Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, which means you've probably already bought the class cards at Target for your kid, you've attached 30 pieces of candy to each card... and maybe you even wondered if your spouse would do something nice for Valentine's this year? Here's the thing: Valentine's day doesn't have to be solely commercial or just all about love between a couple. In fact, if you look at it in a different light, it's a fun way for families and friends to express their appreciation for each … [Read more...]
The Ever-Changing Definition of “Parent/Guardian”
Imagine this: You register your child for an after-school or summer program. You forget about it. You get a reminder email from the said program letting you know that a parent or guardian must pick up your child when the programs ends. You internally freak out as you sit at work, because you know you and your husband (who also works until atleast 5 pm) will not be able to pick up your child from the program. You decide to write an email to the program and ask what you can do. This, or some … [Read more...]
Encouraging Children to Teach Each Other: The Benefits of Mixed Classroom Ages
When it comes to our child's comfort, we are all worried about how they will adjust to a new situation or meeting new kids. We ask ourselves questions like how much will the other kids influence our child? Will my kid be too shy or too obnoxious when trying to get to know other students? Or the dreaded, what awful habits or bad words will my child learn from his or her classmates? It turns out, these are all completely normal worries. And while some of the unwanted is inevitable, there is a … [Read more...]
‘Get Moving!’ vs. ‘Sit Still!’: We Forget to Play!
Do you ever catch yourself telling your child to "sit still" or "calm down"? Though in some situations, it's appropriate to keep your child from disrupting, there is also a time and a place for play and movement (including those screams!). Think about when you've been sitting for a long time in a car or at your desk. Doesn't too much time sitting still make you tired, unfocused and maybe even moody? Yes! Because play (or movement) is essential for our creativity, happiness and our ability to … [Read more...]
Fun, Patriotic Memorial Day LEGO Flag!
There are so many ways to celebrate our country and those who've sacrificed for it. From barbeques and parades to lake days and get-togethers, there's a lot to do this weekend! For some quieter time with your kiddos, here's a LEGO build that's sure to entertain, make them think and allow you to spend some extra time together. Little bins for little hands has created an American Flag LEGO Build with directions here. Don't forget to share a picture of your build with us afterward on our … [Read more...]
Minecraft Winter Break Tech Camp Available
If your child loves Minecraft® and is looking for something fun and educational to do over winter break, then join us in this brand new awesome Minecraft: Mod Mania™ tech camp! We are very excited to be offering this new camp where kids in grades 4-8 will craft and program new ideas into Minecraft worlds through modding, server customization, circuitry, skins, and textures. Kids will set-up and customize mods, LAN servers, switches, circuits, and work with Redstone. Because of our … [Read more...]
Resources to Encourage Coding and Creativity with Scratch
"All of my friends who have younger siblings who are going to college or high school - my number one piece of advice is: You should learn how to program." -Mark Zuckerberg After an exciting week of learning computer programming at Tech Camp, you want to capitalize on your child's enthusiasm and keep them coding at home. To help we have provided resources that will encourage your child to continue to create with code. Downloads The software we used in Tech Camp is Scratch 1.4 and can be … [Read more...]
Want the Best Advice on Tech Education? Ask a Teacher
“Teaching is the profession that teaches all of the other professions.” -Author Unknown As a parent when I have questions about my child's education I ask their teacher, so we decided to sit down with our Classroom Antics teachers and ask them their thoughts on tech education, and here is what they had to say about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and Classroom Antics. Advice to the Parents Quite simply "do it," was the answer given by one of our teachers when asked … [Read more...]
A Kid’s Perspective on Tech Camp
When you walk into a Classroom Antics Tech Camp, there is an amazing energy in the room. Everywhere you look you will find kids excited to learn about technology and highly engaged with other campers that share the same interests. Why Come to Tech Camp? But, we wanted to find out what brought them all to Tech Camp, so we did what anyone would do and we asked them. Some of the reasons kids said they wanted to come to Tech Camp is because they like working with LEGOs and computers, are … [Read more...]
Top 10 Colleges to Study Animation in the U.S.
“Animation offers a medium of storytelling and visual entertainment which can bring pleasure and information to people of all ages everywhere in the world.” -Walt Disney According to the Princeton Review, “It is extremely difficult to achieve the level of professionalism expected in this industry (animation) without study.” This is just one of the reasons children as young as nine are beginning their journey to become an animator by enrolling in stop-motion animation camp. Stop-motion … [Read more...]
