My love for the Classics, especially Latin began in ninth grade, with my first Latin class. I just loved everything about the language—from the declensions to the subjunctive to the four purpose clauses. So, as I thought about the themes for 2017-2018, I looked through the ancient Greek and Roman topics I had covered in […]
Look around outside. What do you see? A bird? A flower? A sunset? A tree? Each one would make a great haiku — for you! The Japanese haiku, one of the oldest forms of poetry, teaches us much about the art and craft of poem-making. The entire poem consists of only three short lines, […]
Have you ever read a poem ABOUT poetry? Have you ever written one? All it takes is a metaphor (comparison) and your imagination! Here are some poems with metaphors that compare poems to lots of different things. What’s a Poem? A whisper, A shout, Thoughts turned Inside out. A […]
One of my favorite mom-to-mom blog resources is Cafémom. Recently, an article about TV mother-daughters reminded me of my panic when I found out I was having a girl – a story I’m finally willing to admit to and share out loud. Here’s the straight, never-before-admitted, honest, mom-to-mom, truth: I never wanted a girl. […]
Direct instruction from a reading teacher is one way kids learn to read. Informal learning from parents and caregivers is another way. In fact, research has shown that this informal instruction is pivotal to ensuring kids have the basic skills they need to actually learn to read once they are in school with a teacher […]
My daughter and I are reading the same book. It happened completely by accident. She had a book. She left it lying on the kitchen counter. I spilled grape juice on it. While I was cleaning it up, I happened to read a few lines of the book and suddenly I was hooked. I must […]
The urge to create is in each one of us. Our individual need to express ourselves is a vital part of who we are. The poet Walt Whitman once wrote that we are all born with the desire to “sound our barbaric yawps over the roofs of the world.” Since the beginning of time, […]
Every kid has something they love and are passionate about. It might be sports or music or chess or computers or art or cooking or whatever. And while not every kid loves to read, here are some great ways to use books or magazines to encourage whatever passion your child does have while also boosting […]
Way back in December (doesn’t that seem like a long time ago?) we presented a new Advent Calendar to our readers. This Advent Calendar gave a daily gift to everyone who opened it by counting down to the 12 Days of Christmas with a story each day. The calendar was a hit with parents who […]
Recently I wrote a blog about the surprise benefit of unplugging from my phone for a few hours. Since then, I have learned some additional benefits such as better rest, less anxiety, and oddly, less snacking. Apparently, I tended to eat when obsessively hitting refresh on Twitter to make sure I haven’t missed any celebrity […]