I remember the day I headed out on my own. No classmates. No chaperones. No host family. I got on a bus and went into the city center.
The Boy Who Spoke to The Earth — Dreamling Books
There is something about a good picture book that really gets me really excited. It makes me want to tell everyone about it immediately. (OK, honestly it makes me want to purchase it immediately, then it makes me want to tell everyone about it.) That’s what happened when I laid eyes on the first book presented by Dreamling Books, The Boy Who Spoke to the Earth.
Maybe it was the gorgeous pictures — amazing illustrations by Disney Interactive artist David McClellan, mimicking the stunning photography style of the author, adventure photographer Chris Burkard.
Maybe it was the message: to slow down, enjoy the journey, and breathe in the beauty all around you.
Whichever it was that hit first, it was the combination that reminded me of so many moments when I’ve suddenly realized that the grandeur of nature has enveloped me. You know, that moment where something stirs inside of you? [Read more…]
The Power of Pictures: Simple Stories, Stronger Kids
I grew up hearing the stories. How Grandma and Grandpa started out in a new state with a dog, a truck, a baby, and $10 in their pockets. The mischief and mayhem my dad and his brothers created, often at the expense of each other or their sisters, and much to the chagrin of their saintly mother. The life-threatening illness at my birth, and the miracle of my recovery. They were like colorful marbles in a kindergartner’s pocket. I loved them and treasured them, but hadn’t really given much thought to what research might say about their significance.
As I have examined both personally and professionally what makes for a strong family, I have been surprised several times to find research linking positive personal and family outcomes to families knowing the stories and histories of their families.
As an article in the New York Times stated in a review of some of the research, ” After a while, a surprising theme emerged. The single most important thing you can do for your family may be the simplest of all: develop a strong family narrative.”
Erica Layne of Let Why Lead expanded on this same topic recently, sharing the many benefits of family stories for kids.
The idea that something as simple as story-telling can build stronger kids seems hard to believe. As I said, it was something of a pleasant surprise when I stumbled on some of the research. But it shouldn’t have been surprising at all. My Master’s thesis was on the topic of ethnic identity. The review of the literature in that area is very clear: Knowing where you come from and what you’re about is correlated with almost every positive outcome you can measure. It makes sense that those benefits are not limited to knowing your ethnic story, but extend more personally, to knowing your family’s story and your own.
With this information on my mind, I was excited when Beryl Young offered to share a guest post with you about how to capture your family’s stories and preserve them in a variety of forms. It’s something feel I took for granted in my own childhood, and hope to become more intentional about with my own children.
Lifelong Readers {What’s on My Reading List}
It’s easy for me to rattle of a list of book recommendations to parents with young kids. For their kids, that is. Books for grown ups take me a bit longer to get through! To be quite honest, I really enjoy reading, and because of that, I’ve looked at it for too long as a privilege. A leisure activity. Something to do when I get all my work done. (Like that ever happens!)
Teaching Kids Problem Solving with a Great Book!
I’ve got a thing for well-illustrated books that really capture the endearing quirkiness of kids. That’s the first thing that made me love Ladybug Girl and Bumblebee Boy* by Jacky Davis and David Soman. But as I read it to my 4-year-old again tonight, I realized what a perfect book it is to illustrate the social problem-solving kids need to do almost every day. Something he had done today, in fact.
Just this afternoon, he and his brother were at odds about how to play together. As they got flustered and frustrated and began to grouch at each other, I stepped out to intervene. In a split second, I had to decide whether to intervene by settling it myself, or by taking the time to teach them to own their problems and problem solve together.
Turn to an Old Custom for a New Tradition on Valentine’s Day
Author Study: Robert Munsch
Robert Munsch grew up in Pennsylvania, in a big family with nine kids. Well, to be more accurate, Munsch specifies that he lived in Pennsylvania when he was young, and that he never really did grow up at all. The prolific author struggled through most of his schooling, but always had a passion for writing. He particularly enjoyed writing poetry, both the serious and silly varieties. But writing was his past time, not something he, or anyone else, really valued at the time.
Fast forward a few decades, and you find Robert Munsch working in day cares and preschools, captivating children with his storytelling. On his official website, Munsch recalls, “For ten years I did this without thinking I had any special skill. After all, while I made the best stories in the daycare centre, most of the other teachers made better play doh. I eventually got a long list of stories I told, but I never wrote them down.”
Too Many Toys
The Best Books are Ageless
About seven years ago, as a first grade teacher, I attended a workshop featuring Dr. Jean Feldman. There were many things she shared that influenced me as a teacher, but there was one thing she said that I have thought back on many times: [Read more…]
How to Improve Your Read-Alouds with Young Children
It’s hard to disagree with the evidence that reading aloud to young children yields great benefits throughout life. And that’s just the factors that are easily tested – language skills, reading readiness, comprehension, and so on. Add to that the relationship building aspect that comes along with a positive shared experience. I still remember snuggling up in my dad’s lap and listening to him read some of my favorite stories and the “funny page” in the Sunday paper. It was a real treat to get that one-on-one time, not to mention getting to hear his hilariously animated voices as well.