1. Music is a wonderful way to introduce your kids to tempo and rhythm. Children should listen to all kinds of music and even selections that may be unfamiliar to the rest of the family like cowboy, gospel, opera, etc…

2. Books are very important. Age appropriate reading material is very important to keep at a level the kids can get to it on their own. One point that is often overlooked is to read beyond the child’s own ability. That means you may have to stop more often for vocabulary. Check every so often to be sure they are understanding the story.

3. Dinner time, nuff said, get together at the table.

4. Get outdoors, the best lab is right outside your door. Kids get to use their outside voices (within reason). Let them climb, slide, see all they can see.

5. Art appreciation, have art in your own home, thrift shops are full of gorgeous works for a few dollars. Make your own art, work in different mediums. Showcase the art. While viewing art with a child, talk about the sources of light, the scale, the focus. Visit an art museum, discuss famous artists and their work.

In doing all this, your children will appreciate and imitate beauty and become life long learners.

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The only thing that I have been able to stick to lately has been studying my Japanese. Remember I’m doing that Speak Japanese Fast course I blogged about? I’m progressing well and the best part is I remember a lot from one session to the next!

Well, I’ve been doing really well, practicing about 20 minutes a day and running through a lot, I just wish I had someone to practice on! The system is really easy and simple, no complicated schemes or boring and long explanations. Everthing in Speak Japanese Fast (to order) is straight forward and to the point. Don’t waste another minute, cram all the Japanese you can into your head.

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As you may know, my husband and I lived in Japan for four years. During that time I was teaching English conversation most of the time, but I also took time to study Japanese on my own with several different books and study groups. I enjoyed writing hiragana and katakana characters and it gave me a great understanding of the language and pronunciation. What I needed was more Japanese vocabulary so I could carry on a conversation and not just answer with “hai” or gorilla/pointing language.

It was not easy even living in Japan itself, I was learning in what David McGimpsey calls, “the slowest way possible”. Reading in my head and saying the word over and over, writing it over and over… leading to no progress! I’m impatient, I don’t want to speak some time in the far future, I want to Speak Japanese Fast!

Now, it’s been 8 years since we’ve come back to the U.S. I am still very interested in Japan and Japanese language learning and found a great eBook that is conveniently downloadable from the internet and I’m convinced it is the key to unlocking Japanese Learning for life!

The system is simple to use and easy to pick up on, perfect for the casual traveler or serious student. Don’t waste any more time with things that don’t work! Learn 225 Japanese vocabulary words when you download Speak Japanese Fast.

David McGimpsey lives in Osaka, Japan and is the author of Speak Japanese Fast, The Japanese Project and Learn Japanese Right Now.

japanese learnspeak japanese fastJapan

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The subject of materials came up and I and many others in my class agreed that coloring in things, staying in the lines and conforming to coloring correctly were not very creative endeavors for most children and our professor assured us it was a thing of the past and teachers now understood the value of drawing.  This was back in 1994…  I was shocked when boy2001 came home with loads of colored in xerox copied sheets (guess I should be glad they were not mimeographed, remember those purple smelly sheets we loved so well?).  One such paper actually had a typewritten message on it – puhleeze, change your materials up a little bit.  Haven’t you ever heard of the anti-coloring book?

The point for me is if you give a child a blank piece of paper and some crayons they will make you a colorful, fanciful design.  If you give them a premade coloring sheet that you’ve handed out year after year what do they hand you back? if it’s neatly done do you praise them for “staying in the lines” or coloring a blank the ‘correct’ color?  It is tempting to get those coloring books and I HAVE bought a few for my kids when the price is right as a special treat but often these are character based from a show they’ve seen which is another reason to stay away. 

My kids really enjoy what I call ‘guided drawing’ sometimes.  I tell them to draw a circle in green, with an orange triangle on top and red rectangle all around that, etc… they really get into it and you can make it as elaborate as you like or the kids are capable of. 

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I’m not really sure if I have what it takes to be a homeschool mom, my main concern is not sticking to a program or being interruped too much by the girls. However I do want a fallback plan if his new school does not turn out to be everything I hope for boy2001.

My main concern is progress, a friend made a point about not progressing the kids who can and being held back by the weaker students in the class. For whatever reason, kids are entering kindergarten and 1st grade with a wide range of skills. I must confess I was shocked that kids can’t recite the alphabet, numbers up to at least 20, recognize their name or anything… how could this be? I knew I did not want him too far ahead so I never pushed him reading on his own. We spend a LOT of time reading story books and he reads about 40 sight words but that’s as far as I took it.

So anyway, I’ve decided on singapore math (about $20 per level), Susan Bauer’s Story of the World Series (about $30 for the workbook and text for the first volume), and Handwriting without Tears (about $15 for the slates and book). He’s actually very good at handwriting BUT I want him to learn some of the letters over so he can write faster.

Like I said before, I don’t know that I will be homeschooling but this will be great to supplement anything he gets from school. I also bought him the Snap Circuits Extreme 750-in-1 with Computer Interface, it costs a lot but I have been trying to use up my amazon gift certs in a more timely manner, so I only paid about $30 out of pocket – I hope he’s going to like this, it looks so cool!!

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Should I go back to school or get my Masters in something related to English? I already have my Bachelor’s Degree in the Humanities.

I’m wondering, what is a writer? A writer is someone who writes, wether for profit or pleasure.

I vow to continue to write, even if I never get paid a cent… why? because it is fun and the internet gives us all a wonderful outlet to express ourselves.

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As the mother of young children, it does worry me, I would not want to jeopardize any time with my children or cause them heartache. The next question is, what can I do to prevent this from happening to me?

Skin cancer is preventable with care, wearing hats, sunglasses with UV protection, slathering on sun screen and avoiding sun burns will go a long way.

Type II Diabetes is avoidable by losing some weight (I’ve seen figures from 5-10%), getting 30 minutes of exercise several times a week, and being aware of the glycemic index and how certain foods affect blood sugar.

These are things that we know are good for us, so why is it so hard to do? For me, the risk of inheriting my parents problems was enough for me to also do the other things that I know are good for me… like getting a good night’s rest, monthly breast exams, and pampering myself. I hope you will all do the same with or without a wake-up call of your own.

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I would like to introduce myself as a Barefoot Books Representative. I love the products my company sells, books, puzzles, puppets, music cds. All of our items are beautifully made and multi-cultural. If you decide to browse the site and make a purchase, I would really appreciate you using my link http://db.mybarefootbooks.com so I will get credit. Using my ID does not cost you anything or affect your price, but it does help me immensely. You can purchase directly on the website, www.barefootbooks.com

I can also help you create a fundraiser online… no paperwork. If you have an email list of clients/donors I can create an email for the event, you send it out with a special code… the purchasers visit the website and enter the specific code for your fundraiser and you get the agreed upon percentage or the sale. With the holiday season coming up, you may know of a non-profit, library or business that may be interested. Of course we can also do the old-fashioned fundraisers with catalogs, but most people prefer this new method.

If you are considering joining as a stallholder under me, I will place any other stallholders on my team from your state under you. This is a big incentive to join up with me and receive a 20% discount for starters (this will increase with increased sales). This will also establish your regional dominance.

Thank-you for reading all this.

Kindest Regards,

Delphine
US-1008197
http://db.mybarefootbooks.com

technorati tags: books, barefoot books, book, children’s books, kid’s books, kids, reading, education

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