Remember the You Tube video of the boy opening a book for Christmas? If you don’t, it was widely viewed over the Internet as he cried and carried on about getting a book for Christmas. While my girls didn’t respond with quite the same level of disgust, I did feel like books were often quickly […]
Read moreI have fond memories of Christmas TV shows and especially of being able to stay up late to watch them. In our house, Christmas TV does not seem to have quiet the same hold on the girls. In fact, Katherine is scared of the Abominable Snow Monster and Caroline gets sad every time that Frosty melts. […]
Read moreI am finally reading Katrina Kenison’s , The Gift of an Ordinary Day. Many people, whose opinions I value highly, have told me to read this wonderful piece of writing and I am so glad that now is when I have chosen to begin the book. Today I was talking with a group of […]
Read moreThis fall, Katherine has spent her mornings at her Montessori pre-school and her afternoons at our half day public school kindergarten. I never thought twice about scheduling her days this way. She has been going to Montessori for years and has always stayed there through lunch and in the past year and a half, for […]
Read moreToday was our annual cookie baking day. Our family goes to Rob’s parent’s house where we are joined by Rob’s sister’s family and good family friends. We are covered in flour and sugar all day as the kids alternate between baking and playing. It is a wonderful holiday tradition. Wonderful and tiring. We arrived at home […]
Read moreEvery time I sit down to write out the addresses on our holiday cards, I promise that the next year I will create labels. It would be so much easier. So much faster. But if I had created labels sooner, I wouldn’t feel the passage of time quite so strongly. For the first time, the […]
Read moreA Monster Calls by Patrick Ness is a must read. Kirkus Review writes of a Monster Calls, A nuanced tale that draws on elements of classic horror stories to delve into the terrifying terrain of loss. . . . Ness brilliantly captures Conor’s horrifying emotional ride as his mother’s inevitable death approaches. In an ideal […]
Read more“The best way to cultivate their tastes is to read to them, starting at birth and keeping on and on. ‘Let me hear you read it’ is a test. ‘Let me read it to you.’ is a gift. So…read to them, read to them, read to them. For if we are careless in the […]
Read moreI am always on the look out for a Read Together Book. A Read Together Book is one that a new reader can read almost independently. Snuggled up with a grown up (or big sister!), Katherine can read these type of books and feel so proud of herself as a reader when she is done. […]
Read moreSometimes all the information keeps pointing in the same direction. Last week, I wrote about the ridiculous discrepency between teacher salaries and those of professional baseball players. Then I spent tons and tons of time this weekend preparing for a day of professional development that I will be conducting later this week. When I figured out […]
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