easy to read health information. See the 15 cancer symptoms women tend to ignore. Read here for the full article.
At LearningZoneXpress.com, we offer so many resources to promote health, wellness and activity. Here’s just one more way that we encourage healthy living – read the article, you are worth the time it takes!
For our Steele County customers, did you know that there is a mini-grant now available? Steele County Public Health’s SHIP (Statewide Health Improvement Program) invites you to apply for this grant. Their mission is to help Minnesotans lead longer, healthier lives by preventing the use of tobacco, poor nutrition and physical inactivity. They work with schools, at worksites, in communities and through health care organizations.
If you would like to apply for the grant, simply follow this link to fill out an application. They will be reviewed each month through June 2011!
Business owner and former FACS teacher, Melanie has been creating life skills products for 27 years. Visit Melanie’s Corner often to get the insider news on Learning ZoneXpress, life skills tips and the occasional bargain.
© 2012 Melanie's Corner. All Rights Reserved.
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