The Imagination of a Small Child

The family I met with yesterday has two girls of school age and a small boy (he's about 2 1/2). The small boy was very happy to see me, to tell me that he plays basketball, and to show me how he can drive a train by straddling his dad's guitar case and making all the train noises. He drove that train all the way to the Philippines. 

Later, when I was in his sister's room as she told me what she had been doing in school, there was a small voice coming down the hall, saying over and over, "Penguin, penguin, penguin..." When I turned to look, the small boy was standing on a blanket, holding the front part up in front of his legs with the rest trailing behind. He was shuffling along like a happy little penguin. When he got to us, he smiled and said, "I'm a penguin!"

He loves the story of David and Goliath and, using his sister's headband as a sling, pretended to throw a stone at me. I fell backwards on the couch and stayed very still. The small boy laughed and then said, "Wake up, giant!" so he could get me again.

Almost Done

I've finished 7 weeks of home education facilitator meetings and I have about 2 more weeks to go (a bit longer since one meeting is going to be May 6th and one is unconfirmed because someone in the family has pneumonia, but for the most part there are only 2 weeks left). I tell myself that it's only about 2 months twice a year that I'm really, really busy, but that still seems like a lot when I'm in the middle of it.

Part of it is that the rest of life doesn't stop for those few months. I still have Sunday School and history class and Wednesday morning homeschool kids and all the regular stuff of life. It's usually moderately busy anyway; it just gets really, really, really busy now!

On the plus side, I have summers off (except for a bit of tutoring to keep me from getting bored). Of course, I have a list of projects for summer, but I'm ignoring it for now!

Just a couple more weeks and life will slow down again.

Monarch Song

When I teach my tutoring student, I sometimes let him watch a video that goes along with what we're learning or that just amuses me (and him). We watched a clip from a movie showing someone learning about the concept of writing for the fist time; a video about Gutenberg's printing press; some VeggieTales about grammar (Schoolhouse Polka with Larry); the St. Crispin's Day speech from Hamlet; and various bits and pieces that I've found. We particularly like some of the songs from Horrible Histories and one of our favourites is the Monarch Song. We've listened to it enough that when I hear the name "William" I start to sing in my head "William, William, Henry, Steven, Henry, Richard, John!"

For your entertainment:

 

 I like the lyric one because it's easier to follow the song, but the updated one includes Charles III:

 

From the Kids

A conversation with a 7-year-old boy:

Me: What do you want to do when you grow up?

Him: I'm going to have a job.

Me: What type of job?

Him: You know, a job, like dads do!

Me: Dads do different types of jobs. I don't know what job you mean.

Him: Yes you do! Like dads have jobs and they go to work.

Eventually we got to the idea that he wants to be in construction like his dad and build a skyscraper. Also, his dad now works in the office, which led to his final plans.

Him: When dad is old and I'm taller than him, I'll take over in the office.

A conversation with a 6-year-old girl whose mom is trying to get her to tell me that she finished a level in swimming:

Mom: What did you pass recently?

Her: I don't know.

Mom: When we were at swimming on Monday, you passed...

Her, thinking very hard: Um...a hula hoop!

So Many Books

Recently someone died (I didn't know him) and he left his extensive theological library to GraceLife. We sorted through boxes of books a couple weeks ago (piles of yes, maybe, no but someone else might want them, and never books, as well as a few "we don't need them in the library so we'll take them" books). We didn't have a chance to get them into the system or figure out where to put them all, and there were piles on the tables and boxes on the floor. Today I was up in the library and discovered that there are MORE BOOKS! I think the first load was around half of the total. We didn't have this many books when we started the library.

I am absolutely thankful for the books and the man who thought to leave them to us. Not only are they a blessing to the library and church family, many of them will be excellent to have around when we start a branch seminary. I'm just not sure what we're going to do with them all! We need more bookcases and more time to properly sort, catalogue, and shelve them. Probably more help too. 

And to think, I was just planning our next shopping spree to get new book!

Roof Work

The roofing people are doing work on the roof of my building. This is all well and good, but their scaffolding is right outside my bedroom window. From my desk in the "office" (that small space between the living room couch and the dining room table), I can watch the men when they go up and down. (I could watch them from the bedroom as well, but I'm keeping all those blinds closed.) It's a bit strange; my apartment is on the second floor, so I never thought I'd have to worry about someone right outside my windows. They may be renovating all the balconies on my building this summer as well, so that will mean workers everywhere.

It's worse for my downstairs neighbours. Most of their windows are blocked by the wooden walls they erected around the scaffolding and their patio is mostly shaded by the walls as well. At least I can open my living room blinds and have some natural light while I watch the workers going up and down.

Blood Work

I saw the doctor a couple weeks ago (nothing major; just a bad knee from a couple falls and some "I am getting older and need help dealing with the symptoms, especially the one where I don't sleep enough"). My doctor, of course, sent me for blood work, because that's what doctors do.

Today was blood work day. For those who may be wondering why it took me almost 2 weeks: Today was the first day I was free enough to book an appointment. I wouldn't go without one; when I was in the waiting room, I heard them say that the wait was 45 minutes to an hour. 

My issue with having blood taken: I have small, rather hidden veins. Only once has someone been able to get the blood on the first try. Today it took the phlebotomist two tries. First she tried in my left arm (the right one is even worse) and finally found a vein and stuck in the needle, but the blood was flowing slowly and eventually gave up. She tried to find a vein in my right arm but that arm was having none of this "blood work" nonsense and all the veins hid too well for her to even try poking me with a needle. In the end, it took warm water compresses on my arm and then my hand before she was able to get a good vein on my hand and, with the other phlebotomist switching vials for her, was able to take my blood. They actually took extra in the second vial just in case the blood stopped before they had enough in the third one.

The ladies were very nice and apologized for having to stick me twice, but I assured them that I was used to it. The worst was the time I had to be poked three times (each arm and a hand), so they did well!

And that was my adventure in having blood taken. 

Happy Easter!

Subbing in the Kindergarten Class

I sometimes sub at one of the Christian schools in my area. It's fun to teach for a while and it's nice to go home after and enjoy the quiet. This year all of my subbing (all 2.5 days) has been with the kindergarten class. There are around 19 of them (maybe 20, but they've never all be there) and they're all pretty good kids on the whole. There is the occasional dispute over toys, but those are easily handled. There are sometimes tears for whatever reason 5-year-olds get emotional (partly because change is hard), but they are also easily dealt with. The kids are also very sweet and I got a lot of hugs on Friday!

These kids are also pretty smart. They told me all the letter sounds, including short and long vowels, and were able to read words and simple sentences. They are also learning how to tell when a vowel makes a long or short sound. They know their numbers and can count to 60, and backwards from 10. 

What they did not know was where food comes from. We were talking about where their snacks came from. They're city kids, so for them, food comes from the store. It took an extra question: "Where was it before it got to the store?" for them to remember that apples and oranges come from trees and cheese and yogurt come from milk which comes from cows. (There was the suggestion that cheese also comes from trees, but he may have been joking.) Bread was a bit more complicated, but we managed "bread is made from flour, flour comes from wheat, and wheat comes from the ground." And yet they had not problem with "Carrots come from in the ground".

It was a crazy, busy, noisy, tiring day, but I quite enjoyed it. I don't think I'd do it for a living, though. I would do much better with older students on a regular basis.

First Lines: Picture Book Edition

 Because picture books deserve some love as well, here are the first lines of the books I have been reading the littles lately:

Hodges' Cafe was busy as usual last Friday night.

Mrs. Rogers was all in a dither.

When Joseph was a baby, his grandfather made him a wonderful blanket to keep him warm and cozy and to chase away bad dreams.

In the town of Aldo, Ohio, there lived a boy named Lentil.

In the walled Old City of Jerusalem, which some call the Center of the Universe, Avi waited.

Ivan was a happy boy.

Frank wanted to fly.

A Bad Simile

 I have recently finished The Staff and the Sword trilogy by Patrick W. Carr. I definitely recommend it if you want some Medieval-style fantasy from basically a Christian viewpoint.

There was just one bit that I'm not sure about. After they had a scare, he wrote a line something along the lines of "her heart was still skipping like a calf."

All I could think was "You might need to see a doctor about that."

Which only goes to show that you can have a good writer and a good story and still manage to get a bad simile past the editors.

First Lines

 From books I am reading or have recently read:

Sometimes I teach old books to young people, and recently I was teaching the Epistles of the Roman poet Horace to a group of undergraduates.

Deep within, Adora continued to harbor the possibility that her uncle, King Rodran, might still live, but the pallid faces of those on the ship, especially Errol's. refuted all hope.

The Percys lived in a large, old-fashioned stone house in New England.

The parcel came while the family were having breakfast.

As a veteran homeschooler and author, I field many questions about the lost educational and social opportunities homeschoolers face by not attending school, especially "How will my children get into college or find work without a proper school transcript?" and "How will my children socialize if they're not in school?"

Patrick Murphy hurried through the dark streets of Belfast.

In my fifteen years, I have stuck my arm in a vat of slithering eels, climbed all the major hills of San Francisco, and tiptoed over the graves of a hundred souls.

Redeeming Productivity

A bit of a review of Redeeming Productivity by Reagan Rose

I really enjoyed this book. The chapters switch between the "why" and the "how" of being productive; so many books have only focused on one or the other and I was happy to find both. I found the "why" chapters to be clear and demonstrating, through Scripture, a proper motive for our actions (e.g., to glorify God, to use the gifts He has given us, and to bear fruit). The "how" sections were very practical and had ideas that I could implement without too much trouble (e.g., establishing a morning routine, getting organized, and sorting out tasks and projects). It wasn't so much "you're doing everything wrong" as it was "this is how you can do better". 

I read the book slowly, taking time to consider the "why" parts and then to implement at least some of his ideas after the "how" parts (adjusting things to fit my life and preferences) before moving on to the next pair of chapters. By the end, I found that I was more organized and productive and that, since I had the proper motivation, it was easier to keep on track. The author also encourages regular reflection (weekly and yearly) to see how things are going, make adjustments, or get back on track. He doesn't expect (or promise) perfection, but improvement.

I read Redeeming Productivity several month ago and have found that, for the most part, I am getting more done for the glory of God, as the subtitle suggests. It wasn't a "good intentions that fail in the second month" thing, but a gradual movement towards using my time wisely. I enjoy the morning routine (although mine doesn't quite match his) and the end-of-week tidy and planning time. Not only my workspace but also much of my apartment is more organized, which just feels good. Planning my days, especially during my slower times of the year, has helped me get more done, although there will be more to work on in that area over the summer.

I definitely recommend Redeeming Productivity for anyone who wants advice on how to be organized and productive in a way that brings glory to God rather than self.

Daydreams and Prayer

When I was a child, I made up stories in my head regularly: when falling asleep, going for a walk, riding in the car, sitting in school; basically, if it was quiet or I was bored, I was daydreaming. I realize now that what I was coming up with was basically self-insert fan fiction: I put myself in the lives of my favourite book characters and worlds and had adventures. Sometimes my stories were about people and places I knew, but usually they were from the world of books. 

(As a side note, I still make up stories, but the subjects have switched: now, while I sometimes include fictional people and places in my stories, they are more likely to involve real-life situations and people.) 

The other day I was thinking about prayer and I remembered my younger daydreams. In my stories, people sometimes prayed, sometimes at mealtimes and sometimes for help. When that was going to happen, I would stop and pray a little prayer explaining to God that the prayer that was coming up wasn't a real prayer; it was just part of a story. Then when the prayer was finished, I would let God know that the pretend prayer was over!

My understanding of God was somewhat lacking at that time as I obviously didn't realize that God can tell the difference between real prayer and prayer that is part of a daydream. My understanding of prayer may have been better: I believed that God listened to my prayers, so I didn't want any confusion about what I expected Him to listen to and what He could ignore. I also knew that some prayers were real and some were pretend.

Now that I'm older and have learned more, I know that if people pray in my daydreams, God knows they aren't real prayers. I still believe that God listens to my prayers and that prayer is important. I know that the difference between real prayer and not-real prayer is not always "do I mean this or is it part of a story" but "where is my heart when I am praying and am I just going through the motions." And I realize that when people pray in my imaginary stories, the prayers often reflect my heart and what I believe (they pray what I think they should pray or what I would want someone to pray for me in the situation).

I think there was something very sweet, though, about younger me earnestly explaining things to God so that there would be no confusion about the pretend prayer!

Dwight Moody

 As taken from my history class, here is Dwight Moody's “Greatest Mistake”; something to think about as we bring the gospel to people:

Moody was preaching the evening of October 8, 1871. He concluded his gospel message that night by asking the question, “What will you do with Jesus?” Then Moody added, “I wish you would seriously consider this subject, for next Sunday we will speak about the cross, and at that time I’ll ask again, ‘What will YOU do with Jesus?”

That evening someone knocked over a lantern in the O’Leary’s barn and started the Great Chicago Fire. Although it is often blamed on a cow, people actually thought that it was done be a robber; later, a man named Louis M. Cohn confessed that he was running away from an illegal card game in the O’Leary’s barn and accidentally knocked over a lantern. It had been an unusually dry summer and fall, and a strong wind spread the fire quickly, destroying 17,500 buildings and 73 miles of street. Ninety thousand people were left homeless, and it is believed that 300 people died in the blaze. After 24 hours, the rains came and helped quench the fire.

Moody’s church and home were both destroyed, as well as the YMCA, but what felt more keenly was the possibility that among the dead were people who had been in church that evening and whom he had sent away to think about their answer. He viewed that as his greatest mistake. “Now, whenever I preach,” Moody said later, “I press for a definite decision. I would rather lose my right hand than give people even a day to decide for Christ, for I don’t know if I’ll ever see them again. The Gospel invitation is a ‘today only’ offer!”

Getting Kids to Read

Some of us were reading at an early age (I don't actually remember learning to read; I just read), while other children took longer. And some could read but didn't want to. Children are different and not everyone will be a reader and not everyone will learn at the same rate. That's okay. Still, you want children to read something, if for no other reason than to practice so they can read the important things as they enter adulthood (recipes, contracts, emails, love letters, menus, street signs, etc.).

So how do you get a child who does not want to read to actually read? 

First, make books a good thing. Start by reading to your child. You can start reading to them in infancy and keep it up until they leave the house (I still like being read to). And don't worry if they don't seem to be listening: the babies are enjoying being with you and the sound of your voice; older children may listen best if they are doodling or something; wiggly children are actually listening. Picture books are great, but don't be afraid to start reading chapter books to them when they are still young. Share books that you enjoyed as a child or that just look interesting. Make reading time a fun time that you enjoy (don't read to them because you have to and with a goal of getting it over with).

Conversely, don't use books and reading as punishment (unless you have a devoted reader, in which case taking away the current book for a bit may be a good deterrent). Forcing a child to read won't make the child enjoy reading, especially if it's seen as a consequence for bad behaviour (which are supposed to be negative to discourage the behaviour).

Have books in the house. Go to the library regularly. Surround your child with books of various genres, topics, and reading levels. Give your child options of what to read (within reason; there are things that you may hold back because your child isn't mature enough for that topic yet). Don't worry if your child prefers either fiction or non-fiction; many children will find some overlap in time and expand their horizons. Just provide the books. You won't get a reader if there aren't any books around!

Very importantly: You need to read. Your child won't think that reading is important if you never do it. More, it will seem like a kid thing to do and all children want to seem very grown up. So pick up a book that you will enjoy and read it.

Limit screen time. I have dealt with kids who "don't have time" to read, but who have time to play on-line games, watch movies, and spend hours on social media. Books can take time and effort to read and understand, and for a child who is used to the easy entertainment of computers and television, it can seem like too much work. Limit screen time and encourage reading time.

Be careful of finding a long series that "turned my child into a reader". Did it turn the child into a reader or just a reader of those books? The challenge is that these tend to be books that are easier to read and getting the child to read anything else can be almost impossible (I speak from experience here; there is a series that I will not name that I dislike for that reason). It's not always that bad, but you're better off finding a book, or even a trilogy, that your child likes, and then finding similar books to keep the reading going.

Do all that and I can guarantee that you still may not have a reader on your hands.  Again, some people are not readers and that's okay as long as they can read and comprehend well enough to enjoy life and not get sucked into a cult. Nothing I've suggested will harm your child and it just might get him or her interested in reading.

Muffins!

Today is National Muffin Day, so in honor of it, I am once again sharing my favourite muffin recipe. It is a banana muffin recipe that I got from my friend Faith many, many years ago, and I use it all the time. I have it memorized, which was helpful when I was visiting friends and they wanted to make banana muffins to use up the "definitely ready to be bread or muffin" bananas!

I also use this recipe for many types of muffins: zucchini chocolate chip; strawberry; blueberry; ugly muffins (using frozen mixed berries, which give the muffins an interesting colour). Just use whatever fruit or berries you have on hand instead of bananas.

With no further ado, I present my banana muffin recipe:

3 bananas (well, 3-ish; if you have 4, by all means use all four, especially if they're small)

1 egg

1/3 cup oil

a small container of yogurt (the size you pack in lunches) or the rough equivalent*

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 cup flour

Mash up the bananas, add the egg, oil, yogurt, and sugar, and mix well. Add the baking soda and flour and mix just until everything is wet and mushy; do not over-mix.

Fill your muffin cups and bake at 350 for around 20 minutes or so minutes. You should get 12 muffins.

*The yogurt is optional. The original recipe didn't call for yogurt, but one day I was making muffins and discovered that I didn't have any eggs. I searched on-line for a solution and discovered that yogurt can replace eggs when making muffins, so I threw in a small container of vanilla yogurt. I liked the texture and now I add it all the time, even when I have eggs. The muffins are moister and the vanilla flavor is nice. You can leave out the yogurt or try different flavors.

Wednesday Morning

Yesterday my board room helper was not available (he was at a family reunion) so I had decided to grab one of the other big boys to help. Of course the least responsible, most likely to either be too bossy or just talk the whole time, young man wanted to help! I turned him down and got one of the boys I wanted instead: one of the oldest in his family, responsible, and likely to do his work and make sure the others did theirs. 

Our trivia cards were about reptiles and amphibians. We had fun, and I made sure they knew the difference between poisonous and venomous creatures. They tried to name every turtle some variation of "Giant, Huge, Enormous Turtle" only to find that they were actually named things like "Green Turtle" and "Leatherback Turtle". One young girl had both of her older brothers in the room and they kept suggesting the wrong answers when it was her turn...and she kept believing them! My middle group boys thought it was funny when I referred to them as the "unusual reptiles" (the girls thought it was hilarious). 

My little ones enjoyed Hana Hashimoto, Sixth Violin (written by Chieri Uegaki and illustrated by Qin Leng), although they thought her brothers were very mean to her (they were at the beginning). They also liked the story A New Coat For Anna (written by Harriet Ziefert and illustrated by Anita Lobel), especially seeing the sheep, the spinner, and the weaver. I try to make sure that the children will enjoy both the story and the illustrations, and these were definitely successful. 

In all, it was a good Wednesday morning.

Church Stuff

We moved into our new building 7 years ago; I wrote about that here:   https://dorothysthoughts.blogspot.com/2017/01/my-church.html

Things went along fairly normally for a while, although we lost a pastor to a church up north and gained another one. Then covid came and everything changed. You can look up past posts from those years if you want to know more about that. When the dust settled, we had pretty much doubled in size. We have two services now because we couldn't all fit (and in first service, full of crazy morning people, there are chairs in the library and in the foyer; second service is smaller but still sometimes sees families up in the library). Sunday School is full and there are more children every year, both from new families and many new babies.

Plans are in process for a new building with a sanctuary big enough to hold everyone, and then a later building for education (with so many Sunday School rooms!). We're at the paperwork, permits, petitions and permission stage. If things go according to our plans, we may have the first new building in a couple years, and then Sunday School can stretch out and fill up the current building. Of course, our plans might not be God's plans. I know that the elders pray a lot for wisdom in all this, and that we do things in a way that will glorify God, not us. I pray this too.

It's all very exciting. It's sometimes overwhelming as well, trying to manage the number of children and cope with a very, very crowded foyer between services. Sometimes I would like to go back to when there were fewer people, but as I told my history class once: I want fewer people, but I don't want anyone to leave!

A Word of Advice

If you find yourself caring for a group of 7-10 year-olds, and for some reason decide that making friendship bracelets is a good idea (because they have been asking to make them): stop and reconsider! Maybe another activity will be better.

But if you do it anyway, have the thread precut to save time, have everyone make the same pattern (especially if most of them don't know what they're doing), and be prepared to repeat the same instructions at least 87 times in the hour.

(This might be mostly for myself so I remember this for next time.)

Something from Nothing

Last week I read the little guys Something from Nothing by Phoebe Gilman. It's a retelling of a Jewish folktale about a grandpa and his small grandson, Joseph who firmly believes that Grandpa can fix anything. Grandpa made a blanket for baby Joseph, and as Joseph grows the blanket becomes tattered and worn and mom wants to throw it out. Joseph brings it to Grandpa who makes it into a coat for Joseph. The story is basically how Grandpa keeps making new (and smaller) things as the items too small, dirty or tattered. I won't tell you the end!

It's a pretty simple story with a lot of repetition, but the kids seemed to really enjoy seeing what Grandpa could make. The illustrations are wonderful as well. There's so much to see on each page and I had to make sure to take time for everyone to see everything. A family of mice live under the house and use the scraps of fabric from Grandpa's sewing for pretty much everything, including blankets, clothes, curtains, and a tablecloth.

It's a delightful story with delightful pictures.

A Grammar Lesson

Semicolons are used to connect two complete sentences. "The child did not want to go outside; he was afraid of monsters."

Semicolons are used when two complete sentences are linked by a conjunctive adverb (e.g., however, moreover, therefore, thus, consequently, furthermore, unfortunately). "The man wanted to leave; unfortunately, he had lost his keys."

Semicolons are used to separate items in a list when a comma would be confusing (e.g., when the items in the list include a comma and/or are longer items). "We visited Toronto, Ontario; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Montreal, Quebec."

Do NOT use a semicolon if you use a coordinating conjunction (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so) to join two sentences; for that, you would use a comma. "The bird flew away from the house, so the cat ran after it."

Do NOT use a semicolon if you are combining two sentences and use a subordinating conjunction (e.g., although, because, since, while, after, before, until, as soon as, if, unless, provided that, wherever, as long as, so that, in order that, though) at the start of one sentence; you either need a comma or no punctuation. "Because she was tired, she decided to stay home." or "She decided to stay home because she was tired."

Finally: Do NOT use a semicolon if you don't know how to use a semicolon.

Official Ages of Adulthood

 Today I found the "official" ages of adulthood (according to at least one organization):

Early Adulthood (ages 22--34) 

Early Middle Age (ages 35--44) 

Late Middle Age (ages 45--64)

Late Adulthood (ages 65 and older)

You may note that there is no "Middle Middle Age"; you just go from Early to Late. Also, all the younglings who claim to be adults when they turn 18 are not mentioned here at all. I knew they were just babies!

A Story From the Kids

 Yesterday we had only a few minutes left after I finished reading the second book to the little guys. I didn't want to start a new book, so I suggested that they tell me a story.

First they amused themselves by telling "stories" that were variations on "Once upon a time there was a knight. The end!" These seemed to be incredibly funny to them, especially when they used someone's name instead of a knight.

Finally one young man started a story: 

"Once upon a time there was a knight and a prince, but he said that he could be a knight too. They went into a forest and there was a bear."

At this point he seemed to be stuck, so I suggested the game where everyone tells a bit of the story. They loved the idea, so I had the next person in line continue. 

As the story progressed, the bear found some honey, but he was stung by bees. He ran away and then the knights killed the bees. The knights returned to the castle. Then seven bears came so the knights went back outside and were surrounded by bears.

That's when the moms started coming to pick up their kids, so I don't know what happened next! 

Things to Consider When Studying History

Teaching history is challenging, sometimes because of poor records and other times because of conflicting accounts. I find it best to read widely, trying to consider the world view, historical biases, and purpose for writing of each author. If you're writing for a particular group or ruler, your view will likely be biased in their favour; if you definitely dislike a group or person, your writing will likely be biased against them. It's a challenge to find the truth. There is also the challenge of "when did it happen" when there are conflicting dates or different calendars used in different areas. As a history buff and teacher, I do the best I can and allow for differences when necessary.

There is also the question of how to teach history. Do I teach it in perfect chronological order (which seems impossible), by event, by country, or just randomly? When I taught the early church, I tried for chronological order as much as possible; this was easier because the major events took place in a smaller geographical area. For the Reformation, when things were happening in different countries all at the same time, I taught more by country. Next semester, which is primarily about the 19th and 20th centuries, will be both: I have planned several weeks on mission work in various areas, and then a slightly more chronological overview of major events ("slightly" as there are still things that will overlap and require us to go backwards sometimes, but always with an overall forward trajectory). It can be confusing and challenging, but I do my best to avoid confusing the kids too much!

This is what I tell my history class the first week:

History is not always easy to break into pieces and teach in a nice, chronological order, as there is a lot of overlap between people and events. As a result, despite my attempts to keep moving forward, sometimes we have to move backwards in time. Other times, we move back and forth between places or people to get things somewhat in order and to show how different people intersected in time. It helps to keep a timeline going with the key dates so we can see when things happened in relation to everything else. 

Another challenge is that historians don’t always agree on exactly what happened, why, or when. There can be several different dates for when people were born (although their death dates are usually agreed upon), and different details about what happened. Some of that is due to limited record keeping; some of it is due to different points of view. The winners and losers of battles will have different opinions about what happened, and each side will speak better of themselves than of their opponents. Sometimes it is very difficult to determine exactly what happened in various events. When there are differing records, I have sometimes given multiple options; other times, I have chosen the most prevalent option. If you read something different from what I teach, that’s fine. You can decide for yourself why there are different records of events, who might prefer one or the other view, and which one seems most accurate to you. For the most part, the differences are in smaller details or in the events leading up to the main event, not in the major ideas.

Wednesday Mornings

Wednesday mornings are women's ministry time at the church. I have a pile of homeschool kids to care for those days. I'm not sure how many of them there are; some who were registered have never attended and others started late and I just deal with each week as it come! The children are supposed to come with 2 hours of work, although I'm pretty flexible about "work" as long as they are doing something quiet and independent.

My groups:

1. The older girls (the 11 and older group) meet in a corner of the auditorium. They're technically unsupervised, but with a group of ladies meeting across the room, I'm not too worried about them!
2. The older boys (the 12 and older group) meet in a classroom and are supervised by one of the dads who is also one of our pastors. Past experience has shown that this group should not be left alone as they tend to neglect any school work as they get louder and louder.
3. The little guys (5 and 6 years old) have a couple of the young ladies supervising them and helping them with work. There's a lot of colouring going on in that room and probably more chatting than there should be, but they are very small. They're also the exception to "bring 2 hours of work"; after the mid-morning break, we have activities for them to enjoy.
4. The middle group (somewhere around 6-8 years old, with a couple older ones thrown in) are sometimes supervised and sometimes not, depending on whether or not I can get one of the older girls to help. They're pretty good on their own; they're old enough to do their work and young enough to feel very grown up when I leave them alone!
5. The boardroom kids (around 9-11 years old) have a couple boys who were causing some trouble by talking too much and being inappropriate (bathroom talk and pictures), so one of the high school boys supervises them now. When he's not available, they try very hard to prove that they can behave on their own!

Those are my kids and I love hanging out with them, although I don't spend much time with the older kids. The study runs from 9:30-11:30, and my morning is broken up into 30-minute blocks. The first block is for making sure everyone is settled; helping with computer issues for the older kids (and reminding them that their technology is only to be used for school purposes); doing a quick check on the older girls to say hi, make sure all is well and answer any school questions they may have; making sure the activities are ready for the littles; making sure there is extra work for any middles who finish early; going over things with the middles (I'll be in the board room, if there's a real emergency go across the hall and get Pastor Adam first, you can take your break when the big hand is on the 5); and greeting the latecomers.

Then it gets fun. The next two blocks are trivia times, first with the boardroom kids and then with the middles. We like Professor Noggin and have many, many decks of nature, countries, history, and science cards. There is a lot of laughter, some arguments (fewer now that "argue with Miss Dorothy about the answer will result in your team losing a card), stories based on the questions, and a general increase in the knowledge of random facts. This month we added the Human Body deck, so there's also some appreciation of the more disgusting information!

Between the two groups is break time (10 minutes regardless of when they start; the boardroom group sometimes goes over a bit as we're finishing the game). When I finish with the boardroom kids, I pop in to let the older boys know they can take their break and to talk with them for a couple minutes. The other groups know when to start their break (I suspect that Pastor Adam does as well, but he waits for me to come anyway). 

After I finish playing trivia with the middles, I stop by the littles' room to tell them to tidy up whatever activities they've been doing and I'll be back after I check in with the boardroom kids. I do a quick check to see that all is well and answer any questions they may have, and then head back to my littles for story time. Depending on how long I take in the boardroom either they're just finishing tidying up or I have a row of students sitting on the tables waiting for me (sitting on the table is a story time treat). We read and discuss the books until the moms show up and another Wednesday morning comes to an end!

Studying (and Teaching) Church History

I've been teaching Church History for a while now. First it was the occasional lesson to my Sunday School kids, followed by a few years of teaching it to the Wednesday morning homeschool group. A friend of mine convinced me to try teaching a proper class, and that led to Miss Dorothy's Church History Class for high school students. I'm in my third year now; I did year 1 twice and am now teaching (and writing lessons for) year 2. It's a lot of fun and I'm enjoying both the learning and the teaching.

A pretty standard question is always: Why bother teaching Church history (or any history for that matter)? Why do we have to learn about the past? How can it be important now?

This is what I teach the kids:

First, we need to see that history repeats itself; what is happening in the world now (no matter what is happening) is nothing new and nothing to be shocked about. It has all happened before and will all happen again if the Lord continues to tarry. 

Second, we need to know what battles have already been fought so we can recognize the same old errors when they pop up under a different name and know how (and why) to fight against them. 

Third, we can draw encouragement and strength from those who have gone before us to help us as we face our own trials and persecution.

Finally, we need to remember that our study of history is not meant to be simply an intellectual pursuit, but is intended to teach us more about the God who is sovereign over all history. If we learn people, places, and dates, but do not learn more about Him, we have not learned history properly.

There you have it: Four reasons to study history in general and Church history in particular.

Reading to Children

I read to children a lot. I've read to my nieces and nephews when they were smaller and I've read bedtime stories to children when I babysat. I read to my Wednesday morning homeschool kids (one day I was reading to the older ones and even the "too cool for story time" kids joined us). I read to classes when I sub and we have a bit of time at the end of the day. One evening I was babysitting for friends, and after the little ones were in bed I started to read the older ones The Story of Doctor Dolittle. It was only supposed to be a few chapters before their parents came home, but their parents were later than anticipated, so I read them almost the whole book. When I was working as a tutor two days a week for friends, I read to their children for part of class (it was historical fiction, so very educational). When I visit one family, their youngest is always eager for me to read to him (and any of the older children who are around; they're so used to being read to by their parents that they don't even pretend to not listen). 

So yes, I read to children a lot. I think it's an important part of childhood and even adulthood. I've read to babies and high school kids and they all like it. I have friends who read to each other on road trips (the person not doing the driving does the reading). I remember the joy of being read to. Audio books are popular not only because you can listen while you do other things, but you're experiencing the joy of being read to.

Reading to children is beneficial for a variety of reasons. First, it introduces children to books in a way that is enjoyable for them and makes reading a good thing. Books are associated with happy times and people who care about them. When they learn to read, they're finding old friends in the pages of a book and it's easier. In fact, if they already have an idea of the story, reading goes faster and they get better at it without even realizing it.

It also allows children to enjoy stories that they aren't ready to read yet. This is obvious for younger, non-readers, but is true for older children as well. They may not have the reading ability for novels, but they have the listening ability to enjoy them. They may not understand everything just yet, but they can usually follow the story line, and they will get more in a few years if you read it again. I have a friend who reads to all her children at once regardless of their ages; she rereads favourties every few years and the children get more out of it each time.

Reading to children teaches them to understand how stories flow and how good writing sounds. When they cuddle up with you for picture books, they can see how reading goes from left to right, and they may start to recognize words. Listening to stories can teach thinking skills as they learn to wonder "what next" and to think about why someone might do something or if the story makes sense. They also sometimes apply what they hear to the world around them, noticing that someone is acting like a character in a book for example. And they learn to narrate stories as they tell someone (or everyone) about their new favourite story.

Besides all this, reading to children is fun. It's also a very relaxing activity: you're curled up on the couch or sitting on a comfy chair, sharing a favourite story with someone. The world around you may be crazy, but you get to sit in a little bubble of calm and just read.

2023 in Books, Part 3

 As I was thinking about making the "Year in Books" posts, I realized that there is one more category now. Wednesday mornings is women's study at the church, and I take care of the homeschool kids. In previous years, my responsibility started with children who were 6 and in grade 1, but there were way to many nursery kids this year, so I gained some younger ones. As a result, I have one room full of children who are 5 or 6, and I spend the last 30 or so minutes of the morning reading to them. I tried a chapter book as that worked for the past couple years, but these kids are a bit younger and, I think, many of them are not used to being read to regularly. I eventually switched to picture books and that worked much better.

All that to say, here are some of the best picture books that I read my little guys this fall:

Click, Clack, Moo Cows that Type by Doreen Cronin, pictures by Betsy Lewin. This is the book that started the switch to picture books as it was given to me one Wednesday morning, so I read it to the kids. It's just so much fun to read and the kids loved it. We also read a couple others by the same author.

I'd Really Like to Eat a Child by Sylviane Donnio, illustrated by Dorothee de Manfried. He's a wee little crocodile who rejects all the food because he wants to eat a child.

Anatole by Eve Titus, pictures by Paul Galdone. Anatole is a brave, smart little mouse who lives in a mouse village just outside Paris. We started another one of his adventures but did not have time to finish. It's on my pile for when study starts up again in January.

Come Back, Amelia Bedelia by Peggy Parish, pictures by Wallace Tripp and Bravo, Amelia Bedelia by Herman Parish, pictures by Lynn Sweat. The kids find her incredibly funny, even though they miss half the jokes because they are also very literal minded.

Miss Dorothy and Her Bookmobile by Gloria Houston, illustrated by Susan Condie Lamb. This one is a true story about a lady who wanted to be a librarian and started by driving a bookmobile. I wasn't sure how well they would listen since it lacks the humor of the other books we read, but they seemed to really enjoy it.

Fly High, Fly Low by Don Freeman

Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

The Story of Babar the little elephant by Jean De Brunhoff, translated by Merle S. Haas.

No Clean Clothes by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko.

If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond.

Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss.

2023 in Books, Part 2

 Two posts this year, and I'm already doing better than last year! 

Nonfiction was a hodgepodge of theology, cookbooks, biographies, and book about words and reading. Here are my favourites, in no particular order:

Hot Chocolate Comfort by Michael Turback: A cookbook, yes, but there is more to cooking than just the recipes.

The Precious Blood by Dustin Berge

The Heresy of Orthodoxy by Michael J. Kruger and Andreas J. Kostenberger

Becoming Free Indeed by Jinger Duggar Vuolo

Slave by John MacArthur: I have no idea how long that had been on my bookshelf, but I finally read it!

Redeeming Productivity by Reagan Rose: This was one of my favourites; it helped me understand the purpose behind productivity (to glorify God and to serve Him) and gave advice for becoming more organized and productive.

The Epistles of John by Joel Beeke: In my Sunday School planning, I actually read 4 commentaries on John's epistles, but this was my favourite (and the only one where I didn't skim over parts).

Non Nobis by Tom Garfield: The first years in one of the first classical Christian schools.

Home Work by Julie Andrews: The sequel to the first part of her autobiography.

Impossible Christianity by Kevin DeYoung

The Reading Life by C.S. Lewis: A collection of things C.S. Lewis said about books and reading.

Questions Women Asked by Simonetta Carr: Also a favourite; it talks about 30 Christian women throughout church history and the challenges they faced.

2023 in Books, Part 1

 Wow...I wrote exactly one post last year. I'll try to do better this year!

I managed to read 81 books this year. Hours on the bus for work helped a lot; with my job, I travel all over Edmonton and the surrounding area. The round trip from my house to Spruce Grove alone is good for about half a novel! The result of doing so much reading on the bus does mean that my fiction list largely outweighs nonfiction because "bus reading" is generally lighter; I'll need to keep a closer eye on that this year and be more intentional about mixing up my reading more.

To start, then, this year's top picks for fiction:

Historical Fiction:

The Daughter's Tale by Armando Lucas Correa: Trying to survive as a Jew in France in WWII.

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles: Trying to survive as a librarian in France in WWII.

Christmas Bells by Jennifer Chiaverini: A double story; one part takes place in the life of Wordsworth in the years leading up to and during the American Civil War, including him writing the poem "Christmas Bells", while the other looks at the stories of a group of people (wife, choir boy, choir girl, widow, priest, nun, music teacher, accompanist) and how their lives overlap in present-day Boston. It was one of my favourite stories this year.

The Flower of the Family by Elizabeth Prentiss: A lovely, older story about a girl and her family and her life; there's no great adventure, just life. (This could go under youth as well, or maybe young adult.)

Youth Fiction (there weren't many this year; these were both recommended by a friend):

The Heart of Arcrea by Nicole Sager: A story about a quest and the people who join on the way, and about trusting God. I'm currently reading the second in the trilogy and planning to start the third once I borrow it!

The Wilderking Trilogy by Jonathan Rogers: My previous blogpost (the only one of 2023) was a review and recommendation of this one.

Mysteries (I read a lot of them this year; they were excellent bus books)

The Bullet that Missed by Richard Osman: Part of the Thursday Murder Club series; I enjoy the series and am happy that there's a new one out (I am currently number 72 in line at the library, but there are 51 copies, so I should have it soon enough).

Chocoholic Mysteries by JoAnna Carl: I read 5 of them; the main character works at her aunt's chocolate store.

The Highland Bookshop Mystery Series by Molly MacRae: I read all 5 of them and am waiting for another one; these are probably my favourites and they involve a group of ladies who run a bookshop/tea shop in Scotland.

The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes series by Leonard Goldberg: I read 6 of them; the main character is the daughter of Sherlock Holmes and Irene Adler, and she solves mysteries alongside elderly John Watson and his son, the younger John Watson.

Kate Shackleton Mysteries by Frances Brody; I read 10 of them; they take place in the 1920s and star a war widow who started by trying to track down any record of her husband after he was "missing and presumed dead" and from there began solving other mysteries as well.

My only problem with the mystery series that I enjoyed is that I've read all of them (or, in the case of the Chocoholic books, all that the library has). I'm going to have to find new books this year!