Globalization of Young Children

As a new parent one of the many things that has peaked my curiousity is the ideology that you can teach a child as young as 3 months a second language. Many parents even go the extra mile and teach their children multiple languages. One of the reasons they are able to do this is their unlimited innate ability to learn and distenguish the differences in the languages. Making your children global children also creates less room for intolerance and allows your children to accept the many differences among culture. Here are a few tips to get your youngster on the path to becoming a biliguial baby!

• Start now. Two- and 3-year-olds are not only increasing their vocabularies, they're starting to recognize the speech patterns they've been hearing since birth. The earlier you introduce a second language, the easier it will be for your child to pick up its unique sounds. The ability to hear different phonetic pronunciations is sharpest before age 3, and we lose the capacity to hear and produce certain sounds if we aren't exposed to them early on. So just hearing a television show, listening to music, or learning a few words in a second language will give your child essential tools for appreciating it now and learning to speak it later.
• Create a casual learning environment. The best way for a child to learn to understand a new language is for him to hear people speaking it fluently. If he's exposed to conversations, he'll begin to pick up the sounds and the natural accent. Choose a language that is spoken in your neighborhood, on a television show your child can watch regularly, or one that is offered in classes or playgroups in your area. Two- and 3-year-olds love to mimic what they hear, and soon they'll begin to understand the meanings of short words and phrases.
• Teach a word at a time. If you don't want to do formal lessons, you can introduce bilingual basics by pointing out to your child that objects can have two names -- one in each language.
• Have reasonable expectations. Of course, a child won't learn to speak another language fluently from hearing words, watching videos, or singing songs. But simply being exposed to a language will help her understand phrases when she hears them. So even though you probably won't be having a French conversation with your child very soon, if you say "bonne nuit" every night at bedtime, she'll figure out what you mean.

-Mr. Jay

Douche of the Day- Ron Brown

Goodmorning all! I'm starting today off with a story out of the great state of Nebraska, pictured right is a picture of the assistant couch Ron Brown whom is currently under fire for anti-gay rights comment. The sports community as a whole has made some efforts to move away from the bias about professional sports and lesbians/gays. Professional sports in the past years could be viewed as highly homophobic but with a lot of things in this country that is changing. For example the "It Gets Better" project and "You Can Play" initiative are all projects and films created with the goal of viewing gay rights as human rights and to show that discrimination against lesbian and gay players are wrong. However, the douche of the day believes that by professional teams doing so they are taking a step in the wrong direction. Speaking in an Omaha City Council hearing against an anti-discrimination ordinance being extended to protect gays and lesbians he stated his firm belief that homosexuality is a sin in Christianity. Furthermore, after receiving many request for the university coach to be fired he told the associated press he would be "honored" to be fired for his religious beliefs. “To be fired for my faith would be a greater honor than to be fired because we didn’t win enough games,” Brown told The Associated Press. “I haven’t lost any sleep over it. I realize at some point, we live in a politically correct enough culture where that very well could happen.”

So far the university has declined to take any action against Brown, stating that his views are not the views of the university. However, having someone in a powered position where he has influence over others (university students), I personally believe that he should be fired from his position as assistant coach. Many advocacy groups have jumped aboard to get this issue handled, but it will take a large group to speak out against Ron Brown.

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So that is the story on the douche of the day, how do you all feel the university should handle this situation? Do you believe that the sports world as a whole is taking proper initiative to ban or lead away from homophobic rhetoric?

Fixing a Struggling Economy

With the 2012 Presidential Election just right around the corner, many Americans are asking themselves about the solutions to fixing the economy. Among many aspects of the modern economy, the housing market is one of the biggest products of a failing market. The stock market has also experienced several losses not made any better by a struggling global economy. With government spending in the trillions, and many Americans losing their homes and jobs, what do you propose to fix the current situation?

Recipe of the Day- Lo Mein Noodles

Many Americans enjoy that local Chinese restaurant but with tough economic times it is sometimes hard to afford that restaurant expense. Dining out is one of the many areas within a household budget that can be cut out completely or lessened to yield a high monthly profit. Some interesting figures about dining out:

• The average American household spends almost half of its food budget on eating out — out of about $6,000 US Dollars (USD) spent on food a year, about $2,700 USD goes to eating out. Alcoholic beverages alone contribute almost $500 USD to that budget

• More than 75 percent of Americans eat out at least once a week, and a full fourth eat out every two to three days. Some studies suggest that, on average, Americans actually eat one out of every four meals and snacks outside of the home.


• Atlanta seems to be the top city for eating out — residents of Atlanta spend about 60 percent of their food budget on eating out. Those in Austin, Texas, spend the most money on food purely in terms of dollar amount, though — they spend almost $13,000 USD a year on food, pretty much equally distributed between eating out and eating at home.


• The most frugal cities in the U.S. when it comes to eating out are Detroit and Chula Vista, California. Those in Florida City spend the biggest portion of their budget on home food — about 70 percent.

So with that said, let's cut back our budgets by learning to prepare some of our favorites right at home!

 

Lo Mein Noodles

 

Ingredients:

 

1/2 lb. flat noodles
2 tbsp. butter
1 c. scallion, chopped
1 tbsp. oil (sesame preferred)
Soy sauce
Pepper
Garlic powder

Directions:

Cook and drain noodles. Saute scallion for a few minutes. Add noodles and seasonings to skillet. Toss. Add soy sauce. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

 

I hope this meal brings great fortune to your family...

Graco Infant Swing Product Review

Good morning all! I wanted to start the day off with a product review on one of my favorite baby necessities the infant swing. The one we decided to go with after going through two already was The Graco Sweetpeace Infant Soothing Swing. Overall I give this swing a strong 4 out of 5 stars. It is easy to use and has so many features:

The most customizable soothing options to comfort your baby

4 seating positions and 3 recline positions to find what baby likes best

Removable seat with vibration doubles as a floor rocker and can easily be moved from room to room

Seat can be easily replaced with most Graco infant car seats, for on-the-go transitions that won’t disturb baby

AC plug-in option allows you to save money on batteries

Exclusive patented MomMotion™, scientifically developed to recreate the natural soothing movements of a loving parent

Features 15 different natural sounds, white noise, lullabies and upbeat songs to soothe and amuse baby

Introduce baby to your favorite playlists with a standard MP3 Player plug-in.

6 unique swing speeds allow you to choose the right pace to suit your baby’s mood

Engaging toy tray helps develop fine motor skills and promotes self-discovery

Machine washable cloth seat pad is comfy for baby and convenient for you

I hope this review helps some new and old parents choose a swing that will be benificial to both the child and yourself. The swing is what helps me get things done around the house and where my child actually sleeps, so without it we would be lost.

Mr. J

Gas Prices

As we are all suffering huge at the pumps, a new study by CNN has shown that gas prices are lowering. This is good news considering the earlier yearly reports on the price of gas at the pump projected an average of $5. Here is to hoping we all receive relief at the pump!

Could a cut in foreign dependency drop these numbers lower?

Welcome!

This is the first official post to my blog and I may be a "newbie" but information, facts, and news on things happening nationally are not. I have set up this blog to show support for Americans living in America today. Times are tough with a weakened economy, high unemployement, and inequality amongst its taxpayers. I hope to eventually become your one-stop shop for news, deals, bargains, and product reviews. Show your support by linking my blog to your social networks and help to get this thing rolling!

We will start off with a simple visual on marriage equality:

We have a long road ahead to gain nationally equality. So please support marriage for all!
                                            "None of us, are as good as all of us"