Eugene Field

I really enjoy the poetry of Eugene Field, his rhyme, his rhythm, his subject matter; its all enjoyable.  Here's one I read to the kids today, which they loved, and so did I.

Pittypat And Tippytoe

All day long they come and go-
Pittypat and Tippytoe;
Footprints up and down the hall,
Playthings scattered on the floor,
Finger-marks along the wall,
Tell-tale smudges on the door-
By these presents you shall know
Pittypat and Tippytoe

How they riot at their play!
And a dozen times a day
In they troop, demanding bread-
Only buttered bread will do,
And that butter must be spread
Inches thick with sugar too!
And I never can say, "No,
Pittypat and Tippytoe!"

Sometimes there are griefs to soothe,
Sometimes ruffled brows to smooth;
For (I much regret to say)
Tippytoe and Pittypat
sometimes interrupt their play
With an internecine spat
Fie, for shame! to quarrel so-
Pittypat and Tippytoe!

Oh, the thousand worrying things
Every day recurrent brings!
Hands to scrub and hair to brush,
Search for playthings gone amiss,
Many a wee complaint to hush,
Many a little bump to kiss;
Life seems one vain, fleeting show
To Pittypat and Tippytoe!

And when day is at an end,
There are little duds to mend:
Little frocks are strangely torn,
Little shoes great holes reveal,
Little hose, but one day worn,
Rudely yawn at toe and heel!
Who but you could work such woe,
Pittypat and Tippytoe?

But when comes this thought to me:
"Some there are that childless be,"
Stealing to their little beds,
With a love I cannot speak,
Tenderly I stroke their heads-
Fondly kiss each velvet cheek.
God help those who do not know
A Pittypat or Tippytoe!

On the floor and down the hall,
Rudely smutched upon the wall
There are proofs in every kind
Of the havoc they have wrought
And upon my heart you'd find
Just such trade-marks, if you sought
Oh, how glad I am 'tis so,
Pittypat and Tippytoe!

Do you have a Pittypat or Tippytoe in your home? 

"School is Boring!" said the 5-yr. old

Autumn turned 5 years old this summer, thus ushering her into the school age world.  A week ago I asked her if she was excited about starting school this year.  "No," she said.  I was shocked!  How could she not be excited about that?  I thought all kids were excited about starting school for the first time.


"Why aren't you excited about starting school?" I asked.

"School is boring," was her answer.

Now I'm in a mental sweat.  As an avid homeschool Mom, I am adamant that school should NOT be boring.  School may be exciting, fun, challenging, even hard, but NEVER boring!!  So I calmly collect my emotions and cried, "How can you think school is boring when you've never even been to school yet??!!!"  Ok.  So I wasn't so calm. 

"I've heard the other kids talk," she said in a very bored, grown-up way, "and they all say its boring." 

I heaved a sigh of relief-that's all, not some deep-seated inhibition against school! 

"Well, you wait and see, school is fun and you're going to love it!"

Fast-forward to last night after our first day of school.  I'm sitting on her bed as she prepares to go to sleep.  "So, what did you think of your first day of school?" I asked. 

"It was fun!" she said, beaming.

Then, "You were right!"

My big school-girl!

Don't Give Your Kids Twaddle!!!!! Part 2 (Textbooks or Books?)

I can't talk about the issue of twaddle without talking about textbooks.  People, some of the worst twaddle is found in the textbooks we give our children to read.  (Please stay with me, I don't mean to offend anyone.)  Textbooks are among the least interesting and literary pieces of writing available.  Textbooks are filled with facts, places, names and dates-not interesting, literary writing.

One of the problems with using textbooks is that textbooks don't inspire.  The point of education is not to cram all the information possible into a child's heads in twelve years and then hope that they will remember it all.  Twelve years is a relatively short time of their lives and it is impossible for them to learn everything there is to learn.  The point of education is to foster a LOVE for learning, a LOVE for reading.  If my child is inspired in his reading he will love reading and love learning and that will last a lifetime.  Think about most of the textbooks you used in school...did they captivate your imagination, thrill you and make you want to read more, or did they bore you to tears?  If you would not want to read it, why give it to your child to read?  Instead, give your child a thrilling book and he will devour it.

We learn best from stories.  Humans have selective memory, which is why you can remember vividly a scene from when you were four years old but can't remember what you had for dinner last night.  Hey, I'm lucky to remember what I had for lunch today!  Why do we remember some things and not others?  It all has to do with emotion.  We remember things that impact us emotionally.  What happened to you when you were four impacted you emotionally and your dinner last night didn't.  Its that simple.  That is why the use of stories and good books in learning is SOOOOO important.  Children will NOT remember boring facts. They will, however remember a good story, and in remembering the story they will remember the facts that went along with it.

Jesus taught this way.  I am in no way a Bible scholar, but I think it was pretty rare for Jesus to teach anything without telling a story.  In hearing the story his listeners made an emotional connection and through that remembered the teaching.  That is why preachers use illustrations while they are preaching.  They know that unless the audience connects emotionally with their sermon, the likelyhood of them remembering it all the way out to their cars is pretty slim.

Let me give you an example.  Breck loves our Geography time.  Its not because he has an obsession with maps or even because I'm a great geography teacher, truth be told, I'm rather poor at geography.  He loves it because of the BOOK we are using.  The book, "Paddle to the Sea" by Holling C. Holling, is the story of a Canadian Indian boy who carves out of a piece of wood a canoe with an Indian in it.  He names the canoe "Paddle to the Sea" and sets it on top of the snow-covered mountain so that as the snow melts it will carry Paddle to the river and from there to the Great Lakes and on out to the Sea.  As you read the adventures of Paddle not only do you learn about all the geography surrounding the Great Lakes, but you also learn about logging, how saw mills work, the coast guard and how they help to rescue people from ship wrecks, the Soo Locks, how it works and why it was built, freighter ships, forest fires, tides, winter on the Great Lakes and soooo much more.  Its Geography Plus and its written in an interesting and literary manner.  And Breck LOVES it!  He has made an emotional connection with the little canoe and will remember the facts as he remembers the story.  What a great way to learn!!

So tell me, which way would YOU rather learn?

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.

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!

After One Week of Homeschooling...

I have learned:

* Children are smarter than we think.
* Parents are NOT NEARLY as smart as we think.
* School can be loads of fun.
* School is exhausting for the student.
* School is exhausting for the teacher.


This is what Breck looked like Friday afternoon. This is also what yours truly looked like Friday afternoon, although I don't have a picture of it. I've seen pictures of me sleeping... and lets just say that its something I should NOT put up on my blog. You. really. don't. want. to. see. it.!

Thankfully, by the second week we have gotten into "the groove" and are feeling like its a "piece of cake!" I have a baaaad feeling that statement is going to come back and haunt me.

The Find of the Week!

People, it doesn't get any better than this. While Breck was outside playing today he found nestled in our sweet little maple tree a Mourning Dove and her chicks. The nest was barely above my head and the foliage wasn't too thick so we were able to observe her for quite some time. At first I thought she only had one chick with but we soon discovered that she had two. I brought a step stool out and the kids took turns climbing up and watching her. She didn't squawk or try to get us to leave, instead she stayed perfectly motionless. Not even her eye moved.

Just as we were about to leave the little chicks began clambering for something to eat. So she opened her beak and they placed their beaks inside her beak to eat. We're not talking one at a time here...they both wanted it now! As you can imagine, we were delighted to watch them.

This year our nature study is focused on birds so this little lady is going to be Exhibit A. We plan to watch her and her babies closely every day to watch them grow. We'll be reading every book we can get our hands on that talk about the Mourning dove. This is, in my humble opinion, the best way to study Science.

Making Math Meaningful

I HATE math. No, that's not stating it strong enough. I'm afraid you won't get the idea...I loath, despise math. When you mention the word math I feel like there are spikes going under my fingernails. I have ALWAYS hated math. I do not have a mathmatical mind...I like to read, write, play the piano...you get the idea. I really needed daily beatings to get me to do my math when I was in school (although my Mother out of the kindness of her heart did not do so). I practically cried my way through Algebra and I'm not even certain to this day how I passed because I didn't learn a bloomin' thing! That is why when it came to homeschooling, the one subject that gave me cause for fear was....you got it-MATH. How on earth was I going to teach my child Math when I can barely stand the sight of a Math textbook?!

To the rescue (trumpets please...) came my older sister, Rhetta, who is a homeschool Mom. The Math textbook that she showed me forever changed the way I look at math and has become a God-send to me. No longer do I have fear and trepidation about teaching math; no longer am I afraid that my kids will hate it as I have. I actually enjoy teaching it! Imagine that!

Making Math Meaningful by David Quine is the curriculum you NEED to use for your children. If you are using one curriculum for all your subjects, such as Bob Jones or A becka (I'm not sure how to spell that-you can tell that's not what I'm using ;), you need to take the math book and pitch it into the trash. Tear it into little pieces so you won't be tempted to pull it out again and then go to your computer and order Making Math Meaningful!!! You will not be sorry. No, I am not getting paid anything from Cornerstone or David Quine to give this testimonial. (Although some free curriculum would be nice!)

Here are some reasons why this is the best math program out there. First of all, the math concepts are taken veeerrryyy slooowly so that your child has time to actually master the concept before moving on to something else. Secondly, they actually teach you WHY you do what you are doing. Am I the only adult out there that didn't know WHY we carry a number when we are subtracting??? You just do it because that's the way you're supposed to do it! Don't ask anymore questions!!! This book teaches the principles before you ever do any addition, subtraction, etc. facts. Imagine what's its like to actually understand what you're doing!

I'll just give an example: Breck has been learning about adding and subtracting. So the first thing they teach is the difference between things being equal and unequal. "If you have two towers of lego blocks that are different in height are they equal or unequal?" Answer: unequal. "What can you do to make them equal?" Answer: Add more blocks. "What's another way you can make them equal?" Answer: Take some away from the tall tower. Voila! They are learning the principles of addition and subtraction and having fun. What kid doesn't like building towers with lego blocks? This book will have your child adding and subtracting figures before they ever see a problem on a page. Instead of sitting and doing pages of math problems you work on math using blocks, straws, rocks, linking paper clips, etc. It is very hands on.

Another thing I love is that they teach how to do word problems starting in kindergarten, not high-school so that they become completely comfortable with doing them. Most kids are completely baffled when you try to teach them word problems because they were not introduced to them early on. In kindergarten they show that a letter can substitute for an object in doing a math problem...That's algebra!! (I think. ;) My sister's kids were doing pre-algebra in 2nd and 3rd grade and lovin' it. My neice, Charity, is not mathmatically minded. She's like me...she likes to read and write and play the piano, not do math. But she loves it.

These books are fun, clear to understand and very hands on...no long pages of multiplication here. Give it a try...you'll never go back.

A Case For Poetry

Most of us would have to admit that poetry is not in our list of "Top 10 things that we love most in life." However, when it comes to training our children in school it has many benefits. Charlotte Mason said (paraphrased) that the purpose of memorizing poetry is to give our children something good to think about. We have all heard the saying, "An idle mind is the devil's playground." The Bible has much to say about thinking on good things. Even phsycology tells us that what we think about has a big influence on our attitudes and behavior. That is why in our homeschool we memorize lots of Scripture along with Hymns of our faith and poetry. Along this line we also provide for our children good stories and fun Christian music to listen to. (I highly recommend the group "Go Fish")

Here's an example of a poem I will have Breck memorize:
WHOLE DUTY OF CHILDREN
A Child should always say what's true
And speak when he is spoken to,
And behave mannerly at table;
At least as far as he is able

-Robert Louis Stevenson

Cute, huh?

Here are some other good reasons for reading and memorizing poetry: Reading poetry enhances a child's knowledge of the English language since poetry uses language that we are often unfamiliar with. Second, it improves their critical thinking skills because the meaning of the poem is not always immediately clear. It requires them to think about what the author was really trying to say. Third, memorizing poetry strengthens their brain. And fourth, by requiring them to recite the poem to someone else, you are teaching good speaking abilities.

Habits

Habits are hard to break (as anyone who has ever tried to break a bad one will know). What we don't tend to think about is that good habits are just as hard to break. I believe that if our children are settled into good habits at an early age these habits will guide them through the turbulent years later on. Just as railroad tracks guide a train, so our habits guide our lives. Think about how many things we do "out of habit"-its amazing! So I am in the process (looong process) of training my children in good habits.

I'm sure this has never happened at your house, but this is a scenario of what happens here. "Breck, go clean your room" is followed by much dawdling and little cleaning on his part, which is followed by chiding and frustration on my part. Being able to do a job quickly and efficiently, whether its getting dressed, cleaning a room or doing homework is a virtue and should become a habit at an early age. So I set out to train both Breck (6) and Autumn (4) in this.

This is what I did:
1. I explained to them that they are to clean their rooms and get dressed first thing in the morning before playing.
2. They are to have this done by breakfast time (8:30) or they get no breakfast. (My children think its cruel and unusual punishment to have to skip a meal!)
3. I bought an egg timer so they can visualize the time going by, since neather one can tell time yet.

This has resulted in jobs done in a timely manner (for the most part), less frustration on my part and a cleaner house. The most important thing is that they are learning a habit that will stay with them for life. I am using this principle for different jobs during the day. I set the timer for plenty of time to finish the job and then if they are not done when the timer goes off, there are consequences. The consequences vary. One particular child has missed breakfast twice this week. The important thing is to stick to the consequences...you must not pity them when they fail! Over time they will automatically start to do the jobs quickly without needing the timer or consequences...it will become a habit.

Actions lead to habits and habits when formed become a person's character.