Nick Jr. Boost is an online educational service designed for preschoolers through first graders. Nick Jr. Boost helps children learn through exciting, adventure-based games based on core curriculum subjects like literacy, math, art, and Spanish. Kids will have the opportunity to team up and learn with their favorite Nick Jr. characters, including Blue, Diego, and Dora, in a totally personalized environment.

Nick Jr. Boost is brought to you by the creators of Nick Jr., people who really know kids. It’s the same great educational service as myNOGGIN, just with a new exciting name! Designed for preschoolers through first graders, Nick Jr. Boost is an educational service that provides the same high quality learning experience that children love and parents trust, with an extra bonus: it’s totally personalized!

Guided by national standards in preschool education, Nick Jr. Boost makes the most of the time children spend playing online with a “connected learning” approach. We start with topics and tales that grab children’s interest, mix in favorite characters then use these ingredients to present concepts and skills that help kids learn. Why is this approach so effective? Because combining play with learning encourages children to dig deeper and develop a richer understanding.

The first stop: a warm greeting from our host–Moose A. Moose, a familiar and trusted friend. From there, kids can team up with Blue, Diego, and Dora in exciting, adventure-based games based on core curriculum subjects, such as literacy, math, art and Spanish. In addition to gaming fun, kids can earn virtual rewards they can proudly exchange for digital prizes, all in a secure, advertising-free environment.

The Parent Center is designed to keep Mom and Dad in the loop, providing an inside glimpse of your child’s progress. As kids complete activities or advance to the next level, Nick Jr. Boost clues you in on new achievements and skills. Just as important, if your child is struggling in a particular area, Nick Jr. Boost sends a heads-up plus tips for easy, offline do-together games and activities to help your child master that challenge.

From learning the alphabet to improving reading comprehension, from simple counting to mastering addition and subtraction, your child can depend on Nick Jr. Boost to get a head start on the concepts and skills that are essential for academic success.

Here’s just a sampling of what your child will learn by playing with their beloved Nick Jr. buddies.

Literacy

These engaging games provide the building blocks for reading and writing success at every level. Kids start with recognizing letters and sounds and advance to synonyms, antonyms, and full-sentence comprehension — all in a super-fun Backyardigans Space Adventure.

Math

Our mission: to develop logical-thinking skills, strengthen comprehension of basic concepts, and build a lifelong interest in mathematics. With the help of Dora, Diego, and Blue, kids have plenty of opportunities to master shape identification; counting (1-10, 1-20, 1-50, 1-100 and by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s); learn greater than/less than concepts; practice simple addition and subtraction; and work on pattern and sequence completion.

Science

Preschoolers are naturally inquisitive about the world around them. Our science games help develop those natural skills into critical thinking skills. In the Cooking with Yeye game, preschoolers are asked to identify healthy foods, identify the part of the plant that the fruit or vegetable comes from, the root, the stem or the leaf, and learn to identify the differences between fruit, vegetables, grains and dairy products.

Creativity

Moose and Zee’s Creativity Center gives kids the tools they need to express themselves in original ways. First, Nick Jr. characters introduce five basic art concepts: color, line, shape, texture, and space. Then, with a focus on the process rather than the final product, children further explore these principles in the Art Box, which offers a ton of stuff that makes it easy to experiment with color, drawing, stamps, brushes, and more.

Spanish

Explore Dora’s Neighborhood and learn Spanish words to help Benny clean and sort his messy barn, Isa find the missing toys for the Bugga Bugga Babies, and dress Swiper. Each activity features a variety of Spanish vocabulary words, teaching your child the meaning of each through contextual game play.

Computer Skills

Computer skill games teach kids basic keyboard and mouse skills while re-enforcing letter recognition as well as hand-eye coordination. Moose’s Golden Treasure Hunt introduces children to the layout of the standard QWERTY keyboard. A mouse skills game will be introduced this summer!

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I have to say he is about the cutest little guy out there and he is very sweet and funny.  The week leading up to Halloween he and I practiced how to knock on the door and yell Trick or Treat.  I told him that is the proper procedure for Halloween and after he does that he will probably get some candy.  Anytime you mention candy around my boy all else in his world stops…ya he’s a big fan of the candy.

Once he perfected the Trick or Treat procedure we worked on getting more candy out of the homeowner.  That is what the world is about…finding ways to capitalize on things, biggest bang for your buck (Walmart), getting the most out of your time (talking on your cell phone while driving or walking) and the world only being about yourself (twitter, facebook etc). HEY, I didn’t make the rules I’m just trying to go with the flow.

So after the nice person would give candy to my sweet little child he would politely say “Thank you” and then tell them that they “have a beautiful home”.  Worked like a champ…that kid got more candy out of 5 houses than most kids got out of 25. The funny thing was that it also took him more time to trick or treat one house than it took the other kids to trick or treat 3 houses.  After telling the person he loves there home he would end up talking to them about various things for 5 or 10 minutes.  One older lady said “oh look an alligator” Lane replied ” NO, I’m a dragon look at my tail” as he grabbed his tail and pulled it toward the lady….she cracked up.  Lane just turned 3 but he talks better than my 13 year old. He has a gift for gab and he speaks so clearly…its scary.

So Lane’s first lesson on the street, be polite, be courteous and good things will happen when people like you….even if you have to turn on the charm a little bit.

Hope you all had a good Halloween.

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Another horse lesson for good old dad.  I went to my father in laws arena for another lesson on my wife’s horse Bodi.  I’m on him for about a half an hour and all is well.  Eddie, my father in law, gives me some tips and I have Bodi loping all over the arena….like a real pro. 

So I turn Bodi over to my wife so she can ride and show me how its suppose to really look. I start eyeballing Lane’s pony, Bulls-eye Tornado.  He is a cute little thing.  He of course has a saddle on him as my little guy Lane just got done riding him…….Lane is 3, I am 35. The little pony was just standing around looking like he wanted someone to ride him.  Me wanting to be a good co-owner decided I would give him a little spin.  I weight about 180 pounds that shouldn’t be too much for him, but I had better keep it cool right?

I swing my leg over this little docile pony and OFF HE GOES bucking in every fricken direction you could imagine. So much for me being to heavy.  This pony puts me on my backside faster than I had time to yell “oh darn it”.  Of course my visiting mother gets it on film and my biggest supporter, my wife, is heard laughing like I have never heard a girl laugh. The laughter continues as I stare up at the top of the arena flat on my back. Oh ya, I’m a pro.  Lane yells over to my wife, like she didn’t see it, “dad just got bucked off by my pony”.  It was a proud moment that I hope Lane will forget when he grows older.

So now I HAVE to ride that little pony.  I dust myself off and head back over to calm him down, talk to him a little, whisper in his ear that if does that again he is going to be dog food.  I climb back on this time I lasted a little more that 4 seconds and off I go, this time off the back of that little demon.  I land a little less that softly on my butt, however, I was able to get one hand down so it was not a complete crash, just partial.

By now I was on my cell phone calling the local butcher to come take care of this little ball of fire (not really but that is funny, I don’t care who you are).  Back on top for round three. By now Bulls-eye knew that he OWNED me.  I spend the next 5 minutes trembling with fear but determined to ride him….this time he let me.  Not the most pleasurable ride of my life but I stayed on top this time.

Anyone who thinks that I shouldn’t have been on top of him in the first place…….I AGREE AND PROMISE TO NEVER RIDE THAT *(&^% AGAIN.

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“Along the way you bump into people who make a dent on your life. Some people get struck by lightning. Some are born to sit by a river. Some have an ear for music. Some are artists. Some swim the English Channel. Some know buttons. Some know Shakespeare. Some are mothers. And some people can dance.”

I’m not much of a movie guy, but every once in awhile you see a movie that makes you think about things like family, your life, the life of the folks you are around and your kids. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, not my favorite movie, was okay.  The overall theme gives us something to think about however.  Brad Pitt after finding out his girlfriend was pregnant decided it would be to difficult to stick around and be a father so essentially just bailed.  Ya ya, he is such a nice guy after all he would send his daughter a post card on her birthday. He wasn’t around for her birthdays because he was SCARED.  I understand that growing younger would obviously be a strange life for a teenager to understand….but wouldn’t she want him there? 

Should we all bail out when we “assume” things are going to be to difficult or we would be SCARED.  Isn’t our ability to adapt and overcome difficult situations  what makes us better than other creatures or people for that matter.  Isn’t that why we have millions of families out there with babies who have cancer and other horrible diseases who spend days, weeks, months and years at the side of there child?

Ole Benjamin was a diseased kid and his old man just handed him off. I know this isn’t the most thrilling topic to write about but hopefully we all get to live a long life and during that life we are going to have tough times and futures that we aren’t certain about…..my point is to not take the easy way out.  Do what is difficult because you and the people around you will learn.  Maybe like the quote above…..Along the way you bump into people and you will make the dent.

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America’s couch potatoes in training – its 2- to 5-year olds – spend nearly as much time watching TV as their parents spend at work, according to new research. Preschoolers log more than 32 hours of tube time each week, according to a study by the Nielsen Co.

“Parents depend on the TV as a way to get things done, but when you let your kids watch TV constantly, then they don’t know how to do anything except watch TV,” says Mike Mosiman, co-author, with his wife, Renee, of “The Smarter Preschooler: Unlocking Your Child’s Intellectual Potential.” “And the kids who are the most addicted to the TV tend to get bored easily when the TV is off.”

If you’re thinking of switching off the electronic baby-sitter and getting those bored little tube addicts engrossed in actual play, it may be easier than you think. While you’re at it, if you have older children as well, take note of their viewing habits. That same Nielsen study found that 6- to 11-year-olds watch a little less (28 hours a week), but that’s because they have to interrupt their tube time to attend school.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/10/30/2009-10-30_americas_2to5_year_olds_spend_a_whopping_32_hours_per_week_watching_tv.html#ixzz0VXUfhPOJ

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My wife and I have been married for just about 5 years. She has grown up on and around horses. Her dad was a pro rodeo cowboy and is a horse trainer and real cowboy. My brother-in-law is a pro saddle bronc cowboy……then there is me. I grew up on motorcycles, if it doesn’t have a motor I have never really been interested in it (other than bicycles). 

So again married about 5 years and now I decided it was time for me to “learn” how to ride a horse. I, of course, go from walking to trotting and want to lope within about the first 10 minutes of ever having been on a horse, I seem to put the cart before the horse in lots of situations.

We are at my father-in-laws indoor arena, big but not huge for a rookie trying to lope a horse that takes two strides and is at the other side of the arena, or at least it feels like that to me.  My son is on his little cute, mellow,  slow and small pony, Bull’seye- Tornado.  After kicking, yelling and cussing the horse I am on he begins to lope for me and holy crap we are off and running.  I am doing everything I can to stay on the top side of the monster let alone stear him in a general direction.  My horse Bodi, knows I am a rookie and I swear he was just screwing with me. First he brushes my leg against the wall which causes me to react with a loud child like shriek. Then he heads straight down the arena towards my boy on his pony.

I give the world known command of WHOA, again in a child like shriek, he stops as all good horses do and I commence to getting the biggest lecture from a 2 year old you could possible imagine.  Lane (my boy) starts out with “dad, what are you doing?” I tell him that I am trying to learn how to ride.  He looks at me in complete disguist and says “Well you need to watch were you are going DAD!”

I look at him trying to come up with a good come back and I notice that he is postured properly on top of his little pony, with his feet in the stirrups, his heals are down and he has the proper amount of reign in his hand.  I on the other hand have one toe barely in the stirrup the other one has been flopping around on the side of the horse for the last 15 strides of Bodi’s run. One reign is way to lose and the other is short. Sooo…. my come back to my 2 year old horse trainer is…………..okay, sorry buddy. He them simply turns his pony and walks off.

Another story of dad down…….and this time it was almost literal.

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My oldest boy, Blake, has a friend, he is a great kid, that has recently gotten over H1N1.  Blake called my wife the other day and asked if his friend could spend the night, she said yes of course because she didn’t know he has recently had H1N1.  When I told her we quickly decided it was not a good idea for him to come over for the night because of our 2 year old.  So when do we get over this?  Can his friend come over next week? Should he have been able to come over tonight?  What do you all think?  I know one night of the boys hanging out isn’t worth putting my youngest at risk but when is the risk over?

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So my wife and I have custody of her/our nephew.  She has had him since he was about two years old and that’s what actually what caught my attention about her in the first place.  How many 21 year old girls would take custody of there nephew to give him a good home.

So we have now been married 4 years or so (ya I know) and we had our first child October 25, 2006.  He is a cool kid, smart, funny and MOUTHY.  I thought that the boys being 10 years apart would be a blessing…WRONG.  These two boys fight like they were twins.  Is it just me or is the norm. I cannot get them to just hang out an play. 

Anyways, as I mention, I am definitely a parent in training and I think we all are. We all want to be great parents. We see families that appear to have it all. They are the ones in the store and their little boy is so well behaved and their little girl has cute little pigtails and a peaceful disposition…….then there is me.  My boy is trying to run me over with the cart as he throughs the candy that he wants into the basket.  Then he is crying because ALL OF A SUDDEN, he needs a new bike, or lawnmower (the real ones, my boy don’t want it unless it is over $250.00)  We blame it on the Terrible Two’s, then we have a saying for when they are 3 and so on and so on. 

Then they are teenagers.  Being the now parent of a teenage boy, I actually believe that over night an alien turned to mist, came into our house, looked around, then sniffed around –which will always lead you to a teenage boy, then went to his room and slowly, or quickly, not sure; sucked his brain from his head and just left…..left me with this mindless, no talking, unable to understand common language which comes from an adult mouth — TEENAGE BOY.

So while surfing the net today, I found a couple of books that I plan on buying.  Hopefully it will do some good. Click Here!   Its an audio book too….hopefully I can have enought quite time to hear it.
 

This is where the comments come in –anyone else out there have this and if so please leave a comment.

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Image by J. McPherson via Flickr

……..and I’m not talking about my Springer.  I have been working on getting this thing set up for about a week now and in the last three days I have averaged about 4 hours sleep.  I want a page that looks cool, is easy to navigate and focuses on the topics I want to focus on. Well I’m about done as far as set up.  Hopefully, now I will be able to sit back and enjoy conversation and meeting new folks.  So look around, check it out….ANY ADVICE IS APPRECIATED. I still have a lot to write about but that requires some research and surfing……not just sitting here moving “widgets”.

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 It is amazing how many things you can get for free with regards to baby stuff.  Babies are such a huge industry that companies are begging you to request their free trials.  You have to check out some of these webpages.

http://twphelps.shopfast.us/ba

Highlights light most children’s products now a days has stepped it up.  Current members are allowed to go online and play while learning at their interactive site. Highlights offers magazines, arts and crafts, electronic learning and fun with science, everything a child needs to learn while having fun.

GO TO THE SITE TO CHECK OUT PRICES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE FIRST PAGE — YOU REALLY WONT BELIEVE HOW INEXPENSIVE THEY ARE.

Currently Lego ships for free on orders overe $75.00. Go here for that offer, offer expires on October 12th. You are able to search by age, catagory, they now have themes.  Options are unlimited.

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