Does it make you cry to calculate how much you have spent on LEGOs for your child over the years? A company called Pley is offering Netflix-type subscriptions for LEGOs. Unlimited rolling access to the large LEGO sets is $39 a month, $25 for medium sets and $15 a month for small sets. Why is this such a good idea? Well, LEGO sets are expensive to buy and it is the building, not the owning of the sets that is fun for children. Pley says it will sanitize each set before sending it out and weigh each package to detect missing pieces. Customers can lose up to 15 pieces without incurring any penalty. pley.com.
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Is your child more likely to pick up a book than a LEGO? A new service offers children 12 and under a monthly library of more than 2,000 books available on the iPad for $9.95 a month. The company’s mission is to encourage kids to use iPads for something other than games. For adults, there is already Oyster, an e-book service aimed at adults for $9.95 a month. Meanwhile, Amazon has Kindle Free Time Unlimited that gives families unlimited access to e-books, movies, TV shows, educational apps and games aimed at the under 8 crowd.
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Autism diagnoses are up 30 percent in the last year alone. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that one in 68 children have autism spectrum disorders. The CDC added that the criteria used to diagnose, treat and provide services have not changed. The study focused on “peak age of identification,” which is age 8. You can read more at tinyurl.com/kk8x444.
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ArtQuest’s 20th annual spring showcase is at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 3. This event is free and open to the public and provides an opportunity for students to learn more about this public school art magnet program at Santa Rosa High. Students at ArtQuest choose an area of specialization in digital arts, dance, photography, theatre arts, video arts, visual fine arts or vocal and Instrumental music. Applications are still being accepted for fall 2014 entry in ArtQuest. artquestonline.org
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Starting next week, the nonprofit California Parenting Institute will offer “Parenting Advanced Learners” at the Sonoma Community Center. This series provides a comprehensive overview of parenting gifted children, including meeting social/emotional needs, intensity, sensitivity, peer relationships, motivation, depression, twice exceptional children (gifted with accompanying issues), self-regulation, frustration tolerance, procrastination, perfectionism and ways parents can take care of themselves, too. Groups will meet from 10:30 a.m. to noon on six Wednesdays, starting April 2. To register, 585-6108, ext. 1240 or visit calparents.org.
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The number of California undergrads taking out student loans has jumped 75 percent over the past decade, according to the Campaign for College Opportunity. The amount each student owes, however, has held steady at a little more than $20,000, when adjusted for inflation. California is considered a “low-debt state” thanks to the Cal Grant program. Almost 74 percent of all undergraduates took out a federal loan in the 2011-12 school year (up from 51 percent in 2003-04). The report points out the big-picture problems with this debt: young adults with student loan debt are less likely to buy a home or start a small business or open a savings account.
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There is a new free app for mobile devices that enables people to evaluate their abilities to perceive, understand and control emotions. The MEIT test (Mobile Emotional Intelligence Test) is a skill test to evaluate the ability to perceive emotions, the understanding of these emotions and the ability to manage them. emotional-apps.com.
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There is a Chinese saying: “It is better to travel ten thousand miles than read ten thousand books.” Michelle Obama quoted it recently in a speech about the importance of studying abroad. She said, “Studying abroad isn’t just a fun way to spend a semester; it is quickly becoming the key to success in our global economy … Because when it comes to the defining challenges of our time – whether it’s climate change or economic opportunity or the spread of nuclear weapons – these are shared challenges. And no one country can confront them alone.”
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The Sonoma Valley Unified School District is working on an updated policy regarding the awarding of credit for courses taken outside of a traditional district classroom. Why is this so important? Right now, out of 20-million students in the U.S., more than a million are taking at least one online class (according to Pew Research Millennial Facts)
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Sleep is so important for teens. Youth athletes who sleep eight or more hours each night are 68 percent less likely to get injured, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
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