Many thanks to Karen Kangas OTR/L, for a GREAT 2-day workshop in Indianapolis on Wednesday and Thursday of this week! For 2 days Karen shared not only her wonderful sense of humor, but also her expertise on seating and positioning for task performance. I think all participants came away with new ideas, a new outlook on some of their old ideas and hopefully not too much duct tape! See some photos from the 2-days training here: www.patinsproject.com/PhotoGalleries/Kangas08
Remember to keep an eye on PATINS Statewide Training opportunities here: www.patinsproject.com/training.html
And, PATINS Regional Training Opportunities here: www.patinsproject.com/regional.html
Please keep in mind that if you take one of the limited spots by registering for a workshop, it is important that you attend or cancel early enough to allow those on the waiting lists to have a chance. Thank you for your consideration in this regard.
Looking back at the posts from recent weeks and realizing it’s gotten pretty technical and also realizing recently that we have quite a few parents/families who read this blog, I thought it would be an appropriate time to share another great Indiana resource that you may not be aware of. Last week I shared the Second Life resource for parents/families, Contact A Family. Well, this week, I’ve got a great Real Life resource for families!
Through a social networking site I recently came into contact with an old friend from middle and high school who now runs a website called Mom Advice. Through this site, Amy shares a wealth of information for parents and families!
I got to talk with Amy a little bit about what the Mom Advice website has to offer for families of students both with and without disabilities and I thought it was well worth stepping outside of the usual tech-talk to share Mom Advice with you all, this Friday.
What is Mom Advice? -MomAdvice.com is a community for parents where you can find ideas for making your dollars stretch, recipes, organizing tips, and ideas for creative parenting on a shoestring.
What is the primary goal of Mom Advice and what you hope it offers to families?
To help families focus more on traditions and togetherness rather than spending money. Our main goal is to just show parents creative ways to save without feeling like they are missing out on the finer things in life. Our site really hopes to arm parents with an arsenal of ideas for things that they can make and do out of things they already have, rather than a focus on buying more.
What might be the ONE recommendation you’d offer today as the most important resource or tip for parents to include their children in as many activities as possible over the upcoming holidays?
We do a Christmas Jar of activities in our house with an activity for each day of December or you could do one for just the twelve days before Christmas. Decorate a simple Mason or recycled jar and write your activities on little strips of paper and tuck them inside. Each day, you can draw one and complete a small activity together.Try to think of fun and frugal activities like playing in the snow, riding around in your pajamas and seeing the Christmas lights at night, watching a holiday movie and popping popcorn, or sneaking one gift out before Christmas to keep the entertained. The activities can be as elaborate or as simple as you would be willing to commit to. Our family favorite? Baking treats for the local fire department and delivering them to thank them for their hard work. If they have time, they might even give you a tour of the fire engine or fire department. It is all about making memories!
How can parents find out more about you, your site and all the great resources associated with your site? Just hop on the internet and type in MomAdvice.com. Our site offers a new article each month and then I blog five to seven times each week with frugal parenting tips and creative dishes to grace your dinner tables.
School Professionals; please feel free to pass on the Mom Advice Website to the families of your students!
A Few Quick Hits: You didn’t think you’d get away with no tech stuff this Friday did you?
MathType: MathType 6.5 is now shipping for windows. “This version includes translators for Mathematica and Maple, MathML import, and enables users to type TeX/LaTeX equations directly into Microsoft Word.” Read more HERE
Image Manipulation: In preparation for several workshops coming up that involved digital image manipulation for classroom instruction, here are some free online image editors. These are free web-based applications for those times when you might not be at your own computer, but need to quickly upload and edit a handful of images: Picnik, Pixenate, Fotoflexer, LunaPic, flauntr, picture2life, phixr, and easyphotoresize. Of course, Google’s Picasa is one of my favorites! It’s free, has an easy interface, offers many web and sharing options and likely isn’t going away any time soon! Honestly, my 6 year old uses Picasa with her digital photos. It’s very user-friendly. For those who may be ready to get into a little more serious editing, but want to maintain the ‘free’ aspect, I’d recommend the application, Gimp.
