DCUM Weblog

Parents Are Important Too

by craso last modified May 29, 2019 06:32 AM

At the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center, we believe in not only teaching your children, but you too.

The Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center is an educational entity located at the Smithsonian Institution that provides full-time, part-time and weekend programs for children aged 3 months - 6 years.

Parents are important too.

_MG_4988

Besides being an educator for the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center, I am also a mom. And I know all too well, what it is like to be unsure of oneself as a parent. That is one of the reasons we have set up our programs at the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center with the parent in mind. Another reason; YOU are your child’s first teacher. How you interact with your child can have a significant impact on their early development. So we want to help you develop skills that can be used in your everyday life. Whether it’s our weekend workshops or our two-day/week toddler program, Smithsonian Early Explorers, we make our museum visits about the family as a whole. Often we ask parents to lead simple activities in the galleries that could be used in other situations. For example, we might ask infant/toddler parents to find all the boats in a gallery space or simply describe an object. Preschooler families might be asked to create a story around an object or make a list of questions they have about an object. In both of these scenarios, we are encouraging independent thinking, literacy and providing time for you and your child to interact.

read more...

Introducing CareLuLu

by jen last modified Feb 24, 2020 09:02 AM

How one DC urban mom created an online resource to help parents find child care

CareLuLu

Any parent who has ever looked for child care knows how stressful and time consuming it is. That’s not surprising given that you’ll be entrusting your child to another person, often a complete stranger. About 44% of new mothers return to work within the first 3 months of giving birth and 64% return to work within the first year, thus requiring child care. Despite such high numbers, there are few child care resources made available to new moms and parents. So where do you look?

The hardest challenge is not knowing where to begin. Many turn to Google, or to friends living in their area. But every family is different and has its own specific needs, whether it’s budget, hours, teaching philosophy, or some other specific service they need for their child.

read more...

Visiting Museums as a Family

by craso last modified Oct 09, 2020 04:45 PM

We don't always think of museums and young children going hand-in-hand, but with the right framework and just a little bit of preparation, it can be an a great experience for the whole family. The Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center is sharing some of its best tips for successful family musueum visits.

The following is a guest post from the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center (SEEC), a museum-based early childhood program for children aged 2 months - 6 years of age and offering workshops (http://www.si.edu/seec/community) for local families.

Visit the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center

Today’s families embrace all that the DC metropolitan area has to offer. At any given time, there are festivals, classes and fun activities that cater to families. The Smithsonian, one of DC’s most encompassing (and completely free) resources, is no exception. Over the course of the last two decades, museums have begun to offer more programming for children and families. As the national spotlight has focused on the benefits of quality early childhood education, the Smithsonian is working hard to accommodate this audience in meaningful ways. The Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center or SEEC, as it is known, is nestled in the Smithsonian campus with locations at the National Museum of Natural History and the National Museum of American History. Since 1988, SEEC has been incorporating museums into their early childhood curriculum and we are working with other Smithsonian staff, educators and parents across the globe to encourage early learning in museums.

read more...

Smashburger Joins the Battle for Gourmet Burgers

by Jeff Steele last modified Oct 29, 2021 12:40 PM

Growing quickly in the DC area, Smashburger goes beyond the fancy hamburger to include salads and chicken sandwiches.

The day before Smashburger’s December 11 opening in Bethesda, I was invited to a media preview event. In the interest of full disclosure, I can confirm that I am more than willing to blog in return for hamburgers. So, off I went to sample a number of Smashburger’s signature burgers and chicken sandwiches. If you are a burger aficionado — or simply burger-curious — I can highly recommend Smashburger.

Smashburger’s Stacie Lange — who did a great job of presenting each of the sandwiches to us — was frank in saying that Smashburger had identified the same market demand for “better burgers” that had been pioneered by Washington’s Five Guys chain. Despite a number of competitors including Z-Burger and Shake Shack, Lange believes the market is big enough for all of them. She also described what distinguishes Smashburger from the others.

read more...

Urban Farmers' Almanac: Backyard Chickens Part 2

by Jeff Steele last modified Jan 23, 2015 03:24 PM

As we complete our temporary experience raising chickens, neighborhood property values remain steady despite expectations of some DCUM posters.

I've been a bit remiss in following up my post about our experience with Rent a Coop's month-long backyard chicken experience. Part of that is because I've been distracted with other things and part is that the second half of the hens' visit wasn't particularly eventful. But, because there have been requests to update the original post, I thought I probably should get to it. The bottom line is that the month-long urban farming experience worked out well. We really enjoyed the chickens on a short-term basis. However, keeping chickens long-term would require a bit more infrastructure and is not something in which we are all interested.

We and our two hens fairly quickly settled into a routine. Each morning we would find one or two eggs in the pen. Once or twice a day, we would let the chickens out to range freely in our yard. The chickens identified their favorite places to forage, they became more comfortable with our dog (and she with them), and the hens became less a novelty and more like pets. We started to recognize the hen's personalities and they seemed to get to know us. When the chickens were free, they would often come to us and try to get some attention. If we could speak chicken, we probably could have had some nice conversations.

read more...

Urban Farmers' Almanac: Backyard Chickens

by Jeff Steele last modified Aug 02, 2018 12:08 PM

Are backyard chickens a means toward healthier food or -- as one DCUMer put it -- "the last step before total destitution"? To find out, we are spending a month with two hens from Rent a Coop.

Backyard chickens have been a topic of great dissension on DC Urban Moms and Dads. There have been multiple threads on the subject with one epic discussion reaching 21 pages. While some posters have argued the merits of raising your own hens, others have said the practice screams "I am poor" and has other associated negative characteristics. Thanks to the local company Rent a Coop, we have had the opportunity to temporarily have our own backyard chickens and investigate this topic firsthand.

Rent a Coop, the creation of Tyler Phillips and Diana Samata of Potomac, MD, offers two main programs: 1) monthly rental of a chicken coop and two hens; and 2) a chick hatching experience. We were offered a complementary rental package in order to review the service and decided to give it a try.

read more...

How Can You Get Your Kids Reading This Summer? Let Them Choose The Books

by National Summer Learning Association last modified Aug 15, 2013 01:46 PM

After that last dismissal bell of the school year sounds, many children don't pick up a book all summer. But research shows that summer reading is important to continued academic success, because without it, learning is lost over the summer months. The National Summer Learning Association and Sylvan Learning have come up with some simple tips to help parents make reading one of the fun activities their kids pursue this summer.

By Gary Huggins, CEO of the National Summer Learning Association, and Dr. Rick Bavaria, senior vice president of education outreach for Sylvan Learning.

After that last dismissal bell of the school year sounds, many children don't pick up a book all summer.

The reason? Summer is supposed to be fun, and most kids don't put reading high on their list of fun summer activities. In fact, according to a new Harris survey on summer reading commissioned by Sylvan Learning, less than half of American youth ages 8 to 18 identify reading as a favorite summer activity.

read more...

“Mommy Proofing” this Mother’s Day

by Elizabeth Polis, PT last modified Apr 29, 2013 10:46 AM

By Elizabeth Polis, PT, DPT Core Wellness & Physical Therapy

From the moment our babies start crawling away from us, we are concerned with safety from nearly every angle. But while you are frantically baby proofing every square inch of your home, don’t forget that there are things you can do to ensure the business of being Mommy doesn’t bring you any aches and pains of your own. Consider these tips for keeping healthy and pain-free while your little one keeps you on your toes!

  • Lifting your little one: Out of the crib, on top of the changing table, into the car…sometimes there seems to be no end to the amount of lifting you do on a daily basis. And this is on top of lifting many other things—groceries, strollers, sometimes other children! To avoid injury, it’s important to know how to properly lift and carry children of all ages. Bend at the knees getting down to their level to take the extra weight into your legs as opposed to your back and shoulders. Keep your back straight and resist the urge to twist. Finally, keep them close to your body so that you have better control of their movements…this prevents them from making too many jerky movements, which is safer for both of you.

read more...

ScratchDC: Helping You Cook Dinner

by Jeff Steele last modified Apr 12, 2013 01:20 PM

How would you like to have someone do your grocery shopping, chopping, measuring, mixing, and marinating, and then tell you how to finish cooking (and get credit for) dinner? ScratchDC is not quite that, but it is pretty close.

Occasionally, I'll browse through a farmer's market and select fresh, high quality ingredients for the evening's meal. After leisurely chopping, measuring, and mixing as required, everything goes into the oven to produce a delicious and healthy meal. But, more often, there is no time for shopping and the only energy I have for food preparation is taking a handfull of ground beef, flatting it, and tossing it onto a grill. This week I had the opportunity to try a dinner provided by scratchDC, a meal delivery service made for people like me.

ScratchDC, delivers everything you need for a great meal, all cut, measured, marinated and ready to cook. Ingredients are packaged in what scratchDC calls "bundles". A bundle is suitable for serving two adults. The best way to explain how scratchDC works is just to describe our experience with it

read more...

Kinesiology Taping: Soothing Your Pregnancy Pains

by Elizabeth Polis, PT last modified Dec 29, 2018 08:52 PM

My physical therapy practice is full of mothers-to-be with similar complaints—leg and back aches, swelling, sciatica—and other painful issues common in mid to late pregnancy. Many of them are nearing or have entered their third trimester when both body and baby start to rapidly put on additional weight. I’ve found that a simple, effective way to ease these common, yet often debilitating, pregnancy pains is through kinesiology taping.

By Elizabeth Polis, PT, DPT
Core Wellness & Physical Therapy

My physical therapy practice is full of mothers-to-be with similar complaints—leg and back aches, swelling, sciatica—and other painful issues common in mid to late pregnancy. Many of them are nearing or have entered their third trimester when both body and baby start to rapidly put on additional weight. The uterus has also fully expanded, putting a considerable amount of pressure on the diaphragm, causing shortness of breath and other discomforts for mom.

I’ve found that a simple, effective way to ease these common, yet often debilitating, pregnancy pains is through kinesiology taping. Also called simply “taping,” the process includes using cotton adhesive strips stretched around the skin or a particular muscle to provide a gentle pulling or lifting force. How and where the tape is applied and the direction of pull impacts how it will provide benefit to mom.

read more...