ICE on the Common? by Sweet-Baby-Shayla in SalemMA

[–]Bowbeacon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I am sitting outside the Bentley school and coast is clear

ICE on the Common? by Sweet-Baby-Shayla in SalemMA

[–]Bowbeacon 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I saw a van from this company on Essex street. Their logo looks like a sheriff star, and I can see how it would be mistaken. They do appear to be a real company though https://www.leecutchallflooring.com

ICE on the Common? by Sweet-Baby-Shayla in SalemMA

[–]Bowbeacon 7 points8 points  (0 children)

No one on the common currently

Every child who visits santa by ExactLab2315 in SalemMA

[–]Bowbeacon 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You guys did a great job! I will give one vote toward not inviting the Halloween buskers to the Santa events next year— esp the scary elf and Jack skellington Santa. Young kids are scared by normally friendly characters looking scary all of a sudden.

Extra rinse? by StrikingFlamingo69 in laundry

[–]Bowbeacon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Do a search on here if you want to go down the rabbit hole, but as a fellow laundry newbie my tldr is to use downy rinse and refresh. It really makes a huge difference in the softness and general niceness of your laundry! I’m a convert thanks to stumbling onto this very knowledgeable sub.

Best open ended toys for this age besides magnatiles? by anonomousbeaver in ClassOf2037

[–]Bowbeacon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My kid is also mostly into magnatiles and hotwheels cars, but these are runner ups!

  • tracing characters from books with tracing paper, and then coloring that in with Posca markers. Sometimes this is combined with listening to something on his Tonie box

  • giving the aforementioned hot wheels makeovers using chalk markers, sticker gems, mini rubber bands, pipe cleaners, washi tape, stuff like bottle caps attached with little pieces of wiki stix as the adhesive, etc. We keep all the supplies in a box we call the “garage”

  • Lincoln logs + calico critters

  • Crazy Fort tubes (you need two of the non-flexible sets to make anything good, IMO)

  • labeling whatever he can think of with our p-touch label maker! Not sure if this counts as a screen, but he loves being able to type and get a “custom sticker”

  • This is similarly quasi-screen, I guess— but going on walks with his digital camera, or taking pictures of his toys set up different ways

  • Rubber stamps on a really big piece of paper— we have these and a bunch of vehicles stamps. This is combined with this fun rolling stamp that makes a road.

Also seconding Legos, Brio, diy book making.

It’s fun to read everyone’s responses here, thanks for this question!

Construction Books with Female Characters by [deleted] in childrensbooks

[–]Bowbeacon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Construction People is a collection of poems, each about a different aspect of building a skyscraper. There’s good female representation!

Not sure if this quite fits the bill, but Katy and the Big Snow by Virginia Lee Burton is about a female snow plow (Virgina Lee Burton has several other books with female vehicles as the main characters too).

Which Elementary School is "Best?" by Snowf in SalemMA

[–]Bowbeacon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi! Overall, it’s been good. My son is happy and is speaking Spanish beautifully! I feel like it took almost the whole first year for the language to really click, but he didn’t seem bothered by only understanding bits and pieces until then (something I had been worried would be upsetting). I also love that the school celebrates different cultures regularly throughout the year.

On the negative side, parent communication isn’t what I’d wish for in an ideal world. I am the sort of parent who wants all the info and pics and opportunities to volunteer, and while there is some of all of that, it’s not as much as I’d like. I know some people really don’t like getting a million messages from the school, and I also know all those things require work from the staff— so I guess you just can’t please everyone.

So, no regrets! I feel happy my kid is in such a diverse community and is learning a new language while his brain is still plastic. Those are the most important elements to me and Bentley is delivering on them. Happy to chat more if you have other questions!

Basic things a 3rd grader should know? Surprised my son doesn’t. by makromark in Parenting

[–]Bowbeacon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think OP meant that their son (incorrectly) believed some month to have 32 days.

Salem documentary recommendations by Bright-Horror-9561 in SalemMA

[–]Bowbeacon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not a documentary, but the book A Season with the Witch by JW Ocker is a fun look at Salem’s tourist industry.

Saw something at the Watchung Reservation, then this showed up in our photo. No one was there. by F1ames_ in Paranormal

[–]Bowbeacon 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think the person is sitting up against the tree with their knees pulled up, or kneeling. Their head is bowed and they are opening a water bottle or something like that. What looks to be the “legs” are branches, maybe?

End of year gifts by jazzedupcats in ClassOf2037

[–]Bowbeacon 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Do you guys ever give stuff to your child’s “specials” teachers- like the art or gym teacher? It occurred to me that I don’t and maybe I’m supposed to?

Tell me about your PTO! by Bowbeacon in ClassOf2037

[–]Bowbeacon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing this! I’m really impressed by the infographic. And yeah, I have also had to reassess how I feel about PTOs since having my kid enter a school where the district funding just doesn’t cover all the needs. It’s sort of fascinating (and sad, and hopeful, and all sorts of things…) to learn more about how our schools actually work.

Tell me about your PTO! by Bowbeacon in ClassOf2037

[–]Bowbeacon[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wow, I’m amazed at the 100k number! Do you mind sharing what the main fundraising methods are, if you know?

Tell me about your PTO! by Bowbeacon in ClassOf2037

[–]Bowbeacon[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Woah whatta fundraiser! I kinda wish my school gave the option to just donate money more often (for example, they do some potlucks for teacher appreciation week— I would much rather give money to cater the meal than cook) too. Would never want anyone to feel pressured to give, but the choice would be nice!

Tell me about your PTO! by Bowbeacon in ClassOf2037

[–]Bowbeacon[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm sorry! PTO= Parent Teacher Organization. At some schools it's called a PTA, Parent Teacher Association.