Wounded by School

We’ve been doing a lot of thinking about school lately.  Widget goes to kindergarten next year, and, as much as I would love to homeschool (and I would love it), we think it’s best for him to get used to the structure and routine of a school with other children.  We’re thinking hard about how to ease the transition, supplement the academics, and help keep the love of learning alive in this little boy who reads himself to sleep at night (at four!) and his baby brother, who takes small appliances apart and puts them back together (at two!).  Both are incredible problem-solvers and little thinkers, and I’m so proud of them.

I just finished reading a new book, Wounded by School, written by Kirsten Olson, and it’s a very interesting report on some of the latest educational research (she was a doctoral student at Harvard with Dr. Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot) and updates of some of the most intriguing research from the 60’s (some of which, astonishingly, I’ve read).  She discusses the experiences of children and adults in detail with regard to wounds received in school — by which she means things that have happened to derail a child’s natural love of learning and intellectual curiosity.

Longtime readers of my blogs know that my whole reason for staying home with my children for so long has been to provoke and nurture their natural intellectual curiosity, so this is of course right up my alley.  I was appalled at some of the stories that she writes about, but encouraged to hear them brought out in the open and discussed, and the homeschooling option discussed as a positive thing that not all of us are able provide.  The author herself admits that she chose not to homeschool, and talks about that experience right alongside the others as she delves into the mystery of why school wounds — what is it that takes away the joy of learning?

Is it being rewarded for doing things that we enjoy naturally?  Is it the regimentation, or the schedule?  Or is it something else entirely — and how can we get it back — or at least stop taking it from our children?

These are important questions, and questions that will haunt me as we go through the next year deciding on kindergarten for our children.  This book helped me frame some of my questions, and I think it’s an interesting read for anyone interested in school culture and the experience of learning.

Now … what’s next on the reading list about early childhood education?  Any recommendations?

A review copy of Wounded by School was provided to me by the publisher and will be donated to my local library.

Hope is Beautiful

from the American Cancer Society’s Look Good, Feel Better website:

Look Good…Feel Better^® is reaching out to program graduates and cancer survivors to share their stories of hope, courage, and determination for the “Women of Hope is Beautiful” campaign. The “Women of Hope is Beautiful” are women with firsthand Look Good…Feel Better experience who can demonstrate the emotional and physical transformation that the program offers.

Five women will be selected as the “Women of Hope is Beautiful.” They will be featured on the Look Good…Feel Better website, and will win a trip to the DreamBall at the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel in New York on September 24, 2009 as well as receive a professional makeover. Visit the website for contest rules.

What an exciting contest!

The Daddy Longlegs Blues

He can’t spin a web like those fancy spiders do

His daddy was a wanderer and his momma was too….

He has the blues.  The Daddy Longlegs Blues.

The most wonderful picture book arrived in the mail today.  It’s called The Daddy Longlegs Blues, and it is a fantastic melding of lively pictures, words that evoke a certain time and place, and science teaching in the guise of a bouncy story that preschoolers will love.

The text is fun to read (trust me; we’ve read it four times already), lending itself to a rhythmic telling and a little scat, and the main character, a daddy longlegs whose legs are paired to look almost human, is quite likable.  His adventures are scientifically accurate, as the daddy longlegs skates across the water, bounces, and moves lightly over the grass.  He is presented as a likable character, and the words remind children that “He’ll do you no harm.  He tickles as he touches when he’s crawlin’ up your arm.”

The language is imaginative and bouncy, and we like the references to both science and music that the author and illustrator have included.  There’s plenty to learn here, couched in an entertaining story about a groovy old daddy longlegs — not a spider, not a bug, but his own kind of creature.

The only complaint I have (and you know I always look for the negative as well as the positive when I review) is that several of the word choices are inappropriate for a picture book.  I’m not talking about “scat,” “shimmy,” or “opilione.”  I’m talking about “shake your booty” and “ain’t got.”  I know those are tame words for older kids, but do I have to introduce my little ones to them?  In a picture book?  No.  No, I don’t.  A quick change of words to “body” and “has no,” though, makes it one of our new favorite books and one that we couldn’t wait to share here with our friends!

All in all, this is a wonderful book, and I thank Sterling Press for sending it to me for review.

Obama for young readers

Mom Central sent me a beautiful book recently called Obama: The Historic Journey, published using reporting and photos from The New York Times.  The book, designed for young readers, tells Barack Obama’s story, with plenty of photographs, sidebars, and illustrations designed to emphasize certain points.  For instance, there’s a picture of a blackberry showing the historic announcement of Sen. Joe Biden as VP.  There are pictures of people voting at an elementary school, as well as the iconic red, white, and blue billboards with Obama’s picture on them.  The story of the campaign is told completely and well, and inspirational quotes are scattered throughout the text and highlighted in sidebars.  The pictures of Malia and Sasha help to humanize the story and make it relatable to young children.  The story concludes with beautiful pictures of the inauguration festivities, including Michelle Obama’s beautiful dress, Malia’s pink coat, and Sasha’s winning smile.

This book is a keeper, and one that I’ll be proud to read to my children not just now, as events are fresh, but in the coming years.

Disclosure:  Mother Talk/Mom Central provided the book and a $20 gift card for my time in reviewing the book.

When You Give a Mom Ten Minutes

There’s a new book out called “When You Give a Mom a Martini,” by Lyss Stern and Julie Klappas.  In it are dozens of delightful ideas of how to pamper yourself unashamedly during those ten minutes that you steal for yourself here and there.  Some are easy and require no setup; some will require shopping or at the least preplanning.  What I liked best about this slim volume was the assumption that every mom has ten minutes a day to totally concentrate on herself, in whatever way she finds most frivoulous or most fulfilling.  I don’t think that we all have this understanding, actually, or the freedom to just walk out of the room, announcing your break time as you go.  Perhaps we should.  Perhaps it should be a must, and not just a ridiculous idea that one would toss around at Moms Club.  Once you have that, then everything looks a little more doable … and this book is a set of fun places to start.

What I would have loved would be a few heftier examples in there, like writing an irate letter to the editor (how cleansing!), sending off official correspondence (how liberating!), or exercising hard (how strengthening!).  You know, a “Double Daring Book for Girls,” all grown up.  I loved that book, and I find myself opening it just for fun when I’m looking for something new to do with the kids, or take my mind off the current stumbling block in my research.  But whether you’re more of an adventure girl or a girly girl, I think we can all agree that tomorrow, we should give Mom ten minutes to herself.

When You Give a Mom a Martini provided by Mom Central/MotherTalk along with a small gift card.  Double Daring Book for Girls provided by friend of the authors. I’ll review that one too, once I get my next ten minutes.