Summer Reading

                                    

                           Tacoma's Summer reading club for birth through 5th grade

                                                 One World, Many Stories.

For the last couple of weeks while Summer plays hooky and Liam naps, Jack (7) and Amelia (8), spend hours lounging around and melting into the pages of their books .    For the past few years, they have signed on to the fantastic Summer reading program put on by the Tacoma Public Library.  While I enviously mopped the floors around them, I began to think about why they are so excited about this years program, “One World, Many Stories”.

So, why did my two bookworms sign up?  Mostly for the prizes.  As much as they love reading, they would easily toss their books to the side to spend the afternoon playing on a NEW LAPTOP.  In reality, I would not let them play computer games all afternoon.   But, it is all part of the fantasy.  A big escape.  This is why they love to read, for the escape.

Maybe, like me, you have done your best to expose your children to literature.  As infants, I labeled pictures and colors and asked them to do the same (and then answered my own question as they were …babies).  As toddlers, I asked them to repeat words and talk about the stories.  Now, as I have two independent readers, I quiz them on comprehension. Then I secretly worry if they are reading at an appropriate level for their skill.  I am proud to have immersed all 3 kids to literature.  I am not so proud that I have come pretty close to crushing their love of books in the name of education.  I just missed the land mine.

So, over the next few months, as we travel back and forth to the library with stacks of books and sloppily filled in book logs, I will take a new approach.  Here is what I will, and will not do:

• I will not choose books for my children or steer their choices.
• I will travel to new libraries and request books with them online.
• I will look in their eyes and listen when they tell me (in painful length) about the hilarity of Captain Underpants.
• Sometimes, I will read, and re-read books about trucks and cars with Liam.
• Sometimes, I will devour a book along side them.  I will not read to or listen to them.  I deserve the escape, just as they do.

You can learn more about the Tacoma summer reading program and sign up online here:  www.tpl.lib.wa.us/Page.aspx?nid=276

Have you signed up with your children?  How about yourself?  What are you reading in your house?

Higher or Lower, a Musical Game Show

There are many musical "ear training" programs out there.  They are great for kids and adults who wish to learn or fine tune interval and chord fluency (and much more).  I decided to apply the same concept, game show style, to a quick little activity with my 3, 7, and 8 year olds.  It was simple, silly fun for a morning that was spent in pajamas and avoiding housework.  

Here is what we did:
The Prep

• Each child decorated two signs.  One was labeled "higher" the other "lower".
• The kids were then lined up in a row and blindfolded (sounds ominous, I know).
• The contestants were introduced and the rules explained.

The Game
The contestants listened to a series of intervals (played on a laughably old and outdated keyboard) and raise their "higher" or "lower" signs to describe what they heard.

What they liked the best
Admittedly, this game was too simple for the older 2 and the 3 yr. old didn't quite get it.   They still had a lot of fun.  

• The big game show voice was a hit  (with the kids only, as it made me cringe)
• My kids LOVE being blindfolded.  I'm it sure why, but it made them crazy!
• The game was simple so they got all of the answers right.  A nice ego boost.

Alternative for younger kids or simple settings:


The silliness of the game show may allude your young child, but the simple principle will not.  From a young age, kids can learn to listen and identify sounds.  This aids in musical awareness and development.  You can find a huge selection of animal sounds or various musical instruments on the web.  Simply, find the pictures to correspond and making it into a matching game.


For an easy travel game, quiz your child on higher and lower using whistles or songs.  Or, let them take control (you know they will love that!) and let them test you instead.

Welcome to Swell Notes!

“The days are long, but the years fly by”.  I can’t count the number of times that a seasoned mother has shared this reflection with me.  When my daughter was an infant, I found this impossible to believe.  It’s true, the days were long.   The nights were also long too.  So were the hours (particularly between 4PM – 6PM).  Quite often, the minutes even the seconds dragged on.  Now as two of my children are in school full time, I  see time picking up momentum.   Gone are the days of hours of playing on the floor, long walks and marathon art sessions.   I have drastically fewer opportunities to give them my undivided attention.  I once felt guilty about feeling bored as I tried to ensure that they always felt like the center of the universe .  Now, I feel guilty about not having the time to make them feel that way often enough.  Such are the struggles of motherhood.

I am looking forward to spending time with all of my children this summer.  Without school, a schedule and activities, I am eager to revisit the slower pace we shared when they were younger.  Allowing them to set the pace for the day, play and learn through exploration.  I hope to offer them enrichment in a relaxed, creative way that will be both child led and parent guided.  I hope to find that balance between over stimulation wrapped in frustration and boredom wrapped anarchy.   I have big dreams.

Looking back on my many parenting mistakes, it is easy to see that I started off on the wrong foot from the start.  The day I brought my daughter home from the hospital, I started the insanity.  At 3 days old, I was reading her books, putting her on her play mat under hanging toys, showing her black and white pictures and labeling and explaining everything.  I was terrified that she would feel bored or unloved for even a second.  I was afraid that I would miss the opportunity of training her to be a child prodigy and all around genius.  It is true, I am raising an thoughtful, creative, intelligent, loving person who I find to be the most beautiful and gifted 8 year old on the planet.  She is also positively type A, just like her Mama.  Nature or nurture?  I will let Amelia be the judge of that in years to come.

Entering motherhood for a second time, one might think that I had learned my lesson.  That was not the case.   And so, I went on until the birth of my third child, Liam.  Be it from 5 years of exhaustion, my aging body, or trial and error, I slowly started rethinking my parenting approach.  As strong as my love for children was, my exhaustion was stronger.  It was time to manage my desire to give my children the perfect life with my need to be my own creative, even human, being.  All of this while keeping a sacred block of time for my complicated gym and yoga schedules.  As I have said, I am nothing if not a dreamer.

Well, I have often heard the praises of taking small steps.  We can’t do it all everyday.  We can, however, do something everyday.  Each day we can spend time inspiring creativity in our children through music, art, gardening, cooking, or even just sharing stories or ideas.  Each day, we can simmer in our own creative juices.  We don’t have to spend hour; some days minutes are enough, even perfect.