Art Can Help You Bond with Your Child 

The arts are a wonderful way for parents to explore relationships and the world with their children. You can use television, movies, music, art - any type of art. Art imitates life and gives you and your child an opportunity to explore life without the consequences. For example, you hear a song about cooperating with others or taking responsibility. You, as the parent, can start a conversation about people in the song. Did they behave correctly or badly? What does your child think? What do you think? It's your opportunity to share your values without being preachy.

www.worldtodiscover.com is a family radio program on the internet that offers "quality music adults will enjoy with subject matter appropriate for children". Each week we cover a different topic, like "Let's All Get Along". We play songs dealing with the subject. This show had a song called "Speak Out" that deals with standing up for others. This is just what we were talking about in the first paragraph. Sharing your feelings with your child will help you bond and help your child to internalize the proper behavior and make it part of his or her character.

http://www.worldtodiscover.com radio show is live on Saturdays at 9:30am PST. Click on Live Radio Show to listen with either the RealAudio or Windows Media Player. By the end of March or beginning of April the previous week's show will be archived using the Real Audio Player. Exploring together is another way to bond with your child. If you child is interested in insects, read books about them, explore your outdoors to find and identify them listen to songs about them. You as a parent have a unique opportunity to look at the world through the fresh eyes of your child, to hear things again as if for the first time. And worldtodiscover.com offers a chance to share in exploration on the internet.

Here's what one mother had to say about worldtodiscover.com: 

      "Thanks for giving the world the wonderful website Worldtodiscover.com! My seven-year-old daughter and loved seeing the Chinese writing from the Three Character Classic page and the poem and then listening! My     daughter has been studying Chinese culture and writing in her second grade class, and she was thrilled to be able to print this page from your site and take it to her teacher!"   

                                                                                                                       - Best thoughts, Susan PS.

Each show also has a website on the "kids frequency". Here you can explore the topic further with games, activities, arts and crafts, stories, history, science experiments. We search the web every week for appropriate websites dealing with the topic. For example, on the "Picky Eater" website there's a link to find out what is in your fast food. For teachers and homeschoolers there are also lesson plans. You can explore a topic a week.

We are also building more elaborate pages based on cultures around the world. The Chinese Culture page has a new adventure everywhere you click. Learn about ancient China, the Zheng, the Zhou Bells, Silk, or Hua Mei the baby panda born at the San Diego Zoo and how the Zoo helped to save many baby pandas in China.

All adventures have both written words and audio files. If you child does not read yet, they can listen to the adventure. Adventures are written at different reading levels: the panda is a 1st or 2nd grade level and the Zheng is a 3-4th grade level for example.

Sign up as members and get a weekly email with the playlist for the next radio show and additional activities and links you can use as family or in the classroom. You also get discounts on selected books and children's CDs.

Parents will find book excerpts in the "parents frequency". Teachers will find lesson plans in the "teachers frequency" and administrators will find a speakers bureau in the "administrators frequency".

Join us each week as we explore and communicate.

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