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October 14, 2007
Travel's Little Pleasures
I have yet to remember to go online to get a boarding pass the day of my flight. Here I stand again in the B line with the rest of the forgetful passengers. We mill around and talk to those in front or behind us while other passengers are finding seats.
The lady in front of me has two children and five grandchildren. I know because we agree we would not want to take the place of the Mom behind us with the cute, blond little boy. Mom and Grandmom both have their hands full as he wants up, no down; a bottle, no a binky.
As our line begins to move, Grandmom gives him a last kiss and walks by us. My friend comments that now she can go home and rest. She looks at us and says, “I’m going to go sleep for the rest of the weekend.”
I choose to sit several rows away from the Mom and child whose face was now covered in red licorice. I ended up across the aisle from a Mom, Dad and child about the same age as the little boy. She was sitting in Dad’s lap as we all settled in to our seats.
I watched as the plane began to taxi and she stood up in Daddy’s lap. He hugged her tight and then asked her to find his nose. She touched his nose and giggled. He then asked her to find his eyes, ears, chin, and hair. She laughed every time she touched his face. He hugged her every time she laughed. As we took off and I felt my ears begin to pop, I saw the little girl sit down and lean against her Dad. He held her tight, and she relaxed without making a sound.
I worked on my computer most of the flight, but I couldn’t help but notice the little girl. For an hour and a half in a very confined space, she and her Dad or her Mom played. Toward the end of the flight when all tray tables were up and seats returned to their upright positions, my seatmate and I commented on the little girl. She’d been watching her too. She said, “Those are two lucky parents.”
Luck? Maybe, but I don’t think so.
Posted by Dr Joni at 09:07 AM
October 01, 2007
Reading, Writing and Whatever on Saturday?
Saturday School moves everyone from the front room to the classroom. Moms come to drop the kids off and stay the morning. At least last Saturday morning at a school in Sacramento that's what 11 Moms did.
St. Hope School in Sacramento, a charter attracting children from around the area, started it's Saturday school this year. In addition to breakfast, academic classes in the morning, lunch, and enrichment in the afternoon, there are three hours available for the parents. All parents must put in 40 hours of time helping out at the school during the year. Most put in a lot more. These parents decided to show up for a learning workshop to see what they could do at home.
More than one was concerned about the workshop being a lecture, but were delighted to find a little talk and a story reading was about all they'd hear from the presenter. The rest was hands on.
What fun to watch one parent make a booklet to take home to her child, another made a schedule of various activities they could do together. We focused this session on listening, speaking, and writing skills, and each of the parents walked away with more than one activity she could do with her child in the next week.
It doesn't take coming to a Saturday School workshop in order for you to do learning activities at home with your child. I'm glad they came because I enjoy doing workshops with parents. We all have a good time and they always teach me something, but you can start tomorrow.
Here's one you might try at any age after he or she has started writing. Have your child write the directions for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You might want to tell her that you will do exactly what she writes so be sure to include all the steps and directions. Have her read what she's written. Follow what is read exactly. If she tells you to put the peanut butter on the bread and doesn't tell you to use a knife, use your fingers. If she says to put the jelly on the peanut butter, put the jar of jelly on the peanut butter. Follow direction.
You'll both laugh a lot, but you might not want to eat the first sandwich. After a few tries, directions get very clear and precise. Try it this week and see what happens. Let me know how it goes. The ladies on Saturday enjoyed this one too.
Posted by Dr Joni at 09:03 PM