The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows
/My friend Fr. M sent this to me for meditation today.
What she said
/I wish every parent would read this and consider how they encourage or discourage learning.
Children learn by imitation. Do we give them examples of perfectionism that won't even allow us to try, lest we be disappointed by our efforts and frustrated by our failures?
Today, inspired by Sara's courage, I'm going to try to learn to knit. And I'm going to try to set for my children a good example of cheerful perseverance and good-natured willingness to fall very short of perfect in the name of learning something valuable.
Speaking of attempting to do something, even when you're quite sure the results will fall short of perfect, Katherine, the kit is on its way. If you're brave enough to attempt it, I can can be emboldened by your example. But I guarantee we're in it for way more than 12 hours.
Dance,Girls! Time doesn't stand still!
/In a time that doesn't seem so very long ago, our dear friend Keenan was a little girl, playing fashion diva.
Now, she's a grown up ballerina, an American at the Kirov, training in Russia. This is a rare, rare, rare occurrence. Keenan was invited there by the director himself who saw the incredible talent and the dedication that sets her apart from countless others dancers around the world. I hear it on good authority that the Russian dancers are not all that thrilled to have an American in their midst and that, among other "annoyances," there is no washer nor dryer and she's washing all her clothes by hand. She went with a stash of blessed salt and store of rosary beads. An American Catholic in St. Petersburg. We love this brave, beautiful girl. And she's in our constant prayers.
Today, my own fashion diva loves Keenan's hand-me-downs. (Courtney, if they were vintage when Keenan wore them, what are they now? And what will they be for Karoline? Well loved.)
And today, Katie takes her very first ballet lesson ever. She's already told the world she is going to grow up to be just like Keenan. Not so fast, my love. Please. Not so fast.
Many thanks to Courtney for the Keenan pics.
Are You Ready for Some Geography?...
/
Tonight begins Monday Night Football, noted on my calendar for the entire season as "MNF." Why does a middle-aged mama note Monday Night Football on her calendar? I like to keep track of my husband. He won't be on the couch with a beer and a bowl of chips. He'll be at every Monday Night Football site all season long (with the exception of San Francisco tonight--he can't bi-locate so when MNF is at two locations, he's only at one of them;-). As much as we love sports around here and as grateful as we are for this job, this is a very long haul through the fall.
Last year, as my younger children began to figure out the rhythm to Mike's travels, we started moving a Post-it note arrow around on a big wall map so that they could see where he was. But a flat map on the wall doesn't really do much for a child's imagination. They couldn't really picture him where he was working. Kim introduced me to the idea of geography textboxes these wonderful picture books, and an idea was born.
Every week, on Monday, we spend the afternoon reading and writing about the state where Monday Night Football is being played. The books are packed with information and illustrations and pictures. There is a short rhyming verse on each page, perfect for the little ones. The older children spend more time with the book, reading the more involved columns on the page for detail.
Last year, the baby arrived four weeks into football season. I relied heavily on the idea in these free unit studies which are keyed to the books. This year, I think we are going to focus only on the information in the book during our study time. Each child is creating his or her own book. The books vary according to age and interest and I'm giving the children free reign to pull out of the alphabet books what matters most to them and then to express that in their notebooks.
On Monday evenings, we watch ESPN beginning well before the game. In all honesty, this has nothing to do with geography and everything to do with our Daddy's shows. But, the bonus to our devotion is that we see great scenic shots of the places we've just read in the books. All the way up through the pre-game show and the introduction, there are sights and sounds of the state we've studied.
Finally, as he dashes through the airport on his way home, Mike collects a few postcards from each state to add to the book. All the books we will use for Monday Night Football geography are linked on the sidebar. Maybe you'd like to travel with us this fall!
What she said...
/You don't need a perfect world to teach well. You need a perfectstrategy. You need a strategy that does not involve manipulating events that are largely out of your control. Each year I have discerned "what" we need to accomplish. We make checklists to help us stay on track and cover the necessary ground. The "when" of it varies but it always happens and surprisingly well. Real life and real learning are unnerving to those who are wedded to absolute control. With faith and a fun loving attitude you can roll with the punches and thrive. It just requires a bit of thinking outside the box. : )
