I came across this fanastic blog last night through Lenore Skenazy's Free Range Kids blog. I have to say http://www.mommasaid.net/ is the most entertaining blog I have seen for a very, very long time. And I think it's because her children are a little bit older than those of early childhood bloggers. Early childhood bloggers, while very well-meaning, and full of fantastic creative ideas for stimulating and worthy activities for the under fives, can be a little earnest.
Momma Said's Jen Singer writes amusing, wise and thought provoking posts. She sounds like a genuinely fun and friendly person; someone I'd like to have a wine with.
Who's on your "I'd love to have a wine with...." list?
Friday, June 10, 2011
Celebrating 50 years of James and the Giant Peach
Can you believe it? Roald Dahl's juicy tale of the boy who escapes the clutches of his snozzgusting aunts with the help of his gloriously ginormous and groobly friends is 50 years old! (Have you read it to your kids yet? Or to someone else's?) This is an official site which enables fans to create and name a virtual peach which is emailed to a friend, who passes it on etc etc. The aim is to see if it can go to 50 people. You can track your peach's journey on the site, and the miles it travels are tallied as well. My 6 year old son and I are having a race to see whose peach will travel the furthest. So far my peach is in Townsville, whilst his is wreaking havoc in Sydney. Will you join us in our quest? http://www.followthatpeach.com/
You can also print out a paper peach and send it to a friend by snail mail (which is probably possible in giant peachland)
You can also print out a paper peach and send it to a friend by snail mail (which is probably possible in giant peachland)
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Knowledge per se....
Recently my husband and I had a fascinating conversation about music. He loves music, and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of popular music from about the last 50 years. He is one of those people who can "name the song and band" after hearing just a bar or two of a song. He can also tell who is singing a cover version. On the other hand, I am often surprised to discover that music from an advertisement is actually from a real song....I really am hopeless when it comes to contemporary music. I enjoy listening to it when he turns on the stereo, but I wouldn't think to do it myself.
I love listening to classical music, and foreign and indigenous singers whose lyrics I know I can't understand, so there's no need trying. I played the french horn in our school orchestra - I am not naturally musical, but had a fabulous teacher. (French horn is a good instrument to play if you are not in fact very musical - you sit near the trumpets and trombones, who are usually quite musical or at least very confident and cocky, and they either drown you out or blend you in, so no one notices your mistakes). I loved playing in orchestras and bands. Creating music with others is very fulfilling; a real pleasure.
As I was saying, I love classical music. I loved learning about musical theory, history and the lives of the great composers. It is a source of great sadness to me that I am not actually musical. I was one of only three students banned from our primary school choir membership of which was compulsory!
To cut a long story short, I know a lot about music, but can't actually 'do' music very well. Nevertheless I am very grateful to all those who helped me learn, and who patiently covered for me in various bands and orchestras over the years. And the fascinating conversation I had with my husband made it all worth while.
He asked me about scales, and how you can tell if a piece of music is in a particular key, and what the difference is between major and minor keys, and why we need sharps and flats. In other words, about three years of music theory condensed into a half hour conversation. So I sat him down at the keyboard of our (digital) piano and showed him. It was a really special feeling, firstly to actually know more about something than he does, but also to be able to teach him a little more about something he loves. It was so refreshing (and sadly, unusual) to be having an in depth conversation that didn't revolve aroung the children or the household or work or finances. Eventually our discussion led us to the internet, where we found sites that got right into the maths and physics of music and harmony, where we both learnt something new together. And while we'll never have to rely on our understanding of musical theory for a crust, that time spent talking and sharing was for me so precious.
How often, at school or uni, have we sat in class thinking (or saying...) "Why do I have to do this? This is sooo totally irrelevant to me. I'm no good at this, why do I have to learn it?" The fact is, we can never know when something we have learnt may come in handy, when we may be grateful to those who made us learn a language or an instrument or a sport or a skill. Even learning something at which we are hopeless gives us at least a greater appreciation of the efforts of those who excel.
For which of education's 'irrelevancies' are you grateful?
I love listening to classical music, and foreign and indigenous singers whose lyrics I know I can't understand, so there's no need trying. I played the french horn in our school orchestra - I am not naturally musical, but had a fabulous teacher. (French horn is a good instrument to play if you are not in fact very musical - you sit near the trumpets and trombones, who are usually quite musical or at least very confident and cocky, and they either drown you out or blend you in, so no one notices your mistakes). I loved playing in orchestras and bands. Creating music with others is very fulfilling; a real pleasure.
As I was saying, I love classical music. I loved learning about musical theory, history and the lives of the great composers. It is a source of great sadness to me that I am not actually musical. I was one of only three students banned from our primary school choir membership of which was compulsory!
To cut a long story short, I know a lot about music, but can't actually 'do' music very well. Nevertheless I am very grateful to all those who helped me learn, and who patiently covered for me in various bands and orchestras over the years. And the fascinating conversation I had with my husband made it all worth while.
He asked me about scales, and how you can tell if a piece of music is in a particular key, and what the difference is between major and minor keys, and why we need sharps and flats. In other words, about three years of music theory condensed into a half hour conversation. So I sat him down at the keyboard of our (digital) piano and showed him. It was a really special feeling, firstly to actually know more about something than he does, but also to be able to teach him a little more about something he loves. It was so refreshing (and sadly, unusual) to be having an in depth conversation that didn't revolve aroung the children or the household or work or finances. Eventually our discussion led us to the internet, where we found sites that got right into the maths and physics of music and harmony, where we both learnt something new together. And while we'll never have to rely on our understanding of musical theory for a crust, that time spent talking and sharing was for me so precious.
How often, at school or uni, have we sat in class thinking (or saying...) "Why do I have to do this? This is sooo totally irrelevant to me. I'm no good at this, why do I have to learn it?" The fact is, we can never know when something we have learnt may come in handy, when we may be grateful to those who made us learn a language or an instrument or a sport or a skill. Even learning something at which we are hopeless gives us at least a greater appreciation of the efforts of those who excel.
For which of education's 'irrelevancies' are you grateful?
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Halfway to Christmas
It's true enough - my daughter asked me today how long it is until Christmas. She is desperate to start school, and she knows that she has to wait until "after Christmas". It was at that point I realised that we are close enough to halfway there. And this is my first post since January....and apparently blogs don't write themselves....so with all good intentions, I'll give the rusty writer's brain a shake and see how I go.
Frankly, Christmas can't come soon enough. Nor 2012. Last decade, for all that it was called the 'noughties', and for all the war and terrorism and horror that it contained, was really pretty benign to me and mine. This year has been very different so far. I am feeling very unsettled. It seems that stresses and tensions that are appearing in the natural world (and let's face it, it's got to the point where I think we are all wondering what new disaster each month will bring), are being mirrored by sad upheavals in our family. And as Forrest Gump would say "That's all I have to say about that". I know that blogs are supposed to be fora for opening one's heart and baring one's soul (messy!), but sometimes there is also a need to retreat, hermit-like.
Frankly, Christmas can't come soon enough. Nor 2012. Last decade, for all that it was called the 'noughties', and for all the war and terrorism and horror that it contained, was really pretty benign to me and mine. This year has been very different so far. I am feeling very unsettled. It seems that stresses and tensions that are appearing in the natural world (and let's face it, it's got to the point where I think we are all wondering what new disaster each month will bring), are being mirrored by sad upheavals in our family. And as Forrest Gump would say "That's all I have to say about that". I know that blogs are supposed to be fora for opening one's heart and baring one's soul (messy!), but sometimes there is also a need to retreat, hermit-like.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Australia Day
Our family celebrated Australia Day in a very stereotypical way: at the beach, with a sausage sizzle. However, it was also lovely to come home for a light tea of (homemade) sushi, which I feel illustrates another reason to be grateful we live here - our multiculturalism which has seen Australia accept, accommodate and later welcome people from many countries. It has saddened me in recent years to see Australia Day marked by jingoistic outpourings of superficial nationalism/patriotism. I would like to see it a more reflective time (although it could be argued that we have ANZAC Day for that.) How do you feel?
This is a great post from Trevor Cairney's blog. It is filled with suggestions for exploring different aspects of Australian identity through children's literature.
Literacy, families and learning: Australia Day
P.S. The sushi was not intended as a symbolic gesture - it was delicious! The symbolism occured to me later!
This is a great post from Trevor Cairney's blog. It is filled with suggestions for exploring different aspects of Australian identity through children's literature.
Literacy, families and learning: Australia Day
P.S. The sushi was not intended as a symbolic gesture - it was delicious! The symbolism occured to me later!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Parenting Ideas - Help your child ACHIEVE this year
A timely post from Michael Grose's Parenting Ideas page. I appreciate his core messages of being involved and interested in your child's education, without taking over; maintain open communication with and trust the teacher and the school.
It is a little sad, however, to think that parents may need to be reminded to make sure that their kids eat healthily, get plenty of sleep and arrive at school on time - this was also a key message on the first note home I received from my son's grade one teacher. This must be a pretty serious problem if teachers are having to remind parents of something that is so commonsense. What advice would you give to parents with children starting school?
Parenting Ideas - Help your child ACHIEVE this year
It is a little sad, however, to think that parents may need to be reminded to make sure that their kids eat healthily, get plenty of sleep and arrive at school on time - this was also a key message on the first note home I received from my son's grade one teacher. This must be a pretty serious problem if teachers are having to remind parents of something that is so commonsense. What advice would you give to parents with children starting school?
Parenting Ideas - Help your child ACHIEVE this year
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Reading Rockets: Building World Knowledge: Motivating Children to Read and Enjoy Informational Text
Hello and Happy New Year! I will do a proper New Year/Australia Day post soon. I the meantime, I wanted to share this article which has some good ideas for tackling non-fiction texts in the early years. It contains some very simple strategies for helping students to get the most out of a text, and to support comprehension and thinking skills.
Reading Rockets: Building World Knowledge: Motivating Children to Read and Enjoy Informational Text
Reading Rockets: Building World Knowledge: Motivating Children to Read and Enjoy Informational Text
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