Lest You Think Life Is Ideal...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Bah!  Hardly.

Today was not the happiest of days here.  In fact, it was one of those disheartening days that I typically do not share about publicly online since, years ago, God laid it on my heart to use this blog and my Facebook page as places to share mostly things that are encouraging, educational, inspiring, or heartwarming.

So why share something different today?

Because I sense that doing so may actually be encouraging to someone.  For, I bet there is someone out there reading this right now in the midst of "one of those days".  I would guess there is someone who knows that life is blessed, yet still feels distressed.  I dare say there may be someone who has plenty to sing praises about, yet feels too out of tune to do anything but wallow and wail today.

Well, let me tell you.  You are not alone.

Things in my life - and in lots of folks' lives - may look pretty ideal, but, let me assure you, they are very, very real.  Even when nothing tragic happens, little "straws" build up and, out of the blue, break "Mama Camel's" back.

You get to bed too late one night and just want to sleep in the next day, but, then, a child who has wet one bed without you knowing it crawls in beside you and wakes you up by wetting your bed.. and you!

You shower, strip the bed, throw the linens in the laundry, and opt to use the early wake up time to read devotionals and pray.  But, then, your whole crew of kids, who also went to bed too late the night before, wake up and start squabbling.  At that point, you discover the other bed that was wet during the night.  Super.  More laundry to do on the one day a week that you attempt to take a break from most work and chores.

Not to be too chagrined, you carry on with the morning, offering the children supplies to make Valentines. 

Later, you begin to make your family a Valentine breakfast, eager to start the communal part of the day off with smiles.  As you do, you are hopeful that the day will turn out to be a joy-filled relaxing one.  You'll enjoy the Valentine's breakfast you are preparing, then, the family will be off to Mass, where one child will serve on the altar, while another sings in the choir, and a third gets Mom-and-Dad time in a pew.  Then, there will be more fun food at lunch, plus plenty of time for family read alouds, maybe some games, a cuddly movie...  You know, good old-fashioned, happy togetherness.  

An ideal day awaits.

Or not.

When you ask the children to get dressed, one child begins to act out.  Meanwhile, as you prep breakfast, you go to clear the dishes that someone left in the sink, only to realize that the dishwasher is full, but, thankfully, clean.  You glance at the clock and realize that there is no time to empty the dishwasher, get the sink cleared, finish making breakfast, and get food into bellies in time to get family to Mass.  Further, not only does no one seem motivated to help you set the table, but the child who was acting out when told to get dressed is now continuing to carry on, "needing" your help with something while another "needs" your attention for something else...

You speak aloud that you are doing your part and need others to do theirs.  You begin to list what needs to be done, what you have and will do, and what others might take responsibility for.  You, fail, however to keep your list related to just the moment at hand, and worse, you fail to speak with a calming, cheerful, encouraging voice as that one child ratchets up the getting dressed nonsense.

At that point, your husband snaps at you, unhappy with your "litany".  His negative words are among the first he has spoken to you that day. 

And so the devil makes his entrance, slowly, steadily, into the day...

Breakfast becomes a farce: heart-shaped pancakes and handmade Valentines juxtaposed with Dad's quiet disdain and Mom's tear-brimmed eyes as a child, who at the moment acts more grown up than parents, attempts to brighten everyone's moods.  You begin to pray inside your head that you can hold your tears back and that Mass will be heartening and healing.
You continue to do so on the way to Mass, but emotion is too strong.  The silent tears begin to flow and the more you try to stop them, the more they come.

Nothing dramatic has gone wrong.  Just little things.  Just life.  But sometimes those little things hit hard and a day dissolves into a sadness so great that even Mass and one child's loving encouragement cannot help the hurt.

As the day continues, a headache complicates heartache. 

Little things begin to go right, but other little things continue to go wrong.  The latter get magnified by the devil's ceaseless niggling.

You know what is happening, yet, for some reason today, you cannot turn the tide.  Tears keep coming forth.

You beat yourself up for being ridiculous.  You remind yourself that have a warm home to protect you on a frigid day.  Festive foods grace your table.  Your family is all there and healthy.  Yet, alas, you still feel sorrow-filled.

Lent.  It is here.   

Mercy and grace.  They are, too.   Sometimes they are even spoken to you through a child who asks you not to cry, lets you know you are loved, and tells you, "Today is over.  Tomorrow will be new."

That it will.

But, before this day ends completely, I share this snippet of reality.  I do so not to blaze something gloomy it into annals of memory, but to be authentic and to affirm that while things may often seem ideal in other people's worlds, it is likely they are not.

None of us is perfect.  No day is either.

We are called to live the fabulous and the flaw-filled equally.  We are asked to carry crosses and, although sometimes, we do so with oh so little fortitude and seeming grace, grace still abounds.

Even on days when the goodness and glory of life gets overshadowed by mountains of silly little things - or even horrendous big things - one thing remains eternal.  LOVE.

You may not feel it.  You may not embrace it.  You may not express it, nor receive it well on a given day, but it is always there.

Praise be to God that even when so little seems ideal, love IS real.

Whether today was a happy Valentine's Day or not for you, may you never forget that you are loved.  I offer prayers for you right now.  Honestly.  I am going to bed praying for anyone and everyone whose day was less than ideal.  You are loved.

Want a Perfect Picture Book Study for Martin Luther King, Jr. and Valentine's Day?

Between Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Valentine's Day, our family has come to enjoy a book I found a the library a few years ago.

This post contains links for your convenience.  Some are affiliate ones, which means, if you click through them to make any purchase, we may receive income at no extra cost to you.

The Legend of the Valentine: An Inspirational Story of Love and Reconciliation 

My children and I have snuggled up twice in the past week to re-read this favorite seasonal tale and, undoubtedly, we will enjoy it for years to come.  We all love the authenticity with which The Legend of the Valentine: An Inspirational Story of Love and Reconciliation weaves together the story of Saint Valentine, a story about a boy who is being bullied while his father sits in jail with Martin Luther King and the timeless Bible messages about love.

Today, I thought I would share a huge list of ideas that might help
The Legend of the Valentine: An Inspirational Story of Love and Reconciliation become a read together treasure in your home, too.  If you appreciate the story as much as we do, you might want to scoop a copy up for as low as $0.01 since, unfortunately, it has gone out of print.  (Why is it that good books go out of print?!?)

The Story 

   
In The Legend of the Valentine: An Inspirational Story of Love and Reconciliation, Katherine Grace Bond tells the the story of a nine-year-old boy named Marcus who is being bullied at school while his father and Martin Luther King, Jr. sit in a jail cell.

Marcus, of course, has every right to be upset, and even to retaliate.  However, he chooses not to.  While making Valentines, his grandmother tells him the story of the third century Christian that Valentine's Day gets it name from.  Marcus also receives an encouraging Valentine from his father.  He realizes the power of loving one's enemies and returns to school to make a peaceful difference!

The Illustrations

Don Tate, who also illustrated Eve Bunting's The Cart That Carried Martin, created engaging illustrations filled with emotion.  Expressive faces and postures in each full-page illustration bring the text to life life and help children further empathize with the characters in the book.    

Faith and Virtues Connections
 

As The Legend of the Valentine: An Inspirational Story of Love and Reconciliation unfolds, a variety of Biblical, Saint and Character connections become evident:

• In the opening page of the story, the main character Marcus says quietly, "There's no wrong color for skin," after being bullied about using brown as a sin-color in his drawing.  Isn't everyone created differently -- and beautifully?

• On the second page of the story, as well as later within in, a band of angels is mentioned.  When else have you read about bands of angels?  (Perhaps the ones that came to the shepherds to announce Jesus' birth?)  Shall we pause to pray to our guardian angels?

• The grandmother in the story returns from going out -- again -- to register to vote despite the fact that she is always told that the registrar's office is closed.  What character trait does this exemplify?  Shouldn't we all be persistent in fighting, peacefully, for what is right?

• While Granny is comforting Marcus about the bullying he has been facing at school she says, "No need to be hating.  Jesus says to love our enemies."  She also reminds Marcus' angry mother that just like Marcus is a child, so are the boys who are bullying him,  "They're all children.  God's children."  In doing so, she provides examples of gentle Christian correction and alludes to Bible truths.  How might we correct others?  What Bible truths might we remember when dealing with challenging situations in our own lives?

• Granny tells the story of Saint Valentine, who was wrongly jailed, yet was courageous enough to testify to his jailer about Jesus and, as legend tells, prayed to restore the sight of the jailer's daughter -- a miracle that helped convert the jailer.  What virtues does Saint Valentine exemplify?  How might we live those virtues ourselves?

•  Marcus' daddy sends Marcus a Valentine that talks about how he and his fellow inmates began singing and their jailers followed suit, sounding like "a band of angels".  He also wrote, Have courage.  God shall overcome."  How might our words encourage others?  Have we ever witnessed examples of God overcoming anything in our own lives or in the lives around us?  What is courage and how can we demonstrate it?

•  Marcus "knew what he had to do" and created a beautiful Valentine for Travis, the boy who bullied him the worst.  Then, even when Travis rejected Marcus overture of friendship, Marcus remembered to "Love.  Even when some folks didn't deserve it."  He felt it was what "Jesus wanted him to do".  His lead encouraged his classmates to show support and friendship.  Have you ever had your heart turned toward love?  How might you help others become more loving, too? 

• At the end of the story, Marcus holds out his hand to Travis and says, "No need to e hating anymore.  Come on, Travis."  In doing so, he is passing on a message of love and reconciliation.  How might our words and actions testify to truths of God's love and forgiveness?

 
Curriculum and Activity Prompts

The Legend of the Valentine: An Inspirational Story of Love and Reconciliation is rich in inspiration for Academic and Enrichment pursuits, such as:

Art: 

• Throughout the book, illustrations depict emotion well.  How might you create emotional evocative illustrations?

• Eyebrows in the book's illustrations impact expressed emotion.  Explore how just changing the shape and position of eyebrows in simply drawn faces can change the emotion the faces depict.

• The opening page of the story brings to the fore that "skin color" is not one single color.  Draw pictures using a variety of colors for skin.

•  Marcus and his granny make valentines.  try your own hand at making some.

Cooking (Multi-Disciplinary)
 

• Do a Power Foods Lab in conjunction with reading the book, exploring ginger as a power food in order to make a number of items.

• Whip up a batch of gingersnaps to drink alongside a glass of milk (or milk alternative), just as Marcus enjoyed after school.

English Language Arts:

• The text uses a lot of dialogue, but avoids overusing speech tags.  How might you write without peppering your writing with too many "he said"s.  How can telling actions work instead of speech tags, such as in "Best get started on those cards."  She plunked down scissors and paste and a box of saved wrapping paper from Christmas.  "There's enough here to make real nice ones for everyone."

• What is a simile.  How might words come out "lie a steel gate swinging open" or feel "like fire"?  Might you use similes to make your writing more powerful?

• When Marcus thinks, I'd fight back, he words are italicized.  Why?  What other conventions are used to show thought, spoken word, etc.?

• The story ends openly, without the reader being told how Travis responds to Marcus' outstretched hand and suggestion to stop hating.  What do you think happens next?

History / Culture / Geography:  

• "It used to be against the law in Alabama for Marcus to go to a white school."  Why?  What changed this?  Where is Alabama on a map?  When in history did such a law exist?  When did the law change?  What other stories of children who were the first in integrated schools do you know of?

• "Did you try to register again?" Mama asked Granny.  Who could vote when our country first began?  All men or only ones with land?  Who later won the right to vote?  All white men?  Women?  Others?  In what order?  What did they do to win their rightful rights?

• Valentine is not called a saint in this story, but a Christian.  Which Christian denominations name saints and which do not?  

• Granny says we are all "God's children"?  Besides Christians, what other people of faith believe this?  What is the culture of these faiths?

•  Valentine was jailed because he was a Christian and, in the third century, worshiping as a Christian was against the law in the Roman Empire.  How and why were Christians persecuted then?  How and when did that persecution change?  Are there Christians, or other faith-based groups, that are still persecuted today?  How and where?  What can be done to stop the persecution?

• Valentine and Martin Luther King, Jr. promoted change through peaceful measures.  What are some examples of peaceful protest as opposed to violent protest?  What other historical figures used peaceful protest?

• Marcus' classmates pin his valentines to their shirts.  Have you ever heard of this practice?  What traditions are you familiar with about valentines and Valentine's Day?

• This book was set when the Civil Rights movement in America was in full swing.  Who were key players in that movement?  Does fighting for civil rights carry on today?  How?

Math:
 

• What is symmetry and asymmetry?  Might you use asymmetric and symmetric shapes when creating Valentines?

Storytelling:

• How did the author immediately engage us in the story?  What makes a strong start for a story?

• How did the author and illustrator make us think at the end of the story?  How might you write the next page if you were the author?

Practical Life:

• Cut and paste while making valentines.

• Exercise fine motor skills while drawing pictures with "skin color" crayons.

• Practice baing skills making gingersnaps.

• Practice pouring skills pouring milk.

Sensory Ideas

As a mom who knows sensory challenges in children well, no book study ever seems complete without sensory savvy connections.  Some ideas and opportunities for sensory input connected to The Legend of the Valentine: An Inspirational Story of Love and Reconciliation are:

Auditory: 

• Dialogue lines and illustrations in the book are punctuated with emotion.  Practice voice modulation and expression in imitation of these portions of the book or play a game where you say a word with a specific emotion in mind and others guess the word.

• The valentine Marcus receives from his father is made from a paper torn into a heart shape.  Listen to how different types of paper sound when you rip them.

Gustatory:

• Mama served Marcus gingersnaps and milk as an afterschool snack.  Enjoy the crunch of ginger snaps and the cool creaminess of milk (or a milk alternative) while reading the story.

• Do a food study with ginger, exploring how fresh, powdered and candied ginger smell, look and taste.  Try cooking or baking with ginger.

Olfactory: 

• Do a blind activity where children try to match containers of powdered ginger and other spices solely by sniffing them.

Proprioception: 

• Re-enact parts of Marcus' or Saint Valentine's stories, or scenes inspired by them.  Incorporate changes of position and level, lifting or carrying, etc.

Tactile:

• Marcus draws with crayons at the beginning of the story.  Create pictures with crayons, and, then with other media, such as oil pastels, markers, paints and colored pencils.  How does each media feel in your hand, on the paper, etc.?

• Marcus and his granny make valentines.  Using materials with a wide variety of textures, do the same.

Vestibular:

• The story depicts a boy who is figuratively knocked down, but gets back up.  Play a game where you relate scenarios or actions and words that might "knock a person down" or "build them up".  Have players fall downward or stand upright accordingly.

Visual:

• Making valentines can provide a feast of visual input.

Other Times the Story Could Be Shared

The Legend of the Valentine: An Inspirational Story of Love and Reconciliation is ideally shared between Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Valentine's Day.  However, there are plenty of other times that it would make a fabulous read.  For example, when:

• studying about Civil Rights.

• learning about the Saints.

• discussing bullying.

• focusing on forgiveness and reconciliation.

• studying examples of how to love one's enemies.

Requests

I would love to hear about how your family uses The Legend of the Valentine: An Inspirational Story of Love and Reconciliation and what other favorite Martin Luther King, Jr Day and Valentine's Day books your enjoy. 

I would also like to know:  Do you find books study posts like this helpful, and, if so:

• What books, themes, feast days or holidays would you like me to share about next?

• Would you prefer future book studies be shared in long-post form like this or as a brief post with a printable that you could click on to get the full book study?  

Please don't be shy in letting me know how sharing what we do here can best bless your family!

Valentine's 2012: Simple Celebrations in 7 (Not So) Quick Takes

Oh my!  It's been about a year since I have participated in 7 Quick Takes and I have been meaning to get back in the habit. So, when I realized that our St. Valentine's Feast Day observances this year could be categorized into faith, food and five other topics, I thought, "Perfect, it must be time to join the 7 Quick Takes fun again!"  So, here goes with seven (albeit not so) quick takes from this past week: 

~1~

Plans Change…

Some Nina's grumpy, sick attitude obviously lasted throughout the day this Valentine's Day, but only periodically, such as when she realized I had put the pepper hearts she wanted me to make -- but that she did not want to actually eat -- on top of the pasta at the beginning of our Valentine's Dinner

Four days ago, I had plans in my head for a fabulous—if a bit busy – Valentine’s Day by joining in a story hour celebration at the library, playing with traditional Valentine’s toys here at home, meeting friends, having a full-on feast Day tea, etc.  But, you know the old saying, “life is what happens when you’re making other plans.”

As things turned out, Jack did not sleep well the night before Valentine’s, thus, neither did I.  This resulted in a day-long neck-and-headache for me.  Then, Nina woke up crying and complaining that she was not feeling well, which is very unusual for our little girl who usually greets us with bubbly smiles and hugs each morning.  Likewise, when Luke woke up, he mentioned that he had a bit of a headache, too.  So, plans needed to be simplified – a slow, at-home day was in order.

And, what a terrific day it turned out to be despite its rocky start.

~2~

Themed Food, Anyone?

You know Nina is not feeling well when she gives strawberries away!  Before  Luke woke up for the day, I cut some strawberries into hearts for Nina and Jack to snack on and she gave hers away to Jack.

With our new GFCF, dye-free, additive-free, preservative-free and (moving toward) overly processed-free diet, you’d think our Valentine’s Day may also have been themed-fare free.  Such was not the case!  For almost every meal and snack, we managed to have something heart-shaped or sweet, including:

GFCF buckwheat-banana-honey pancakes, fresh red raspberries, vanilla almond milk and cranberry-pomegranate juice for breakfast 

Luke's choice menu of heart-shaped GFCF toast with nut-butter and other spreads, plus...

...pear slice hearts for lunch.

The hearts Nina asked me to cut, but was chagrined to find atop some GFCF pasta at dinner.

Along with sides of sauteed mushrooms and salad with strawberry hearts.

All topped off with two of the kids' favorite:  chocolate almond milk and fruit juice wigglers, made with cranberry-pomegranate juice and cut into hearts for the occasion. 

~3~

Saint Chat

We'll be reading this in the coming week since it just came in at our library.

Silly me did not order our staple Valentine book, Saint Valentine by Robert Sabuda, in time from the library, and I just wasn’t up for a big Internet search to find a substitute story online.  So, instead of using the book as the catalyst for our saint day breakfast discussion, we used our memories of it from last year.

I was happily surprised to discover how much about St. Valentine that Luke and Nina recalled from last year’s reading.  I was even more thrilled when they told me some reasons that St. Valentine was like Jesus (because “he healed people”, “he did a miracle when the girl died” and “he was loving”).  And, I appreciated the brief discussion about grace that opened up when Luke suggested that the men who killed St. Valentine went to Hell and I interceded that we do not know that, which led to questions and thoughts about forgiveness, grace, etc.  Big concepts for little people, I know, but ones I am willing to explore in simple terms when they ask about them.

I am continually impressed with how deeply my young children can be touched by saint stories.  They vividly they recall details of some saint’s lives, explain examples of their love and sacrifices and, even begin to grapple with questions and truths I am not sure I was aware of until much later in life.  Yet, they do so at their own levels of interest and understanding – and with that cute, frank and imaginative way that only young children can.

~4~

Books

Having forgotten to order our favorite Valentine's book, some that we had on-hand decorated our  breakfast table and served as our read-aloud books of the day.

Since I failed not only to order the St. Valentine book from the library in time, but also to get any other themed books out, I had to stick to what we own (and even then I could not find one of our favorites.  So, our read alouds for the day were Love Is . . . (a visual treasure with an adapted version of the famous “Love is patient…” Bible verse), Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown (Peanuts) (an older version from my childhood that I have hidden in past years because it is a bit “twaddle-y” and because all too many tantrums are depicted in it, but one that the kids made out book-of-the-week and which has surprisingly inspired some fun impromptu activities and quality character and behavior discussions) and Freckles & Willie: A Valentine's Day Story ( a sweet story that quietly reinforces themes of loyalty and forgiveness).  The children asked for these books several times throughout the day – and continued to do so all week.

They also “read the pictures” of them, gaining inspiration from pages like this... 

to create their own cutting activities like this.

~5~

Crafts and Valentine-Making

Jack was just waking up from a nap in the car here, so Daddy helped him paint until he got into it himself.  And, boy, did he (and his sibs) get into it.  I had to put the camera away!

Prior to Valentine’s Day, we enjoyed a family morning at a Lowe’s workshop, where we made Valentine’s boxes and at the Mill Store, where we painted wooden hearts.  Upon coming home from these workshops, the children enjoyed using their boxes and supplies from home to make Valentine’s for several friends and family members.  

In fact, they were so into making Valentine's cards for other people they did so on their own, too.  I did not not even know Luke had made this one for his friend Tim until I downloaded the pictures Daddy took on Sunday from Tim's birthday party (where Luke had a blast!):

On Valentine's Day itself, we did not do much planned crafting, but there was more impromptu Valentine-themed fun.  Part of that came when I challenged the kids to make hearts using the SmartMax Extreme Set that Santa brought Jack (by way of the elves at Timberdoodle, who offer office hands-down awesome service, homeschooling resources and select "learning" toys and games, by the way).  I expected a simple outlined heart, but when I finished the dishes, I discovered Luke had made this:

Wow!  How does he think up such designs?

And, Nina made this:

Not a heart, I know.  But, she was limited in building pieces because, as I later discovered, Brother was hoarding them.  So, she built a stand-up triangle instead.  The beauty of it lay in that once I suggested that the three points of a triangle can be a wonderful image for Valentine's, we had fun coming up with "names" for them:  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; Jesus, Mary and Joseph; Mommy, Daddy and Child; Luke, Nina and Jack...  All examples of love shared!

Later on Valentine's Day, the children had fun calling around to some folks to leave love-filled wishes.  I enjoyed witnessing how eager they were to "give" through sharing such sentiments.

 ~6~

No Charlie Browns, Here!

From tiny Valentine cards with cool moving stickers on them to ones mailed from afar, the kids were so excited to receive messages of love!

Of course, the children enjoy receiving as well as giving.  In fact, after reading my old Peanuts book from my childhood the night before Valentine’s Day, they commented that, like Charlie Brown, they had received no cards themselves yet.  My response was a simple smile.  (Little did they know I had squirreled their Valentine’s away for “the big day”.)  Then, when we sat down for our Valentine's breakfast, they were thrilled to discover envelopes by their plates.

They were even more when cash fell out of their cards from one auntie.  (Luke insists that money will be saved for a parakeet he wants to buy and thinks that Papa must have told Auntie that he only wants money right now so he can buy a parakeet some day, although I am not sure how Papa might know that…)

~7~
A Wish for All

The way to this boy's heart is definitely through his belly.  He  devoured every raspberry within reach at breakfast and followed suit with feasting heartily at each meal.  In return, he offered so many bright-eyed smiles.  I love those!

As for me, I was admittedly short on making and giving traditional Valentine’s this year.  However, I did send modern-day FB sentiments out first thing on Valentine’s morning on my personal FB account, and since I have yet to get a blog FB account going, I want to share those sentiments here, too:

After many adult years as a Singleton, I was preparing for my church wedding on this day seven years ago. What an answer to prayer my husband was and continues to be! Even if the grass on this side of the single/spoken for fence is not always as green as I dreamed of it being, it is what I feel incredibly blessed to walk on. Praises for my marriage and the incredible love shared with my children and husband it has brought.

So, to fellow Marrieds, may I wish you a day of treasuring your commitment, whether you're going through a period of delight or challenge. And, for all my single friends, whether you be reveling in Singledom or sometimes sorrowful over it, may this day be one filled with love of life, self and all that who are around you. And to all children, may you parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends, classmates and others fill your life and soul with loving experiences. Happy Valentine's day one and all.

Today, as I reflect on what a simple love-filled day of celebration our family had on Tuesday, I feel blessed that it unfolded as it did.  I pray that love (faith and family!) played strongly your Valentine’s, too, and that His love shines on your and yours through the words, thoughts and actions of others every day.
Happy Valentine’s Day, a bit late!

If any of that love comes in the form of training up young children in faith, I would love to hear about it, especially at my Sunday series (which of course is open all week.)

 

 

In the meantime, please enjoy all the fantastic links at 7 Quick Takes Friday, guest-hosted today at Betty Beguiles, where this post is being shared.

Last-Minute Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Lesson Plans

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!  I certainly hope it was a peaceful and enriching one for you.  For us, it was a feast of last-minute lessons.

This morning, as I was making baked oatmeal and banana-nut muffins, I glanced at the calendar and realized that it’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

Again?  I thought.  Another holiday I am unprepared for.  I am not sure why it is, but back when I was classroom teacher, I almost never missed tying official state holidays into lesson plans and often found fodder for classroom projects and fillers in more obscure every-day’s-a-holiday sort of observances, but, now, as a homeschool mom, such holidays creep up on me.  I find myself with nothing special planned for special days.

Enter, the Internet, a quick rummage through our home library and some quick-thinking and – ta da! – a satisfying smorgasbord of holiday-related learning activities was tossed together:

Language and Social Concepts

We began by trying to read the “puzzle word” peace.  Then, we chatted about what the word means by having Luke and Nina offer suggestions about what peace looks and sounds like, places we feel peaceful and how we demonstrate a feeling of peacefulness. 

Some of the ideas we listed were that:

• The beach is a peaceful place.
• Hiking can be peaceful.
• Peace does not sound like yelling, whining or hurting others.
• Playing with toys and drawing can be peaceful.
• Loving one another is peaceful
• God is peaceful.

With thoughts about how we can create more peace in our home, we read and discussed the rather didactic, but still enjoyable book A Children's Book About Whining (Help Me Be Good). 

As I read the book, I could not help but to think of it as a social story written before Carol Gray fine-tuned the concept of them and, as Luke and Nina eagerly connected not only with the examples in the book about why children whine, but also expanded on ideas of what to do instead of whining, I thought, “I really need to get the rest of this series and to begin using more social stories.”  For, yes, while the Charlotte-Mason inspired part of me balks that such stories are not “living” enough, the practical Mama-dealing-with-special-and-typical-youngster-needs side of me finds them a great fit for daily living in our home. 

When we finished reading A Children’s Book About Whining, we decided to put one idea suggested in it into immediate practice:  For the remainder of the day, whenever anyone whined, we simply stated, “You are whining.”  Then, if the person did not stop, we coached them to by asking them to share their problem or concern instead of whining about it.  Oh, how I love proactive strategies the kids buy into.   This one did not stop peace-deterring whining completely, but it did help redirect it more quickly, focusing the kids on solving their own problems and recognizing one another’s needs.

We, then, transitioned from what not to do to keep our home peaceful to what we could do to promote peace at home and beyond with our second read-aloud of the morning Because Brian Hugged His Mother.  This is a book I purchased after seeing it in a Michael Olaf catalog (which is a rich resource for Montessorians).  I’ve had it tucked away, waiting for just the right moment to share its message about how one single act of kindness can reach further than you think. 

Luke and Nina remained enraptured as they learned how Brian hugged his Mom one morning for no special reason and how that hug set in motion a series of unselfish acts that reached more people­—and animals—than he could have imagined.  Then, right afterwards, Luke gave me the most enormous hug and the kids called Daddy to share their love with him in a phone message, which they imagined would travel from Daddy to his colleagues to…  Thus commenced a fun imaginative time, thinking about ways we could share simple acts of peace, love and kindness and how these might affect the world. 

Later in the day, we snuggled on the couch to read Peace Begins With You, which opened up wonderful age-appropriate discussions on differing definitions of peace, personal needs vs. wants, how to avoid or settle conflict, etc.  In that, the book was a rich read.  However, I mixed feelings about the book.

You see, I initially received the book in a box of hand-me-downs, glanced at the beautiful and gentle illustration on its front cover, quickly read the summary and accolades on the back cover and set it aside as a future read.  Then, this morning, when I spied it, I thought, “Perfect!” only to change my mind once the children and I began turning its pages.  That is when I realized that although the text of the book tackles the concept of peace in a way children can understand, moving from personal needs and wants to national and international issues, the book includes a few images that I find too unsettling for my young ones.  For example, Luke and Nina keyed right into the illustration in the latter part of the book of a boy throwing a Molotov cocktail and Nina was particularly disturbed by the image of a starving child and infant.  (Luckily there was an illustration of a happy, healthy baby and mother on the following page, which she decided was the children’s Mommy, with the baby “all better”.)

Now, I am not saying that we need to shield our children from realities of the world. I just think that we need to be sensitive about when and how to introduce and discuss certain ones with them.  There is so much rich beauty that is real in the world that I would rather fortify my children with it before subjecting them to equally real ugliness.  Thus, had I previewed this book more carefully, I might have presented only selections of it or waited to share it at a later time.  Oops!

History

An image I did not mind sharing with my children was a line-drawing portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr. from DLTK, which we colored after talking about who MLK, Jr. was and how he impacted the world as a peacemaker.  We also watched his famous “I Have a Dream” speech on YouTube.

Music/Faith

We also watched and listened to “Let There Be Peace on Earth” on YouTube and discussed further how we can be peaceful and share peace with others.  Plus, we prayed for friends and family using our B.L.E.S.S. flip cards, of course, asking for peace for all.

Our Martin Luther King, Jr. Day buffet was not fancy, nor fully-balanced with complete theme-related servings of our Daily Seven and Core Four Plus, but it did include plenty of discussion and learning and we filled in movement, math and other activities elsewhere in the day.

How about you?  Did you observe the holiday today?  What are some of your favorite go-to sites or last-minute activities for when you realize you’ve neglected to plan for a significant day?

Halloween 3-Part Charades Cards Free Printable

Happy Halloween and All Saints Day Eve!

Today, we are headed off to Co-op and a fun All Saints Day celebration where we will be playing this teamwork/engineering/problem-solving game among others.  But, before we do, in honor of Montessori Monday, I wanted to share some free printables that fellow Montessori-inspired friends might enjoy:

Saturday, Luke and Nina helped me plan and prepare for a Halloween party that they wanted to host for Grammy, Grampy and a cousin.  Among the activities they wished to include in the party was an adapted version of Charades for Kids, a board game that we have been enjoying as a family some nights after dinner as a part of the Million Minute Family Challenge ,which I wrote about at Signature Moms.

For our adapted game, the kids wanted Halloween-themed picture-word cards to act out.  They helped me pick out the graphics for these, which I put into a template that would allow us to use the cards as:

1. Playing Cards for Charades for Kids at the party.
2. Traditional 3-Part Cards in Montessori lessons in the coming week (as well as for years to come).
3. Matching Cards to play Concentration, Go Fish, the Slap Game, the Dice Game and other Card Crazy games with.

Now, we are sharing them in case you would like a fun last minute Halloween activity to do with your children. To use them, simply click on the graphics above.  Click "print" on the graphic that pops up and you should get full-sized cards to cut and enjoy in traditional Montessori 3-part card style or in other ways.

We'd love to hear how you use them, so please leave a comment.

P.S.  If you are going trick-or-treating tonight, have fun and please be extra-careful when crossing roads.  Let our scare from last year be your reminder for this one and with little ones, practice Road Safety songs or role plays before heading out.

 

This post is being shared at Montessori Monday hosted by One Hook Wonder and Living Montessori Now.

Disclaimer:  If you click on any Amazon links at this blog and make any purchase, I may receive a small percentage that can help defray the cost of training my children up.  THANK YOU for considering supporting us in this way.  Every little bit helps!

Reindeer Grooming

This is not Clifford the Big Red Dog.

And this is not a horse.

They are reindeer -- being groomed.

Complete with neck towel (the scarf) and push up chair (the mattress),just like at Auntie Jenn's people salon.

And with inspiration from one of our favorite Christmas videos, Snuffy the Elf Who Saved Christmas and Luke's favorite Christmas carol, Rudolph!

Oh, how I love the imagination and industry of preschoolers!  It makes the "love playing" part of our Rule of 7 so easy to abide by.

“Come over and play at the Childhood 101 We Play link up”