The Tech Issue October 2014 (Kids VT)
Coding in the classroom, cyberbullying and a family-scrapbooking app
Sculptural Woodpile
As a kid, Sarah Adams-Kollitz hated stacking wood, a regular chore at her home in Underhill. “I think I might have said, ‘I’m never going to stack wood when I grow up,'” she says. How things change. Her family’s elaborate woodpile is likely the first thing people notice when they pass her Pine Street home…
Young Gamers Build Robots in Neurobotik
“There’s certainly magic in evolution,” says Jeffrey Sprenger. His Vermont-based company, Xemory Software, is using a National Science Foundation grant to create Neurobotik, a game that allows kids to design and perfect robot brains by simulating evolution. “When you evolve the robots, you get some really crazy results,” he says. Sprenger hopes Neurobotik will engage…
A New Line of Dinnerware Makes Math Fun
Why should learning math be relegated to school? What if kids had a chance to develop their number sense at the dinner table? That’s the idea behind The Multiples, a line of children’s dinnerware created by a husband-and-wife team of Montessori educators. Each plate, bowl and tumbler is illustrated with one of 12 quirky characters…
S.S. Taylor Serves Up the Next Installment in Her Expeditioners Series.
Shipwrecks. World powers at war. A hidden island. The Expeditioners and the Secret of King Triton’s Lair, the second book in Vermont author S.S. Taylor’s middle-grade Expeditioner series, has it all. In Taylor’s alternate universe, computers were invented in 1880 and abandoned in 1980, leaving huge swaths of the Earth uncharted. Kit, Zander and M.K.…
Recreating Nana’s Cake
My parents worked full time when I was growing up in the ’80s, so my brother and I spent our after-school hours and summer days at Nana’s house. I remember arriving to find her dusty with flour, up to her elbows in a crazy cooking project, singing along to West Side Story on the boom…
Do-It-Yourself Costumes
Repurpose household items. Plan ahead. And don’t forget that the end of October tends to be chilly in Vermont. These were some common refrains when we asked readers to submit tips for making homemade Halloween costumes. Why make your own? Several parents mentioned that it’s more cost-effective than buying costumes. But most said it’s all…
Picking Your Battles Against Technology
The other night, I walked into the living room and saw a puzzling scene: My sons, Felix, 6, and Leo, 4, were watching a Batman cartoon. They were sitting so close to one another that their bodies touched, but each boy was watching on his own separate iPad. They’d started the episode just seconds apart,…
How Can Parents Prevent Cyberbullying?
Today’s kids have the world at their fingertips. Smartphones, tablets and laptops offer countless opportunities for learning — and, potentially, bullying. This month, Winooski school psychologist Dr. Mary Ann Donnelly-DeBay describes this behavior, and how parents can help kids avoid it. KIDS VT: What’s the nature of most cyberbullying? MARY ANN DONNELLY-DEBAY: It can be…
Book Review Winners (October 2014)
Congratulations to these enthusiastic young critics who shared their reading recommendations with us in September. Each wins a $25 gift certifi cate to Crow Bookshop in Burlington. We loved reading about all the entrants’ favorite books and have included some excerpts below. Ling & Ting: Not Exactly the Same! by Grace Lin “My favorite part…
Tech Titles
For our October issue, Kids VT asked local educators and librarians to recommend books with a technology focus. Rabbit & Robot: The Sleepover by Cece Bell, Ages 5-9 In this Easy Reader story, Rabbit has created a list of four things to do when Robot sleeps over — make pizza, watch TV, play Go Fish…
Parental Control, Minecraft & the Digital Endorphin Rush
Q: What’s the best way to monitor where your kid goes online — and what they text, Snapchat, etc. Also, where should parents draw the line between keeping kids safe and giving them privacy? A: Monitoring your child’s online activities is an important part of being a digitally savvy parent — but every family manages…
Stuart “Red” Martin (1913-2005)
“Drawing on History” is a monthly feature about a notable Vermont person, place or event from days of yore. Want to suggest a future topic? Email us at ideas@kidsvt.com. This article was originally published in Seven Days’ monthly parenting magazine, Kids VT.
The Tug of Tech
While I was nursing my 6-month-old daughter, Joni, one night, my husband unfurled the giant projector screen we use as a TV and began browsing Netflix. As the colorful movie titles scrolled by, Joni turned her face from the thing she loves most right now — my boob — to gaze at the beautiful, mesmerizing…
Trailblazing Teachers Bring Computer Programming Into the Classroom
Studying a foreign language is a rite of passage in middle and high school. But though many students learn to speak and understand basic French or Spanish — which they may never even use — just a few can interpret commands in a language that is increasingly important in their lives: computer code. As computers…
Kids VT Puts Family-Scrapbooking App Notabli to the Test
Childhood is fleeting. I see my 6-month-old daughter, Joni, grow and change daily, and I feel an irresistible urge to document that process. It’s never been easier to satisfy that craving. Smartphones and social networks make it simple to record Joni’s special moments and share them immediately. Even far-flung family and friends can keep up…
The Connector: Biking the Cross Vermont Trail
It’s not easy to ride your bike to school in rural Vermont. The journey is usually too long or too treacherous — unless you live along the Cross Vermont Trail. The Cross Vermont Trail Association describes the route as a “patchwork quilt” of roads, recreation paths, single-track trails and old railroad beds criss-crossing the state…
Have You Ever Successfully Scared Your Kids on Halloween?
Steve Camardo, South Burlington Real estate appraiser; Daughter, Emily, 19; son, Peter, 17 My daughter, Emily, got her first big scare when she was about 4. A bunch of twentysomethings lived at the edge of our neighborhood. They really did it up for Halloween — grave markers and stuff hanging from trees. My wife was…
