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Joshua Center NEW Website

I am sooooooooo....... excited about the launch of our state-of-the-art website (www.joshuacenter.com). Ken Sharp, our incredible web designer has spent the past year redesigning the website to meet the needs of children with neurological disorders. Eleven years ago when I started the Joshua Center I looked in the Yellow Pages for a web designer. There were 2; no kidding! I looked them up on the Internet and Ken had developed something for J. E. Dunn. I thought to myself, “Good enough for them, good enough for me!” So I emailed Ken to see if he had ever done anything for non-profits. He called me immediately to say he never had, but to send him my “stuff”. The collaboration was born. He developed and donated the website. Without it we would never be able to do everything we do. So last year we decided we needed to start over. We have been working closely together (me constantly bombarding him with ideas and him doing all the work) to provide resources for parents, teachers and professionals. So go to the website right now and sign up to become a member. You’ll understand later!  

Social Skills

Please email Becky if you are interested in a weekday afternoon social skills class or if you are interested in a class for K -2^nd graders. I have been toying with the idea of a 1-hour class for the K-2^nd graders to include a little of each: Handwriting Without Tears, some Reading support and Match Support. It would all be hands-on. Just email Becky at beckyjc@kc.rr.com or call the Joshua Center 816-763-7605. I am so proud of the kids who have been attending for over a year now. The greatest joy is seeing them make friends and be appropriate with each other. They are all great kids.

We appreciate your support!

It’s been eleven years since I started the Joshua Center when I promised my son Josh I would spend the rest of my life helping these kids. Today I invite you to join the Joshua Center Circle of Friends. Your support, at any level, will help us continue to provide the programs and services that all children with neurological disorders need to be everything they can be. As a non-profit organization we depend on individual and corporate donations to support our cause. Without this support we would not be able to do everything we do. Join the Joshua Center Circle of Friends and help pave the way to brighter futures for children with these neurological disorders. You can donate www.joshuacenter.com or mail directly to the Joshua Center, 7611 State Line Road, Suite 142, KCMO 64114. Thanks to you all for keeping us a live!

Becky Ottinger

SCRATCH-OFF CARDS make collecting fun for 2008 Bowl-a-thon

The Joshua Center has Scratch-off cards to help you collect for the Bowl-a-thon on January 26^th. Scratched amounts vary from $3 to $10. All you do is ask your friends, neighbors and family members to commit to at least one bowling ball before they scratch off their donation. This is fun and makes asking easy. Each card is worth $160 of donations for the Joshua Center. We will all have an incredible time at the great AMF College Lanes in Overland Park on January 26, 2008. Bowling is a sport anyone can participate in from ages of 1 - 100. Form your team TODAY ONLINE on the website, www.joshuacenter.com. This is a great opportunity to have all the campers return and renew friendships. Parents, grandparents and friends come together to have one GREAT afternoon and raise funds for the Joshua Center. THERE IS ONLY ROOM FOR 160 BOWLERS. EACH TEAM HAS 5 BOWLERS.

Holidays

Use the link below to go to the holidays and autism Web page:

http://www.autism-society.org/site/R?i=7Mbggy3x-ui8-HCk_8MrmQ.

Want your kids to become more engaged while learning?

Nancy Mazzella, instructional technology specialist with the United Federation of Teachers" Teacher's Center suggests fun Web sites that foster learning.

• PBSkids.org
This site is kid-friendly and has a lot of different resources that can appeal to kids. It has interactive games that reinforce academic concepts. One of the best ones is Cyberchase. The math games are great and they focus on concepts like finding patterns and measurements. The games incorporate characters from the shows, so they would appeal to kids familiar with these shows.

• TimeforKids.com
This is the online component of Time For Kids magazine. Provides news articles on different topics that are interesting to children. A lot of the subject matter is relevant to children and it is a great resource for non-fiction material. It helps them stay abreast of current events and has good content-area vocabulary. Kids need to be able to read both fiction and nonfiction.

• AAAmath.com
This site gives explanations of math topics as well as an opportunity for kids to practice those topics on different grade levels. Children get immediate feedback based on their answers to different questions. Unlike some of the other sites that are purely games, this provides a bit of an explanation to the process of doing particular problems.

• National Geographic Kids, kids.nationalgeographic.com
A great site for nonfiction material. Great place to find maps from around the world that are current, which is important since a lot of the printed material may not be as current. The photos and the videos on the site are just wonderful. They really engage the students and appeal to a visual learner. 4Kids.org This site includes games that reinforce academic skills in different content areas. One of the math games that is fun and educational is "meteor multiplication." There are lots of interactive games in formats that are familiar to kids, such as videogames.

• ThinkfinityNYandbeyond, www.nyiteez.org/MarcoPoloNY
This site is funded by Verizon but is an Internet resource that brings together content from seven different partner sites. What you find there are lessons and interactive activities that are aligned to the New York state standards. Lessons in all different content areas and interactives that go with the lessons that can be useful for teachers.