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Monster Mini Golf in Danbury, CT has made mini golf more weather friendly and more interesting. It provides that over-the-top Halloween atmosphere all year round. It is an indoor mini golf course, arcade, and birthday party place with black lights.

When you first walk into the warehouse-looking building you see two rows of arcade games. There are classics like skeeball and air hockey, along with standard games. Everything looks bright in the dark setting of the building. Tickets can be redeemed for little prizes.

There are two party rooms decorated as if they are an old, haunted living room with a glowing fireplace with glowing, painted flames and a huge skull. There is even old furniture and Halloween decorations. Take a tour of the party rooms here: http://www.monsterminigolf.com/fran-ct-danbury/tour-rooms.html.

The largest part of the Monster Mini Golf is, of course, the mini golf course. The course is laid out like a maze with every foot used as part of the course. You can see a tour here: http://www.monsterminigolf.com/fran-ct-danbury/tour-course.html. I was initially concerned there wouldn’t be enough room to get out of the way of another person’s shot, but it was very natural and easy to stand on the orange dividers.

There are three moving decorations that add to the atmosphere of the golf course, but for those with little kids, it might be good to know about (my daughter was terrified of animated Halloween decorations when she was little). The large ogre in the back will open his eyes, rise a bit, do some talking, and then go to sleep. The witch in the middle stirs her pot (it’s not very noticeable). There is a tree to the right which moves its branches slightly while speaking.

The black floor helped show off all of the glow-in-the-dark dividers and cool, Halloween decorations. The golf course was interesting and good for different levels. My five year old scored two holes-in-one but there were holes where it took me 6 strokes.

Monster Mini Golf is open Tuesday through Sunday (also open on Monday holidays). Weeknight hours are 2 – 9 pm (10 pm on Friday), Saturday from noon to 10 pm, and Sunday from noon to 8 pm. Adults play for $8 a game, kids play for $7 a game, and wee ones (probably under 30″ tall) play free.

Knowing that Monster Mini Golf is a franchise, I happy Danbury’s Monster Mini Golf was designed to take its new location into account. The murals were designed around some silly Connecticut laws and even paid homage to Danbury’s Hat City and railroad history. The whole family had a good time.

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In my last post I spoke a little about deciding to homeschool my eighth grader. Imagine my surprise to see homeschooling as the featured article in Connecticut Magazine. Homeschooling is an increasingly popular, and easy, alternative to traditional education in Connecticut. The article itself is proof that homeschooling is not an extreme fringe activity.

With the school year starting in only a few weeks, I’ve been knee deep in planning my own homeschool adventure with my eighth grader. I am more comfortable with a formal curriculum. Though I am home, I need large blocks of time for my business. Whatever we do needs to allow her to work independently.

The explosion in homeschooling families, like in every industry, means more available resources. When it comes to find courses, we could choose to learn from library books, websites, textbooks, books written specifically for homeschooling which include scripts for the parent to ease teaching, videos, online classes, tutors, or private teachers. There are also many parenting groups to help parent navigate the various options.

I prefer a more formal approach to homeschooling. My daughter has had experience with online classes and I like the interaction with the instructors. Online courses are a more costly option, though it’s the option I thought might suit us best.

We are trying out a few online classes over the summer. Selecting curriculum has been challenging and there are still a few subjects I have to figure out.

Homeschooling is an exciting endeavor. It’s also scary. It’s a big step to take on all of my daughter’s education.

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How does a perfectly normal mom become a homeschooler of a middle schooler? It seems to be an amazing step. I had no intention of becoming a homeschooling mother when my first daughter was born, yet I find myself on that journey now. I could not have considered taking this step except that I work-from-home.

According to some statistics, there were over 1.5 million students studying in a homeschool environment in the United States in 2007, a 36% increase in 6 years since the numbers previously collected in 2003. Homeschooling used to be a fringe activity. Today in Connecticut I have at least five homeschool groups I may join with hundreds of other families.

Admittedly, I have tread these waters before. When my daughter was in elementary school, we homeschooled for a few years for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade. How does one even consider homeschooling? I have met a number of homeschoolers and it seems that there is a different reason, or constellation of reasons, for every one of them.

I have talked before about the difficulty my daughter had getting an appropriate education for her particular needs in the public school. Prior to deciding to homeschool, and part of the reason homeschooling became an option, I was already supplementing her education with on-line classes in math and writing, much like parents who take their kids to a tutor.

It was important to me that I was not my daughter’s primary teacher. The on-line classes helped me realize that homeschooling was possible. There are as many ways to homeschool at there are homeschoolers. I wanted a formal learning experience for my daughter. I spent time researching additional online learning opportunities and found almost everything she needed.

Online classes are a pricier homeschooling option. In our case the cost is much less than local private school options and still allows for a curriculum flexibility that even the best private schools can’t offer.

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The Greatest Show on Earth, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus, is at the XL Center in Hartford through the weekend.  I took two of my kids to the Friday morning performance. I’ve seen a few shows at the XL Center now and Ringling Bros & Barnum and Bailey Circus used the space in the venue in the most creative way I have seen yet.

I was particularly impressed with the level of detail in the circus. An enormouse opening act with every performer kicked off the show. For the first time at any show I’ve seen, they have a live band. It makes for a much fuller sound that compliments the show.

The show has everything you expect from a circus, as though the whole concept of circus was defined by what Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey offer.  Trained horses and trick riders started off the show. The tiger and lion tamer had his hands full with nine big cats, one of which was particularly frisky.

The high-wire act has evolved considerably since the lone man with the pole. This show uses motorcycles with aerial acrobats suspended underneath.  Another aerial performance incorporated large, transparent spheres with dancers inside. They looked like living Christmas ornaments.  We saw women lifted by their hair while they performed. Ouch! There were also flying acrobats, trapeze artists, clowns (of course), trained ponies, trained dogs, trained cats (yes!), and trained elephants.

Sometimes things go so smoothly that we forget that these are real people who are attempting these amazing feats. During the show, one of the performers missed their mark and had a very minor tumble. While he was perfectly fine, it helped reinforce exactly how skilled and practiced the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus performers are.

What Parents Need to Know:

• Like every show, it is loud.
• Get to the show an hour early and enjoy the “all access” pre-show to enjoy some special interaction.
• The show is slightly over two hours long and the 15 minute intermission comes after an hour and 15 minutes.
• Every seat is a good enough seat to enjoy the show. Some people from the most expensive seats were brought onto the performance floor during a part of the show.
• The show moves very quickly from one act to the next. You can head to the bathroom when the motorcycles on wires come up.

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What to do when public school isn’t a good fit? It is a complicated question. What does “not a good fit” mean? For me, it meant that my daughter wasn’t thriving. She was getting good grades, but was working below her capabilities and developing bad study habits and other negative personal habits in school. For some, it means that their child is not getting good grades. Other children perform better academically in a more nurturing environment, or even a more independent environment. The answer is as unique as each child.

Everyone wants their child to enjoy school, get good grades, learn the information necessary for their goals in life, and do the best they can in school and in life. It is sometimes easy to tell if your child is doing well in school. They are enthusiastic about going to school (or at least don’t complain about it daily), they get As and Bs in school and need to study and complete their homework to get those grades.

When school is not working, sometimes it is easy to tell. There are the kids who act out, or hate going to school even when they’re young. Some kids have learning challenges that need to be identified and once they’re identified then they can get the right services. Sometimes the kid doesn’t do well academically even without a learning challenge.

Many parents work with the schools to identify techniques to help their children. Teachers can work with the kids differently when they become aware of issues and get a full picture from the parents.

Other people switch to a local private school. Each private school has its own philosophy of learning, which may or may not suit the child. When local schools, even private schools, aren’t working out, there are a number of high school level boarding schools that may be appropriate. A growing number of parents opt to homeschool.

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I can tell it’s almost spring.

The sun is still up when my husband comes home from work. The days are getting warmer. Sign ups for community supported agriculture, or CSA, (where you can get part of a farm harvest every week by purchasing a share in a local farm) are underway. Maple syrup is being celebrated. I have crocus blooming in my front yard. My floors are covered in mud.

And I have a renewed desire to shed the cocoon of winter. I find myself making excuses to stay out of the house, whether for errands or an extra trip to the park. The spring clothes that were still waiting to be put in the attic are going to be put on hangers instead. Even my recalcitrant daughter was excited to do some spring shopping.

As the seasons change, so are things in our lives. Redecorating, spring cleaning, and my desire to improve my parenting are all changes that I’m experiencing this month. Less yelling, more preparation, experimenting with techniques gleaned from a friend who read “Transforming the Difficult Child“.

It’s a good thing I am embracing change since the weather insists on changing so frequently this week.

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For all parents who, like me, feel a good education is the key to long-term life success, we seek out academically oriented extracurricular activities. Whether the children are in public school, homeschooled, or in private school, I am constantly on the look out for other classes, workshops, or activities.

Why would I bother to have my child spend hours on regular school work and then come home to do more work? There are a few reasons.

• I don’t want to compartmentalize learning as something that only should, or only can, happen in school.
• Every topic can be taught in a different ways, from traditional lectures, to books, to hands-on activities, to worksheets, to one-on-one time.
• What are the chances your child will find their passion or career in the classes taught in school? Even though math is needed for great technology careers, they figure out their favorite thing to do is program a computer or phone in math class.
• People teach differently and from different perspectives. Sometimes a kid needs to see material presented in more than one way in order to understand it.
• We prioritize what we value. If we actively make time for work, eating properly, hobbies, and learning it’s because we actively want to accomplish those things.

A very popular program that requires a full day’s time commitment is the Spark program at MIT on March 10th. MIT students prepare classes for students in 7th through 12th grade. The classes can be music appreciation, to math, to living on Mars, to figuring out how a toilet works. If driving up to Boston is not in the cards, there is also the Minds in Motion program in Middletown on the same day which only lasts from 1 pm to 4 pm. Some of the activities available for children in grades K to 8 include robotics, exploring Chinese, Circus skills, DNA, and television production along with a lot more.

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Shrek the Musical takes the parts we love about Shrek the movie and then sculpts the story to make it work really well on stage and with a lot of dancing. I was a little concerned that I might be watching the movie over again, but enough was changed to keep it fresh. For instance, my favorite part of the musical was a Broadway-chorus-line-style tap dance with the Pied Piper’s rats. You won’t find that in the movie anywhere.

I saw toddlers and teens enjoying the performance. There was not a single crying child I could discern through the whole performance. Some of the youngest kids were tired by the end of the entire 2 ½ hour performance, one was even sleeping, but the ones sitting around me were engaged.

The classic lines that parents have memorized because our kids love watching the film over and over again still deliver. Shrek the Musical even finds a way to add a few more zingers. It is still the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast that we enjoy with enough change to keep you on your toes.

With the exception of “I’m a Believer”, none of the songs from the original Shrek soundtrack are included in the musical.  There are 19 songs included in the musical. They are delivered with the professional quality one expects of seasoned performers.

The production values were amazing. The costuming was accurate, rich, and varied. The sets were beautiful and creative. We could peer behind bars and walls and watch the sun rise and set. I was a bit in awe of the number of different sets.

The show is on regardless of the weather!

What parents need to know:

There is an opportunity to buy snack food before entering the theater. The prices are better than a movie theater. If you are steering your young ones away from candy, maybe talk to them about not buying anything at the theater or getting only a water.  There are alcoholic drinks also available.

The Palace is a small enough theater that all of the seats provide a good viewing experience.

The intermission is about one hour after the performance starts and lasts 20 minutes; plenty of time for a potty break.

The actors are wired for sound, but the overall sound level of the show was OK. It was a little quieter than a movie without explosions.

Shrek paraphernalia is available for purchase. There is a stand close to the entrance with t-shirts and some ogre-ear head bands and other novelties for a keepsake. I did not check the prices.

At the end of the performance, there is a short duration of strobe lights toward the audience.