Newsworthy Rats

So Papa and I decided a few months ago to begin a subscription to The Wall Street Journal. We've done so in the past, but stopped them due to major, major delivery problems (like the paper not coming three days out of six) and budget issues. We love the paper; we just like getting it when it's not too much of a budget crunch or when we, you know, actually get it. We'll determine in the next few weeks if the current delivery practice of our unknown paper carrier continues (he or she lies to drive onto our front lawn to leave the paper on our porch. And in Minnesota midwinter, the tire tracks on the front lawn are a little, um, obvious and presumptuous. In other words, WHO DOES THAT?! We've tried to report him or her, but still the tracks remain. So it goes in rural America, at least here, with us, with this newspaper saga).

Now that this post has included so many parentheticals that you're wondering what the point it, it's this. One of the reasons we love getting a physical newspaper is because we can share it with the kids. Yes, they're young, and most of them can't read. But they like looking at the pictures and discussing them, and it's far more enjoyable to hold a paper newspaper than to read it online (or at least Papa and I think). So last week, when I read this article about rat-throwing at a local festival in Spain, I knew we had a winner. The boys loved the article, Little Professor so much so that he proceeded to read it out loud several times several days later. There's innocent glee when a five-year-old snickers as he reads, "Despite animal-rights activists' objections to the practice, locals last year once again threw caution to the wind—along with rodents." If this encourages my children to read and learn about the world, then I just might be able to tolerate the tire-tracks on the lawn--for a little while, at least.

Because sometimes they sit still long enough for me to take their picture

Sometime in the distant future, I'll blog about learning progress this year. But for now, I'm pleased to share that our Little Professor has taken to reading books to Superman and Pearly Girl. Without being asked. And they actually sit and listen to him. I snuck into Pearly Girl's room at the beginning of quiet time and found them this way. I love Pearly Girl's expressions. The boys were totally absorbed in the book. (And oui, oui--that's a French dictionary that Pearly Girl loves to cart around. She's our cultured one.) Here's to many more sibling read-alongs in the future.   

Losing Fiction

Oh, how I've missed this.

I'm pragmatic. I love non-fiction texts--biographies, social analyses, theology (duh), political theory, all types of history. I think all people, particularly young people, should spend more time immersed in history. But this article raises the hackles on my knowledge-loving soul. In short, it reports that almost all states will require at least 70% of classroom texts to be non-fiction by 2014. Here's the terrifying ending quote from the article: "Supporters of the directive argue that it will help pupils to develop the ability to write concisely and factually, which will be more useful in the workplace than a knowledge of Shakespeare."

God help us all. Besides the fact that public education in our country is incontrovertibly failing (case in point: how many high school graduates do you know who can sit down and write "concisely and factually" about, say, how the printing press affected the Reformation or three causes of the American Civil War? Really, anything historically, politically, theologically significant that happened before 1990?), since when did usefulness in the workplace become the definitive educational purpose?  I know that liberal arts education has long been out of vogue, but I suppose I hoped most educators at least pretended to embrace knowledge for knowledge's sake, not just because they could draw a direct line from addition to clean accounting books.

Some years ago, Wendell Berry, the agrarian philosopher and author of some amazing novels, succinctly put our educational quandary this way:

The complexity of our present trouble suggests as never before that we need to change our present concept of education. Education is not properly an industry, and its proper use is not to serve industries, either by job-training or by industry-subsidized research. It's proper use is to enable citizens to live lives that are economically, politically, socially, and culturally responsible. This cannot be done by gathering or "accessing" what we now call "information" - which is to say facts without context and therefore without priority. A proper education enables young people to put their lives in order, which means knowing what things are more important than other things; it means putting first things first.

"First things first." And what are first things? Truth and that which sheds light on it: great art (and, I would argue, science can shed light on Truth, too). But if first things are passé at best and rejected outright at worst--and it would seem we're reaching for the worst--then we're all in serious trouble. For if usefulness in the workplace more than any other reason drives our education for our children, then they--and we--will lose a lot more than fiction. 

Yet In Its Depth What Treasures, Part II

In a private letter written in 1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote, ''You are now in London, that great sea, whose ebb and flow at once is deaf and loud, and on the shore vomits its wrecks, and still howls on for more. Yet in its depth what treasures!'' These words in no way conjure up the dignified, even majestic image (re: NBC entry shots) we desire for London. And yet they fit sport, and especially the 2012 Olympics, in London, metaphorically well.  (We don't really want to talk, let alone think, about vomit, do we?)

It's been an exciting two weeks, these Olympic Games. Swimmers, shooters, gymnasts, runners, divers, tennis players, volleyball players, basketball players--amazing athletes all, and we Olsons had our favorites. Phelps made tremendous history (though he began disconcertingly sluggishly), and we will always be glad we witnessed his historic achievement of twenty-two medals. Unfathomable, really--I don't think we'll really be able to appreciate it until years have passed. He's truly a legend.  Lochte made his mark (in more ways than one--wink and YIKES); Schmitt, Vollmer, Soni, and Ledecky pulled off big, happy wins, too (and Brit Adlington showed super class). The US women's gymnastics team won a stellar gold team medal, and Douglas scored the all-around (impressive feats!), but Aly Raisman gets our biggest nod for peaking--and pulling off awesome performances--AND being such a great team leader for the women's team. We were thrilled Usain Bolt won again, but we were inspired by gentle David Rudisha, who won the 800 meters in world record time. The trifecta of golds in forty-five minutes for the UK was moving--and hearing ten thousands of people sing "God Save the Queen" at the top of their lungs was tear-inducing. So beautiful.

And how about that Allyson Felix getting her gold in the 200 meters? You go, girl! And those relay finals were spec-tac-u-lar. The beach volleyball win by May-Treanor and Walsh was awesome; here they come, Rio?! We watched most of the match between Murray and Federer, and that was a tennis final to remember! Awesome Murray win! (Okay, yeah... we cried during that medal ceremony, too.) The US women's soccer team pulled it out again, as did the men's basketball team in a relatively close final with Spain. And David Boudia squeaking out a gold on the men's platform diving? WOW. All these and many more really impressed us.

And no, we didn't forget her. Yeah, HER. Missy Franklin, the sparkly, smiley teenage swimming phenom, wins our family gold for most bright, positive, sportsmanship-like behavior, and a girl whose attitude we hope can inspire our boys and our little C (who, literally as I typed this, pulled herself up to a standing position! At eight months! Inspired already!). Missy, we hope we get to watch you swim--and smile--for many more Olympics.

Missy, you gave whole new meaning to "in its depth what treasures!"

P.S. Our silver goes to Bob Costas, whose prose and poise always impress us. Watching him interview Missy Franklin was one of our favorite parts of these Olympic Games.

P.P.S. And we've got a tie for bronze--Kayla Harrison, who is a fighter in the best sense of the word, who won the first US women's medal (and gold at that!) in judo; and in the spirit of British excellence, Mohamed Farah, the 5000 and 10,000 meter winner, who Papa can't talk about without getting emotional. Truly amazing.

How To Teach a Two-Year-Old to Read

Tangible Items Needed:

Wooden alphabet puzzle (or another tactile alphabet appealing to toddlers)

The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading

Magnetic dry erase board with marker and eraser

Magnetic letters (capital and lower case)

Blank note cards (to make letter cards and word cards)

Markers

Bob Books, Set 1 (optional)

Intangible Items Needed:

10-15 minutes of daily lesson time

Patience

Enthusiasm

An excited, precocious* toddler**
 
*"Precocious" defined loosely. Definitive characteristics of a precocious child: he breathes, eats, sleeps, bathrooms without extensive adult assistance. He seems excited about life, i.e. running laps around the living room, jumping on the bed, watching leaves blow on trees, listening to stories.

**A toddler is, by definition, a tangible creation. Yet I didn't want to get into some existential discussion of the differences between body and soul, so the toddler falls here under intangible. Because--let's face it--he's a lot harder to define and explain than, say, a marker. 

Directions:

1. First, start reading to the child at birth (or shortly thereafter. Like within the first week). One story before bed. One story at naptime(s). One story at 10:37. One story at whenever-you-trip-over-the-stuffed-bear-due-to-sleep-deprivation. Etcetera. Optional, but highly recommended as you wade through the post-partum fog--it'll snap you out of it, I promise!: Read The Well-Trained Mind.  



2. Stock the child's room, living room, kitchen, bathroom with books. Lots of books. Quality books, preferably older ones. Caldecott medal winners, Mother Goose, Beatrix Potter, A Child's Garden Book of Verse, Dr. Seuss. Encourage the child to read all the time. It helps if you limit TV. To less than half an hour a day (preferably none). And stock up on tape. Enthusiasm can be destructive (purposeful or unintentional).

3. Around the child's second birthday, get an wooden alphabet puzzle or some other tactile alphabet for the child to explore. Our P learned the alphabet in three weeks--because he kept bugging us to do his "letter puzzle" twenty times a day (one thing a parent can never say "no" to!). All kids are different, yada, yada, yada--I know all kids are not like P. Just remember that brain synapses are about 1000 times more numerous in the first three years of life than at any other time, so memorization is not only a novelty (re: FUN!) for little kids, it's highly possible.

4. With markers and cards, make letter cards. We made two sets; the first was for fun, making sure P knew both capital and lower case letters. ...

5. The second letter card set followed the directions from The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, which is an awesome resource for any parent to use. It contains phonetics lessons broken down in very small pieces, with dialogue for the parent/teacher. It also contains additional materials to use, like a dry-erase board and magnetic letters. With the letter lessons, we sometimes combined two at once; we sometimes now take three days for one lesson. We might stop for a month or two if P's not picking up on putting letters together to read words. But he's reading sat, bat, cat, hat, bed, Ted, Nan (words found in The Bob Books)... and he'll be three in June.

YOUR KID CAN DO IT, TOO.

How to Raise Boys That Read

J read me this Thomas Spence Wall Street Journal op-ed this morning. Terribly sad, because it's true and because it's avoidable. The last lines give us enough to ponder: "I offer a final piece of evidence that is perhaps unanswerable: There is no literacy gap between home-schooled boys and girls. How many of these families, do you suppose, have thrown grossology parties?" Other factors Mr. Spence doesn't directly address: the rise of mothers who work outside the home coupled with the increasing number of single moms (and the lack of male role models for boys). I have much more to say on this, but for now, enjoy pondering this instead. :)