Read. Imagine. Talk.

Poetry Friday: Changing Houses, Growing Up

This week, like last, I have been thinking about the passage of time.  Last week slowing down to appreciate the small moments was on my mind, and this week is not much different.  Things for me are changing -- we're moving in a couple of weeks, moving to the suburbs, and life is going to change.  We're in a routine now, my husband and me, Ethan and me, the three of us.  And the routine is comfortable. 

Moving feels very grown-up, and brings me (of course) to thinking about Ethan.  And to thinking about how he will grow up in this house that we are moving to.  It's possible that he will learn to ride a bike in this house, start those perilous middle school years in this house, go on his first date in this house, take his SATs in this house, leave this house to go to college.  All of this could happen -- but now he is only a toddler. 

Weekly Geeks Challenge: Childhood Favorites

This is my first Weekly Geeks challenge, and a post I am quite eager to write.  This week, the challenge is to write about favorite childhood books.  The only problem with this idea is that I'm not really sure where to start.

Growing up, I loved reading.  I was the kid in the car, in the restaurant, at the park, next to the pool reading a book.  It almost didn't matter what it was that I was reading, as long as I had a book to read and another waiting for me. 

Meme of Five

I was tagged for this meme by MotherReader.  This is the first time I've been tagged for a meme, and I'm up for answering some questions about myself.  Here goes:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.

2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.

3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What were you doing five years ago?

• Five years ago I was teaching fourth grade in New York City and finishing up my Masters degree in Reading and Literacy from Bank Street College of Education.  I had just gotten engaged and was starting to plan my wedding.  My sister lived around the corner from me, I practiced yoga often and some of my best friends lived in the same apartment building as I did.  Life was good.  (It still is.)

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?

1. Take my son to the playground
2. Get ice cream
3. Write book reviews
4. Finish the book I'm reading about Elizabeth I
5. Pack at least one box to get ready for our move (We move in less than 1 month.  Nothing is packed.)

What are five snacks you enjoy?

1. Yankee Doodle cupcakes
2. Peanut butter crackers
3. Reese's peanut butter cups
4. Microwave popcorn
5. Cookie Crisp cereal

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

1. Put aside money for my son
2. Give some to our immediate family
3. Start a company, a nonprofit, that would allow kids to come together around books.  I would have to think this one through a bit more.  But I'd do something with kids and reading.
4. Hire a cleaning service.  And a chef.  And a yoga instructor.
5. Go on a crazy, wonderful vacation

What are five of your bad habits?

1. Biting my nails
2. Multitasking
3. Worrying about things I can't control
4. Watching too much t.v.
5. Allowing clutter to accumulate at a rapid pace

What are five places where you have lived?

1. Cherry Hill, NJ
2. Bloomfield Hills, MI
3. Allentown, PA
4. New York City, NY
5. Hoboken, NJ

What are five jobs you've had?

1. Camp counselor
2. Babysitter
3. Barista at a small coffee shop
4. Teacher
5. Consultant

What five people do you want to tag?

I'm tagging 5 bloggers that I don't know very well, but whose blogs I read all the time...

1. A Wrung Sponge
2. The Reading Zone
3. Shelf Elf
4. Here in the Bonny Glen
5. Wild Rose Reader

Teaching Tolerance Tuesday: 19 Minutes

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult is a book about a school shooting that every parent, teacher, grandparent, aunt, uncle -- everyone -- should read.  In no way is that an exaggeration. 

In this book, a teen-aged boy, Peter, comes to school one day with explosives and guns.  He kills 10 students and injures many, many more.  Here's the thing, though: by the end of the book you almost, almost, understand why he did it.  You never think that he was right, of course, but readers are given such a nuanced, detailed glimpse into Peter's life, mind and heart, that we see how he came to believe that violence was the only answer available to him.         

Nonfiction Monday: Things to do on a Rainy Monday

It's raining again in New Jersey, and rainy Mondays are always a bit tricky in my house, just as they were in my classroom when I was teaching.  One way to pass an inside-in-springtime day is with a great DIY book, and there are lots of worthwhile ones out there.  In case you are indoors today, too, here's a list of some of my favorite DIY books for kids:

At 6:45 on Mother's Day Morning...

...we were all awake.  Ethan asked for yogurt and didn't eat it.  He asked for chocolate milk and spit most of it out.  Now we're listening to the Summer Music Together CD, which is great... but maybe not at 6:55 on Mother's Day.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day -- one with a later start, and swallowed food and good, grown-up music!

Poetry Friday: Slowing Down

Recently, I found a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye in her new and brilliant book, Honeybee: Poems & Short Prose.  The poem is called "To One Now Grown" and it's gorgeous.  It begins:

"If we could start over, I would let you get dirtier./ Place your face in the food, it's okay."

And it concludes:

"Give me the box of time./ Let's make it bigger./ It's all yours." 

The poem is a reminder to slow down, to savor the small moments, to breathe.  Oh!  This is something I try to do.  All the time.  But it's not something I always accomplish. 

Our Kids Aren't Reading... Is There Anything We Can Do About It?

In the past 2 days, I have read more about banned books, challenged books, the ways in which NCLB is damaging our schools, ways to teach kids to love books... and I'm not sure where to begin. 

One of the most interesting pieces I've read is Why Don't Our Students Read? found on The Reading Zone -- and the comments that follow are equally fascinating to me.  This actually was the last piece that I read about the subject before sitting down to write this post, so I suppose I'm jumping backwards into this. 

Here's the thing, though.  NCLB emphasizes basic skills and this starts in Kindergarten.  In all honesty, I would expect that by the time kids who began school under the NCLB regime hit middle school or high school they will be so turned off by reading, so disconnected, that they will have no interest in whatever it is teachers choose (or are mandated) to ask them to read.

Teaching Tolerance Tuesday

I love the idea behind Nonfiction Monday and Poetry Friday, so decided to start a "day" of my own.  I figured that I would use this first Tuesday to explain my thinking...

One aspect of children's literature and teaching that I am most passionate about is using books to generate conversation and help teach tolerance.  I believe that this is a real goal of teachers, parents, librarians, etc. and should be talked about often.  To that end, I have decided to go ahead and post each Tuesday (because I couldn't resist the alliteration of Teaching Tolerance Tuesday) about a book, a poem, an article -- whatever comes to mind -- that helps kids challenge their ideas about people different from them.  Alternately, I will post on Tuesdays about books written for adults about these issues: bullying, respect in schools, etc.   

I think that this is important -- no, critical -- for our kids and am eager to get started with my new weekly "event".  If my day today gets away from me and I am not able to post about a book later, you can be sure that I will get going next Tuesday.  (I generally get only one chunk of time each day to blog because of my son, who is not yet in school -- I find that he keeps me quite busy all day and that early mornings work best for me!)

I'd love to hear any thoughts you might have about Teaching Tolerance Tuesday...

Nonfiction Monday: Great Spring Books

I suppose I should start by putting this out there: I love reading nonfiction with kids.  When I was a teacher, a good part of my curriculum was built around reading nonfiction trade books, instead of using textbooks.  (I was so lucky to be teaching in a school that let me do that!) 

I live in New Jersey and we've had a gray couple of days here, but today is supposed to be beautiful.  So I decided to pick a couple of nonfiction picture books perfect for spring reading.  I'll list them here, with a short description, but for a full review, feel free to check out my reviews on Ethan's Bookshelf.