Big and Little Art

On Monday I discovered a blog called Big and Little Art. The purpose is for parents that like to create to model how to do a project alongside their child. That way both parent and child are creating something, instead of the parents just giving instruction or supervision. Some of the posts on the blog include projects were the child created part of the project and the parent added to it. I tried the most recent project, magnetic fish, with my son. It was a huge hit! Between making the fish and playing "fishing" it kept him occupied for a good hour and a half. I would also prefer doing art projects and games with him to acting out the same scenario over and over with the army men and dinosaurs.

We used one of our forts as a boat to catch our fish from.

Later ImagiKid wanted to use the magnetic "coins" and "pearls" that came with the Magnet Mania kit that we got our magents from as treasure.

My son actually discoverd other fishing activities in the booklet that came with the Magnet Mania kit. These ones were made from tinfoil and paperclips. We made these today and ImagiKid and Cousin N had a great time together. Not only are we snowed in and school is cancelled but we also have two cousins staying with us while their mom is away on business.

Later Big Cousin T made a treasure hunt for the boys using the "coins," "pearls," and other objects from around the house. She buried them in Moon Sand. BTW, this is about all Moon Sand is good for--so messy and doesn't mold into shapes like advertised.

The hunt is on!

The loot! My 10-year-old niece (Big T) actually took this picture and the previous one.

Snow and Pineapple

We have probably gotten about a foot and a half of snow here in the last 24 hours and it is still snowing hard. So what is a mother who yearns for tropical weather to do? Cut into a big, juicy, imported pineapple, of course! I know that anyone committed to buying local is probably shaking their head at me, but seriously, there is nothing growing locally here right now. I promise to buy nothing but locally grown produce in the summer--I will even go out to the farm and pick it myself. Although then I may draw fire from anyone worried about child labor since last year I had my 7 and 9-year-old nieces, as well as my then 3-year-old son out picking raspberries with me in 90 degree heat. They weren't complaining when they got home and started eating the fruits of their labor, though!

Book Review: The Hurried Child

I read this book for a book club through my son's co-op preschool. The author, David Elkind, discusses the many ways in which children are hurried by parents, schools, and the media. As, my son's teacher said, "this is not a solutions book." He doesn't say don't let your children watch TV, don't get divorced, do homeschool your children or anything like that. He does give a really good review of child development and learning theories that can help parents decide what is appropriate for their child at what age.

One of the things that he talks about in the book is how as a country we tend to be stressed out and that people tend to be self-centered when they are stressed. He says that families with both parents working and single parents are especially susceptible to hurrying their children because of the multitude of demands they face everyday. This was somewhat self-affirming for me since I hadn't originally planned to be a stay-at-home mom (SAHM). I got pregnant during my first year of teaching and in the beginning thought I would take a couple of months off and then return to work. Then my husband and I started looking at our life and wondering where a child would fit in. I felt like I couldn't be a great mom and a great teacher at the same time. I felt like both areas would suffer. I know I would be stressed to the max if I was trying to do both, as I am already stressed by the demands of trying to meet the needs of two children, a husband, and a household.

Something else that hit home for me in this book was a short section on how some SAHMs use their children's accomplishments to measure their own achievement or success, and therefore try to raise little prodigies. I have not been so worried that I will push my children too hard, since I really am all about letting children learn at their own pace and through discovering the world around them. My problem is fearing that I will let my identity become too wrapped up in motherhood and that I will somehow lose myself in the process of giving everything I have to my children and husband. I feel the need to seek fulfillment from other sources, but that is not always easy with a four-year-old hanging on your leg and a one-and-a-half-year-old that doesn't want to ever be set down.

I think what will stick with me the most about this book is how Elkind says that it is very difficult to tighten control in the teen years if you have given too much freedom too soon. I think that piece of advice alone makes this book worth reading when your children are young. There is a really good section on how freedoms need to be balanced with age appropriate responsibilities, as well as expectations with appropriate supports.

A Little Showing Off

This is a series of cut paper illustrations that I have been working on that will eventually become a book that ImagiKid can "read" to JoyBaby. I have been very fascinated with this style of artwork lately. If you check out the sidebar to the left you will see links to the work of some very talented author/illustrators that have inspired me. I guess I have also been pretty fascinated with food lately. I am working on a children's story about a boy who will only eat foods that are his favorite color, and I recently submitted a story to a publisher (I am bracing myself for my fist rejection letter) that took place in a grocery store. I think maybe I want my stories to relate to children's everyday lives, and of course everyone can relate to food. It is such a central part of our daily lives. I know I spend a great deal of time shopping for it, preparing it, cleaning up after it has been consumed, but I wonder how much time the average person spends thinking about it. I am actually writing this post after getting out of bed to make myself some strawberry toaster waffles and hot chocolate because I just couldn't go to sleep feeling hungry. This is after a dinner of tortellini with tomato and sausage sauce with peas and a salad!

Our New Friends

My husband got me a book on plants for Christmas. He said it was a hint, but he hoped I wouldn't take it the wrong way. I agreed that we needed some greenery around here, if only to improve the indoor air quality of our very tightly sealed newer home. I feel like I should name them--it might improve their chances of survival if I form some kind of emotional attachment to them. If anyone has any suggestions for names I would love to hear them. I have enlisted ImagiKid's help, he will probably be better at remembering to water them than I will.

Kindergarten Readiness

My husband and I attended a kindergarten readiness seminar at our son's co-op preschool a couple of nights ago. They had a panel of five teachers: one was a public school kindergarten teacher, two were from a private school, and two were representing the magnet programs offered by the public schools in our area (which are multi-age but don't start until first grade). So I guess the seminar was as much about choosing which program to put your child in as it was about actually getting your child ready for kindergarten.

Even though they were all very vested in promoting their own programs and it was definately clear that they had some philosophical differences, as a panel they did seem to agreee on what is most important in getting your child ready for kindergarten

1) An eagerness and willingness to learn

2) Being emotionall ready to be on their own at school without mom

3) Having some social skills and an ability to get along with other kids

4) Being able to do some basic tasks for themselves, like put on their jacket and zip their backpack (one teacher said they do not need to be able to tie their shoes, because most 5-year-olds don't have the motor skills for that yet)

5) Know some basic safety rules, like who they should go home with. It is also helpful if they know thier parents first and last names and phone numbers.

Surprisingly, they said kids do not need to know all their letters and sounds or be able to count to 20 or anything academic like that. They all said that they meet the child where they are and help them to progess as a learner from that point. I am thinking this sounds pretty good.

Then towards the end of the meeting one of the panel members said that we are in the age of "best practices" in education. I nearly choked when she said that. I couldn't resist raising my hand and asking, "so how do 'best practices' fit in with the WASL?" The WASL is the standardized test given in the State of Washington. We are really in the age of the No Child Left Behind Act (aka No Child Left Untested Act). Standardized testing drives much of the curriculum now, and many districts even have strict pacing guides that teachers must follow no matter what the needs of their students are or where they are developmentally and academically. Now granted most of these teachers were either from private schools or magnet programs that don't look anything like a normal public school classroom in our district (and I can say that from personal experience because I used to be a substitute teacher), so maybe their classrooms do use "best practices." But I don't think that is the case in much of the rest of the country.

My fear is, which is shared by many, is that these tests are only creating schools where students are taught to take tests, instead of think creatively, problem solve and develop a love of learning. I also think it is really unrealistic to expect all students to meet the same level of achievement. This creates a "one size fits all" system of education, instead of one in which individual differences are celebrated and instruction is designed to help all the students--high achieving, low achieving and everywhere in between. For the record I do think many tenets of the act have real merit, such as mandating that all teachers be highly qualified and that instructional practices be researched based.

I am going to try and enroll my son in one of our district's alternative or magnet programs. He will still have to take the WASL (unless we were to opt out) if he is enrolled in one of these programs, but I don't think the instruction is nearly as focused on preparing for the test. I truly don't know what I will do if he doesn't get in--we don't have the money for private school and I just don't think I have what it takes to homeschool.

Why Does Disney Hate Mothers?

Okay, so this is something that has been on my mind for awhile, why is it that in so many Disney movies the mother of the main character is dead or otherwise out of the picture? Think about it: Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Finding Nemo, Chicken Little, Ratatouille all have missing mothers. Then you have movies like Cinderella and Snow White where the only mother figure is a wicked stepmother who tries to either kill the heroine or ruin all her chances for happiness. What message is Disney trying to send to kids? It would appear to be that mothers are either unnecessary or evil. Or maybe they are just trying to terrify children by making them feel that their mothers could kick the bucket at any time.

To be fair, Disney movies really don't do a lot of justice to fathers either. They are usually portrayed as being totally incompetant to raise and protect their children, and are either too busy (King Tritan in Little Mermaid), too self-absorbed (Nemo's dad, Chicken Little's dad) or just too stupid (Jasmine's dad in Aladdin, Belle's dad in Beauty) to know what is really going on.

I honestly doubt that any of the messages Disney may be sending about mothers and parents in general really have too much affect on kids. I think they mostly just like the adventurous and imaginative aspects of the movies, and I do let my kids watch Disney movies, but I try to not let them get too wrapped up in them. For instance I do not buy my children clothing or products from movies (if you see my son wearing a Cars shirt, my mother bought it for him). My son's preschool teacher has a good rule for knowing when your child may be too wrapped up in a movie or show: if the child's play becomes too scripted and is no longer as creative or as imaginative as before, then it may be time to pull the plug (or at least cut back) on the movie and TV watching.

If anyone wants a more in-depth analysis of motherhood in Disney movies visit: http://animation.memory-motel.net/motherhood.html.

Isn't the snow beautiful?...Now get this winter over with!

It has been snowing here on and off since Monday, which means we probably have about a foot of accumalated snow. Winters in the Inland Northwest are hard for me. Even though I only lived in California for two years, I think I am much more suited to that sort of climate. I am trying to make the best of it though. Today, I bundled up the kids and put JoyBaby in her little toboggan and we went for a walk in the snow. There is a "park" nearby (really just a large median) where ImagiKid and I had a snowball fight and made snow angels. When we got home I asked him if he had fun throwing snowballs at me and he said, "yeah, that was wicked!" Where does a four-year-old learn a word like that? My guess is from his uncle. Anyway, besides playing in the snow I am using all my best ideas for keeping kids entertained indoors. Here are a few:

1) Perler Beads
My son has been obsessed with these lately and they can keep him entertained for hours. The only drawback is what to do with all the little plastic shapes afterwards. If you iron them for a long time sometimes they can be flat enough to use as a bookmark.

2) Collapseable forts & tunnels
These have been a big hit with my son and his older cousins for years and now even JoyBaby likes to crawl around in them. Ours was a gift, but I would consider it a good investment. We have gotten so much use out them, plus they can be folded down and fit into about a 2'x2' bag or stored flat under a bed.

3) Books on CD
ImagiKid especially likes the Curious George collection right now. Yesterday, I swear he spent about two hours listening to them.

4) Games
Operation and Uno are favorites around here lately. They seem to be good for both preschoolers and elementary kids, as ImagiKid had lots of fun playing both with his older cousins who are seven and nine-years-old.

5) Baking
I am not much into baking, but even I can handle a muffin mix. ImagiKid is at an age where he is actually very helpful and even though JoyBaby can't really help yet, she loves the finished product. Hint: use an icescream scooper to put the batter in the muffin cups and you will get perfectly proportioned muffins (I read this somewhere, but wish I could claim it as my own).

If anyone has any great ideas, please share them! It is only January and I just might lose my mind before spring!

Happy New Year

I am thrilled to report that my deepest Christmas wish, the one I had actually been praying for, came true--JoyBaby crawled on hands and knees on Christmas Eve! Then a couple days later she crawled over to the coffee table and pulled herself up into a kneeling position. My husband and I are thrilled.

So, anyway, it is a new year and I have a few resolutions. The first is to declutter my house. The second is to watch less TV and give ImagiKid less screen-time overall. Thirdly, I plan to make the decision on what I want to get my master's degree in so that I can begin taking classes this fall. I am well aware that many people's New Year's resolutions fall flat, including many of mine in the past, but I am going to create an actual plan to help me accomplish these goals.

I am goint to use the book It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh (#2 on my Winter Reading Challeng List) to help me declutter my house. I have also enlisted my husband's help with this one, and as per the book's instructions, he has helped me sit down and write out our vision for our home.

As for watching less TV myself, I plan to only watch shows I have set timers for on DVR and also go through and edit my list of timers. I realized how much more productive I have felt the past couple weeks with all my regular shows on hiatus for the holidays. I think that I have been allowing TV to take me away from things that are just as relaxing but also give me a greater sense of accomplishment. I am also going to start giving ImagiKid coupons for screen-time each day. I think this will help me set limits more firmly and also teach him to be more aware of how much time he spends watching movies or playing V-Smile.

I guess I don't have much of a plan for resolution #3 yet. Even though it really only requires thinking and not any physical labor, self-discipline or imposing my will on someone else (for their own good of course), it is the most difficult of all. Making this decision will determine what I do with my life after my kids are in school. It will affect how much money I make, how much time I will be able to spend with my family, how satisified I feel in my career and with my contribution to society, and many other things, including some I'm sure I haven't even thought of. When I was eighteen, I moved away from home and went to college and after changing my major a few times, decided to be a teacher. I felt like I would be doing something that would help other people, and I do think that I did a decent job of being a teacher, even though I didn't do it for very long before having my son. But I don't know if any eighteen-year-old is really ready to decide what they want to do with the rest of their life. For that matter, I don't even know if I am ready at 28, going on 29! So, wish me luck with this one.

I searched on the web for useful information about how to keep your resolutions and this is one article I found interesting: A New Year's Resolution Revolution. A lot of other websites say some of the same things, but this one also encourages you to look at what you've done right and helps you focus on what areas you should truly try to improve. I also like this website, just for fun: History & Fun Facts About the New Year.

Winter Reading Challenge

I am joining my first on-line reading challenge. Thanks to Karlene at http://inksplasher.blogspot.com/ for hosting. The challenge started on December 22, so I am a little late getting started. I think I am going to choose 10 books, which will be about one book every week for the remainder of the challenge, which may be a lofty goal considering I have a 4-year-old and 16-month-old. Okay, here is my list:

1) The Hurried Child by David Elkind
I am actually reading this book for a book club hosted by the teacher of my children's co-op preschool. It is about the pressure that is put on kids to grow up too soon and do things that they are not ready for.
2) It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh
Peter Walsch is an organization guru from TLC's Clean Sweep. I plan to not only read the book, but actually do what he suggests in an effort to accomplish my New Year's resolution, which is to declutter my home. He promises that organizing your life will help you to live the life you dream of...we will see.
3) The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
I have to see what all the hype is about. My husband made fun of me for buying this one because it got made fun of so badly on Saturday Night Live, but I am at a point in my life where I could use a change, so maybe it will actually be good for me. This will count as going out of my comfort zone since I usually don't read self-help books.
4) A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
Another member of the challenge already has reviewed this book on her blog and said she couldn't put it down. I have a copy that was given to me by a very well-read friend that I get a lot of my reading recommendations from.
5) The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Believe it or not, I actually graduated from high school and college without reading any Steinbeck, but I guess it is never too late to start and I figure I should have at least one classic on my list.
6) I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids by Trish Ashworth and Amy Nobile
This book received a lot of attention this last summer and I wanted to read it then, but never got the chance.
7) The Best American Essays 2007 edited by David Foster Wallace
From the reviews on Amazon it sounds like this book will cover many interesting subjects. Plus I think I can get my husband to read it too, always a bonus.

8, 9, 10) TBA

Reviews to come!!!