I’ve always loved school librarians. How much? When I was in eighth grade, I chose “library helper” over art class as my elective so I could spend more time in the school library with the librarian. (Okay, I also loved having first dibs on the new book arrivals while they were still in pristine condition before anyone else got their grimy hands on them.) Therefore it should come as no big surprise that a blog over at the School Library Journal’s website called A Fuse #8 Production should nab this week’s coveted Friday Find spot.

Elizabeth Bird, a children’s librarian at the Children’s Center at the 42nd Street of the New York Public Library system, blogs on the School Library Journal website. While her blog is filled with many great resources related to children’s literature, what really grabbed my attention is her current series of posts that report the results of a poll of her readers to find their Top 100 Children’s Novels. Starting at the bottom of the list and working her way toward the #1 spot, every day she metes out reviews, comments, fun facts, cover photos and more on five titles, and every day I check to see what five books came up next on the list.

As Elizabeth explains in her first post of the series:

So as we embark on this massive countdown, I would like to remind all of you that there will be many emotional humps and surprises along the way. There are heroes and villains here. I guarantee that in the course of the countdown you will see one book that makes you boo, and another that makes you cheer, perhaps in the same post. This is a passionate list. There are books included here that I adore and there are definitely books here that I abhor. My job is to never show the difference. So sit back and get ready to complain or cheer in turns. It’s totally within your rights.

We’re currently about halfway through the list, and I’m so anxious and excited to find out what books are at the top. Aren’t you?

Learn more

Visit A Fuse #8 Production blog at the School Library Journal website.

Wondering what makes Elizabeth (Betsy!) Bird’s blog so darned good? There’s an interesting analysis at The Value of Blogging, a post found at Dan Blank: Publishing, Innovation & the Web.

Follow the School Library Journal (@sljournal) on Twitter.

Want to read about more Friday Finds?

Twitter is quickly becoming my go-to place to discover the hottest topics and trends in education and parenting. And Twitter is where I discovered this week’s Friday Find, PBS Parents. According to their website, PBS Parents is:

… the trusted online resource that’s filled with information about your child’s development from birth through the early school years. Created with input from experts in child psychology, early childhood education, media and other fields, PBS Parents provides the answers you need to be your child’s first, best teacher.

One would have a hard time arguing that PBS doesn’t create some of the best educational television programming around. What’s so exciting is that they take the same level of quality to their online content, and the PBS Parents website is no exception. I am particularly impressed with the Education portion of the website and the range of topics that they address. From Early Math and Going to School to Children with Disabilities, they provide a wealth of information for parents. And don’t miss their Bookfinder, a tool that offers book suggestions from a database of more than 1,400 titles.

Thank you, PBS Parents, for continuing to provide us with resources and access to experts that will help us become better parents!

Learn more by visiting the PBS Parents website at http://www.pbs.org/parents/. You can also follow their tweets at http://twitter.com/pbsparents. Looking for a kid-friendly site? Try PBS Kids at http://pbskids.org/ for the younger Sesame Street-loving kiddos, and PBS Kids Go at http://pbskids.org/go/ for the early elementary crowd.

The Friday Find for this week is Nickelodeon Parents Connect, a website that is chock-full of information for parents, including advice on learning and school issues. And I don’t just mean generic information, I mean information that is specific to San Diego. According to their website:

Nickelodeon’s ParentsConnect is an informational, community-based Web site for parents to connect with local family events, great deals and activities, age-relevant content, and other parents.

Of particular interest to us at An Educated Choice are their articles regarding education. They offer advice on kindergarten, elementary school, reading, special education, homework help and homeschooling. Specific articles address topics such as Is Your Child Ready for Kindergarten?, Helpful Tutoring and Educational Resources, and Awesome School Fund-Raisers.

Another favorite feature is their annual Parents Picks Awards for San Diego. These honors are awarded based upon votes cast by parents regarding family-friendly resources in our community. The awards include categories such as Best Preschool, Best Museum, Best Music Class, and more. Not only do they list the winners in each category, but you can also print out a list of all of the nominees in each category, which is a terrific resource in itself.

Congratulations, Nickelodeon Parents Connect! And by the way, we love your tagline: We’re not perfect. We’re parents.

As parents, we’re always looking for ways to help our children develop those crucial literacy skills that they need to be successful in life. Cheerios would like to help us work toward that goal with their Spoonfuls of Stories program. I first learned of the Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories program on their Facebook page “where reading, nutrition and you come together.” I clicked on over to the program’s main website where I learned that,

Cheerios’ commitment to kids doesn’t stop with breakfast. Reading is a key building block for learning and life. That’s why we created the Cheerios Spoonfuls of Stories® program to help get books into kids’ hands and encourage parents and kids to read together.

There are a couple of reasons why I chose Spoonfuls of Stories as this week’s Friday Find. First of all, they have given away more than 40 million high-quality new books to children by placing them inside specially marked packages of Cheerios. That’s right, 40 million books! And when I say high-quality books, I mean award-winning books like All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon and Marla Frazee:

Here’s the book trailer for All the World:

As if that weren’t enough, Cheerios is also sponsoring First Book, a non-profit literacy organization that provides new books to children in need. They’ve already donated more than $3.2 million to the organization. In addition, they are hosting a 6 Million Minutes Read-a-Thon and challenging parents to read to their children for 15 minutes a day. Once they reach the 6 million minutes mark, Cheerios will donate 250,000 books to First Book.

There’s just something about a big, corporate entity giving back to the community that warms my heart. Hurray for Cheerios’ Spoonful of Stories and thank you for your commitment to nurturing the whole child.

If you’re a parent in San Diego, and especially if you’re paying private school tuition (or considering it), you’re probably always on the lookout for bargains. This week’s Friday Find, San Diego Bargain Mama, will help you find those bargains.

San Diego Bargain Mama is the brainchild of Stacey Ross, a stay-at-home mom who began the concept in 2007 as a newsletter that contained great deals from all around San Diego County. What began as a newsletter that she emailed to her friends and family has evolved into a website, blog, and even events.

I came across San Diego Bargain Mama on Twitter when I was searching for people who were being followed by people that I was following. (If you’ve ventured onto Twitter, you know what I’m talking about!) After reading just a couple of her tweets I quickly jumped over to take a look at her Twitter page, and then her website where I found a plethora of bargains just sitting there waiting for me to take advantage of them!

Here are a few examples of bargains that San Diego Bargain Mama has discovered recently:

• Free Soda at AMC Theaters
  With the cost of concessions at theaters these days, this is probably worth at least $27, right?
• 50% off an entree at the Broken Yolk Cafe
  Have you been to this place? Helloooo four egg Californian omelet! Hey, they weren’t awarded Best Breakfast for nothing!
• $5 off any purchase of $25 or more at Learning Express in Carlsbad
  See? There’s an extra $5 to put toward that private school tuition!
• And too many “Kids Eat Free” offers at local restaurants to even list

From one mom who loves to find deals to another, my hat is off to San Diego Bargain Mama!

You can check out San Diego Bargain Mama yourself at the following locations:
Website: http://sandiegobargainmama.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/sdbargainmama

1. My daughter and I listened to Jeff and Jerry every morning for years on our drive to the private school that she attended and where I happened to work. Their show was interesting, family-friendly, and made us laugh.
2. Many San Diegans consider the Showgram to be a San Diego institution. Similarly, many consider private schools to be institutions. (See how it’s all coming together?) While their show isn’t on the radio anymore, they do have a web-based show called Live From Jerry’s Garage (LFJG) that is recorded in Jerry’s garage. Really! You can even watch episodes on their website. As Jeff says,
   

   This isn’t a really good morning show. It’s in a guy’s garage. But it’s the only one left in town!

3. One morning on the Showgram, Laura – who is also on the show along with Little Tommy and Randy – mentioned her search for a private school in San Diego for her child. (Another tie to private schools!)
4. The goal of the Friday Finds is to “… highlight a blog, website, Twitter feed, or Facebook fan page that we think is interesting and relevant to people who are interested in private school education in San Diego.” I’m guessing that a lot of people who are interested in private school education in San Diego are also interested in Jeff and Jerry.
5. Finally, if there’s one thing I admire and can relate to it’s being motivated to make virtual lemonade out of really tart lemons.

So hurray for Jeff & Jer and the rest of the Showgram family! Congratulations on being selected as this week’s Friday Find. We’ll listen to you – and watch you – anywhere you’re broadcasting.

There are rumors circulating that today, Friday, January 15, there will be a big announcement concerning the future of the Jeff & Jer Showgram. Our fingers are crossed that they’ll be announcing a return to the radio airwaves, but whatever happens, you’ve gotta love their gumption.

Learn more

On the web
http://jeffandjer.com/

Twitter
http://twitter.com/jeffandjer

Flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffandjer

YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/jeffandjershowgram

The NYC Private Schools Blog is an online community which encompasses all aspects of NYC private schools (approximately 800 schools). Although there are many wonderful sites and communities which cover NYC public schools, there are few which focus on NYC private schools.

While the focus of the blog is on private schools in the five boroughs, it also provides a plethora of information useful for anyone interested in private schools no matter the location. For example, visitors to the site can learn about different types of schools, the admissions process, paying for private schools and the financial aid process, child development and learning issues, and much more. And with 14,196 followers on Twitter, they must be doing something right!

Congratulations, NYC Private Schools Blog. We look forward to more great posts.

For the first Friday Find of 2010 we’ve chosen a website that should be required reading for parents who are considering private school education for their children – the Private Schools section on About.com. The site is maintained by Robert Kennedy, who is the About.com guide to Private Schools. His background definitely qualifies him as an expert as he has been involved with private schools in three capacities: parent, teacher and administrator. According to Robert,

This site explores the world of private K-12 education in the United States and worldwide. You will find profiles of schools together with my comments on them.

I also offer help and advice on choosing the right school for your child, getting into schools and paying for them. My blog spotlights issues and happenings in the private school world. Feel free to join in the dialog, ask questions and make your own comments.

The site is extremely well-rounded and offers features such as School Finders, a free newsletter, Spotlights on Schools, discussion forums, and an informative and up-to-date blog.

Once you visit the site and begin browsing the wealth of information that it offers, you’ll understand why it’s been chosen by Forbes.com as “Best of Web in Education” every year since 2001! Congratulations and thanks go to Robert Kennedy and About.com for creating such a terrific resource.

Learn more by visiting the About.com Private Schools website at http://privateschool.about.com/.

Happy Healthy Hip Parenting is our choice for this week’s Friday Finds. Founded in 2007 by Sondra Santos LaBrie, Happy Healthy Hip Parenting helps parents reduce stress, resolve conflicts and enjoy family life even more. Ms. LaBrie is a Certified Parent Educator through the International Network for Children and Families and offers a variety of parenting workshops including Redirecting Children’s Behavior (RCB) courses.

The Happy Healthy Hip Parenting audience includes:

Parents, teachers, grandparents, health care workers, counselors, foster parents and anyone who relates to children can use and benefit from these courses.

Ms. LaBrie reaches parents through many online and social media avenues including:

• Happy Healthy Hip Parenting website
  http://www.happyhealthyhip.com/
• Happy Healthy Hip Parenting blog
  http://happyhealthyhip.wordpress.com/
• Hip Mom on Twitter
  http://twitter.com/hip_m0m

Not only does Happy Healthy Hip Parenting offer sound parenting advice, but Ms. LaBrie does so with a wry sense of humor and a unique perspective on everyday life. Others have also noticed her work as she was selected a Nielsen Top 50 Power Mom and she’s in the Top 100 most popular Twitter users in San Diego according to Twitterholic.

Congrats, Happy Healthy Hip Parenting, and keep up the good work. Families in San Diego are counting on you!

MCGR6EJRDSG7

For the debut of our new Friday Find feature, we have selected NextInLearning.com, a blog by the people at Wizz-e.com, the award winning publisher of interactive eBooks for children. I learned of the NextInLearning.com blog when a Twitter post by Jeanette McLeod, one of the publishers at Wizz-e, caught my eye:

Children who blog, text, use social networking websites more confident writers: National Literacy Trust http://www.nextinlearning.com

Fascinating! I quickly retweeted and began following Jeanette on Twitter (who very promptly sent me a DM introducing herself) and from there explored her blog and her ebook site. According to the blog’s About Us section,

Next In Learning is a platform from where we will shine the light on what’s next in learning for our young ones. The blog is a product of Wizz-e.com, an online community which strives to instill the love of learning and reading by providing top quality eBooks for children.

But more important than who we are, is our mission to make learning accessible and fun for the new generation.

So, who should be paying close attention? Parents and Educators.

I agree, we should be paying attention. The intersection of technology and education is where it’s at (so to speak) for our children, and it’s people like Jeanette who will help us stay on top of things. Thank you!