First Day of Spring Co-op

Our spring homeschooling co-op began this week and boy what a great day it was!

I enjoyed being a helper with Nina’s class in the pre-k room for the first hour – with songs, hand print painting, stories and exercises. I would have been happy to stay the second hour, too, but I had my own class to teach then.

Nina did fine without me, though. In fact, she was all smiles as she marched out of th pre-k room when co-op ended, proudly shouldering her colored-in body outline.

Meanwhile, Luke was engaged by his participation “big kid” classes, reporting to Daddy tonight about the various games he played that focused on the sense of sight and about how Cooking with Science was his favorite class: He got to cook, do “experients” (experiments) and eat. Feeding his sensory diet, his mind and his body, all while feeding his spirit, too. Awesome! And the long recess outside with the big kids was a hit for him, too!

And, little Jack? He was content as ever to play alongside Nina during the first hour and to be spoiled by our friend Pauline during the second. A little group time, some nursing and snack time with Mommy during break and a little one-on-one ensured he got all the socialization and attention a nine month old could want.

Plus, we all enjoyed the informal P.E. and lunchtime after co-op with many of our Our Lady Queen of Saints friends at a local playground. Jack snoozed in the fresh air. Nina and Luke played for hours, occasionally stopping by to refuel with bites of a picnic lunch. And I got to share with some other homeschooling moms.

Then, much later in the day, after dinner at home, Luke and Nina enjoyed a reprise of the Read Aloud to Real Challenges I had taught during the second hour of co-op and have already requested I do "Mommy's class" lesson with them every week.  Who am I to refuse?  It makes for  a focused, thoughtful, hands-on post-dinner wind-down time.

So, yes, it was a full day with co-op and playground, followed by work and wind-down time later in the day.  But, it was an enriching one.

Support. Learning. Smiles. Community. Exercise for brain, body and soul. These are the days I know why we homeschool!

This post is being shared at Heavenly Homemaker's Gratituesday as I am so thankful for the gifts of friendship and learning that Co-op brings!

Questioning Homeschooling and Seeking Your Input

<-- Nursing one while reading to another while a third finds the camera takes a candid is not what I had imagined.  But, its' not bad either...

Okay, so if you asked me three years ago what our home pre-school would be look like at this time, the picture I would have described is anything but what it actually is.  I was gung-ho on creating a truly Montessori-inspired, organized homeschooling atmosphere for my children, one that was very well-prepared and had hints of Charlotte Mason and Classical approaches thrown in.  But, life happens, and, with it, an accidental unschooling approach took hold.

Sometimes the difference between what I imagined and what has actually been taking place in our homeschooling endeavors has not bothered me.  I recognize the kids’ learning and growth despite my lack of consistent focus on making my homeschooling dreams their realities.  In fact, I relish the fact that life has forced me to let them lead our journey on more days than I have led it.

Other times, the divergent paths of my imagined homeschool efforts and the ones I have actually made has  irked me to the point where I have wondered if I am making the “right” choice with homeschooling.  As I try to “school” as well as just balance life, work, home (dis)organization, etc.  I often feel too fractured to do my children the justice with preparing their homeschooling environment and guiding them through learning that I feel they deserve.

So, what to do?

Keep going with the flow and trusting that they will sometimes “learn anyway” or buckle down and carve out both planning and preparation time and serious implementation time? 

This is the question that has danced through my brain all week as I have been swept up in an array of appointments and events that have taken precedence over homeschooling – at home – endeavors all week.  Work, taxes, doctor’s appointments, kids’ classes, prior commitment made to others, being down with a flu that has almost taken my voice away…  If we haven’t been out at something, I have been feeling too crummy physically to motivate to do what I want to do. 

Part of what I want to do is get things in order for a better, more focused homeschool system/approach come fall – a truly focused kindergarten curriculum for Luke and more structured preschool and infant-toddler approaches for Nina and Jack.  But, now I am wondering, do I need to?

It seems that despite my lack of planning at times, follow through at others over recent months, the kids are learning.  Their antics and inquiries evidence growth in skills in academic areas.  And, even with my fractured focus, there are still pockets for key core things such as reading together, doing chores together, getting outside together and praying together.  This might be enough, right?

Or is it…

And the circle of my question goes on:  Do I stop berating myself and just keep going with the flow?  Do I make a more consistent effort to add tenets of loose structure?  Do I buckle down and make the actual model of curriculum planning and implementation I originally sought – or some semblance of it – a reality?  I am not sure.

So, I am throwing it out to all fellow homeschoolers out there:  What have you found works best for you and your “official” kindergarteners (preschoolers and infant-toddlers)?  Going with the flow?  Adding loose structure?  Sticking to a definite model and philosophy?  What have you found does not work for you?

I know each of our personalities and situations is different, but sometimes, just through sharing, we find that nugget of truth that will work in our own unique homes.  So, please, please, share!  Because, honestly, I never imagined homeschool could be so different than teaching “regular” school, but throw in housework, regular parenting and various home and appointment distractions and it’s entirely different in my opinion.  So different it makes me wonder about how adept I can be at it.

Your thoughts are most welcome (and very much requested) in the comments.

Our Last Shall Be First At Times: Responding to the Need for Individual Attention for Jack

Jack's Two-Tooth Grin

How's our little one been feeling?

Dear me, I fear the answer is “ignored” at times.  Or, at least that’s what I surmised when Jack came low-crawling and fussing down the hallway to find Luke, Nina and me the other day, only to fall into a heap of sighing, exhausted sleep as soon as he reached the doorway to our play and learning space/office. 

Shame on me, I thought!  Jack is not a fussy child and is anything but a high maintenance baby (unlike his big brother at his age!)  In fact, Jack is endearing and almost always ready with a two-tooth smile.  He should be getting extra attention.  But, instead – yikes! – he is obviously receiving a lack of attention.

This is inexcusable.  As a youngest child myself, I should be conscientiously showering our happy little babe with huge portions of love and attention, not giving him the shaft.

Guilty Mama.  I am (self) charged.  And, I am going to make amends.

Henceforth, I am determined to ensure that Jack doesn’t experience life as a pie, where he gets the leftovers portions.  Instead, I aim to make certain that he discovers life as a spring, where the refreshing waters just keep flowing, pouring forth enough to share with everyone! 

Yes, I am now making a conscious effort to give the last of our children the first turn some days to drink the goodness of individual attention in!  And, no, I do not mean simply because he sleeps next to me and gets the earliest share in my attention each day.  I mean because I have begun to plan some mornings around Jack first – not the other kids.

What would Jack enjoy?  Which toys and experiences would satiate him with a full share of Mama love?  Those are the questions such mornings answer.   And, more importantly, they answer the question:  How can I demonstrate through actions and words just how grateful I am for the gift of my youngest?  For, indeed, he is so very precious.

I am so grateful for Jack being in our lives.  I am equally thankful that when Jack fell asleep after his long crawl down the hallway the other day, I woke up to the fact that he has not been getting enough attention at times of late.

How do you respond to the needs of all your children?   How do you offer each the individual attention they crave?  Please share your thoughts in a comment. And, please visit Heavenly Homemaker’s Gratituesday, where this post is being shared.

Slow and Steady Get Me Ready, A Rich Resource Review

When Luke and Nina were little, I borrowed a copy of Slow and Steady Get Me Ready: The How-To Book That Grows with Your Child by June R. Oberlander from our local library.  I liked it and intended to take it out more often, but neglected to do so.  So, when Jack came along, I used a Borders gift card to purchase the book.

Unfortunately, once the book came in, I set it aside “for now” and have just recently uncovered it.  I could kick myself for my disorganization and for not using it from the get-go with all my children and can say that I fully intend to start using it more regularly from now on.  It fits in nicely with the Montessori-inspired homeschool philosophy I increasingly want to employ at home and it also meshes well with Classical Education, which is another piece of our homeschool inspiration.

Slow and Steady Get Me Ready is a straightforward, easy-to-use resource and, perhaps, one of the least inexpensive guides out there for parents and grandparents that want to provide opportunities for their pre-k children’s learning and development at home. For more information about the book, read on.

* * * *

A * for READABILITY

Slow and Steady Get Me Ready is a very easy read, although it’s not really a book to read all at once due to its rather matter-of-fact and humorless (for lack of a better word) style. Instead, I recommend reading its introduction, browsing it, and, then, picking it up week-to-week, as needed, to glean easy-to-implement ideas that are within your child’s developmental stage.  In fact, that is exactly how the book is organized – with one activity per week for you and your child to explore from your child’s birth to his or her fifth birthday.

Also of note, while some might say that both the writing and illustrations in the book are too simplistic, even bordering on boring, I disagree.  As a busy, tired mom juggling homeschooling with working part-time with, well, you name it, I find the simple style just right.  When accessing Slow and Steady Get Me Ready, my sometimes overtaxed brain does not have to work to digest much.  I can simply read, prepare and go.

A ½ * for RELEVANCE

I have two children under five and one not yet six.  The book is targeted for children from birth to age five.  In doing so, it provides 260 quick ideas for enhancing young children’s learning and development as well as a series of quick-check pages for parents to use in assessing their child(ren)’s progress.  To me, that makes it relevant.

Plus, I like that each activity in the book is not only described in a straightforward manner, but also includes a bulleted list that highlights what the activity develops.  For example, awareness of the concepts of “in” and “out, tactile enhancement, skill in visual observation or matching one to one.  In doing so, the book not only provides a tested activity to develop specific skills (in very Montessori and Classic Education friendly way), but it also gives me food for thought about what skills and knowledge I might focus on when planning other activities – or even simply reflecting on free playtime – with my children.

That said, for me, the book has two possible drawbacks:

1. The last year of activities in it is based on “number” and “letter of the week”.  While this is a popular model in homeschools and traditional schools, it is not one I subscribe to.  I prefer a different approach to literacy.  (Still, it never hurts to have some simple ideas to pull out as reinforcement at a moment’s notice.)
2. If you know very little about child development and are a caretaker that is easily worried, this book could throw you off.  Since it is laid out with only one activity per week, each targeting a specific developmental milestone, it does not account well for the wide variation in children’s rates of development.  So, the uninformed reader might begin to believe, say, that an infant has a hearing problem if he is not responding to certain stimuli within activities by a certain week or that another child, who is not as verbal as others at a particular week, may have issues.  The flip side of this, however, is that within its seemingly inflexible framework, the book presents a worthwhile “measuring stick” for seeing where your child could be at a certain age.  (I tend to look at the book in terms of months or even quarter years, not weeks.)

So, despite the fact that I think Slow and Steady Get Me Ready is quite relevant to my children’s ages and stages, because of the fact that it doesn’t provide much beyond number- and letter-of-the-week for children ages 4 and up (of which I have one and will have another in a couple months), and because I can see how the structure of the book might mislead some readers, I am only giving it a half-star for Relevance.

A * for PRACTICALITY

While I have seen a few people complain that Slow and Steady Get Me Ready is unnecessary (because any creative parent can think of many of the activities in it – or equivalent ones – on their own) and insulting (because it does not account for the differences in children’s developments due to the supposed expectations laid out through the weekly nature of its organization), I find the book is quite a practical resource.  As a former educator, and one who worked in early education for a while even, much of what the book offers is not “brand new” to me.  However, it is helpful! 

You see, as a teacher, I had dedicated planning time.  As a parent, I seldom do and even more infrequently have time to reflect and make assessments.  With Slow and Steady Get Me Ready at hand, I don’t need to.  When I am feeling a bit worn, don’t have the wherewithal to plan an activity, but know that the kids need a little direction, all I need to do is open up to weeks close to the ones that match my children’s ages and easy-to-implement activities, that require little preparation, are laid out right there.   

Plus, when I start to wonder if my children are developmentally “on target” for their ages and stages, cannot remember what I learned in past classes and don’t feel like researching anything online, all I need to do is flip to the “Measurable Parameters to Profile Child Development” and “Measurable Parameters of Entrance into Kindergarten” lists at the back of the book, and, in simple one-page lists can “score” my children’s progress.

Additionally, when I crave a little “others are there, too” perspective, or need a few quick ideas about common infant, toddler and preschool “problem”  behavior, I simply need to flip to the end of the book, where there are brief but worthwhile “Tips for Solving Behavioral Dilemmas”.  Reading these, I often find my urge to begin bemoaning our family’s current challenges to a friend on the phone or to get caught up in long-winded online discussions dissipates.  The brief paragraphs on whatever the “dilemma” of our day is often provides just the feeling of affirmation or nugget wisdom I need to move on.

So, while I can see how some folks might balk that Slow and Steady Get Me Ready hardly “teaches” one how to interact with or educate their child(ren), I also realize that is not the book’s aim.  Instead, the book sets out to do exactly what it intends: It provides 260 easy-to-understand activities that use common household items and take only about ten minutes each to do (but, granted, sometimes a bit longer to construct the tools for) to guide caregivers in helping children to develop into kindergarten-ready youngsters.  To me, that’s pretty practical!

A ½ * for LONGEVITY

As with many books that target the younger years, Slow and Steady Get Me Ready can only earn a “longevity” star for those who buy it at the birth of a child and faithfully use it for the next five years, or for those working with young children regularly.  That said, because the book does not refer to popular videos, technology, characters, etc. and only requires the use of rather ubiquitous and/or recyclable goods to create any suggested tools for learning, it is pretty timeless. 

Timeless, that is, if you work with children who the types of activities in the book appeal to.  A bit Montessori-esque (which to some folks, like me, is a plus and to others a negative), Classical Education-friendly (in fact, the book is recommended in the popular Well Trained Mind) and very straight-forward, the activities presented in Slow and Steady Get Me Ready are good ones.  But, if you have children who are global learners, who love to pretend and who devour stories (like my eldest child), you may find the book lasts only as a supplementary one, not as a go-to one.  In all honesty, the activities may not sustain such children’s attention for long on a regular basis without additional input and ideas.

A * for VALUE

As I mentioned in my introduction, after previewing this book at the library and wishing I had it on hand more often, I purchased a copy.  At less than $20, with five years worth of ideas in it, I find it well worth its cost. 

Even if, like me, every idea in Slow and Steady Get Me Ready does not appeal to you, and if you know you can educate your child without it through simply talking with, playing with, reading to and answering your child’s curious questions in detail, the book is still a bargain at less than $4 a year.  As a handy source of supplementary ideas or a simple-curriculum base, it can work as a useful addition to your early childhood/parenting/grandparenting resource collection. 

Sure, you can find loads of free ideas online or purchase more creative and more “modern” curriculums and resources, but you cannot often find a relatively inexpensive all-in-one, hits-on-five-years-of-learning-and-developmental-goals in one easy-to-access volume resource that requires no bells, whistles, batteries or extraordinary effort.  Indeed, that is exactly what Slow and Steady Get Me Ready is -- worthwhile little volume that can be used even when the Internet is down, the bills are piling up, Mommy’s brain is overtaxed and kiddoes need some direction.

Slow and Steady Get Me Ready is a book I am glad I purchased.

(See my initial Rich Resource Review post to read more about my rating criteria.)

This review is being shared at  52 Books in 52 Weeks.  Please check out the links at each for further good reads and tips.

Routines and Rhythms: 5 T's for Bedtime Routine Printable

Yesterday, I talked about our 5 T’s for Bedtime, a simple strategy that helps us get our two older children to sleep a bit more peacefully than we used to.

Even though this system has been working fine for us with no visual needed beyond the kids' five fingers to count down on, we now have charts for it.

One with pictures and descriptions hung right next to Daddy's Free-Christmas Family Gift Exchange prayer near Luke's pillows.

And one without extra words, hung by Nina’s bed.

Why do we have these charts if we don't need them?

Well, primarily, because our visually-motivated Luke, who has been enjoying his Morning Lotto Chart since last week, woke up yesterday asking to make a new and different chart.  So, following his interests, we did.  (He "reminded me" what each of our 5 T's were and then picked out all the clip art.) 

Secondarily, because I am all for adding more literacy into daily life.  Luke is beginning to puzzle out words and by having descriptions on his chart, along with the pictures, he may acquire some further reading skills.  Meanwhile, Nina is still working on letters and sounds, so having big, bold  "T" words will highlight the "T" makes a /t/ sound for her as well as give her some other letters to identify and sound out.  Also, having pictures to the right of the words on Nina's chart might encourage her left-to-right pre-reading awareness further.  (Forever the cerebral, planning-teacher mom, I am, even if inconsistent with formal lessons right now.)

How about you? As a fellow literacy-loving parent, could you use a bedtime chart?  Or, as a parent seeking an aid to structure your own family's bedtime routine, would one help?  If so, and if you like ours, I thought I would share printable versions below.

Simply click on the graphics and they should pop up full-size, ready for printing.  If they don’t, feel free to leave a comment with your email address in it, and I will send them to you that way.

And, of course, if you want to share charts, printables or strategies you find helpful for peaceful bedtimes, please do!  I welcome such comments since I know that with parenting, as with life itself, the only thing you can count on is change.  While our 5 T’s for Bedtime are working well for us now, undoubtedly, we know we will eventually need to tweak our bedtime routine a bit.  Your ideas might help us.

Since getting enough sleep is vital to any child's successful learning experience and since literacy is such a large part of education, this post is being shared at Helpful Homeschool Hints,  please visit the links there to learn what has been successful for other homeschool families.  It is also being shared at Grace Alone's Thankful Thursday since I am so grateful that the kids are getting to bed more peacefully, even if not staying there all the time!  Enjoy counting blessings with others by clicking the links there.

A More Peaceful Bedtime Routine: Our 5 T's for Bedtime

Bedtime has never been easy in our home.  We have always struggled with finding a routine that will help our children (particularly our eldest) wind down and fall asleep peacefully.

To that end, I’ve read many books, listened to a lot of other parents and tried numerous strategies in an attempt to find “the key” that would make bedtime more peaceful in our home.  The Nanny Jo approach. The No-Cry Sleep Solution. The Happiest Baby on the Block. Healthy Sleep Habits, Healthy Child.  You name it.  I have considered it.  Some of the suggestions I have discovered proved fruitful – for a while – but little has ever “worked” for the long run. 

Enter the 5 T’s for Bedtime that we developed.  These have definitely been helping for a while now.  (Not every night, mind you, but many!)

What are the 5 T’s?   

They are 5 simple steps that our children have learned to countdown on their fingers before bedtime: toilet, teeth, tales, talk (to God and briefly to each other) and tunes.  When we as parents remember to attend to these 5 T’s consistently, and help our children recognize that we are doing so, bedtime works so much better!

1. TOILET:  The kids go to the bathroom (and, with help and reminders, put their undies in the hamper and their clothes in the hamper or away in their rooms before changing into bedtime diapers and jammies.) 
2. TEETH:  They brush their teeth (often with a demonstration or help from Mom or Dad while humming the tune to a tooth brushing song I know from childhood.)
3. TALES:  They pick out one story or chapter to cuddle up and read together each (often begging for more, more, more, to which, we, as parents, have learned to respond, ‘Tomorrow.”)
4. TALK:  They say their prayers, with our help, and chat with us a bit about what’s on their minds or ask us for a “made up story” once the lights our out.
5. TUNES:  They fall asleep listening to lullabies, instrumental music or calming CD’s (on ideal nights.  On other nights, they fuss and cry, get out of bed, call out to us and require reminders about which of the 5 T’s we are on and that tunes require quiet listening, not talking and active bodies…)

In short, they prepare their little minds and bodies for sleep in an expected way.

The Truth of Our 5 T's 

Now, in all honesty, I probably should not have numbered the list above, because, to be truthful, we don’t always attend to the 5 T’s in order.  But, we have found that as long as we attend to all five and do a finger check with the kids about which we have done and which we still need to do, they “work” (or work better than any other strategy to date has.)

We have also found that five seems to be the “magic” number for our kids.  For, we have tried to add other things into the “T” mix, which we want our children to do before sleeping– for example, tidying their room or taking care of their bodies by stretching and exercising.  That didn’t seem to work.  It was simply too many T’s for their young selves to attend to. 

Likewise, we have made the mistake of failing to follow through on one or more of the  T’s on certain nights – say taking away stories as a consequence or spending too much time talking to the kids.  That doesn’t work out either.  If the kids don’t get their stories, they get so angst they cannot calm themselves for sleep and, if we drag out any portion of the 5 T’s, it’s almost as if it triggers something in the kids’ heads that says it’s not bedtime anymore.   The flow goes askew and we end up back at square one.  Yep.  We have found taking focused time to attend to each of the 5 T’s actually takes less time than dealing with the repercussions of skipping some of them!

Thus, through trial and error, we have recognized what works for our children at this stage in their development.  We have also learned to include other things we want to do with them in the evening to the time between dinner and bedtime.  That way, things such as clean up times, stretching and long chats about our days get attended to, but don’t complicate a simple routine that is working for us.

Now, if we could only find a way to KEEP the kids in bed in the middle of the night, so we don’t wake up to this some mornings:

Yep, that’s all three in our bed!

This post is being shared at We Are THAT Family’s Works for Me Wednesday. Please click on the links there to see what is working in other folks homes and lives.  Also, if you have tips for bedtime, or, better yet, back-to-bed-until-morning time, we’d love to hear them in a comment below.  And, if you like our  T's idea, stay tuned in the coming days.  Luke requested we make a 5 T printable and I will be posting it soon.

Please Help Japan -- My Other "Hometown" Shichigahama

In the past week and a half, I have not been posting much.  Part of the reason why is because I am trying to stay true to the Lenten fast commitment I made based on Luke’s suggestion (talked about here).  Another part is because when I have failed to keep my abstinence, I have often been online looking up things about Shichigahama instead of pursuing my usual interest in writing about home and schooling.

“Shichigahama?”  you might ask.  “What is that?”  In short, it is the place I called home from 1993-1996  – a small, coastal village in the northern Japan that holds a large piece of my heart; a town where folks welcomed me as an English teacher and community member; a place where “intercultural exchange” stopped being simply a term in a textbook for me and became an appreciated reality of life.  Shichigahama was – and always will be – a part of who I am.

Tragically, Shichigahama will never again look as it did when I last saw it.  Located about 30 miles Northeast of Sendai City, towards the epicenter of the March 11^th 8.9 earthquake in Japan, the village sustained relatively little damage from the earthquake itself, but was torn asunder by tsunami that followed. Waves as high as 28 feet washed away complete areas of the town – homes I tutored at, beaches I frequented, roads I traveled along every day are now either completely gone or are buried under literal feet of buildings turned to rubble and vehicles tossed about like matchbox cars.  A good portion of the town is littered with “what was”.

Luckily, the entire town is fortified by what “is” and always has been a part of Shichigahama – community.  Even as heartbreaking stories of loss and destruction continue to unfold in layers of lives gone, property destroyed and resources becoming depleted, the people of Shichigahama remain steadfast in their commitment to support one another.  All town employees are living, 24-7, at their places of employment, taking turns to keep town leadership going.   Meanwhile, other folks in town are coming together to offer each other housing, supplies and aid.  

Indeed, even as tragic tales continue to be written, inspiring stories play out.  The same sense of unwavering strength, kinship and cooperation that I witnessed among the people of Shichigahama during better times in the 90’s is apparent in the reports I receive daily about the town now.  The people of Shichigahama remain together even as their hometown has been torn apart.

And, they are not alone.  

Shichigahama, my hometown of three unforgettable years, has long been “sister towns” with my childhood hometown of Plymouth, MA.  Since the tragedy struck, folks in Plymouth, as well the many English teachers and Coordinators of International Relations that have helped with the sister town exchange through the years, have come together online to exchange news about the Shichigahama residents we care about as well as to discuss how best to offer support to our friends across the globe.

Among all the threads of the discussion, a simple principle has been a unifying one:  Plymouth and Shichigahama have enjoyed a longstanding relationship as sister cities and, through it, hundreds of lives have been touched.  Friendships span across the globe.  Support does, too.

Part of that support is offered through ongoing prayers.  Another portion is extended through messages of caring sent via internet and phone lines.  Finally, a very tangible piece is coming together in the form of donations.

Tomorrow, the Rotary Club of Plymouth, which has had a longstanding and direct relationship with its sister Rotary club in Shichigahama, is sponsoring a fundraiser in conjunction with the Town of Plymouth and Plymouth Area Community Television.

 The PACTV site explains:

The Sister City Telethon can be viewed in Kingston and Plymouth, MA LIVE on the following channels; Comcast Channels 13 & 15 and Verizon Channels 43 & 47.  95.9FM WATD will also host their programming live at the PACTV studios during the event. The telethon will also be streamed LIVE on the PACTV website (www.pactv.org) and the Town of Plymouth's website (www.plymouth-ma.gov).

During the hours of the LIVE televised event, donors can call (774) 283-4477.  Donations can also be made by clicking on the paypal link above this message.  An account has been set up with Northeast Community Bank, donation checks can also be made out to "Plymouth Rotary Charitable Fund".  In the memo line write "Shichigahama Relief Fund" and send the checks to: Northeast Community Bank, 8 North Park Ave., Plymouth, MA 02360.

Businesses that make a donation of $1,000.00 or more will be invited to present their check LIVE on air at the telethon.  If your business is interested in doing this, please email Donna Rodriguez and she will schedule a time for you to appear on the telethon with your donation.

It also provides a link to donate via Paypal.

I can attest that I know some of the people involved in the making of this telethon and can vouch for their commitment and character.  I personally trust that the proceeds raised in the telethon will be delivered to the Rotary Club of Shichigahama to be used directly towards the stabilization and rebuilding of Shichigahama and surrounding villages.

Alternately, I also fully trust the town leadership in Shichigahama to do what is necessary for the town.  They have recently announced that funds can be donated directly to the town of Shichigahama through bank transfers to help folks start rebuilding as soon as possible.  The information for doing so is as follows:

Bank name: 77 Bank
Branch name: Shichigahama Branch
Account type: ordinary (savings)
Account number: 9000887
Account holder's name: Shichigahama Accounting Manager, Shinya Abe

Finally, I want to add that I have also experienced Japan through other programs, including as a student on Semester at Sea in 1992 and a participant of Ship for World Youth in 2001.  Through such exchange programs, I have experienced first-hand, over and over again, the value that Japan places on extending its own incredible sense of community to building a worldwide sense of unity, peace and harmony.  

Earthquakes and tsunamis damage things and affect people in unfathomable ways.  Prayer, caring and support can be equally impressive.  With this in mind, I urge you, even if you don’t feel a personal connection to Japan as I do, to be a part of a healing force.  Please, come together with me in whatever way you are able to – through spiritual sustenance or through offering time, talent or treasure – to wash over Japan with love.