This week’s Escape Plan challenge (aka our Tip of the Week) is: #1 Different World: Spend at least 15 minutes immersing yourself in a field you know nothing about. Something I loved about teaching kindergarten was the genuine openness and enthusiasm the kids had for learning something new. I would joke with Jason after school that I was really more like a salesperson than a teacher (good practice for our business, I guess). Working with kids is all about "selling it." Or, as O'Reilly would cringe at "spinning it." For instance, if I had a math lesson to teach them about greater than and …
Get Curious
Tip of the Week: Mad Scientist
This week’s Escape Plan challenge (aka our Tip of the Week) is: #5 Mad Scientist: Become a scientist. Conduct a silly experiment. When I was teaching, it never failed that the kids showed excessive amounts of enthusiasm and interest on the days we were conducting science experiments. There's something about tapping into that natural childlike curiosity that ignites whole new levels of childlike passion. It's so much fun to see the same reactions in grown-ups. The ever so childlike Ellen DeGeneres has found a way to keep her curiosity hopping with her regular guest, Steve Spangler. Steve …
Tip of the Week: Taste Bud Conspiracy
This week’s Escape Plan challenge (aka our Tip of the Week) is #15: Taste Bud Conspiracy: Eat something you’ve never had before. Jason and I are officially guacamole people now. Whoopty-do, you're saying (especially if you live in CA), but it's a lesson in trying new things. Over the last year or so we have been in 3-4 social situations where fresh guacamole was the center of attention. Being in small groups, we tried it politely, even though we were sure it was going to taste how it looked- like baby "you know what." The first few times it was hard to get past the visual bias, and the new …
Tip of the Week: Family Tree Trivia
This week’s Escape Plan challenge (aka our Tip of the Week) is #16: Family Tree Trivia: Call or meet with someone in your family and ask them a question you are curious about regarding your family’s history. A lesson I learned early on from my husband (boyfriend, at the time) is that the easiest way to strengthen a relationship is to ask sincere questions... then shut up and listen to the answers. Anyone who knows Jason knows that if you have more than a three minute conversation with him, you will soon be asked a question that will take the conversation to a whole new level. Questions …
Tip of the Week: Old Dog, New Tricks
This week’s Escape Plan challenge (aka our Tip of the Week) is #17: Old Dog, New Tricks: Learn how to do something new today. Your time limit: 30 minutes. At a speaking gig a few weeks ago, a woman in the audience came to our table afterwards and immediately joined Club K&J. In getting to know her better, we soon realized that she had come to the right place. She shared that not too long ago she signed up for a welding class. Her eyes widened with childlike excitement as she explained further. "Ya know, the sparks, machinery... it's all kinda like working with fireworks!" (Quick …
Tip of the Week: Mr. Smartypants
This week’s Escape Plan challenge (aka our Tip of the Week) is #26: Mr. Smartypants. Open to a random page in the dictionary and look at the first word on the upper left-hand side. Keep turning pages until you find a word you don’t know. See how many times you can use this new word in a sentence today. As kids we're natural inventors of words. Jason's mom loves to recall how as a three and four-year-old he would talk about things "misdappearing." I knew a lot of preschoolers in my day who loved to eat pasghetti. We are experimenting with words all of the time as kids. As grown-ups we limit …
Tip of the Week: Just Like George
This week’s Escape Plan challenge (aka our Tip of the Week), is #29: Just Like George. Ask an expert something you are curious about in his/her field. Ironically, two years ago today Jason and I celebrated his 30th birthday by going to see "Curious George" in the theaters. (Yes, today's Jason's birthday! Woo Hoo!) That mischievous little monkey can teach us a lot about being more curious. Another animal known for curiosity is the cat. Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect. - Steven Wright I have to admit, I've always been more of a dog person than a cat lover. I do …
Lessons From the Guys Who Gave Us Hula Hoops
It's always sad when someone who impacted your childhood positively passes away. Obviously, parents, grandparents, teachers and coaches top the list. A loss can also be felt when a much-loved television personality (like Fred Rogers) dies. But what about the inventor of your favorite toy? Rich Knerr, co-founder of the toy company Wham-O, died last Friday, at the age of 82. His partner, Spud Melin passed away in 2002. Their first big hit was the hula hoop, of which 100 million were sold in just two years. That sounds like the makings of a true one-hit wonder, except for the fact that the duo …
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Angels and the Disadvantage of Facts
I admit it. I'm a sucker for those "kids say the darndest things" lists. And I'm not too shameful to admit that I can't wait to have kids just so I can hear some original stuff firsthand. My friend Marilyn sent me a list entitled, "Angels Explained By Children." With the Hollywood writers' strike going on, maybe producers should just hire kids; the stuff they come up with is often funnier than the pros. The cool thing is that most of the times kids say something funny, they're not trying to be. It's not easy to become an angel! First, you die. Then you go to Heaven, and then there's …
The Hoop and a Stick Theory
My friend Matt pointed me to a story from reveries.com that matches up with his personal "Hoop and a Stick" theory of raising kids which states that all kids need is a hoop and stick -- and certainly nothing that requires batteries -- for a good healthy upbringing. Here's a snippet from the article: It also turns out that the best way to encourage kids to exercise is simply to “give them a ball, jump-rope or hula hoop” — along with more in the way of “active play time.” That’s according to a report due out in next month’s American Journal of Preventive Medicine. This gets me thinking about …
