Class: Family Yoga

Looking for some fun this Friday night? Why not try yoga with the whole family?

Family Fun Yoga

Friday, June 5

6:00 – 7:00 pm

$15 for the entire family!
A fun, energizing class to introduce your family to yoga. All ages are welcome.
Charlotte Raich is the instructor.

Location: Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington.
To register: http://events.virginiahospitalcenter.com/vsitemanager/eventmanager/eventDetail.asp?sid=44740

OR, contact Cornelia Lesh at 703.558.2409 or clesh@virginiahospitalcenter.com

LG and I are not familiar with this instructor but we do endorse yoga of all sorts and family yoga sounds like a lot of fun!

If you go, please leave a comment with your review!

Arlington County Class Registration

Sorry for the late notice but registration is TODAY! June 3rd just sneaked up on us didn't it?

Swimming classes are probably already full but there is still time to sign up for other fun classes for you and your tot this summer (most classes will start in July or August).

All registration information (including a catalog of classes) is available on the Arlington County Parks and Recreation site.

Class: Ballet Petite in McLean

Ballet Petite is opening in McLean, VA and to celebrate they are having $5.00 trial classes this week and next. Classes are offered for children as young as 18 months (mommy and me). Pre-registration is not necessary just stop in for the class that works best for you and try it out (see the schedule).

The summer session starts at the end of June and runs until August. I do not have information about pricing, but I will update this post once I do.

LG and I are going to check out a class next week. Tutus and fairy wings here we come!

Class: Tykes Yoga

LOVE.

We (LG and Mama) are so in love with this class. I swear I often feel as though it is as if LG created the curriculum herself. It is the perfect speed for her (read: it is fairly quiet and slow). She loves the fact that everyone has their own mat (she is the rare breed of two year old that respects personal space) and that it is a small group of children.

Dare I say that she enjoys this class more than gymnastics? I have to say that I do. The main reason? I don't have to say "no" as in "no don't go over there; no don't touch that." There isn't any equipment to worry about it is just an open room. I find this class to be so relaxing for me because I can just enjoy my time with LG.

The teacher, Kim Blackmon, is wonderful. She just has a way of engaging the children. You can absolutely tell that each child is special to her and what is really important is that the children can tell too. She watches what they do and she builds on it. She incorporates each request (benefit of a small group) and praises each child. In short, Miss Kim respects the children.

I cannot offer enough praise for this class. It is offered at the Virginia Hospital Center and new the early summer session is available for sign up now. If you are not in Arlington, check out the Itsy Bitsy Yoga website to find your local instructor.

Classes: Water Tots & Water Babies

~A post from Daddy!

It looks like LG and I are on the waiting list for Water Tots this time around. Make sure to sign up in the early morning whenever registration begins. (this reminds me of the competition for classes in college!)

Although I won't be swimming on Saturday mornings this spring, I figured I might as well post an overdue review of the classes.

I really enjoyed both Water Tots and Water Babies. It gave me an assigned time with my daughter every week and gave her something to look forward to doing with daddy. I also learned the delicate skill of changing a diaper on a locker room bench.

Water Tots is designed for kids ages 1.5 to 3 years old and teaches them some basic swimming skills like paddling and kicking and just gets them more time in the water. Water Babies is for babies 6 months to 1.5 years. The only major difference is the skills you are working on, with the Babies class mostly focused on getting used to the water and having fun in it.

The classes are fairly small (about 8 kids if I remember correctly) and only last about 30 minutes. Adults get in the water with their child and move them around the water while the instructor tells you what activity/skill to be working on. LG most enjoyed playing with the toy ducks and doing the hokie pokie each week. She also got pretty good at kicking and paddling by the time the class was done.

There are lockers in the changing rooms, so I recommend bringing a lock to keep your gear in. I took the class at Washington-Lee HS and always found parking available.

Oh and kids are required to wear a swim diaper. I brought a training diaper by accident once and LG's bathing suit blew up like a balloon.

Class: Abrakadoodle (Twoosy Doodlers)

We have attended the Abrakadoodle Twoosy Doodlers classes this session and we really liked them. Given how much they cost we should probably be getting a lot more out of them, but they are a fun way to spend a Monday morning. The projects (except for one) are completely appropriate for toddlers and LG really looks forward to going to 'painting' class. The instructor is patient and encourages creativity. We did have a good time, however, I don't think we will sign up again for two major reasons:

1. Inappropriate furniture. This class takes place in a room intended for adult use. The table is high and the chairs are huge. Kids need to kneel or stand on the chairs in order to reach the table. This isn't safe and it isn't ideal since the kids have trouble reaching everything they need. I think a toddler class needs to happen in a toddler room.
   
2. Cost. These classes are way too expensive for a parent and child class. You could easily recreate the experience in your own home for a fraction of the price. I don't know why these classes are more expensive than gymnastics which has specialized equipment and specially trained teachers but I imagine it has something to do with overhead charges.
   

Like I said, this class was fun. LG adored it! But we'll be signing up for gymnastics next session :).

Toddler Yoga Anyone?

LG and I have enrolled in a toddler yoga class that is supposed to start on Monday. The trouble is that we are one kiddo short of a class so it may not happen! Boo!

If you are at all interested in trying out the Itsy Bitsy Yoga program, check out their website to find a class near you! It is appropriate for any child between the ages of 0 months and 4 years - different classes for different ages.

LG and I did Itsy Bitsy Yoga together when she was only 10 weeks old. It was terrific! An incredible bonding experience and it really helped her sleep. I highly recommend the class and the book to any new mommy. Our teacher, Kim Blackmon, is the same teacher we had for our baby class. I remember really liking her and always feeling calmer in her presence.

But now we want to try yoga for an older child. We hope you do too!

please.
pretty please.

UPDATED to reflect that the class is now full! I will post a review once we have started!

Arlington County Classes for Spring

The new catalog is available and registration begins on March 19th. You can mail in registration or register online.

If you plan on registering online, take the time to set up an account now. Some of the very popular classes fill up quickly. More information about registering is available here.

We are currently undecided about what classes we will sign up for but we are excited for possibly returning for another round of Water Tots and/or Tumbling Tots. We are also considering giving soccer a try but since the classes fall a bit too close to nap time this may not be an option.

Class: Tumbling for Toddlers

LG graduated from Tumbling for Toddlers on Tuesday. I have to say that though I had my reservations after our first class, this ended up being a pretty awesome experience for her. She learned so much about taking turns and being with other kids. She had the opportunity to run and jump in a much larger environment than I could provide for her at home and she even learned a few gymnastic skills.

Her teacher, Miss Donise (I apologize if I spelled that incorrectly!) was fantastic. She was really sweet with all the children and had some really good tips for the parents.

We did regularly have issues with not wanting to stay at a particular center but LG was fairly easy to redirect. The foam pit opened for the last 3 session of our class and LG was a big fan. When she was 14 months the foam pit was her least favorite thing so I was glad to see her jump right in.

We really did get a lot out of this class and it was a tough call on whether or not we wanted to do it again during the winter session. In the end we decided to do art class instead (Abrakadoodle for Twos) but I am sure that we will sign up for gymnastics again in the summer.

Class: Long Branch Nature Center

Long Branch Nature Center
625 S Carlin Springs Rd
Arlington, VA 22204
703-228-6535

This morning LG and I attended a class at the Long Branch Nature Center. We had never been to the center before but it had been recommended by a neighbor. I thought that a good way to explore the center would be through the class (my neighbor has not attended a class). The class was inexpensive ($3 paid upon arrival) and runs for 45 minutes. There is one theme per month and the classes are offered multiple times per month. You can find out about classes in the Snag Newsletter.

Here is a breakdown of the class:

~ Information Session
The theme of the class is introduced, in our case: Bears. There were stuffed bears for the children to play with while the teacher told them about bears and hibernation. The teacher engaged the children through questions and by showing them a bear rug.

~Movement
The children were all given the chance to stretch. The teacher did a little rhyme that children followed along with. It was cute but the teacher only did it two or three times so by the time the children had caught on to the game, it was over.

~Game
This was where we started to go downhill. The ball game. The teacher took out a ball (a highly desirable object for toddlers) and proceeded to roll it to one child at a time and have them roll it back. Okay, this is fine if there are say 3 kids, but with 9 children? I don't think so! This was way to long to ask most of the children to wait. LG was fine with the waiting but after she waited so long and patiently she was really disappointed when she didn't get to at least hold the ball for a little bit. So we made it around the circle with minimal tears and then the teacher decides to do it again! You have got to be kidding me! When something fails, just bail out! Anyway, this part of the class obviously bothered me.

~Storytime
So the theme is bears. I would think it would be very easy to find a book about bears that is appropriate for young toddlers. Sure it might not talk about hibernation but it would be about bears and therefore be on theme. So you can imagine my confusion when the teacher pulled out Don't Wake Up The Bear by Marjorie Dennis Murray. LG and I have taken this book out from the library. It is a good book and it does deal with the concept of hibernation. But it is a difficult read out loud book for 2 year olds. LG did fine with it when I read it one on one with her and was able to make it slightly shorter and we could talk about the animals. However, with this many children things got a little confusing (and loud, by this point many of them had had it).

~Art Project
This was a very cute idea. Each child received a brown construction paper bear and a brown paper bag. The bear could go into his cave. LG really liked putting her bear 'Night night.' There were cotton balls to add on for snow. Again very cute. Unfortunate that we didn't have a table when the glue came out but in the end we all coped just fine and the kids had a cute project.

~Nature Walk
This was not the day for a nice walk so we kept it short. We went to see the owl, who was awake and very cool. I can definitely see that this would be a great place to come on a nice fall day. The grounds seemed very interesting with a lot of fun things to explore.

One of the parents in the class commented that she enjoyed the class at the Gulf Branch Center more than this class. I am not sure why she enjoyed it more but I just thought I would put that out there.

I imagine that that class differs slightly depending on who is teaching it. We are signed up for another class in January so I will let you know if that one has a different format.

Winter Session: Arlington County Class Registration!

The Winter 2009 edition of "Enjoy Arlington!" is available online now (http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/ParksRecreation/scripts/classes/ParksRecreationScriptsClassesClasses.aspx) and will be in mailboxes and available for pick-up at Community Centers and Libraries this week!

Online registration and processing of mail-in and fax-in registrations for residents begins at 8am on December 18. Non-resident registration begins on January 6.

To register online, go to https://registration.arlingtonva.us/. The opening day of registration is extremely busy. For a successful first-day registration online, we encourage you in advance to login to your account and verify that your household members are listed.

Class: Tumbling for Toddlers

Arlington County Classes
Barcroft Sports and Fitness Center

LG and I attended our first Tumbling for Toddlers class on Tuesday. LG was pretty excited about it. She couldn't wait to get in the tunnel and play on the balance beam, unfortunately for her, we first had to sit and listen. She actually held up rather well to a speech that could easily been shortened by providing the relevant information to the appropriate parties rather than all the information to everyone. Luckily, we only have to do that part of the class this time.

It was then time to warm up. I think of this as circle time for gymnastics. There are 3 classes in the gym during our session: family, toddlers, and preschoolers. All the classes warm up together. This is something that I think could be reworked. Toddlers and preschoolers do have different developmental needs and abilities when it comes to following instructions and it would be nice to have a warm up that engaged toddlers more. That said, LG will benefit from a whole group activity since she is used it being just her and Mama.

After warm up, the classes were divided up and headed to one of three stations. Our first station was the trampoline. After sitting again for some instructions (which were very important for safety reasons), LG headed off to the balance beam. Right, that would not be a part of trampoline. At least this balance beam wasn't in another station though, so it was safe for her to use it while she was waiting for her turn on other things (I did ask an instructor if it was okay, she said yes). LG did eventually get around to jumping on the trampoline and swinging on the rope, which she loved.

On to the next station - floor. LG was not ready to leave the first station, she had just warmed up to it - I think this is going to be running theme for us. LG is an observer. She wants to watch before she plays. The trouble is when we only have 10 minutes at each station, she doesn't have time to watch and then play (at least not with each thing). Hopefully, as the equipment becomes more familiar to her, she will warm up faster. The floor station is in my opinion the best one for toddlers. There are tunnels to crawl under, stairs to climb up, mats to jump on, a balance beam, and places to practice rolling. I would be very happy if the entire class was organized like this obstacle course. What I really love is that there are intended activities for each piece of equipment but the instructors are fine with the children using them in any safe way. LG likes the music. LG gets very MAD when the music goes off. So MAD in fact that all she can talk about is how MAD she is that there is no MUSIC. She actually refused to do anything until the music turned back on. This is going to be a problem.

The final station of the day was Balloons. I see how this would be fun. Kids do love balloons. I can also see this as a festering pit of germs. As the last group to have balloons we had the joys of many wet balloons - ew. Balloons just seem to be one of those things that children, even those do not normally mouth things, like to put in their mouths. I should mention that both LG and I are now sick - not that it necessarily came from this exposure (we went to JW Tumbles and the grocery store earlier this week). I hope that next week there is something that is not so tasty available.

At the end of the class the children recieved a stamp (on hand or foot) and a coloring sheet. The 45 minutes went by really quickly so we must have had fun! I think this will be a great experience for LG to interact with other children.

Fitness: Stroller Strides

Stroller Strides
Various locations, please check website

I recently ran into my former Stroller Strides instructor and remembered what a great experience it had been. I would still be doing stroller strides now if I had: 1. a daughter would would sit in a stroller for an hour; 2. a running stroller (I was fine with my Bumbleride when she was little but I think that now a running stroller, preferably a BOB would be much better for both of us).

I wish I had started striding when my daughter was about 3 months old. I think that is when I would have first been able to handle the workout (which is more intense than you might imagine) and LG would have been very content in her stroller. As it was, I didn't sign up until LG was already 9 months old and so I really only got in 3 good months of exercise before LG was walking and wearing me out at home. Had I stuck with it, I could probably still convince her to stay in her stroller that long because it would be a regular occurrence. There were a lot of mother's who had walkers that were content in the stroller. Somehow, I just don't see LG as being one of them. Or perhaps that is just my excuse so that I don't have to work out. :)

The workouts I was a part of focused less on walking/running and more on strength training. We would walk for a short while and then stop to do some resistance training with the elastic bands or some pushups or leg lifts. We also did cardio bursts, which really did me in.

It was a great place to connect with other moms and get in shape. Of course, everyone was always really understanding when you just 'had to go' or your child would not stop crying/screaming, or in my case, your child threw up all over her stroller.

Wow, I have almost inspired myself to try it again. Almost.

You can register at anytime during the year. The classes usually take place outside but when the weather gets to cold or hot, they move inside. There are a couple of pricing packages available and I would recommend starting with a ten class pass so that you can determine how many times a week you can handle it.

Arlington Classes Registration!

Don't forget Arlington Classes Registration is TOMORROW!

Find out more about the classes here.

You can register for classes online starting at 8am. If you don't already have a log in, I suggest you get one today. If you are not planning on registering online, you can fax or mail in your registration but you must have a paper copy of the catalog of classes to do so. Enjoy Arlington! Class Catalogs are available at the libraries and community centers.

Arlington County Classes

Arlington County Department of Recreation has released the schedule for Fall Classes. There are many different classes for all ages (starting at birth). All classes are Mommy and Me until the child is 3 at which point it varies. Registration begins on 08/21/08. You can register online, by mail, fax, phone, or in person.

Classes we have previously taken include:

Waterbabies ~
Swimming with the little ones. My husband did this class with my daughter when she was about 10 months old and it was nice time for them to bond together. He actually learned a lot of techniques for playing with her in a swimming pool and getting her comfortable in the water.

Cost: $90 for 11 sessions
Location: Various locations and times available.

Tiny Time ~
Gymnastics and movement class. I signed up to take this class with my daughter when she was 13 months old. We only were able to attend 3 classes due to illness and planned vacations. Those three classes were quite the workout for me! Since the classes meet in the normal gymnastics center at Barcroft, all the equipment is there for your little one to explore (i.e get hurt on). It is hard to keep a 13 month old from wandering off to various locations. The activities were a little advanced but she had fun just playing with the items that were appropriate for her. I think that now she would enjoy it more since she is comfortable walking and likes to balance, climb, and jump. At 13 months just walking around was enough for her.

Cost: $127 for 13 sessions
Location: Barcroft, multiple days/times available

Signing Smart Beginner Play Class ~
Signing was something that I really wanted to do with my daughter. I was dedicated enough to sign to her for 6 months with no signs from her. Now she has about 100 signs and regularly uses them to communicate. The signs help her to clarify her speech or say things that she doesn't have the words for yet. I highly recommend signing with your child.

That said, we didn't learn a lot of the signs from this class. I liked the instructor and I thought that she was wonderful with the kids. She had lots for them to play with and really made age appropriate choices. The materials we had to purchase for the class were good and bad. The video was terrible (there are much better videos available) but the 'manual' for the parents was very helpful. The parent guide had all the information that that class taught, which was very valuable because I could rarely learn anything from the 'lecture' section of the class due to noise and since I was also trying to entertain my daughter. Overall, it was a great place to meet other parents who shared your interest in signing and it was a nice playgroup for my daughter.

Cost: $147 for 10 sessions PLUS a $47 materials fee
Locations: Various locations and times

Classes that we are considering for this fall:
Water Tots
Tumbling for Toddlers
Abrakadoodle