One Room Schoolhouse: Educating Ourselves and Our Children Well

A Tale of Two Libraries: Differing Summer Reading Programs

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 May 2015 02:02:00 +0000

Every year since my 1st daughter was born, I have signed up for summer reading at two libraries. It's not so much that I try to be an overacheiver, but that I try to support both city libraries equally. Six summers ago, both libraries had the same simple program -- list the books you read to your child and turn the list in by the end of July for some encouraging little library tchotchkes and a pat on the back from the eager librarians. I was accustomed to this mode of "book listing", as this is how it was done in the summers when I was a little girl.

Somewhere along the way I remember thinking, "Any kid can read books, but would they willingly read a magazine article, an autobiography, or a instruction manual during the summer? These library programs really need to get with a modern program and move beyond just books." At the time I'm sure I thought I was progressive genius, looking down among the others librarygoers who never thought to question these passe summer reading lists.

Ironically, without me ever uttering those elitist words out loud, the next summer the larger library system gave me my wish due to a bold, new administrator (who has also gotten rid of an ungodly number of printed books in her wake, much to the public's consternation). See picture below.

I'm not sure why I took a picture of this 2 summers ago... I may just be that nerdy.

That year I found that it was a lot harder to get that larger library's checklist done instead of cheering my daughter on to read whatever struck her fancy like I did for the smaller library. Maybe it's because she was too young to for some of the tasks, perhaps I was lazier that summer, or that I still didn't care for graphic novels (which are basically novels in comic book form), who knows... I do know that I berated myself that summer for not following through with my own silently requested modifications.

Since that time, I have taken to heart 3 books about the nature of reading that have completely rid me of that former guilt: The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, The Book Whisperer, and The Read Aloud Book. They all have a similar theme which is that if we back off trying to control someone's reading habits and tastes (as us teachers are want to do often) they will flourish as readers in many reading domains because the enjoy the act of reading. According to Jim Trelease in The Read-Aloud Handbook,

"A school's objective should be to create lifetime readers -- graduates who continue to read and educate themselves throughout their adult lives. But the reality is we create schooltime readers -- graduates who know how to read well enough to graduate. And at that point the majority take a silent vow: If I never read another book, it'll be too soon."

So which library is promoting the idea of the lifetime reader? The smaller library that by its program's simplicity beckons us to fall in love with as many different kinds of books as we can get our hands on or the larger library who sets parameters on what kind of reading we must do to be a "successful" reader? This where the mom and the English teacher war within me, but at the end of the day my money's on the smaller library. Why?

Again, Trelease has this to say:

"It boils down to a simple, two-part formula:

The more you read, the better you get at it; the better you get at it, the more you like it; and the more you like it, the more you do it.
The more you read, the more you know; and the more you know, the smarter you grow"

The point is that having a more diversified portfolio of reading accomplished during the summer is NOT equal to imbibing a large quantity of books during the summer. Being a good reader doesn't happen overnight because reading is a skill that requires layering (i.e. much like using free weights at the gym, you have to continuously workout your reading muscle in order to strengthen its capacity).

To my knowledge, the old "list your books" method is abolished at the larger library and while their goals are noble (and I can say that because I have taught students who wouldn't touch a non-fiction book unless someone threatened them), the better choice long-term might be for a parent who signs his/her child up for summer reading to approach the library as a world of infinite whimsy. As for me, I think I'll still do both summer programs but with the knowledge that just checking out the books is a reward unto itself.

Keep School Momentum All Summer Long (And Have Your Kids Thank You For It!)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 07 May 2015 15:33:00 +0000

Would you call me a stereotypical teacher if I encouraged you to keep your kids doing some kind of school all summer long? Well, maybe some of you parents would be sympathetic :)

I'm going to offer up 3 simple and inexpensive ways to engage your kids during the summer in 3 different subject areas! Whether you have small ones, teenagers, or in between there's something for everyone here.

1. Khan Academy

Have you seen ads for this free website on TV? On it you will find slogans like "You can learn anything" or "Our mission is to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere". After using it for two months now, I believe it. I started using it to show my kids the excellent video series on the orchestra (it interviews the principal chair for most instruments) but soon branched out into Early Math with my almost 6 year old. It rewards you like a game where you get points and badges for doing tasks which keeps kids motivated. It allows for hints and videos on the concept if you get stuck. An older kid could use this independently with no problems.

Have a tween or teenager? They have Math for Kindergarten all the way through 4 or 5 types of Calculus as well as videos of science subjects like Biology, Chemistry, Physics, etc. They have Arts and Humanities, Economics and Finance and College Prep courses. Did I mention this is all FREE?! Forget paying a tutor this summer. Get on this website first and keep your kids curious.

Even if you don't have kids, this is a great way to brush up on your own skills in order to better help your children or learn something new. I never took past Algebra II in high school nor did I take Physics or Chemistry. In a few years I plan to tackle those subjects so I'm not left in the dark when my girls will need help. You work at your own pace, so it's doable for those who only have a chunks of time to work with during the week.

2. Mad Libs

I'm sure we all have some silly childhood experience that involves Mad Libs. Writing normal words in blanks that turn stories into crazy stories. Here recently I have been trying to teach my oldest to differentiate some basic parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs). We've watched a lot of Schoolhouse Rock videos on parts of speech and done a few sorting games -- very basic. This morning, she successfully did a worksheet that was a small version of Mad Libs (even if all her adjectives were colors!) and it occurred to me that the combination of the silly stories and getting my child to apply her knowledge of what IS an adjective/noun/verb/plural/singular is a perfect way to keep her brain thinking about grammar all summer long.

Mad Libs really are a great way for the whole family to contribute to a game, so you could do this on a road trip or just right quick before dinner or bedtime for some giggles and guffaws. If you have an Ollie's nearby they almost always have Mad Libs for 99 cents.

3. Doodle Books

My (almost) 6 year old's doodle

Also a purchase at Ollie's for $3. With over 200 pictures, this is a thick book! It is a great way to keep the imaginative part of your child's brain stimulated as well as developing his/her fine motor skills. It's like a book of writing prompts for people who like to express themselves in drawings instead of words. We pull this book out at the table while waiting for a meal or if there is just some free time during the day. I could see this being a good book to take if your child has to sit quietly during a meeting or a doctor's waiting room. You might be surprised at what creativity springs forth from your child's mind!

Those are my 3 short suggestions, but I would love to hear your inexpensive ways to keep your child engaged during summer, so please share!

Introducing... My Husband the Novelist

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 01:50:00 +0000

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you might have noticed me posting some things from my husband's new blog. Allow me to explain...

By day he runs Disciple Magazine (along with other communication-related jobs for AMG International). Ever since we were dating I knew he wanted to write the next "great American novel", but wondered how he would ever make that a reality? Everyone knows that writing fiction does not become a day job until AFTER you get discovered. And then unless your name is Harper Lee (who created a sort of media immunity for herself), there's tremendous pressure to follow up your first acclaimed work with something else worthy. The whole "writer's life" does not seem to fit with being a committed, financially stable family man.

I digress...

So right after college we got married at 22. I was a high school teacher and he had his job at AMG. The years passed and I stopped teaching to stay at home when we had our oldest child at 25. We have had two others since then and life has just kept us really busy and shows no signs of slowing down. Any big career dreams are pushed by the wayside when you have so many competing needs in one house! For two people like us who tend to idolize stability, we knew that unless we either got a huge windfall of cash or someone wanted to go oldschool and patronize Justin to write, that a novel (or any serious writing project) would not write itself with a 9-5 job and three kids.

Enter a new season of writing.

We decided that he ought to take some time to write after work at the library some nights. Not an easy sacrifice for me, but if time wasn't carved out for him it wasn't going to get done. Not because Justin is lazy or unmotivated, but the exact opposite -- because he works SO hard for our family. He serves us until he doesn't have energy for his own writing, so we both wanted a way to make sure he was getting the outlet he needed.

I suggested that he also start a blog and a personal Twitter account to get his thoughts and writings out there. This idea was initially repugnant to him because, like most good writers, he loathes anything that smacks of self-promotion. Yes, it's a catch-22. Unfortunately, it seems that in order to be noticed these days you have to get a following on social media. You have to PROVE to publishers that your fan base will support you if they take a chance on your work.

This is where you come in.

We're not going to get a Kickstarter campaign to fund his work (unless you know some filthy rich people that are game for that sort of thing -- then talk to me!) and he's not quitting his job (see preceding paragraphs about paying the bills), but I do ask that if you enjoy his writing, please share it with others. Facebook it. Tweet it. Google Plus it. E-mail it. Text it. Print it off and snail mail it. I believe in the power of grassroots movements and social networks and I know Justin would love for people to engage with his work or just briefly tell him that he's got a good thought going. His blog is called Hardscrabble. Go ahead. Click the link :) While you're there you can sign up to receive his blog updates (usually once or twice a week right now) in your e-mail box. In its fledgling stage, it's a mix of thoughts, poetry, short stories, theological musings, and whatever else original he feels compelled to share.

We have no idea where, if anywhere, his career in writing is headed, but it's got to start somewhere. We need you -- friends and family to jump on board with encouragement and engagement.

Thanks in advance,

- Rachel and the family

P.S. If you want a feel for his writing style, I've posted many of his book reviews previously on my blog:

The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction
Coolidge
Justin's GoodReads of 2014
Gilead/Home/Lila

Book Review: Lila by Marilynne Robinson

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 21:17:00 +0000

Justin and I are both big fans of the Gilead/Home/Lila trilogy by Marilynne Robinson. In fact, we were so eager we got Lila from the library the very first day it came out (last October). Justin favors Gilead and I favor Home, but we both feel the same way about Lila. Here is his "in a nutshell" review:

"Taken as a whole, Marilynne Robinson's Gilead(Ames/Boughton) trilogy is the finest American literary work in more than a generation. Gilead alone is a masterpiece; Home back-weaves onto the existing pattern a drop-shadow to underscore its beauty and pain.

Then Lila came along, doing to the story the same thing its title character did to John Ames, upending settled realities and causing reflection on and reinterpretation of past events.

The story is undeniably beautiful, this time told in a stream-of-consciousness style that manages kinship with the two previous books while striking a tone all its own. Lila's "cornered-animal" psyche (and her slow growth into trust and hope) that is only hinted at in Gilead and Home is fleshed out more fully, explaining her without squelching her mystery and strangeness.

What makes this trilogy stand out is Robinson's unabashed metaphysics, framing the characters and the story in Scripture, theological reflection, and spiritual realities. Because of nature of this story, the problem of her throwaway universalist statements in the last three pages of Lila snatches that humble, worshipful significance from the whole collection.

As insightful and polished a thinker as Robinson is (read her essays to get a flavor for that), she has the weakness so common to American Christian thinkers of believing her particular theology more than she believes the Bible. Lila is a story of unsought, unmerited grace (with John Ames playing the part of redeemer) flowing from the fount of Calvin and others. By the end, though, that grace becomes so sloppily irresistible (pouring down even on those who completely reject it and the God who gives it) as to be utterly meaningless.

If Robinson's conception of the Day of Lord were true, the hard-fought faithfulness of Ames, Boughton, and their loved ones is reduced to pitiful farce."

Honey for a Child's Heart: The Next Generation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 14 Jan 2015 02:23:00 +0000

If you're a mom you've probably received multiple copies of a book called Honey for a Child's Heart or its sequel Honey for a Teen's Heart (if you haven't, I suggest you check it out!). It's a book with a definitive list of tried-and-true books for parents who want to know where solid books for their children can be found.

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I check out quite a large number of kids' books. As in, nothing makes me happier than to go through aisles of kid books and flip through them for hidden gems for my girls. For the new year I decided I was going to look to several sources to get book recommendations for them -- now 5 1/2, 3 1/2, and 4 months. One of those sources was Honey for a Child's Heart. However, when I opened my copy I saw it was published in 2002. Most of the hundreds of books I have already read weren't even on one of its lists because they were newer than 2002. I checked Amazon and it said there was a new edition for 2010, but, alas, our public library (not surprisingly...) does not carry any edition.

So what was my not-so-methodical way of approaching the Honey list I had? I just picked an author and checked out every book Honey listed for them (assuming the library had it). Maybe I just hit the wrong author right off the bat (William Steig), but I started finding that I disagreed with a few of his books that made it on the list. Not on major levels, but enough where I started marking things to note that I wouldn't check them out again and if someone asked me I would probably direct them to another book or author.

So, here's the question I pose to you parents... Let's say someone wrote their own version of Honey -- what would YOU like to see in a book list?

What categories?
Book Reviews -- long or short or just-give-me-the-name-of-the-author-and-books?
Would you like thoughts/commentary on what constitutes a "good" child's book?
Certain disclaimers?
Any other ideas?

Please leave feedback so we can all learn from each other's preferences or experience!

Justin's Good Reads of 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 07 Jan 2015 03:37:00 +0000

These are my husbands's book reviews for 2014 (as seen on Disciple Magazine's website). Obviously some of them are going to overlap with mine because we're in a book club together. Besides when you're married and you both like to read you swap books pretty often when they come into your home. Enjoy!

Theology/Christian Living

The Cross of Christ by John R. W. Stott

From my review: “Stott’s magnum opus is among the finest expositions of the central truth of the Gospel the Church has produced. His focus on every page is on Christ, captivating the reader with a portrait of the cross as the culmination of the weight of sin, the absoluteness of God’s holiness, and the depth of His love. As a theological treatise, The Cross of Christ ranks with the classics of Church history. Like the best of those classics, it is not merely excellent theology, but a good book—Stott’s prose is engaging and his argument flows well from beginning to end. He comes across not as a calculating academic, but as a man on fire with the joy of his salvation and a pastor eager to lead others to see the beauty of the Gospel in its manifold glory.”

The Meaning of Marriage by Tim & Kathy Keller

I went through this with my discipleship group this summer: really a first rate look at the significance and purpose of marriage from a biblical perspective. The Kellers offer a condensed and persuasive counternarrative to the dominant cultural view of marriage as either an outmoded and repressive institution or an idol for self-gratification. Clarity of thought abounds here, whether you’re newlywed, long-married, or still single. If you know, me, you’ll recall that I shy away from (”actively revolt against” may be more accurate) spiritual/relational “how-to” books, so my recommendation is a declaration that this is not among those.

Taking God at His Word by Kevin DeYoung

Kevin DeYoung writes with humble authority on many of the key theological, ecclesiological, and cultural issues facing the church today. His short, witty books are disarmingly challenging, and he somehow manages to write a new one almost every year (a feat which he credits to his congregation’s generous offer of 4-6 weeks of “book writing” leave from pulpit ministry each year). Using Psalm 119 as his starting point, DeYoung here embarks on a wonderfully pastoral exposition of the doctrine of Scripture in all its facets (inerrancy, perspicuity, sufficiency, etc.) that should shore up any believer’s faith in God and His revealed Word and give seekers and skeptics much to chew on.

History/Biography

The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote

It’s hard to imagine that anyone other than Shelby Foote could have written this. His family ties and sentimental roots in the South give the book somber, almost mournful overtones that honor the fallen and cry out “never again” with no hint of triumphalism. His urbane libertinism and self-important literary mind keep it balanced enough that both sides are given a fair shake–Union heroes and villains abound as much as their Confederate counterparts. Is this book long? Obsessively (3,000+ pages in print, 131 hours in audio). Is it tedious? To a fault. Yet both qualities render it readable and enduring in ways that less exhaustive accounts lack.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Click for his full review.

Histories and Fallacies by Carl R. Trueman

Delightful, witty, insightful. A quick read and a good reminder to those of us who read history (or philosophy, theology, etc.), that the writers thereof are human and fallible. In other words, this was a great overview of common pitfalls to avoid when writing history and to be wary of when reading it (anachronism, category confusion, reification, oversimplification, etc.). Of course, the biggest recommending factor for this helpful little book is its author, Carl R. Trueman, a professor of Church history at Westminster Seminary Philadelphia. He is, as someone once put it, “one of those Brits who writes in such a way as to remind you that they invented the language.”

Fiction

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger

This selection from one of our book club members was a welcome surprise – particularly the affirmation that there are many good authors still working in contemporary times. Enger’s characters are real and knowable, the narrative moves along with all the force of the classic westerns on which it was modeled (complete with an outlaw on horseback, even in the 1960s setting), and his vision of God’s hand in all our dealings gives the book a not-unpleasant mystical flavor. I found the ending somewhat unsatisfying, but it works as a mirror of life, which unfolds in myriad interesting and shocking ways, with billions of individual sorrows and dissatisfactions. Read it and then take the advice of Enger’s narrator, Reuben, and “make of it what you will.”

Home by Marilynne Robinson

The vagaries of parenting, personality, and the difficulties of fleshing out an intellectually understood faith underscore this quietly beautiful novel. Its piercing phrases of recognition moved me to reflect on my own life choices and family in new ways. Not quite as theologically probing or historically profound as Gilead (covering, as it does, a different angle of the same story), but in no way a bad book. Robinson’s extended rumination on how the routine dysfunctions of family beautifully and painfully intertwine with time and place may not change your life, but it adds a sweet savor to life as it is.

The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene

Another book club selection. Graham’s most Catholic of stories draws with chiaroscuro beauty the story of the last surviving priest (and an immoral, alcoholic priest at that) in a Mexican state that has outlawed the church. The palpable darkness gives way to hope through death. I think it can well be read more broadly as a tale of how none of us is worthy of God’s call, but that He nevertheless calls and sustains those whom He will. This line sums it up well: “How often the priest had heard the same confession–Man was so limited: he hadn’t even the ingenuity to invent a new vice: the animals knew as much. It was for this world that Christ had died: the more evil you saw and heard about you, the greater the glory lay around the death; it was too easy to die for what was good or beautiful, for home or children or civilization–it needed a God to die for the half-hearted and the corrupt.”

Honorable Mention

Collected Poems by T. S. Eliot

I took a stab at learning to read and to like poetry this year (and even to write a bit), and T. S. Eliot helped immeasurably. His bleak, bemused thoughts on the decline of the West in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, The Waste Land, and The Hollow Men were avant-garde in the 1910s, 20s and 30s, but today ring eerily prophetic. His musing on the Christ and Christianity in later works (Ash Wednesday, The Four Quartets, etc.) offer hope in the midst of doubt. Poetry is to prose as whisky is to beer–the same substance distilled to a strength that must be handled with care. A little goes a long way, but it is often strikingly beautiful and can boost your overall use of language tremendously. Among the “finds” of linguistic beauty from Eliot: “Here were decent, godless people: their only monument the asphalt road and a thousand lost golf balls” (Choruses from The Rock). “These are only hints and guesses, Hints followed by guesses; and the rest is prayer, observance, discipline, thought and action. The hint half guessed, the gift half understood, is Incarnation” (The Four Quartets). I also enjoyed reading much of W. H. Auden’s work, and have been savoring this gem: “O stand, stand at the window as the tears scald and start; you shall love your crooked neighbor with your crooked heart” (As I Walked out One Evening).

The Children of Men by P. D. James

A taut, provocative thriller, this is sci-fi/dystopia for grown ups (envisaging a world in which no children have been born for over a quarter century), full of enduring themes and a banal plausibility that makes it the more chilling. James wrote this in 1992, near the height of the 20th century crime wave and the peak years of the abortion industry, so some of the story’s sociological punch has faded (her “future” setting for the action is now just 6 years away). Still, it touches on the some of the core fears of humanity and does so with deep religious sensibility, often explicitly Christian–James, a lifelong Anglican, peppers the novel with quotes from Scripture and the Book of Common Prayer. The story moves along briskly, almost too quickly for robust character development, but the themes carry the day

The Tyranny of Cliches by Jonah Goldberg

Goldberg’s work always strikes an balance of irreverence, wit, and insight that makes him a most enjoyable read, though I suppose that enjoyment may be tempered if you find yourself on the receiving end of his irreverence. Though the primary target here is the political left, Goldberg is delightfully uncharitable to the mushy mainstream as well. It is a political book, but perhaps more a book of language and culture. As a writer, I appreciated the focus on deconstructing those pernicious things we all say without knowing what we mean–a helpful discipline regardless of your occupation or beliefs. I recommend the audiobook version read by the author.

Good Reads of 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 02:55:00 +0000

Here are some of the highlights of my 2014 reading. If you've read any of these, I'd love to hear your thoughts:

The Everything Gets Put On Hold book -- Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

Like many, I prefer to read the book before I see the movie. I knew this based-on-a-true-story movie was coming out at Christmas, so I thought I had better read it quick. I didn't realize that I could have it done in a matter of days because I could NOT put it down. Why? Because in every chapter you think, "Could it get any worse for this guy?" and then it does. Louis Zamperini's story is better than fiction, as they say, and masterfully written by the author of Seabiscuit. Only the power of Christ allows Louis to offer forgiveness, giving real meat to the words we talk about in church every Sunday. Don't miss out on this book that illuminates a dark time in many nations' histories while offering incredible hope.

The Book I Cannot Stop Talking About -- Home by Marilynne Robinson

Home is the second of three books in a series. The first is Gilead and the third (that just came out in October) is Lila. Home mainly deals with Jack, the black sheep of a pastor's family, and his sister Glory who care take for their father in his old age. If you have family members who have always perceived themselves as "never fitting in" and can't explain why, this is the book for you. It deals with the tension of Jack wanting authentic faith but not knowing how to attain it (which is vexing as a pastor's son who faith should be "easy" for). It delves deep into dysfunctional, passive-aggressive family relationships and people who can seemingly forgive everyone but themselves. A heartbreaking, beautiful, thought-provoking story unlike any I have ever read.

The Godfather of Mystery book -- The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

My husband and I started a book club about a year ago and recently someone from the group picked The Moonstone. We had never heard of it before, but it did not disappoint. If you like British mysteries in the vein of Poirot, Miss Marple, etc. you will enjoy this mystery that preceded them all. Leaves you guessing until the end because there are many characters who each narrate the chapters and give "their" perspective.

The Finally An Uplifting, Funny, Original Idea Juvenile Book -- The Wednesday Wars by Gary Schmidt

Lately I have been struggling to find good juvenile literature that I can pass on to my kids when they are in middle school. This one passes muster. Without giving too much away, I enjoyed this book because it has realistic characters and an original plot involving rats, the Vietnam war, and Shakespeare plays. It does not insult juveniles nor does it cater to their baser impulses in its writing (Twilight anyone? Gag.).

The Ultimate Parenting Book -- Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan

My husband and I laughed about every other line in this book. Jim totally knows what it's like to have multiple children. Whether it was him talking about what it takes to get 5 pale kids out the door with sunscreen and accouterments for an afternoon at the park or how the more children you have the more of an excuse you have to never go to other kids' birthday parties, he tells it hilariously like it is (i.e. what we're all thinking from time to time as parents). If you've seen his stand up routines a lot, you might feel like you've heard it before. If you're like us who are just now getting around to hearing about Jim Gaffigan, it'll be a breath of fresh air that someone else can relate to your season of life.

He has a new book out called Food: A Love Story that we just got from the library and we're looking forward to it! The first chapter is called I'm an Eatie, Not a Foodie :)

The Book That Should Have Been Better -- Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain

I love learning about people's temperaments. I love introverts. I am happily married to an introvert. I did not love this book. It not only stereotyped and severely demeaned extroverts as loud, selfish, partying pigs, but it was just poorly written (even my husband who by all accounts should identify with this book said these very same things when he read it). The tedious personal stories and poor assumptions made me realize that if you get to do a TEDTalk you apparently get to have a book deal. It's a shame she didn't do some more research that shade people into 4 categories of temperament instead of the broader introverts/extroverts. Both the introverts and extroverts she talks about are much more complex than she gives them credit for. Don't bother.

The Make 'Em Laugh Book -- The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak

Saw this on GoodReads's Best Kids Books of 2014. My 5 and 3 year old girls thought this pictureless book was hysterical. I have enjoyed reading it just for the sheer enjoyment of watching them laugh. It has no hidden meanings, just good for a laugh. Here's a clip of the the author (B.J. Novak from The Office and Saving Mr. Banks)

I wonder what the books of 2015 will bring? I guess you'll just have to wait and see!

Resurrecting My AP English Paper: Confessions of a Former English Teacher

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Dec 2014 16:24:00 +0000

Did you know that P.D. James recently died? You don't know who that is? Well, don't feel bad. I didn't either until I took AP English my senior year. My teacher (whom I adored and still do!) said we needed to be prepared for college and do some literary analysis of someone's work who was still living, but perhaps not "mainstream" like Stephen King or John Grisham. She got to pick the authors.

So I got P.D. James. She was supposed to be this exceptional British mystery writer and I thought, "How hard could this be?". Boy, I ate those words quickly. I didn't get her 500 page books at all. I'll be honest, I'm not sure I even finished either of the ones I was suppose to analyze. It really was too difficult for someone like me who immensely enjoyed reading under people like my teachers, but didn't have an overwhelming desire to read at home. Honestly, I was not a "bookworm" (like so many teachers get stereotyped as) so I didn't have the ability to try and do an AP paper on my own. I liken it to having a personal trainer show you how to use the gym equipment, but when you try to replicate it every once in a while yourself it's difficult because you don't workout enough on your own to remember the skills and routines. I did the paper and I think got a B or a B-, but I wasn't proud of it. I hated that paper because of the struggle it caused me, a naturally good reader. However, I recognize now that a lot of it was my own fault: I didn't read much at home, so my reading muscles were weak.

Fast forward to now.

What stirred up these teenage remembrances? I was checking out 10+ new books for my daughters at the library (I've told you all before, I LOVE cruising the kid book sections now to see where accidental sagacity will lead me), and I noticed a little table set up with all these P.D. James books. AP English came flooding back to me and I decided to pick up Death Comes to Pemberley to see if I could hack reading James now 13 years later. I had just finished The Moonstone written by the "godfather of mysteries", Wilkie Collins, so I was already prepped for another mystery anyway. When I got home and showed my husband the book, he noted that James had just died yesterday (N.B. our library always makes a little literary shrine to an author for the week when they die).

This whole experience of revisiting books, is a theme I am excited about this year. My kids are growing up and I don't want to merely go off the memory of a book considered a classic. I want to read it and understand it myself. I am not who I was at 17. Much like my appetite for vegetables has changed for the better since being married, so have my reading habits. I use Goodreads.com to track my titles and just from books I've read in the last few years my number is 226. This is NOT to brag. If you knew me in high school, that number would have been utterly unthinkable. I had to work up to where I am now as a reader at 30 who really really enjoying reading. Not just to write some paper for a class, but for the sheer enjoyment of it. This year I've been reading classics (The Moonstone by Wikilie Collins), juvenile literature (Holes by Louis Sachar), fun reads (Dad is Fat by Jim Gaffigan), pedagogical (The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller), biography (Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand), pop psychology (The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg), silly kid books (The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak) and truly lament how much time I have wasted in my life not reading more when so much free time was available to me.

The encouragement here is to moms who think their child isn't going to become a reader, sometimes it's a slow journey and not one that can be forced. A lot of my success is due to my husband who love to read. It's nice to be able to share that hobby. Sometimes I think between him and having 3 rambunctious kids I'm turning more into an introvert every day!

My last tip is for aspiring teachers, please read, read, and read some more. I wish I had done more of that during my time in the summers in college and after I got my first teaching job. When you read widely you can recommend books to your students because you know them and love them. Your school librarian will thank you :)

Simple 4th of July Activities for Little Ones

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 04 Jul 2014 00:22:00 +0000

Want to know one thing I often wonder how I am going to pull off with homeschooling? How to keep two kids entertained doing a similar project. I know I can't always have them doing things on the same level, so when I find something that works for 2 different age groups with minimal to no clean up afterwards, I suppose I feel inclined to share it.

Here are some SIMPLE ideas (from Pinterest) with supplies you already have on hand to do with kids for the 4th of July:

Cupcake Liner Fireworks

Left and center are my 3 year old's

The 5 year old did all of this by herself (with supervision!)

Step 1: Have kids scribble all over cupcake liners with red and blue markers (add silver glitter glue if you're daring!).

Step 2: When they dry, fold them into wedges and cut as close to the center as you want without cutting all the way through (otherwise you'll have shreds).

Step 3: Have the kids glue the centers onto a piece of construction paper or a long banner if you really want to keep them occupied. My 3 and 5 year olds enjoyed this a lot!

Q-Tip Firework Paintings

My daughter's birthday is close to the 4th, so I made her a little artwork.

This outcome might be better with older kids, but again, my 3 and 5 year old did this activity and had fun with it even if it didn't exactly resemble fireworks. You could get your kids to make rockets or George Washington if you did a simple outline and they filled it in with dots. The possibilities are endless on this one and the technique can be repurposed for whatever holiday is coming up next. All you need is Q-tips, paint, a paper plate, and paper (and, again, if you're daring -- glitter glue when it dries).

Happy 4th everyone!

Troubles at UNC: College Athletes Being Handed Fake Degrees

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 20:18:00 +0000

Several months ago I was on my way to a ladies' luncheon at church and realized my husband had left the radio on NPR (a break from toddler tunes and Baby Einstein no doubt!). What caught my attention was an interview decrying something I, too, had long held a grudge against: athletes getting sold a false bag of educational goods. It was a very compelling, candid talk with Mary Willingham, a former reading specialist, who recently blew the whistle on her campus of University of North Carolina for grade fixing.

Mary Willingham became a whistleblower at the university when she saw student athletes coming in that did not have a reading level beyond 3rd grade. They could not complete papers, write sentences or paragraphs and yet they were getting A's and B's in "paper classes" to make sure they were academically eligible to play. Many of these classes didn't actually exist but were labeled "independent study". Ironically, the first people who told students about these "paper classes" were the academic advisors, not the coaches as one might suspect, according to Deunta Williams who played for UNC from 2007-2010. Willingham said the ruse was very obvious when students had transcripts with A's and B's in the paper classes, but D's and F's in economics and biology.

I encourage you to watch the video linked with the article for Willingham's resignation. She talks about how she broke the scandal because she could not live with the guilt from her sin of omission, failing to do something about a clear problem when she had the means to do so. She is a dedicated teacher who, since blowing the lid off the UNC scandal, reached out to many former athletes served there to encourage them to speak out and tell their story of how the college gave them a degree that was absolutely worthless in practical terms. Rashad McCants, one such former athlete, did speak out saying:

"...it was common for basketball players to major in African-American Studies, said he assumed tutors writing papers for athletes was to be expected and he didn't question it while he attended UNC.

"I thought it was a part of the college experience, just like watching it on a movie from 'He Got Game' or 'Blue Chips,'" McCants said. "... when you get to college, you don't go to class, you don't do nothing, you just show up and play. That's exactly how it was, you know, and I think that was the tradition of college basketball, or college, period, any sport. You're not there to get an education, though they tell you that."

One article I read claims that an UNC "internal review" basically invalidated Willingham's data on athletes reading levels, but if your lifeblood is being "there to make revenue for the college...there to put fans in the seats...there to bring prestige to the university by winning games" as one former athlete claims, you'll pardon me if I seem a bit skeptical of their "review".

I truly believe that what has gone at UNC is just a microcosm of the larger picture of misplaced priorities here in America. Education has to come first before sports. I am thankful that during my time in the classroom I never felt any real pressure to "pass" someone, but talked to many wearied teachers who did (especially for the real crunch time -- graduation). I am sympathetic to Willingham because as an English teacher it's very easy to see the deficits she's talking about when research paper time comes around. The guilt that comes with knowing these students will move on to the next grade or school and they are not prepared to express or organize their thoughts well is very discouraging as a teacher. You always want to do more to help, yet know that so much is out of your control beyond ensuring that you are giving them the best chance to learn about personal responsibility and priorities (i.e. those life lessons that teachers give beyond their own particular discipline).

In the NPR interview, Willingham talked about how the athletes that reached out to her, working minimum wage jobs (since their NBA or NFL career didn't pan out), said they now felt a huge sense of shame in knowing they were no better off educationally than when they came in. They accepted the personal blame, but also anger for being fed lies about their education and not being helped to see the "big picture" of getting a false degree. They were thankful that she was going in and taking the bullets for all those student athletes who thought they were "living the dream" in college.

McCants concludes with this:

"It's about my kids, about your kids. It's about their kids. It's about knowing the education that I received and knowing that something needs to change," he said. "This has nothing to do with the Carolina fans or the Carolina program. It has everything to do with the system, and Carolina just so happened to be a part of the system and they participated in the system, so in retrospect, you have to look at it and say, 'Hey, you know what you did wrong.'... Stand up. It's time for everybody to really just be accountable."

So this begs the question... Do you agree that sports has gained idol status in secondary and higher education?

"Whatever You Have Done for the Least of These, You Have Done Unto Me"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 29 Apr 2014 15:01:00 +0000

I have mentioned a few times about my Bible Study Fellowship class this year. It really has been a tremendous blessing for us to meet moms and children from all over the city and to be able to talk about the same passage of Scripture and sing hymns with even the toddlers! I have never met a Bible study that was so serious about keeping Scripture the main thing instead of letting our problems overwhelm the discussions (though we do pray for those every week as well).

Well, school is almost out and we're nearing the end of our year long study of Matthew. I have been amazed at its urgency to tell others about how it's all really going to go down in the end. My notes from a previous week said that 1 in 20 verses talks about judgment. I have been in church all my life, but to sit down and actually go through a Gospel is an eye opener -- it's not just parables and healing and miracles. A LOT is about making sure you are not deceived into believing you have a relationship with Christ when you're actually going to hear, "Depart from me, I never knew you."

Sadly, I think so many Americans crassly summarize Jesus' words into some kind of uncomfortable coercion like "turn or burn!" instead of recognizing the fulfillment found in Christ and the grace He wants to bestow on all of us because we're ALL messed up sinner folks who were created by a holy God. No matter where you've been or what you've done, it's wiped clean through Christ; it's like someone handing you the keys to your shackles. More on that in a minute.

Jesus also has a lot to say about those who know they are saved to be good stewards of their time, talent, and treasure. Not to waste spiritual opportunities when so many are available to us. I want my children to understand as they grow in their relationships (with peers especially) that we all have different circumstances, but it doesn't lessen the call to be faithful to that which He has called us to.

To that end, I wanted to give a plug for a way we can be a part of sharing Christ's love to the "least of these" -- street children in Guatemala. My husband works for a missions organization called AMG International and I can personally vouch for the amazing work God is doing in the countries they are in.

AMG has recently partnered with a film company, Athentikos, whose heart is for the people of Guatemala. The director and his wife have adopted two children from Guatemala and have made two documentaries on the "least of these" in the country. The first movie, Reparando, explains about Guatemala's civil wars and how amidst the hopelessness, hope in Christ is blooming there. Here's the trailer:

The second movie, Becoming Fools, is about a clown ministry that was started by a Christian man named Italo who tirelessly served the street children. Fueled by the love of Christ, he would pick them up when they were strung out on drugs and helped many of them change their course. Tragically, Italo died in a drowning accident and the movie serves as a memorial to his legacy of loving those who had nothing and pointing them to the One who could heal the broken. Here's the trailer:

Neither of these movies mention AMG's work directly, but some of the children in Becoming Fools are served by AMG Guatemala's childcare centers. The director of AMG Guatemala said that as he's worked with the suffering, nothing changes these children's life fully but the love of Christ. Material things and education are provided for them (just as many "humanitarian" organizations do), but a security in people and material things have been taken away from these children before. When they truly believe that Christ's love can never be taken from them it fills the void they tried to find through drugs, sex, and a host of other vices. The Gospel focused ministry is what sets AMG apart from many other aid relief organizations and why I enthusiastically support them through volunteering with them and financially supporting their work through child sponsorship.

AMG is sponsoring a showing of Becoming Fools in several places in the US (some will be added later), but I wanted to promote the one here in Chattanooga.

Here are the details:

When: April 29, 2014 (TONIGHT!)
Time: 7pm (doors open at 6pm)
Location: The Tivoli (Downtown Chattanooga)

Hope to see you there!

Drawing for all Ages!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 14 Apr 2014 01:03:00 +0000

My daughter's dragon

As I've shared in previous posts, my family joined Classical Conversations this year and I have been dying to share some ideas with you all for applying Fine Arts in your home no matter what your schooling choice is. My 4 1/2 year old and I have had a blast with all these simple (emphasis on simple) art projects. That means I am not going to go full-on "Pinterest mom" in this post. Most of these projects require little more than basic art supplies (paper, pencil, markers, crayons, or paint), an ability to draw basic shapes, and follow basic visual-cue instructions.

The Fine Arts curriculum for Classical Conversations comes mainly from a book called Drawing with Children. We start out with learning the 5 basic elements of shape using an acronym -- OiLs

O - Circles
. - Dots
i - Straight Lines
L - Angled Lines
S - Curved Lines

Once your kids get those categories figured out, it can open up a whole realm of possibilities for them (and for you, too!). For instance, have you ever seen those "How to Draw a __________" books? They use the 5 basic elements of shape. You just add one element after another until you've created what you're after. Once you can effectively understand the vocabulary (circle, dot, various lines, etc.) you can teach your child to create all kinds of pictures. I can attest to this because I have done it with my own 4 year old and also with my 6 and 7 year old students and they have all done a fine job. In other words, this is for any age! You can sit right at your kitchen table and make some wonderful creations right before dinner or after school.

So how do you get started with the basic elements? Here are a few ideas:

Don't Teach Your Child to Always "Color" the Pictures In

Sorry it's sideways. Blogger is turning my landscapes portrait style without a way to fix it!

Did you know you can teach your children to color in a completely different way than just "in the lines"? I first saw this on a homeschool blog and it blew my mind. Look at the picture above. I used circles, dots, straight lines, curved lines, and angled lines to complete my picture from a simple coloring book page. Not a single thing was "colored in". We all have coloring books hanging around our house, so put them to a new use and help improve your child's way of thinking about art!

Get Some "How-To" Draw Books
Here are a some Ed Emberley books that I either just got in the mail or have checked similar ones out from our local library to incorporate the elements of shape. I tend to like Emberley for beginners because he does a lot of "stick art" that lends itself to not being complicated in its use of the elements, but still lots of fun.

Making my own little world using elements of shape!

The fingerprint books are great for toddlers and preschool especially. You can make cards to give to family members.

Have Fun With Review
And if you want to make reviewing and incorporating the 5 elements of shape, go here for creating fun wildflowers by using the 5 basic elements and rolling some dice.

Go here for a look at this picture from an art teacher's blog. She has a No-No Board! This made me laugh because she is challenging her students to think outside the box with art. I wonder if her students and parents responded positively to it? I'm sure some of you think this a little harsh.

Mostly, I hope this post helps gives an alternative to TV for your young ones. I so easily default to it with my own kids and I need constructive, creative, and simple things to remind me that there is more to life than PBS kids some days when I need to get things done :)

Explaining American Culture Through Literature and Film

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 16:39:00 +0000

My heart just about bursts when this scene comes on in It's a Wonderful Life

I have often said that my favorite movie is It's a Wonderful Life. It is one I watch every year and grow to love it more every time Jimmy Stewart yells at Sam Wainwright on the phone and kisses Mary so tenderly. The heart-melting (though surprisingly realistic) romance between George and Mary is of course not the only reason I like it. I could definitely fill up another blog post about how multi-faceted this movie is in all areas of the American life. My husband knows how much I adore this film and sent me an excerpt from Ross Douthat's column (a conservative NY Times columnist) where readers asked him what his favorite movie and book are. Before you read Douthat's response, please know that he's Harvard educated, so he's well-read (i.e. he could have picked from a WIDE range of literature and film) and yet this is what he chose:

"For movies, the one I always pick is It’s a Wonderful Life, not because I’m sure it’s my absolute favorite, but because I’m sure I love it, and because its status as a holiday chestnut has denied it the full appreciation it deserves. It contains so many multitudes – it’s political and religious and psychological; it’s a celebration of the American dream and an incredibly dark examination of its underside; it’s appreciation of small town life and a Sherwood-Anderson-esque critique; it’s Death of a Salesman with a eucatastrophic ending...

...If I were giving a foreigner a crash-course in American culture, I’d make them watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” and assign them The Great Gatsby. That’s really all you need — one’s a tragicomedy and the other’s a tragedy, but they both have so much of the American light and dark, together, intermingled."

I tend to agree with his assessment because I'm obsessed with Gatsby, too, but would love to hear what ONE movie and ONE book YOU would give a foreigner to understand American culture.

Comment below. I'd love to hear some good discussion on this topic!

"I'm Not Dead Yet!"

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 10 Mar 2014 17:51:00 +0000

So it's been awhile... Between tutoring at Classical Conversations, Bible Study Fellowship, occasionally selling insurance, a whole lot of pregnancy sleeping (baby #3 will be here in September!), and a road trip to Michigan (more on that in a later post), the education blog has been on the backburner. I've had a post about the 2008 Caldecott winner drafted for about a month now!

However, I did want to post something briefly about a community that holds you accountable and how that's so crucial to family life.

Classical Conversations and BSF have been a recent communities for me while another community that we've been a part of together for 9 years is our church family. Just as way of background, our church is 30 minutes one way from our house and up a mountain. So while I have always immensely enjoyed the teaching and fellowship, it's often hard for me to ask a church friend to "pop over" (because it's 30 minutes or more to my house) or to ask them to watch my kids to make an appointment. However, when I shared with my small group 2 years ago about my teeth woes, one woman (who normally never gets to interact with kids in the nursery) told me her days off where she could come and watch the girls if I needed to get dental work done. I was hesitant to ask her because for convenience I usually try to ask my neighbors down the street, but they were going out of town and I was going to have to wait another 2 weeks if I canceled the appointment. I really felt the Lord prompting me to ask for her help even if it was just for an hour and a half.

When I returned from my appointment she said the girls behaved wonderfully (I about fell over because my unofficial label these days is "referee" with those two!) and she said that spending time with them was a blessing to her because it helped her fulfill her role within the body of Christ and to honor the commitment she made at our girls' baby dedications (not an infant baptism ceremony) to help raise our children in a Christ-filled community.

I was blown away by how she saw both her role in accountability within the church community when all I was worried about was burdening her with two girls who can seem like a handful to me as a stay at home mom. It occurred to me that while I was allowing someone to serve in a way that helped us both as adults, it also helped my girls get that much needed intergenerational time within the Body. Servant leadership is what this woman displayed to me and to my children and I was very convicted about my own attitude sometimes toward wanting to serve others (including my own family) only when it's "convenient".

So... I'm still here living out my imperfect existence while learning many important life lessons about serving others while my blog stays a bit quieter for now.

Art Books for Children and Adults

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 19:46:00 +0000

I've been on a bit of an art kick lately. I started a series on Caldecott Winners (see here, here, and here) which award books with the best illustrations annually. My daughter and I already did 6 weeks of drawing at Classical Conversations (which I've drafted a blog post on and will publish at some point) and we're about to do 6 weeks of studying influential artists. Because I am tutoring at Classical Conversations, I decided to find some age appropriate materials from the library to show my 7 and 8 year old class on the artists as well as some brief artist introductions for me to store in my brain. Here are some gems if you're looking to find some books for young ones or a primer for yourself.

Lives of the Artists: Masterpieces, Messes (and What the Neighbors Thought)

This is a short, but punchy little book. Each artist gets about 4 or 5 pages of usually large font commentary with a big caricature of the artist in each section. It mentions the artist's famous works at the end of the section with a bit of commentary, but does not show any pictures of their art. It's a distilled version, but you'll be surprised at how much you don't know about these famous men and women. The only caveat I have is to not let your little ones who can read enjoy this alone. It might seem like a perfect research tool because of the large print and fun pictures of the artists, but it makes reference to the assumed sexual preferences of the artists. It's not crude about adultery, people living together, being gay, etc. (and is actually quite brief and matter-of-fact about it), but unless you are willing to explain things to your young ones when they use the word homosexual, I'd say you need to read the entire book yourself first. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed learning much more about the artists because without being salacious these short stories don't sugarcoat their sometimes tortured souls -- the good, the bad, and the ugly that makes up the "artist's temperament". Uncovering the depths of sin and depression and how art is often borne from suffering is a part of learning how to live in our fallen, tension-filled world.

As I was looking up the picture for this book, it appears that they makes these Lives of... books for writers, musicians, etc. I may have to look into those as well.

Getting To Know the World's Greatest Artists

The other series I like is Mike Venezia's Getting to Know the Great Artists books. These, like the Lives of... books, also have music, presidents, etc. in the series. We are learning about Rembrandt for our first week back at Classical Conversations, so I started with it. It had funny little cartoons (that will go over some kid's heads depending on their age) about the artists interspersed with the story of the artist. It is written very simply for children and it seems very purposeful about leaving out sexual commentary. I read Rembrandt with my 4 year old and we really enjoyed it . I suppose if there was a caveat it's that unlike the Lives of... this book does show a lot of the famous art and that sometimes involve nudes. You might end up answering questions about anatomy (and you may be completely comfortable with that) with your young ones, you might be prudent to read the book first.

Same as with the Lives of... series, apparently Mike Venezia's books venture into musicians, presidents, etc. Also might be worth checking out.

Great Paintings

I love DK books! They look so deeply into the categories of our world. You really get the "eyewitness" part of their books because they have great photos and often at very close range. What makes Great Paintings so wonderful is that it's a very tall book so the artists' painting are exceptionally large on the first page. On the second and third pages they split up the painting and zoom in on particular sections. You're in so close that you can see the timeworn, cracked surface of the painting! They have little commentaries on the artwork by each section, so if you're like me and not an art critic, they give you a leg up and some great insight. Same anatomical warning as for the Getting to Know... series as this focuses more on the art than the artist.

And then if you just want to have some EASY non-messy art fun with your little ones, I found some great Pinterest ideas on watercolor paper towels (very impressionist style!) and cosmic sun catchers with glue and food coloring. I say it's not messy -- My husband didn't know that we were trying out the suncatchers and accidentally plopped his bag down in the food coloring glue. Thankfully it came out of his clothes, but not completely from his bag :)

Have you read any good artist books for children? Comment here!

Book Review: Coolidge

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 26 Dec 2013 20:20:00 +0000

I've enjoyed watching Justin reading Amity Shlaes' Coolidge over the past few months. He would chuckle and say of Calvin Coolidge and his wife, Grace, "Those two remind me of us. The classic introvert and the classic extrovert." Given today's political climate it seems that this book is a timely one for us Americans and I look forward to reading this after I clear some other books of my GoodReads shelf.

Enjoy Justin's review:

Such a great biography...in-depth enough to give you a good picture, but pretty tightly paced so it never drags.

Calvin Coolidge was a fascinating yet unassuming fellow who was loath to promote himself, preferring to work hard and be "in the stream" so that his excellence would be noticed by others at the right time. Shlaes speaks up where Coolidge himself may never have, poring through papers and letters to allow his choices and perseverance shine forth as the example for others he always hoped they would be. He comes across not as the cranky, taciturn caricature most Americans hold, but as a shrewd and calculating political operator with steely-eyed convictions and a keen eye for public perception. Moreover, he was quite family-focused, cherishing and protecting his wife through a life lived in public, holding onto his family land in Vermont throughout his presidency (even micromanaging his tenants at times), and suffering incredibly through the sudden loss of his 17 year-old son during the 2nd year of his presidency. Shlaes gives ample treatment to both his home life and his official capacities, offering a window into the sacrifices the whole family made for the sake of the country.

If there is a weakness here, it is that Shlaes focuses heavily on the nuts and bolts of Coolidge's policies, though I actually appreciated that. Economics and tax policy seems to be the stuff that rings her chimes, from other pieces I've read by her (and interviews, etc.), and the tone throughout the book suggests that she would clearly like to see those in the political realm revisit the inner workings of the Coolidge administration and apply some of his solutions to today's issues.

In all, a great read. I foresee that Shlaes book will have the same recussitatory effect on Coolidge's historical standing that McCullough's work had on Truman's.

Movie Review: Saving Mr. Banks (and a plug for Marry Poppins)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Dec 2013 04:04:00 +0000

Our oldest (at age 2) dressed like Bert, the chimney sweep

Before I married Justin, he told me that one of his all time favorite movies as an adult was Mary Poppins. Though I loved the film too, my first reaction was, "But it's a kids movie?". In other words, I was saying, "I can't wait to show it to our children someday because I have that childhood nostalgia, too" but I soon learned that is not what he meant. I was like Walt Disney telling P.L. Travers in the Saving Mr. Banks trailer that he thought Mary came to save the children.

Justin knew Mr. Banks was the one who had to learn the lesson, not the kids. I think he was always in awe of how Disney was able to make Mary Poppins accessible to children, yet pack such a punch for adults. For instance, do you remember Bert saying this to the children?

Bert: You know, begging your pardon, but the one my heart goes out to is your father. There he is in that cold, heartless bank day after day, hemmed in by mounds of cold, heartless money. I don't like to see any living thing caged up.

Jane: Father? In a cage?

Bert: They makes cages in all sizes and shapes, you know. Bank-shaped, some of 'em, carpets and all.

or perhaps this interaction at the fireplace between Bert and Mr. Banks

Bert: You're a man of high position, esteemed by your peers. And when your little tykes are crying, you haven't time to dry their tears... And see their thankful little faces smiling up at you... 'Cause their dad, he always knows just what to do...

George Banks: Well, look - I...

Bert: Say no more, Gov'ner. You've got to grind, grind, grind at that grindstone... Though childhood slips like sand through a sieve... And all too soon they've up and grown, and then they've flown... And it's too late for you to give - just that spoonful of sugar to 'elp the medicine go down - medicine go dow-wown, medicine go down. Well, goodbye, Gov'ner. Sorry to trouble you. [Bert exits, whistling "A Spoonful of Sugar"]

Mr. Banks may not have been P.L. Travers' impression of her father, but Mr. Banks is certainly many people's father. Justin says that the full circle Mr. Banks achieves (where he becomes who he always needed to be) is because his identity changes. He is no longer George Banks the Banker, but George Banks the Father. He claims that Mary Poppins has the best 3rd act of any movie he's ever seen, the final beautiful, resolving chord at the end of a symphony.

Here's where things get interesting though. You might think that after you've watched the Saving Mr. Banks trailer you're going to side with Walt Disney more than P.L. Travers. Well, you just might surprise yourself. I think this will particularly ring true with those of you who are avid readers. I'm talking about those of you who usually always read the book before watching (and screaming at) the movie adaptation. It hurts to see those characters (who you feel are like family) being turned into a "ghastly mess" :) The tone is wrong, the person's build is wrong, the clothes are wrong, the motivation is wrong. You get what I'm saying? Sometimes the movie version feels like a cast of strangers. I felt very much on Travers' side for most of the movie, all the way up to the scene with the movie's Hollywood premiere. I mean, I've read a Mary Poppins book and she is no Julie Andrews. However, as soon as they started showing clips from the movie, I started to cry. I just could not imagine my life (both as a child and now a mother) without having Disney's Mary Poppins for my family to cherish. I felt this uncontrollable emotional pull of, "Sheesh! Disney really did know what he was doing!" The movie somehow balances the highs and lows, the funny and the melancholy, the strict with the whimsical so well. After seeing Saving Mr. Banks, I felt like Mary Poppins the movie is actually the perfect marriage of Disney personality (carefree) and Travers personality (gravitas).

As far as performances go, Emma Thompson is exquisite. I had high hopes for her and she did not disappoint. Tom Hanks is good at being Tom Hanks, the warm, lovable guy we all feel like we know. He doesn't convince me he's Walt Disney, especially with that accent. He tries so hard to be folksy he somehow ends up being Southern. It struck both of us that there was a grand irony in this -- Dick Van Dyke, the American, was roundly panned for his portrayal of a Cockney chimney sweep in Mary Poppins. Colin Farrell was an excellent choice for Travers' father. Every woman knows that Farrell is a handsome guy by his own right, but having him be that handsome, sanguine man in the movie added to the idealized version Travers clearly had of her father. As far as the Disney staff, the Ralph character was an unnecessary plot device, but the other important people on the Mary Poppins production team were endearing as they struggled to meet Travers' high (if not unreasonable) standards.

So I can say that I heartily recommend this movie even if it was loosely based on real life events**

**REAL-LIFE SPOILER ALERT**

I came into this movie knowing that this "Disney version" of Disney events wasn't actually real. P. L. Travers went to her grave regretting ever signing the deal with Disney. She was initially on board with the movie after her consultation, but later in life she began to get aggravated with the film more and more. She never let the Disney corporation touch anything else ever having to do with Mary Poppins because she felt she they twisted her beloved creation.

It was very clear from reading up on P.L. Travers when I got home that her life was an outpouring of many unresolved emotional issues (see here for more on that) most of which seem to be daddy related. There was not any evidence that she had the emotional catharsis as shown in the movie. It's tragic to see someone succumb to such childhood trauma, to the point where it colors everything she is and does. However, wouldn't you say that personal suffering is how many of our most adored classics come to existence?

Guest Post: 6 Ways To Change Your Learning Culture

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 15:21:00 +0000

We'll excuse the Pinterest typo just this once, Dos Equis man.

"When you were growing up, you probably spent hours sitting in a classroom listening to teachers deliver lecture after lecture in school. Now, as an adult employee, the thought of sitting through company training seems boring, unproductive, pointless and wasteful compared to actual work you could be doing. And if that’s what you think, your colleagues are likely thinking the same thing." - Nate Magnuson

I'm excited about a first on this blog -- linking up an article that deals with education in the workplace. This post specifically focuses on the idea of what company training could be with a new corporate culture, not just a "hot new strategy".

This post was written by a Bryan College friend (like most of my guest posts!), Nate Magnuson, who is a leadership development professional. He and my husband lived on the same dorm hall for 3 years and he is one funny and focused guy! I highly recommend you check out his personal website.

The post of Nate's I wanted to highlight is called 6 Ways to Change Your Learning Culture. In it, he details how companies who don't embrace the fact that education is happening beyond training days are missing out on a lot of potential from their employees and volunteers.

Here are some of the "old" ideas he seeks to move beyond in the workplace:

You can only learn when you go to training events
The person leading training is the "expert"
The company is in charge of the personal development of the employee
Sweep mistakes under the rug
You can assess learning by tests
If you pass the test, you're done with training

If you have ever been to a training seminar, you will probably know instantly why many of these methods of training can be outdated and unhelpful at times. They don't promote an attitude of lifelong learning. In fact, I recently published a blog post that featured a video of a teacher who says that $600,000 was used to train teachers for 2 weeks on technology. She details what the training consisted of (e.g. one WHOLE day was finding out what kind of "penguin" she was) and it sure didn't sound like money or time well spent. Stories like these aren't just cropping up in our schools though. They are happening at large businesses, small businesses, and non-profits. So why do we persist in doing the latest training trend devoid of a context of "culture" for the organization? A good leader will set the tone for its employees.

I'm not saying that these 6 things never have a place in training, but considering the shifts that Nate suggests wouldn't be a bad idea if you're looking for a new workplace culture. Generally, I'm a late adopter for most any kind of technology, but I know the way people communicate with each other has rapidly changed over the last decade. I have more people ask me insurance questions through my personal Facebook than on my professional e-mail. You roll with the technology changes while creating an environment that promotes healthy, productive interactions (whatever that may look like for your organization).

Feel free to share a time when your professional training has been unproductive or productive because of the learning culture.

OCC: An Attitude of Gratitude -- Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 16:15:00 +0000

As you saw in Part 1, Operation Christmas Child is one of many ways families use to foster gratitude during the holiday season.

After volunteering there for 2 years now, I thought I might share some tips from the OCC warehouse for those of you who enjoy packing shoeboxes every year. Obviously, these are not official rules. I just wouldn't have known about some of these things if I hadn't volunteered there and seen it with my own eyes, so I'm trying to be helpful by showing you how to mostly ensure your items can stay in the box you sent.

Tip #1 - Consider buying for the forgotten age groups. The age group that gets the largest amount of shoeboxes is the 5-9 range and girls get way more boxes sent than boys. For every 1 or 2 crates we filled for the 2-4 age range or 10-14 age range, we filled about 3 boxes of 5-9. Keep these age groups in mind when you're shopping. It's especially fun if your child or grandchild is in one of those forgotten age groups and they can pick out something they might like.

Tip #2 - Use the OCC boxes instead of odd shaped boxes. Samaritan's Purse tries to be a good steward of the money you send in which means trying to get as many shoeboxes in one large box to send to another country. When the box sizes are funky it's like playing Tetris to get them to fit. At the very least it means more shipping costs because not as many can go in one box. However, I understand why some people send the plastic ones so the child can have some extra storage for personal items.

Tip #3 - Try not to overstuff the boxes. Things frequently fall out of overstuffed boxes. Overstuffed boxes are extremely difficult to tape and difficult to fit into the larger boxes that get sent overseas. Consider maybe doing an extra box or giving someone else some items for their box instead of overfilling the ones you have :)

Tip #4 - Please read the what not to include list carefully. If you've been doing the boxes for a while you may think you know what not to include, but they change it up every year based on things they see happen during shipping. There were rumors they are going to ban candy next year because it causes so much trouble. When we inspect the boxes, people still send liquids like shampoo and lotions as well as foods which won't make it past customs. Those items get taken out of the box and donated to local charities.

Tip #5 - Try to be sensitive about the commercialized American toys you buy. A lot of well-meaning shoppers don't think outside the American context. When we inspected one box, we found some "Bubba" teeth in one of the boxes. That may be funny to us who have great access to dental care, but at best it would be a joke that is lost on someone from another country, at worst a cruel joke to someone whose family can't receive or afford dental care. You may not bat an eye at Ariel or Jasmine, but someone in another country might. In other countries, especially Islamic dominated countries where the burqua or head scarves are standard dress, families would be offended by a gift like that.

Tip #6- Track your box for no extra charge. One of the best things OCC has been able to implement is box tracking. Initially, it cost extra to track your box, but now if you charge the $7 per box to a credit card online at the Samaritan's Purse website, you get a pdf with a tracking barcode to print off and attach to your box. I think the ability to track is another great reason to send a picture of your family, a note, and an address where you have the possibility to hear back from the child who receives it. What a host of opportunities this could open up for you and your children to recognize God's larger story!

Tip #7 - Use this as a Gospel opportunity for your children. Obviously, a large part of OCC is that we get an opportunity to give out of our abundance and use God's resources to spread His Word to others in another country. However, it's just as easy to focus on what is going on over there and not explain to our own children about how salvation in Christ is so central and what motivates us to send the present in the first place. Role play with your children and transport them to a place where their box could be shipped. Walk them through how the Gospel gives hope and strength during a child's emotional and physical struggles and how it works the same way here at home even if some of our struggles are different. Find the testimonies from box recipients on the OCC website that can help bring the Gospel right where your children or teenagers are at.

Do you have any more tips or stories from your family's experience with Operation Christmas Child?

OCC: An Attitude of Gratitude -- Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 16:27:00 +0000

Since it's Thanksgiving, I wanted to share some thoughts about promoting an attitude of gratitude as a much needed part of our life's education. I want to share about a particular ministry that we (and many of you) choose to support to help get a vision for gratitude in our families and communities.

Are you familiar with the image featured above? Most people are this time of year. It's an Operation Christmas Child box! The idea is that you pack a box filled with toys, hygiene items, and school supplies to be sent to another country where a child will receive your package along with a chance to hear the Gospel and go through a discipleship program afterwards.

Depending on which way you look at it, the name can be somewhat of a misnomer. Here in the States and in other countries, we push to get these boxes in to the distribution centers around Christmastime, but the reality is that the children may not get them until spring or summer.

So why do we choose this ministry of Samaritan's Purse? There are a few reasons:

Samaritan's Purse's headquarters are where my in-laws live.

My in-laws have church friends who work there and Justin and I have friends from college also employed at "The Purse". I love to hear all their encouraging stories about what God is doing around the world. My in-laws usually volunteer every year at the OCC warehouse and since we usually come up here for Thanksgiving, we try to serve as a family even if it's just for a few hours. From what I have seen over the years, Samaritan's Purse desires to do things efficiently and with a humble spirit believing the Lord is in control of their efforts to provide disaster relief and spreading the Gospel.

Many of the children that receive these boxes have never received a gift to call their own. Please don't translate this into, "Oh, those poor kids ought to get all the commercialized, material stuff we have access to here!!!" The leaders that hand them out (usually national workers, not Americans) have no idea what is in the box when they hand it out, but God provides exactly what the child needs. Even though the box is a small gesture, it can be the very thing that brings spiritual comfort to a child and shows them God has not forgotten them. The whole OCC concept is built on the Gospel premise -- being offered a free gift from God that we do not deserve, but that will change our lives permanently if we accept it. The physical shoebox gift, is a way to open hearts to the spiritual gift.

It's a family-oriented way to teach multiple lessons about gratitude and the sovereignty of God. Many families take their children to a store and let them pick out gifts for a child in one of the age ranges provided. They get an opportunity to pray for the box, the Gospel being shared, and the child who receives it; they get excited thinking about where their box might go. It teaches stewardship of the resources God has entrusted to us for His purposes. I'll explore this topic more in depth, in Part 2.

In general, they don't tinker with the Operation Christmas Child boxes. The first time I volunteered we were told explicitly not to take anything out the boxes unless it was something that wouldn't pass customs (like food) or had liquids that could leak out and destroy other boxes. I'll be the first to admit, it's hard to abide by that rule when you see one child's box full of fun toys and candy and another child's box full of flashlights, batteries, and a hairbrush. However, along with that rule, they told us a story of one child who received a box full of socks. Now, we might look at that box and want to take some of them out and replace them with a soccer ball or some lollipops, but that child had fervently prayed for socks for his brothers and sisters. He cried tears of joy when he received that box stuffed full of socks. I heard a similar story yesterday about a boy in Africa who got snow gloves. He was so happy because his job in the family was to work with hot coals. People pray over these boxes and the volunteers must trust God with the outcome.

You are more connected to a ministry when you invest not just your treasures, but your time. Even as I have said OCC is worthwhile, it can very easily turn into pat-on-the-back, do-goodism. It's way too easy for people in America to feel good about giving our money and our stuff and miss the whole point of the ministry. It's about recognizing God's bigger plan as you serve alongside others. Anyone can volunteer -- yesterday I worked with people from ages 18 to 80! Many of those people come at considerable expense year after year. This year, Samaritan's Purse launched a way for individuals and groups to schedule volunteering online. The lady working next to me at the processing center said that she and her husband were on two computers and two phones the minute it launched this year to get slots to volunteer. The way she described it, you would have thought she was trying to get rock concert tickets!

Hope this was an encouragement to you today as you think about all things you are thankful for. Come back for Part 2 where I talk a little bit more about the shoebox process and offer some helpful tips on how to pack a shoebox based on what I've seen from the warehouse.

Book Review: I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had by Tony Danza

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 16:21:00 +0000

Thanks to Nick at Nite I used to always love Tony Danza on Taxi, so when I saw teachers recommending this book I had to get it from the library. Danza always wanted to be a teacher, but life sent him some other directions before he rediscovered that passion right before turning 60. He had a degree in History, so he had to go through Teach for America to find a placement. Most schools didn't want him near a classroom because they thought he wanted to exploit the children for his reality show or he wouldn't deliver on the content because he was an actor (both of which were very unfounded fears). Turns out his teaching career for a year was exactly what I did -- 10th grade literature. What's not to like, right? Well, unfortunately, sometimes warts and all memoirs do not a good story make. Here is my take on the strengths and weaknesses of this book.

The good:

- He has a teacher's heart. It's in the right place because he really does care about the kids and wants them to learn from his mistakes.

- He displays the altruistic character that a teacher has to have -- it's not about the money or the prestige; it's truly about helping these kids see a better way out. I enjoyed reading his candid talks with the students trying to address their larger problems, not just about them "not caring about school".

- He rallies people together and brings a fresh energy to the school. Teachers especially need a pick me up from someone with his enthusiasm and optimism.

- I probably would have really liked him if I was teaching in a school with him.

- He works hard to come up with solid lessons; he makes the children enjoy learning some great aspects of grammar and literature despite all the junk going on at home in their home lives. Those kids will never forget him and vice versa because he made an indelible mark in their lives.

- His crying all the time is authentic joy and frustration. Good for him for being transparent instead of feeling like he has to be macho.

- If he wanted, he could be a regular teacher as long as he lowered his expectations for what he could accomplish with 5 times the load. At the end of the book, I wanted him to be a full time teacher! There's no way he would ever be a paycheck-casher; his conscience would not allow for that. He would quit before he would be a slacker and a sell out to kids and parents.

- His story brings out all the things that many of remember about having that "special teacher" and it can lift your spirits knowing that there are other Tony Danzas out there in the classrooms every day.

The bad:

- Temperamentally, he's a sanguine like me, so I know all his pitfalls. He's a people pleaser and has a hard time not internalizing all the students' problems as something he alone has to fix. Knowing when to let something in a child's life go is difficult and heart-wrenching. He lets the kids affect him too much in that way. I used to unload on my husband all the time and there were times when he encouraged me to quit because of the relational anxiety I was bringing home with me every day.

- The too-oft phrase "my students made ME look good" is another instance of his sanguinity. Tony Danza admits he gets his identity from what he DOES. He never seems to understand what a dangerous idol "identity-from-job" is to have in your life. It's so egocentric -- all about keeping your reputation up with people so they will like you and approve of your actions (in this case to prove he could love and teach the kids). Though his motives are good, he can't shake being a "showman" by trade.

- It was a bit creepy the many times he commented on the attractiveness of students, teachers, and other women. I'm sure his wife did not appreciate that even if they were separated.

- All of his get-togethers with teachers after hours involved drinks. I'm not saying that having drinks are evil. I'm just saying that because I don't drink that it would have alienated me (and other teachers who don't drink) right off the bat. Some of my best "after hours", philosophical conversations happened with other teachers by wandering into their classrooms after the bell rang.

- His family totally got the shaft. He regrets that his own family (thousands of miles away in L.A.) was something he chose to sacrifice for this project. His family was one of many instances in his life where he sees he needs to do better and be a physical presence in their lives, but ultimately chooses the thing he is giving his all to right now -- teaching and his "other" children in the classroom. This "in the moment" attitude is a pattern in his life and those issues lead to his divorce after 25 years of marriage. I think this undermines the advice that he gives his students about persevering. Sanguines really struggle with dichotomies because we're not disciplined or balanced. At times, we can be 100% for one thing and 0% to something else. I had to make that same family decision once I had a baby. I could give my all to my classroom kids or my own kids.

- On the surface, it looks like he's taking a knock at a hotheaded teacher who has no discretion about when to spout his views about "the system". But once he mentions that the teacher's kids are homeschooled, it seems obvious that Mr. Danza doesn't believe that homeschooling is a viable solution for those who have personal convictions about it. We're not all like that teacher. Unfortunately, Mr. Danza (whether he meant to or not) helps fuel the stereotype that all homeschool parents are "angry people" who hate (and think they are better than) public schooled folks.

- He looks to the good in humanity to make things better. His humanistic worldview that man is innately good and can overcome anything if he just works hard enough is bad advice because it's not true. Yes, we need to have discipline and wisdom in our lives, but that comes from grieving over and repenting about our OWN sinful hearts and selfish behaviors. However, I know Danza's not a Christian, so I don't hold him that standard in this book. Just pointing out that of Danza's advice mostly comes across as unhelpful in the long run because it promotes "do-goodism" as a way of making yourself feel better about not being perfect. That's just medicating your issues until the next blow up comes along, leaving a string of emotional carnage in its wake.

You won't miss anything earth-shattering by not reading this book because none of his solutions or even opinions were fully fleshed out (but maybe that shouldn't be as much of a criticism because it's a memoir?). Topics like standardized testing, parental failure, lack of student motivation, burned out teachers get woven in the story. You got a sense of how he felt about it, but no conviction about how to really change things other than supporting the overworked teachers in your school (which we should do, each in our own way). I am scared to think how the department of education could misuse someone with his kind of optimism and salesmenship to push an agenda for more money to blindly be pumped into the system. However, it was nice to read a book written by someone whose own experience was very similar to my own first year of teaching. It's nice to know I wasn't alone.

The Caldecott Reviews: 2010, 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 03:27:00 +0000

In case you missed the first reviews or the introduction to the Caldecott Project:

The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney - 2010 Winner

Rating: Recommended
Age: 2+

The cover speaks volumes, eh? Pinkney (who has won Caldecott honorable mention for several other books) has such a sense of color palate and shading! The technical skill he shows through pencil and watercolor is outstanding. The Lion and the Mouse, based off a famous fable by Aesop, is like the 2011 winner, A Ball for Daisy -- it has virtually no words other than animal sounds. That means you will have to self-narrate this story, but you will want to stop and look at every single meticulously watercolored page; it's truly a feast for the eyes (and I think your children will agree). You could stop anywhere in the book and ask your children about the colors he uses and how he achieves the textures he does. The closeups he does of the lion are spectacular and for your children it will be like seeing a real animal right in front of their faces!

The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson and Beth Krommes - 2009 Winner

Rating: Recommended
Age: 2+

If you have ever personally done the technique used to illustrate this book (which I did in 11th grade), you know how difficult it is to create texture, chiaroscuro, etc. You start with a paper covered in thick black ink. You use an etching tool to scrape away the black to create your scene. It's really a counter-intuitive thing because usually when we create art we add to a scene, but in this case you are taking away! So recognizing the level of skill needed can make you stare quite intently at each page. You'll be quite impressed with how many textures can be created just by using straight lines, curved lines, thick lines, thin lines, etc. I wasn't engaged with the content, but the book didn't win the award for content alone, it won for skill and originality in artwork. If your child is learning about this particular technique in art class, I would give it a must read.

Next review: 2008 - The Invention of Hugo Cabret (also made into a movie by Martin Scorsese in 2011)

The Caldecott Reviews: 2013, 2012, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 18:37:00 +0000

As I said in my previous post, I am going to read all the Caldecott Medal winners (children's books that get awards for originality and skill in illustration) starting from 2013 to all the way back to the beginning in 1938 (assuming I can find them). I am hopeful I can do most of them though, as the kind librarian told me tonight that they had they 1938 winner and it hadn't been checked out since last December!

Here is how I plan to rate the books:

Must Read - Definitely put it on your book checklist
Recommended - Certainly worth a read at some point
Meh - Take it or leave it
Kindling - Make the library sorry they spent money on so many copies

I will also include what starting age these books would be good for though it's a bit tricky to do that given that many of these books are heavy on pictures (i.e. even an 18 month old could enjoy them). Just know that the older the kids get, the more they will understand the books and the nuance as you would, but that doesn't mean you can't start young with these classics. Your kids don't have to appreciate it on the level you are!

I hope this series will encourage you to have as much fun exploring these books with your children as I have had already with mine!

This is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen - 2013 Winner

Rating: Must Read
Age: 3+

This book is short on words and big on pictures. The concept for the book is very simple (a fish steals a hat) but that, like so many other children's books, is what makes it work so well. Without giving too much away, you'll be snickering from the get go when you see the narrative form. Younger kids may not totally get the humor, but if you take your time with the book it could be a great opportunity for working on anticipation and learning natural consequences for your actions. My 4 year old was laughing her head of when she read it for the first time. I admit, my husband and I were laughing right along, too. As for the illustrations, the shading on the large fish and the paint splat bubbles had me looking at the BIG pictures more in depth than a normal picture book. Paying attention to the pictures is a large part of the enjoyment of this book.

A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka - 2012 Winner

Rating: Recommended
Age: 2+

As you can see from the cover, Daisy is a cute and spunky little dog who loves her red ball. This book will hit a familiar theme for those who have had a favorite toy lost or broken. What's a bit unusual is this book has NO text, only watercolor illustrations. When a story is told without words, it heavily relies on the expressions and surroundings to speak for it. Daisy's expressions speak volumes even without the colors being terribly nuanced (i.e. no shading, no detailed lines, etc.) and could be used to discuss various emotions with your child. I can see why this book was picked for a Caldecott (other than the fact that Raschka is also a 2006 Caldecott winner). It's very "basics" of art design in its approach -- lots of curved lines, straight lines, circles, dots and such. I wasn't blown away by this book, but I know others might get more out of it, especially if you love dogs or have a family pet.

A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Phillip and Erin Stead - 2011 Winner

Rating: Must Read
Age: 3+

I think I fell in love with this book just by looking at the cover. I am a sucker for detailed sketches and by simply looking at Amos on the cover, my heart melted. He's the most precious grandpa figure that gives special care for his friends at the zoo where he works. He's such a faithful friend to the animals that when Amos eventually has to take a sick day his friends return the favor. Along with it being such a heartwarming story, the illustrations are astounding. You can see every little hair and wrinkle on Amos. The detailed shading of the animals give a softness to them which enhances the storyline. The illustrations make you wish you knew a sweet little old man like Amos! If you've read Goodnight Gorilla, it's a similar plot, but much deeper and less silly (though the silliness in Goodnight Gorilla is very charming).

Next time I'll be reviewing The Lion and the Mouse (2010), The Night House (2009).

The Caldecott Project: Are You Ready?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 03:23:00 +0000

Are you ready for my first really really ambitious reading project?

I am going to read every single Caldecott medal book I can get my hands on from the two city libraries I have access to. Yep. I'm very deficient in children's literature, so I thought I'd beef my Goodreads.com account, benefit others by knowing which books to recommend, and delight in some great stories with my girls by taking on this project. I'm not setting a time limit for completion, but what I plan for it to look like is to write a post after I have read 2 or 3 of them (in descending, chronological order) with a short review of each.

I taught high school English, so I always got the Newbery and the Caldecott mixed up because they were for children's literature. I'm trying to correct that now. The Caldecott award (named after an influential illustrator named Randolph Caldecott) is for excellence in illustration; it was kind of an artist's answer to the Newbery awards already being given out for the content of children's lit. I have only read 4 books from this list a long time ago, so I know this will be quite a treat! I am curious as to what will come out of my reviews since I will be talking about both the illustrations AND the content. I will be honest if the book seems to be strong on one rather than the other.

I just ordered the 2013, 2012, 2011 winners from the library. Wish me luck and stay tuned!

All you elementary school teachers, feel free to comment on some of these that you love or loathe.

Here is the complete list of Caldecott Medal Winners from 1938 to Present:

2013: This Is Not My Hat, written and illustrated by Jon Klassen
2012: A Ball for Daisy by Chris Raschka
2011: A Sick Day for Amos McGee, illustrated by Erin E. Stead, written by Philip C. Stead
2010: The Lion & the Mouse, illustrated and written by Jerry Pinkney
2009: The House in the Night, illustrated by Beth Krommes, written by Susan Marie Swanson
2008: The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
2007: Flotsam by David Wiesner
2006: The Hello, Goodbye Window Illustrated by Chris Raschka, written by Norton Juster
2005: Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes
2004: The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein
2003: My Friend Rabbit by Eric Rohmann
2002: The Three Pigs by David Wiesner
2001: So You Want to Be President? Illustrated by David Small; text by Judith St. George
2000: Joseph Had a Little Overcoat Simms Taback
1999: Snowflake Bentley, Illustrated by Mary Azarian; text by Jacqueline Briggs Martin
1998: Rapunzel by Paul O. Zelinsky
1997: Golem by David Wisniewski
1996: Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann
1995: Smoky Night, illustrated by David Diaz; text: Eve Bunting
1994: Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say; text: edited by Walter Lorraine
1993: Mirette on the High Wire by Emily Arnold McCully
1992: Tuesday by David Wiesner
1991: Black and White by David Macaulay
1990: Lon Po Po: A Red-Riding Hood Story from China by Ed Young
1989: Song and Dance Man, illustrated by Stephen Gammell; text: Karen Ackerman
1988: Owl Moon, illustrated by John Schoenherr; text: Jane Yolen
1987: Hey, Al, illustrated by Richard Egielski; text: Arthur Yorinks
1986: The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
1985: Saint George and the Dragon, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman; text: retold by Margaret Hodges
1984: The Glorious Flight: Across the Channel with Louis Bleriot by Alice & Martin Provensen
1983: Shadow, translated and illustrated by Marcia Brown; original text in French: Blaise Cendrars
1982: Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
1981: Fables by Arnold Lobel
1980: Ox-Cart Man, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text: Donald Hall
1979: The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Paul Goble
1978: Noah's Ark by Peter Spier
1977: Ashanti to Zulu: African Traditions, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: Margaret Musgrove
1976: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, illustrated by Leo & Diane Dillon; text: retold by Verna Aardema
1975: Arrow to the Sun by Gerald McDermott
1974: Duffy and the Devil, illustrated by Margot Zemach; retold by Harve Zemach
1973: The Funny Little Woman, illustrated by Blair Lent; text: retold by Arlene Mosel
1972: One Fine Day, retold and illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian
1971: A Story A Story, retold and illustrated by Gail E. Haley
1970: Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
1969: The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, illustrated by Uri Shulevitz; text: retold by Arthur Ransome
1968: Drummer Hoff, illustrated by Ed Emberley; text: adapted by Barbara Emberley (Prentice-Hall)
1967: Sam, Bangs & Moonshine by Evaline Ness
1966: Always Room for One More, illustrated by Nonny Hogrogian; text: Sorche Nic Leodhas, pseud. [Leclair Alger]
1965: May I Bring a Friend? illustrated by Beni Montresor; text: Beatrice Schenk de Regniers
1964: Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak
1963: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
1962: Once a Mouse, retold and illustrated by Marcia Brown
1961: Baboushka and the Three Kings, illustrated by Nicolas Sidjakov; text: Ruth Robbins
1960: Nine Days to Christmas, illustrated by Marie Hall Ets; text: Marie Hall Ets and Aurora Labastida
1959: Chanticleer and the Fox, illustrated by Barbara Cooney; text: adapted from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales by Barbara Cooney
1958: Time of Wonder by Robert McCloskey
1957: A Tree Is Nice, illustrated by Marc Simont; text: Janice Udry
1956: Frog Went A-Courtin', illustrated by Feodor Rojankovsky; text: retold by John Langstaff
1955: Cinderella, or the Little Glass Slipper, illustrated by Marcia Brown; text: translated from Charles Perrault by Marcia Brown
1954: Madeline's Rescue by Ludwig Bemelmans
1953: The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward
1952: Finders Keepers, illustrated by Nicolas, pseud. (Nicholas Mordvinoff); text: Will, pseud. [William Lipkind]
1951: The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous
1950: Song of the Swallows by Leo Politi
1949: The Big Snow by Berta & Elmer Hader
1948: White Snow, Bright Snow, illustrated by Roger Duvoisin; text: Alvin Tresselt
1947: The Little Island, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard; text: Golden MacDonald, pseud. [Margaret Wise Brown]
1946: The Rooster Crows by Maud & Miska Petersham
1945: Prayer for a Child, illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones; text: Rachel Field
1944: Many Moons, illustrated by Louis Slobodkin; text: James Thurber
1943: The Little House by Virginia Lee Burton
1942: Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
1941: They Were Strong and Good, by Robert Lawson
1940: Abraham Lincoln by Ingri & Edgar Parin d'Aulaire
1939: Mei Li by Thomas Handforth
1938: Animals of the Bible, A Picture Book, illustrated by Dorothy P. Lathrop; text: selected by Helen Dean Fish

Talkin ' Bout My Education: Part 6 - Crossing the US Border

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 18:36:00 +0000

This is my friend's last installment of international homeschooling. I am so thankful for her taking the time to document the good, the bad, and the ugly. I think the thing I took away most from her posts is her understanding that homeschooling ought to be a right in every country, not a "privilege". In those countries where it is seen as a privilege (or neither a right nor privilege), there are lots of disturbing and oppressive things being done by the government beyond just cracking down on homeschooling families. History has repeatedly shown what happens when there is that much centralized control in a society... If you're just joining us and want to start from the beginning, here is Part 1.          

We began making plans to leave Scotland, which was quite an ordeal. Our household items were still stored in The Netherlands, and we had more things than we could carry onto an airplane with us in Scotland. It was a bit dicey, but we packed up our items in Scotland, and my husband carried them with him on the train and ferries from the UK to The Netherlands to be added to the container. He worked with the shipyard and got our container aboard a ship bound for Vancouver, BC, Canada. We were heading to the USA for a 4 month furlough before relocating to Canada, and the shipyard helped us to slow down our container, first in the Panama Canal, and then in the Los Angeles port, to give us time to get to the USA. We flew out of Glasgow and landed in Columbia, SC. We used the time in SC to visit family, supporters, purchase a vehicle, and homeschooling books.

Our next stop was Houma, Louisiana, where we stayed with our home church for two months. Our church was going through some financial challenges, so we “lived” in the two room nursery! We slept on the floor on air mattresses, had a bathroom with a child-sized toilet, and our “shower,” was a box placed in the courtyard with a garden hose hung over the top with cold water only! We cooked in the Fellowship Hall, and when there were church meetings and activities, we stored our things under cribs. Our homeschooling was interesting in this setting, working mornings on our book work and afternoons spent on field trips all over the Bayous. 

The container arrived in Vancouver, and we had 48 hours to get up to Canada and unload it. My husband flew to BC, locating a missionary family who offered to store our items in their basement till we moved. The truck with the container arrived and my husband and one friend had exactly two hours to unload it all! My husband flew back to Louisiana, we packed up our Jeep, and headed out for the drive across and up the USA into British Columbia. We made a stop in Colorado Springs, CO, to visit some of our YWAM Amsterdam friends who had settled there, and I spent much of that time with the women discussing homeschooling in North America.

We arrived in BC and located a home in the top two floors of a barn on a working blueberry farm! It was charming, and we began our work in the, “Think Tank,” of YWAM King’s Kids North America. I continued to homeschool in the mornings.

The wife of the pastor in the church we were attending invited me to go to a meeting of homeschooling moms. I was anticipating finding support; however, I was hit with the reality of Canadian homeschooling instead. The leader of the group was an American whose husband served in a campus ministry, and she gave me a crash course on homeschooling in BC.

The first difference is Canadian provinces have varying policies concerning homeschooling. They’re not uniformed, nor are they similar, as each province determines their own laws, fairly separated from their federal government. It was illegal at that time in several provinces to homeschool. I was told to homeschool in BC (one of the more “homeschool-friendly” provinces), I needed to register at a school. The one used by this support group was a local Christian private school. We had to keep records, show them to the officials at the school, and participate in several of their courses. I made an appointment with the person at the school for later that afternoon; I needed to be “legal,” ASAP!

The biggest difference dealt with an attitude. In the USA, and UK (at the time we lived there), homeschooling was a choice parents had as a right. We could make that decision without much oversight. In BC, homeschooling was a “privilege,” not a right. 

Practically, this meant all homeschoolers stayed in their homes in the morning until mid afternoon when the government schools were finished for the day. The only exception was for attending our courses at the Christian school. Field trips had to be planned for mid-to-late afternoons, and we were not to be in groups where it was obvious we were homeschoolers. After wonderful years of freely homeschooling in Scotland and during our furlough in the USA, this was a challenge. I was constantly looking over my shoulder and watching to see who was watching us! Our landlord on the blueberry farm knew we were homeschoolers, and he accepted my son being outside, playing and exploring in the fields during the day (the farm was somewhat secluded from the nearby village). We “played” by the rules, and our years in BC were without incident, by the grace of the Lord.

One aspect of our work in the, “Think Tank,” was regular traveling. It was very unusual for our whole team to be home in the office at one time. It was not out of the ordinary to be on our way to the airport, SEA-TAC (flights were cheaper in the USA), and to wave at some team members on the Interstate heading back to BC. We were constantly flying in and out of the airport to train, speak at conferences and meetings, and lead groups all over North America. Because I had paid attention to the homeschooling laws, we generally did not have trouble leaving and re-entering BC. We did have a close call upon one re-entry (I was carrying a small box of paper, envelopes, and pencils, made and purchased in the USA that our team had been using during a training event with some churches in the Portland, OR, area; I didn’t declare their worth, which was about $23. The guards decided to make an example; they pulled me over to the bays for a complete search, which involves removing bumpers, etc., of vehicles. Only the box was found containing opened and used items, so they challenged my son being with me instead of being in school (it was in the morning). The threat was issued to confiscate my Jeep, and I frantically called our team leader, Todd (who was home and not traveling), to come and help. The guards pitted us against each other in separate rooms, and finally Todd told them we would pay the fine for the $23 worth of used materials. The fine was $700 USD. Neither Todd nor I were allowed to leave the guard station, but we did finally locate my husband who was able to make a “clean” crossing into the USA, go to the bank, withdraw money from our team’s funds, return to cross back into BC, and give the money to us to pay. The most powerful “police” in Canada are their border guards).

The rest of our years as residents of Canada went fairly smoothly, and when we returned to the USA after leaving YWAM, it was a sweet and pleasant experience to be able to freely homeschool as our right. I do not regret any of the experiences, and I’m thankful to the Lord for His guiding our family in homeschooling. It wasn’t ever easy, but it was definitely worth it. I’m humbled to have been given the opportunity to educate our son in the values, principles, and Christian faith. I wouldn’t have changed a thing; well, except perhaps the angst from the Canadian border guards!