The Follow up of “Go Fish” Lesson

Cony Island, NY, September 2014

I’m a parent who grips onto outdoor activities as the days grow shorter and who wants my child to have hands-on-experience, so after learning about NY bay marine life at the “Go Fish” event last week, I took my daughter to Cony Island, NY. First we visited the NY Aquarium and then had a chance to explore the beach. 

NY Aquarium, Cony Island, NY, September 2014

While strolling along the beach Basia has found a mysterious animal that must have been washed out from the ocean earlier high tide. The animal was a small disk-shaped hardened splotch, clear and transparent, the size of about 3 inches in diameter. It felt like a hard-boiled jellyfish, but there weren't any long tentacles to be found. Basia was very curious and excited to find out what was it. I had turned out that it was a Moon Jellyfish, one of the most common jellyfishes to be found in the ocean near New York. Normally, when these jellyfish wash up on a beach they appear as a disk-shaped, hardened plate. The most durable remains of this strange sea creature. Their numerous long, thread-like arms called tentacles branch out and float underwater.

Moon Jellyfish

Cony Island Beach, NY, September 2014

http://slpzone.blogspot.com/2014/09/go-fish-fun.html

She has collected several shells and tried to match them with a chart she received at “Go Fish” event a week before.
That’s the list:

1. Oyster (Common Oyster, Atlantic Oyster, American Oyster)

2. Clam (Atlantic Surfclam, Beach Clam, Skimmer Clam)

3. Hard Clam

4. Razor clam

5. Scallop (Bay Scallop)

6. Whelk

7. Whelk egg case

8. Mussel

9. Skate egg case

10. Slip per shell

11. Moon snail

12. Sea star

13. Barnacle

14. Crab Shell

15. Horseshoe Crab Shell 

Basia has created her own home shell display to share it with her friends.

Basia's NY Bay Shell Collection

Basia's shells collected at the Cony Island Beach, 
NY, September 2014

Don’t miss the last two “Go Fish” festivals for this season organized by Battery Park City 

http://bpcparks.org/event/go-fish-featuring-michael-hill-friends/ . 

“Go Fish” festival comes on Saturdays, 10/4/14 and 10/18/14 and it takes place in a Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park Robert F. Wagner Park.

The events feature performances by 

Blues Band Michael Hill & Friends on Sat. 10/4/14 

and Irish Musicians Morning Star on Sat. 10/18/14.

Help your child with Math

Check a great interactive web to teach your child math, 1st to 6th grade. Just pick the right one. 

http://www.adaptedmind.com/gradelist.php

Each lesson gives you a fully perceptive explanation to all given problems.  

It also helps your child to meet the curriculum standard.

Help your child with Spelling

For any parent who wants to help his child with spelling but is running out of ideas go to

http://teachmama.com/fun-ways-to-learn-spelling-words/.

You will find there various well-chosen and self-expiatory suggestions for spelling practice.

Spelling word flash cards

Spelling with a pen, pencil, marker and paper

Spelling with a computer and other fun electronics

Spelling with magnetic letters or letter cards

Spelling with space to run, jump, and play

Spelling with no previous preparation or no materials

Grip to Outdoor Activity and "Go Fish"

Parents who grip onto outdoor activities as the days grow shorter and want their offspring to have ends-on-experience will be excited about Battery Park City bpcparks.org Go Fish Catch-and-Release event which takes place on Saturdays, in a Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park Robert F. Wagner Park, located in the southernmost tip of Battery Park City.

Robert F. Wagner Jr. Park itself is a place to explore. There are wonderful mix of open lawns and intensively planted gardens, threaded through with paths and walkways. The Park Pavilions contain a restaurant, and its public roof deck affords breathtaking views of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor.

Fish by Basia

Go Fish Catch-and-Release event happens just few times a year. 

If you haven’t done it yet there are two more opportunities this season, 

Saturday, October 4th and 18th, 2014, 

from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is a free, fun event, for all ages.

Paint your fish, by Basia

Creat your ocean, by Basia 

Aquatic art projects come along  with fishing. All materials and instructions are provided.

 Basia learns about the ocean life.

 "Stop, Look and Listen" to learn.

Fishing rods and bait are provided to all participants. Everyone has a chance to drop a line for a fish or some other species. During fishing barbless hooks (causing less harm to animals) are used to minimize injuries to fish. Master anglers help with the rods and reels while chatting about environ­mental protection and river history. Clams and bloodworm bait dangle in the brackish water where the fresh Hudson becomes the salty New York Bay. “That’s the kind of water that makes estuaries thrive - perfect environments for lots of different species, and also for fish to reproduce,” explained Abby Ehrlich. Of the 40 species were caught there, striped bass bite most frequently, blackfish, herrings, jellyfish, oyster toadfish, sea robins, and even sea horses. Catches are placed in giant tanks filled with river water, so fishing families can get a gander before everything goes back into the Hudson River. Live demonstrations and displays teach fish anatomy and heighten awareness of the ecology, flourishing marine life and current state of good health of the Hudson River and its estuary.

 Hey, good to go!

Live music performance adds splendor to the event. Take advantage and have fun. 

Don't forget to to explore the Battery Urban Farm which is a one acre educational farm, located in the historic Battery, the 25 acre park at the tip of Manhattan. There is an intensively planted garden with fresh veggies to try.

Basia at the Battery Urban Farm

http://www.thebattery.org/projects/battery-urban-farm/

Admire...

Look for...

 Water...

 Enjoy...

... and roll to...

 ...build a boat.

Almost done.

Now, good to go with a massage.

Save the date for two more festivals in October featuring performances by

blues band Michael Hill & Friends on Sat. 10/4/14

and Irish musicians Morning Star on Sat. 10/18/14.

Book Adventure - 2014 Brooklyn Book Festival

7 years old Basia enjoys reading

Book adventure is a great fun and has endless opportunities. Your role as a parent is to motivate your child to read! Helping your children enjoy reading is one of the most important things you can do and it's well worth the investment of your time and energy.

Photo with Eric L. Adams, the Borough President of Brooklyn

Last Sunday I took my daughter to the Brooklyn Book Festival. The entire event was a remarkable, well planned and reach in experience world-class literary festival that appealed to many, me, other parents, my 7 years old daughter Basia, her classmates and friends. 

They gathered at the Children Stage to listen their favorite books read and performed by authors or create drawings with the illustrators before their eyes! The excessive emotions brought book signings by the authors followed by readings. They had a chance to visit boots, talk to the vendors and even the authors. Lots of hands-on-experience. 

http://www.brooklynbookfestival.org/festival-events

http://purgatorypiepress.com/

We participated in a workshop Making Flag Books with Esther K Smith and Susan Happersett. Flag books are easy to make and have a pop-up action when they open. Versatile for photo albums and artist books. We created a Head & Tails variation of this form with Susan Happersett's collages and tried that idea from other, recyclable materials.

See Basia’s former experience with Esther Smith

http://slpzone.blogspot.com/2014/06/basia.html

We also joined in the fun searching for five large Waldo cut-outs to be entered in the drawing for one of two super Where’s Waldo? prize packs. We saw Waldo walking around, who posed for us, but he didn’t count as one of his five stand-ins!  Unfortunately for us we didn’t find all five Waldo cut-outs. We will give another try next year. Until then we have lots to read.

7 years old Basia after a long and intensive day of walking and reading.

The day was long, intensive and exhaustive but well worth the investment of our time and energy.