Topic: Holiday Helpers

The holidays can be emotional trigger points for parents who are separated or divorced. Even if you think you are coping well, you may find yourself grieving for the family, and holiday, you used to have, especially if you are on your own at Christmas.  If your ex has the kids for the holidays, be good to youand pamper yourself in inexpensive ways.  Do something you’ve always wanted to do this year.

A Mothers Day cake is one of the absolute best ways to show your Mom just how much you love her. Here are some great tips for making a unique and memorable gift for your Mom.

For our fifth year at ParentsWorld.com, we are taking the time to think of others over the holiday season.  Yes, it's true that we as single parents might not have much in the way of money or possessions - but there is always someone somewhere who is worse off.For four years we adopted a family and sent gifts - helping o­ne family.  Last year we funded not o­ne but THREE projects through the Donors Choose program helping, in effect, almost 100 children.  I think that's money well spent.

Charles Best, formed Donors Choose to bring the average citizen together with Teachers who want to make a difference. Teachers will propose a project that they need funded and upon approval they get listed at the website. Anyone can then go and browse the projects and see what they'd like to fund in part or in whole. From Crayons to Pianos - everything you can imagine is in there.

PLEASE find it in you to take a moment and donate even a few small dollars towards this project that we have chosen to fund in the name of everyone here at the website for the holidays this year. In no time, we can proved the teacher with the supplies needed to not just make a difference in o­ne life, but in many young lives. This project is perfect in that it allows you to donate what you can and we can all work together to reach the relatively small goal.

The details are as follows. Please note, "fulfillment" is defined o­n the Donors Choose website as "We also send the teacher a disposable camera and guidelines for writing thank-you notes. Upon receiving that feedback, we scan the photographs, photocopy the thank-you notes, and attach receipts, all of which goes to the donor."

We did in fact receive wonderful pictures and letters from all of our funded projects last year.  I have requested permission to post them, but as of yet have not heard back.  If you helped to fund a project last year and would like to see some of the photos/letters please let me know and I'll arrange it for you.

You can click here to see the three project that we funded last year: "Brand New Readers", "Hands o­n Science", and "Classroom Copy Machine".

So it's here that I announce our first project of the year:  Floor Puzzles for Learning.  Click here to read about it! Let's get together and make a huge difference again this year!

Below is our first project for the 2004 holiday season.  Last year we funded three programs in an amazingly short period of time.  Please read and see if you can help.  You can click the link to donate directly or, if you can not afford the minimum requested, you can send a cheque to ParentsWorld for as little as a dollar and we'll apply it to the program for you.  Any direct payment you make will be tracked in the name of ParentsWorld.com so we know how much people at this website have helped.

Floor Puzzles for Learning
Charlotte-Mecklenburg, NC
% of Students Receiving Free Lunch:64%  

I teach in an all day kindergarten. Our school has 650 students with 69% free and reduced lunches and our population is high in E.S.L. students.  

I teach literacy two hours a day. o­ne hour is for independent work time. I need some floor puzzles that could be used as centers that teach numbers, alphabet, community helpers and farm animals. My class consist of four and five year olds. Most of my children are still learning the alphabet. These puzzles would help the students learn the letters while they are having fun. We also study community helpers and farm animals in Social Studies. The floor puzzles would be a wonderful addition to our center activities.  

Thank you for your consideration for my proposal.

The cost of My First ABC Floor Puzzle, The Very Hungry Caterpillar Shaped Floor Puzzle, and the number Train Floor Puzzle from Teacher's School Supply, and the Alphabet Floor Puzzle (set of two), Visit the Zoo/Farm Floor Puzzle, and Our Community in Transportation Floor Puzzle from Kaplan Early Learning Company is $160, including shipping and fulfillment.

Today, November 23rd, I recieved notification from the teacher involved that this project is 100% funded!  Way to go, folks!

The teacher wrote:

Dear ParentsWorld.com,

I appreciate so much your donation of the floor puzzles. These puzzles will be used in literacy centers to support the unit of study. Most of my children have not had the experience of using puzzles so these will be so exciting to the children. We have had so many budget cuts that it would have been impossible to fund these puzzles without your support. Thanks for helping.

TyJuana Shaw

Have you always loved the ease of o­nline shopping but were never sure where to go to shop?  We've made it easy for you!  The following select few merchants are not o­nly recommended by us,  but these are sites that we too use for all our shopping needs.

Make your Christmas Shopping a little easier by ordering from the comfort of your own livingroom.

Click below to learn more and visit a few of the shops!  We've also discovered the newest up and coming shopping portal o­n the internet.  Check out AnyShops.com for all your shopping needs in o­ne place!

CLASSROOM COPIER

I have just "moved up" with my sixth grade class to the seventh grade. Our school is a SURR school in the South Bronx. We find ourselves in a precarious position this year: the Chancellor's new curriculum and accompanying materials do not apply to seventh grade math and science this year. So, we're working with a shortage of everything: books, supplies, lab equipment, you name it.

Three weeks into the school year, I have spent countless hours in line at the copy shop and I can't begin to count how many dollars o­n photocopies of handouts, worksheets, reference materials, group notes for collaborative projects, and homework sheets because we simply don't have access to the resources that would allow us to function without these copies.

Because I try to structure all of my lessons in a "workshop" format, we need copies of primary resources to work with. My students, always working o­n group projects, need copies of their teammates' notes and research so that everyone in the group can literally "be o­n the same page."

Having a small desktop copy machine in our classroom would allow me and my students to reproduce materials we need in a timely manner. We would be able to photocopy readings, missed assignments, rough drafts for multiple peer editing, data for math projects or science labs, and other important papers quickly and easily.

The cost of a Canon Personal Copier and a case of copy paper, both purchased from Staples, is $224, including shipping and fulfillment.

The holidays are often hard for all sorts of people. Being separted from your loved o­nes, being alone, being depressed, or just being short o­n cash - it's hard for adults to get into the festive feeling and harder still to provide wonderful holiday memories for our children.

There is help out there. Your local churches and malls are often your best bet as many run an "adopt a family" or "angel tree" promotion where community members can help out a family.

If you haven't been able to find anything in your area, we've gathered a few general programs below. PLEASE, if you're thinking of applying for assistance, do it quickly. Most places have an early cut off date to ensure that families can be adopted in a timely matter.

Below is our second project for the 2003 holiday season.  The people at ParentsWorld.com got the project 100% funded in exactly six days.  Because of this, we are now able to fund a third project for the year.

HANDS-ON SCIENCE

Hello! I am a teacher in P.S.169. Located in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, P.S.169 is a Title 1 school in which all students receive free lunch. Many of the children are English Language Learners.

Nowadays subjects like science seem to be swept under the rug in the face of subjects like reading and math. However, science is an equally important area of knowledge our children should tap into. In order to better introduce my children to third-grade science I would love the Hands-on Science Supply Center, available through www.lakeshorelearning.com. It offers many different tools for exploration and experimentation (magnets, magnifiers, mirrors, etc.) that would enhance the classroom experience.

The price of Lakeshore Learning's Hands-On Science Supply Center was $161, including shipping and fulfillment

Make a difference this year for Christmas and help fund this program! Click here to fund our other projects or read more. Do not hesitate to email us if you have any questions.

Below is our first project for the 2003 holiday season.  The people at ParentsWorld.com got the project 100% funded in exactly seven days.  Because of this, we are now able to fund a second project for the year.

BRAND NEW READERS

I teach first grade at P.S.169, a title o­ne school in Brooklyn. I teach children who are English Language learners. The children are just beginning to learn English as well as read. As the children begin to read and learn new words, illustrations become an important key to their ability to comprehend stories. Short stories whose words and pictures work together are ideal for children who are learning to read. I would like six copies of 4 "Brand New Readers" . These books are short funny stories with words and pictures designed to support new readers. These books would be both a classroom resource as well as go home with the children each night. I believe these "Brand New Readers" will cultivate brand new readers in my classroom.

Six copies of Rosa Stories, Piggy and Dad Play, Mouse Has Fun, and Well Done, Worm cost $174, including shipping and fulfillment.

Make a difference this year for Christmas and help fund this program! Click here to fund our other projects or read more. Do not hesitate to email us if you have any questions.

For four years now we, as a group, at ParentsWorld.com find something to do as a Holiday Project. In the past, we've adopted families and provided presents and more for Christmas.

This year we're trying something different. Last spring while watching "Oprah" I learned about an amazing teacher and a program that he had started for underprivaledged schools in the New York area. These schools, because of lack of funding, are going without things as simple as crayons and books.

Charles Best, formed Donors Choose to bring the average citizen together with Teachers who want to make a difference. Teachers will propose a project that they need funded and upon approval they get listed at the website. Anyone can then go and browse the projects and see what they'd like to fund in part or in whole. From Crayons to Pianos - everything you can imagine is in there.

The regular members of ParentsWorld went though the list of projects and picked out five that interested us. From there, we voted to find the o­ne that we wanted to fund. We chose a small project as we are all aware that many of us are quite cash strapped as it is. It is my hope that we can not o­nly fund this project, but be able to also fund a second o­ne.

PLEASE find it in you to take a moment and donate even a few small dollars towards this project. In no time, we can proved the teacher with the supplies needed to not just make a difference in o­ne life, but in many young lives. This project is perfect in that it allows you to donate what you can and we can all work together to reach the relatively small goal.

The details are as follows. Please note, "fulfillment" is defined o­n the Donors Choose website as "We also send the teacher a disposable camera and guidelines for writing thank-you notes. Upon receiving that feedback, we scan the photographs, photocopy the thank-you notes, and attach receipts, all of which goes to the donor"

It is with great pride that I can announce our first project, "BRAND NEW READERS", was funded in o­nly SEVEN days!   CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT OUR FIRST PROJECT.

It is with further pride that I can announce our second project, "HANDS o­n SCIENCE", was funded in o­nly SIX days!  CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT OUR SECOND PROJECT.

Once again, I am proud to announce that we funded yet a third project, "CLASSROOM COPIER"  CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT OUR THIRD PROJECT.