Articles tagged Life With Kids
Christmas cards! Wrapping! Cookies! And toys! Ornaments! Concerts! Family! And noise! Oh what a season to be someone’s mother Making some magic for your kids and others. The late nights of wrapping and shopping and baking Struggling in the dark morning hours of waking Wishing for peace, but racing instead Fending off “helpers” who won’t … Continued
Are you familiar with Patricia Polacco? I hope you are. I have been in love with her beautiful, funny, moving, and meaningful books for years. My all time favorite is The Bee Tree in which a little girl, with the help of her grandfather and some bees, learns that the “adventure, knowledge, and wisdom of … Continued
(Though I wrote this post, I would like to attribute it to Meg, my daughter. – Karen) By Meg, age 6 This morning I was having a warm and wonderful dream and was very happy… and then sunlight bothered my eyes and someone tickled my face. Then my mom said, “Good morning!” in this very … Continued
General / Book Recommendations
We all know the power books can have. They can persuade, instruct, entertain, stimulate, educate, amaze, etc., etc., etc. But can they make it snow? Probably not all by themselves, but maybe with our help. Just maybe. Remember the old “Think Snow” slogan? Well, this is exactly the time of year to pull it out … Continued
Book Recommendations / How You Can Help
Word of mouth is a powerful tool in the book world. Who doesn’t love a good book recommendation, especially from a trusted source like a friend or an expert? Most of the time this ups your chances of finding a book that you will like. The same can be said for students and getting them … Continued
I pulled out a pad of paper to jot down a few ideas for my blog post, and the toddler to my right (my son Emmett’s friend) inquired, “Mommy write?” Impressed with her command of the word “write,” I joyfully responded, “Yes. I’m going to write!” To this, she replied, “Mommy write?” Again, “Yes. Write.” … Continued
Last week, the New York Times‘ Opinionator blog featured an essay called “What Should Children Read?” by English teacher and writer Sarah Mosle. In the essay, Mosle highlights the new emphasis on nonfiction in the Common Core State Standards, “a set of national benchmarks, adopted by nearly every state, for the skills public school students … Continued
We love Ramona. Ramona Quimby. You know, Beezus’s little sister. The one who is always getting into so much trouble. What kind of trouble? Oh, you know, there’s the time she took one bite out of every apple in a bushel, forcing her mom to make the world’s biggest batch of applesauce. Or the time … Continued
Someone is starting to read! It is so amazing to watch, incredible really. It starts so small, you hardly notice it’s beginning. You’re just going along your merry way packing lunches, patching boo boos, and carrying on as if everything is perfectly normal. But deep in that little brain something miraculous is happening. Behind those … Continued
Election season. An exhausting ride where we are all bombarded with campaign ads, controversial discussions, heated debates, and a barrage of political humdrum.
Halloween Eve 9:00 p.m. I can’t imagine how this is possible. My sugar-hyped children have fallen asleep. Thank God. I look around the house. Some dishes from dinner are still on the counter; we barely gobbled it down before heading out to Trick or Treat. The table is covered in neatly sorted piles of peanut … Continued
Do you see these beautiful children? Oh, they are a handful! I love them so much, but at the end of a long day of chicken herding, I am worn out! Like chickens, they all seem to be going in different directions at the same time. And just when you think you have got everybody … Continued
I was quite a skilled eavesdropper by the time I was 13. You see, growing up in my house meant that each night before bed a story was told to each child in his or her own bedroom. It was a special time alone for each child with my mother at the helm of a … Continued
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