Don't Give Your Kids Twaddle!!!!! Part 1

People may say that Dog is man's best friend, but they are wrong.  Books are man's best friend.  There is nothing better to do on a cold day than to curl up in a chair with a hot cup of tea and a good, worn book... ahhhh, bliss.

I can hardly begin to state the importance of books in our lives.  Books mold our thought processes.  From the earliest years, through fairy tales we learn of good versus evil; we learn about morality: right and wrong.  We form our opinions and beliefs.

Books also teach us how to read, write and speak and therefore are (or should be) the foundation of a child's education.  I can not underemphasis the importance of choosing the right books to give our children to read.

I am not just talking about getting books that are morally correct.  I'm talking about something that Charlotte Mason called "twaddle."   An outdated word, to be sure, but give the lady a break, she lived over 100 yr. ago!   Twaddle is simple language, incomplete sentences, unimaginative writing, "UNLITERARY" writing..... you get the idea.  We've all seen this type of writing.  The library is full of such books.  That's why its important to be selective.

Here is an example from a reading book I had picked up for Breck and had not checked over carefully:

"Rushing down the highway, rolling down the road. Truck Stop."


What was that?  That's not a sentence.  Breck was totally confused.  He could tell that  "rushing down the highway, rolling down the road" was not a complete thought.  Needless to say, we will not be finishing the book.


On the other hand, here is an example of good literary writing by Rudyard Kipling.  This is taken from the beginning of one chapter from his book, "Just So Stories."

"Once upon a most early time was a Neolithic man.  He was not a Jute or an Angle, or even a Dravidian, which he might well have been, Best Beloved, but never mind why.  He was a Primitive, and he lived cavily in a Cave, and he wore very few clothes, and he couldn't read and he couldn't write and he didn't want to, and except when he was hungry he was quite happy.  His name was Tegumai Bopsulai, and that means, 'Man-who-does-not-put-his-foot-forward-in-a-hurry'; but we, O Best Beloved, will call him Tegumai, for short.  And his wife's name was Teshumai Tewindrow, and that means, 'Lady-who-asks-a-very-many-questions'; but we, O best Beloved, will call her Teshumai, for short.  And his little girl-daughter's name was Taffimai Metallumai, and that means, 'Small-person-without-any-manners-who-ought-to-be-spanked'; but I"m going to call her Taffy  And she was Tegumai Bopsulai's Best Beloved and her own Mummy's Best Beloved, and she was not spanked half as much as was good for her; and they were all three very happy."

That's good writing.

All I'm saying is think about what you give your children to feast their minds upon.  What you read is what you become and for what you will develop an appetite.  I regularly read books to my children that are hard for them to understand.  Sometimes I have to stop every sentence or two to explain what is happening or explain new words that they don't understand.  THAT'S OKAY!  They are learning.  Their minds are being challenged and are expanding with new understanding every day.

There is one more reason for not allowing a constant diet of fluffy material, and that is because the main reason we teach our children to read is so they can read the greatest literary masterpiece ever written-the Bible.  How can children be expected to grow up and read the Bible consistently, revere it, love it, and at least somewhat understand it if they have been fed twaddle all their lives.  I'm afraid I've been around far too many Christians who stumbled around trying to read a passage from the Bible.  The Bible is a difficult book to read, so we better be preparing our children.


Something to think about.

Try A Little Tenderness

In honor of Valentine's Day here is one of my all-time favorite love songs.  I have so many that its hard to say which on is my favorite, so this is ONE of my favorites.  This song just gets me every time I hear it.  I become a pile of mush every time.  And Michael Buble is just....well, pretty awesome.

Oh, and if you're interested in seeing him up close and personal you can get a front row ticket at Conseco Field House this summer for only $1,700.00  That's just a tad over my budget, so I'll have to watch on youtube.

Happy Valentine's Day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68yM87fcktE&feature=related

Mattise, Van Gogh or Picasso?

I believe that every child can learn to draw.  Its just like learning to read, sure it might come easier for some than for others, but they can all be taught.  I am constantly amazed at the creativity and artistic abilities of children.  All they need is a little guidance

Here are some pictures that my kids have drawn in art class this year (all but one are Breck's).  Breck says that he either wants to be a carpet-installer like his Dad or an artist when he grows up.  I think he has a good start on the artist.

The first two pictures are flowers in a vase.

The next picture is of his favorite hero...Larry Boy.

Space.

A Boy's Face.

Autumn saw her big brother drawing a face and decided she should draw one too.  Autumn loves color...LOTS of color.  I absolutely love this picture.  It really has quite a lot of emotion in it.

I swear it looks as good as some stuff that I've seen in art galleries!  Do we still have child labor laws?

JOKE, people, a joke!

A Brilliant Idea From A Brilliant Man!

Once again, Leland is my hero.  If I had a dollar for every time this man solved my problems I would be a rich woman.  (Lets just say I'm still waiting for those back-payments to kick in.)  Well, once again he came to my rescue.


Here was my problem.  A broken-down box full of hats, gloves, mittens and scarves.  This is as bad as it ever looks.  This actually looks good.  Half of the time the items are not even in the box.  Not only is it messy, but it is very frustrating clawing through the pile to find your one good pair of gloves on Sunday morning before walking out the door.

Also, my kids like to play with them Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.  They find it a favorite past-time to play dress-up with them.  So I like to keep them out all year, which basically means I have a mess all year.

So what does a girl do?  She goes to her husband and says, "What am I to do?!!!" *sob* *sob* *sob*  No.  Actually, I don't think there was any crying involved.  This time.  The time before that?  Probably.  Here was his brilliant solution.  I'm kissing his feet over this.

An over-the-door shoe holder.  PERFECT!!  Why didn't I think of this?  Not only is it neat AND organized so you can actually find that wayward glove, but it is also a great space-saver.

So I went from this:

To This:

Men's work gloves?  No problem.  Long scarves?  No problem-just double them over a couple times.  I put the kids' things on the lower rows so they can get their own and put them back in the right places when they're done with them.

I'm in nirvana.

Contrasting Appearances

My kids had the priviledge of being angels today for about 60 minutes.  I think that was all they could handle.  Even before the costumes were off I could see the horns poking through in back of their halos. I'm sure they were chosen to be angels in our church's Christmas pageant ONLY because the costumes fit them and NOT because my children exibit angelic qualities.

Take a look at these pictures and you'll see what I mean.

Do these pictures look angelic, I ask you?

This or....

This.

 

Angels or.......

Not?   Do you see horns? I see horns.

Sweet and docile or....

 

Mischievious?

You decide.

Putting Away My Bullwhip

Lately, life has become a series of to-do lists.  My life has consisted of waking and then making a mad dash through my day to accomplish my list of things to do.  When I do (which is seldom), I feel good about myself.  I'm a good Teacher if I get school started on time and get through all my subjects.  I'm a good Mom if I teach my kids how to work hard and tell the truth.  I'm a good wife if I have the house clean, the clothes ironed and a nice supper on the table when Leland walks in the door. 

For instance, my list for today was:
Start school on time (ok, lets move to the next one)
Finish all Breck's school work
Dust the entire house
Make a nice supper
Make it to Bible Study (preferably on time)
(I know.  Not a big list.  But I have three little children, so give me a break here.)

But when those things don't happen, well... I have this bullwhip that I keep in my closet.  When the ironing doesn't get done...SLAP!   Supper didn't turn out well...SLAP!  I started school late...SLAP!  I didn't make that pumpkin pie my kids were begging me to make because I had too many other things to do...SLAP! SLAP!  I didn't write an e-mail to my dear Grandma...SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! 

After a while I feel bruised, frustrated, impatient, unloving, and........  Yeah.  You get the picture.  Not at all a pleasant person to be around.

Its at a time like this that God has a way of making his point very clearly.

I was having my devotions this morning when God suddenly spoke to me and said, "You are focusing on the WRONG THING!!!  Your focus should not be how much you can accomplish today; rushing through your to-do list.  Your focus should be serving Me with joy!"

Why is it that we always want to focus on DOING rather than BEING?!  God's ultimate goal is not for me to just read my Bible every day and go to church on Sunday and Bible study on Wednesday night.  Those things are good... don't get me wrong.  But what He really wants is re.la.tion.ship.  My husband doesn't need a perfect wife...he needs relationship!  My kids don't want a perfect Mom...they want relationship!  

WOW!! 

How liberating!

I don't have to be perfect!  I can put away my bullwhip! 

If I focus on relationships and serving God, I can still have joy when there are piles of laundry that need done. 

Who knew?

So today I choose joy.  And I hope my husband has something clean to wear to work tomorrow.

Teaching Fonix

Am I the only one who thinks that our English language is reediculus in the way we spell words?  I am a firm believer in teaching reading phonetically, but people! why on earth do we have so many ways to spell out the sound "eee"?!!!  "e" or "ee" or "ea" or "y"  or "i" (am I missing any?)  But depending on where that "e" is in the word it might also say "eh" as in "shed", but then "ai" also makes that same sound too, as in "said"... so don't get confused here.

For instance, the letter "O" says Ah, as in "mop"....unless there is an "E" at the end, and then it says Oh, as in "mope".  But then there is "soap", which should be spelled "sope" and "moat", which should be spelled "mote".  And then there are words like "old", "sold", "host", "roll", "both",  etc., that are spelled that way for no apparent reason...just because someone decided they look better that way, I guess.

Then lets not forget that "th" sounds together if you are saying the word "the", but if you are saying the word "Thomas" YOU JUST SAY "T" BECAUSE THE "H" IS SILENT!!!!!  Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!

There are also words like "sulk" that we really pronounce "solk".  And the word "cute" should really be spelled "qoot".  

*sob* *sob* *sob*

I mean, seriously, how am I supposed to teach a 6 yr. old all these stupid (yes, I did say stoopid) rules? 

Its no wonder our kids struggle with spelling.  Could we please just stick to one sound per letter?  It would make it so much eesier.  I'm all for a revolt.

If you need me, I'll be under my bed chewing my fingernails off.  I can only take so much of this!