Kid Activities

“Beauty and the Beast” combines a touching love story, spectacular production numbers, colorful sets and lavishly ornate costumes.  The show, which is a favorite for adults and children all over the world, is coming to Santa Clarita this summer and promises to be an entertainment event that will delight and enchant audiences of all ages.

Brighten Academy is an after-school learning center for grades K-8, which provides homework assistance to students, including additional classes that enrich and cultivate the different interests a child might have.  Other similar facilities may offer homework help, but Brighten Academy offers additional math and English enrichment courses to encourage your child to move ahead of the class.  Another key difference from other facilities is that we offer extracurricular classes that are onsite, so you don’t have to play chauffeur.  These programs, which have private instruction by qualified instructors, range from music to art to foreign language.  The client designates the schedules as Brighten Academy strives to accommodate not only the child, but the parent as well.  In order to accommodate the parent, Brighten Academy also offers a pickup/drop-off service if necessary.

Horses will always have herd animal instincts, no matter how old or how much training they have; their pecking order helps them feel comfortable.
If it’s possible, allow the horses to meet over the fence in adjoining paddocks.  While sniffing noses often leads to the inevitable squealing, head tossing and pawing, it’s the process by which they begin to determine their order.  But, if you need to put the horses together immediately, it’s best to turn them out after a meal to avoid disputes over feed.  And, be sure to stay nearby until they settle down.

Summer.  It’s the time to laugh, play and have a blast with your kids.  School is officially out and summer has landed.  No more sitting down trying to figure out that always-tricky math problem, no more biting your nails over your child’s next book report and thankfully for you, no more volcano-making for the annual science fair.  Nope, it’s time to put that behind us for a minute and focus on having a little fun.  And this year, there are so many ways to incorporate some fresh and healthy ways to keep active in the Santa Clarita Valley.

Many southern California residents take day-trips.  Journeys by car to destinations only an hour or two away, so the family can get back in time to sleep in their own beds.  We are indeed fortunate to have so many fantastic museums, theme parks, concert halls and beaches within a few hours drive.  While others that live hundreds even thousands of miles away have to spend months planning, i.e. scheduling flights, making hotel reservations and taking weeks away from the workplace to enjoy what many of southern Californians take for granted.  

It was standing room only at the Repertory East Playhouse last month for the Santa Clarita Valley Film Festival’s first-ever “Youth Night” screening.  The two-hour event was free and featured works by students between the ages of 9 and 14 who participated in after-school film programs at the SCV Film Center in Newhall, at Newhall Elementary, and through in-school programs at Arroyo Seco and Placerita Junior High Schools.

These delightfully doughy bread sticks are perfect for kids who prefer their pizza without all the toppings.  Saucy and spicy, they’re delicious as a side to soup or salad or as scrumptious snacks on their own. You will need the following ingredients to prepare.

Encouraging kids to read is something that seems to have fallen by the wayside in the last decade or so.  This could be due to technology advances in video games, computer games and the Internet, to name a few.  For some parents, reading is not a favorite pastime of their own, so they may not even think of encouraging it.

Wow, here we are and it’s July.  I hope all of you (teachers, parents and students) are getting a much deserved and needed refreshment before we start school again in August.  Perhaps I can offer you some encouragement, by recommending a couple of books to read.

It’s called the Kindergarten Law and the aim of it is to ensure that children entering school are coming in with a healthy mouth full of teeth.  
California law, Education code section 49452.8 now requires that your child have an oral health assessment on or before May 31 of the year in which they will be entering kindergarten or first grade, whichever is his or her first year of attending a public school. 

A residential facility for teens recovering from substance abuse visited The Gentle Barn the other day.  As always, before starting the presentation about the animals, The Gentle Barn Staff asked the kids if they could sum up the essence of who they are in one word and say what their life dream was.  Everyone did it except for Sarah, who said, “I don’t have one.”  It seemed that no matter how hard the staff tried to get it out of her, she just wouldn’t.

With longer days and warmer weather, we are reminded that summer is right around the corner.  Most kids are already looking forward to homework-free days, lazing around the poolside and hanging out with friends.  Most parents are wondering how they are going to keep their kids busy and dreading the first, “I’m bored,” complaint.

The renowned core knowledge curriculum, a scholarly-specific, well-coordinated course of studies, has been proven to measurably improve both student’s academic achievement and enjoyment of learning as documented in more than a thousand core knowledge schools across the country, including Monticello Prep School in Santa Clarita, as well as in independent studies by organizations such as Johns Hopkins University.  The core knowledge curriculum is rich in content, coherent and carefully sequenced across all grade levels.  It includes from the earliest grades, age-appropriate studies of reading, writing and mathematics as well as history, literature, science, geography, visual art, music and theatre.  

Almost 800,000 individuals are reported missing in the United States each year.  Of these, 85 to 90 percent are juveniles, equaling nearly 2,000 missing children daily.  Between 1997 and 2006, there was a 25 percent increase in crime reported by the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station.  In 1997, Santa Clarita Valley was listed as one of the top ten safest cities in the country.

All too often we do not stop to take the time to notice the beauty of time and spaces around us.  Our lives are so frenetic; running from one demand to another for work, community activities and caring for our homes and families.  Our children, too, live fast paced lives; being so used to being bombarded with fast images from video games, computers and television.  They are buried in homework, racing against time to finish papers and assignments.  Both young people and adults often do not know how to sit quietly and just notice things around them. 

^{College is coming.  Well, at least if you have children, college is coming.  Preparing our children for college can be a stressful experience and things only look to be getting worse in the future.  College admissions today is a very confusing and complicated business and many parents fail to realize that early preparation is the key to getting our children into a good college.}  

Never underestimate the power of a pet.  Small animals in the classroom can help children of all ages develop compassion and learn responsibility for living creatures.  Pets increase a child’s interest for understanding all forms of life and help foster respect for the animals that share this planet with us.  Classroom pets are also a fun way to build observation and listening skills and teach cooperation among students, all of which can be integrated into every subject, not just science.

In this age of cultural obesity, with optional P.E. and more stagnant entertainment than ever, it is increasingly up to the parents to teach and instill a love for activity and exercise in their children.  We can do this by joining our children in fun activities, enrolling them in team sports and encouraging skill acquisition in sport lessons.  We must begin to teach an active lifestyle while our children are young and formidable.