August 2020

Kindergarten Warmup (Fridays)
I just love the MV Library.  They are having a weekly Zoom session on Friday mornings 10-10:30 am (starting August 7th) to get kids ready for kindergarten.  This month the focus is math!
https://mountainview.libcal.com/event/6889165

Animals A-Z – Online (Thursday August 13th)
Miss Alex will teach us all about the amazing creatures that the world holds.  Thursday Aug 13th  (2:30-3 pm) and Thursday July 30th (5-5:30 pm) we will learn about ‘big cats.’  Sign up soon — spots are going fast!
https://mountainview.libcal.com/event/6907561

SF Zoo and Oakland Zoo
Want to see some big cats live?  Check out the zoos (by reservation). We haven’t tried this yet because we weren’t sure of the the risk-to-benefit ratio.  If you go, shoot me an email and let me know what you think of their social distancing/crowd control :).
http://www.sfzoo.org/
https://www.oaklandzoo.org/

Garden Visits
This past month we’ve visited some really lovely gardens full of beautiful summer blooms.  Check these out if you want a quiet stroll in a stately garden away from the crowds!

Filoli (by reservation and you must purchase pricey tickets — but lovely!): https://filoli.org/
Hakone (no reservation but you must buy tickets): http://www.hakone.com/
Montalvo (no reservation,  no ticket, very uncrowded during the weekdays, and hiking onsite): http://montalvoarts.org/
Sunnyvale Historical Museum/Orchard (no ticket, no reservation, museum is closed by the grounds and orchard are lovely and check out the chickens and rabbits by the apricot orchard): https://heritageparkmuseum.org/

August Parenting Book Club
Let me know if you would like to discuss this month’s book pick:  Different Children, Different Needs by Charles Boyd

Next month (September): NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children
Book by Ashley Merryman and Po Bronson.  (this was a good one!)

Hold and Grab Library Books 
If you haven’t tried getting books from the MV Library, it is super easy, very well organized, and feels very safe:

https://www.mountainview.gov/depts/library/about/currentlibraryservices.asp

Also, if you looking for a good book recommendation, the library has put many of their book lists online (to help you pick books by topic, reading level, etc)

Booklists:

https://www.mountainview.gov/depts/library/childservices/youthbooklists.asp