Showing posts with label Word. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Word. Show all posts

Monday, October 27, 2014

Halloween - Oh How I Love You



I'm throwing school out the window today. Ok. Not really. We never really stop learning, do we? Today we have transitioned to the next phase of the Middle Ages having finished Vikings on Friday. I like to start a new block with crafts and fun and decided we would have art day where we focus on creating illuminated books. You can only fill so much of your day with an ancient art form (we'll continue it tomorrow) so over a lunch of pizza (Mondays are pizza day) for the kids and sauteed veggies for me, I pulled out an old favorite at my house. Silver Ravenwolf's Halloween. I love this book. I mean I really love this book.

To be honest, it has been a very long time since this book was cracked open but it was exactly as I remembered it.  Ravenwolf not only walks the reader through the history of Halloween or Samhain (as much as can be pieced together), she gives sources!  Imagine that.  Someone writing who gives sources (seeing that less and less!)  She also gives recipes, traditions, crafts and spells for the adventurous.



If you are looking for a traditional book on Pagan holidays, this entire series is worth reading.  But this book, Halloween, is by far my favorite.   To print the Halloween art above click here. 

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Summer Movie Scene

Oh the places we'll go......which includes the movie theater!  This summer is going to cost us a small fortune in matinee fees.  The viewing list for the family includes Kung Fu Panda and Cars 2.  For my adult list see my other blog Living Harmonies.


Summer Reading

Me:  "How many books can I check out at a time?"  
Librarian:  After he appraises me....."25."
Me:  "Thank God.  My son will be finished with the Summer Reading requirements by the end of the first couple of days."
Librarian:  Silence.


Maybe I should have asked him if there is a prize for not only 10 hours of reading during the summer but for at least 10 hours per week during the summer. I walked out of the library with 8 for him today.   Thank goodness for the pool, Nashville Shores and all of the history sites around the area!

Monday, July 12, 2010

St. George and the Dragon





St. George and the Dragon was a big part of the school year.  They used it as part of the pedagogical study and this was the play that was performed.  I LOVE Noah's Dragon.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Wicked Countdown


Okay. I know I should be counting down to China...but, as we have no firm dates for travel, so I am counting down to Wicked, the musical. September 13, 2009, Nathan and I along with his parents and sister will be sitting in fabulous seats at TPAC viewing Wicked. If you have not read Wicked or any other Gregory Maquire, run, don't walk to the nearest bookstore and pick up one of the most intriguing and unusual stories to grace fiction bookshelves.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Why Waldorf and Why No Media?

Last night as Nathan, Noah and walked down the Shelby Bottoms Greenway I had time to think about our day which led me to further reflection about the media policies in Waldorf Education. Of course, these are my personal thoughts and not nesseccarily from a Waldorf pedagogical stance.

First, let me tell you a little about our week. Noah watched television last Sunday. We had no TV again until Wednesday afternoon which was his first day of school. It was a half day but was still overwhelming due to getting up early, mine and Nathan's committment to the Hospitality Committee that morning and Noah's first day of getting back to that routine. And, it was seriously hot. So, by the time we arrived home, we were both overheated and just plain exhausted. He asked and I said yes, so PBS was turned on for about an hour and a half and I vegged out in front of the computer. Noah did not see the TV again until Saturday morning.

Over the weekend, he watched a little television, some on Saturday morning and then on Sunday. We have been listening to Harry Potter and the SS on CD and as we have finished it, I decided we could watch the movie on Sunday night. So, from Sunday to Sunday, he probably watched a total of 8 hours of TV which works out to an hour a day, which, quite frankly, is still too much, but compared to what the average child watched - 28 Hours - I'm feeling pretty good. And, considering that out of those 8 days, only 4 consisted of TV time - I'm still feeling good.

There are days when we are torn. We would like to eliminate the television entirely, but Nathan and I also enjoy it and we want Noah to grow up with access to some media as we do not want him to be an adult that cannot carry on conversations with other adults when it comes to pop culture. That may sound silly, but I have met those people and it is not pretty.

That, coupled with the fact that MANY of the kids we interact with have seen so much more than Noah and he is already feeling a little left out, leads us to this. But, I want to be clear about the media and its affect on our children. Noah and his friends can scarcely carry on conversations without them including references to television shows. Noah is NOT allowed to watch cable television shows such as Spongebob, but so many of his friends are - even the Waldorf kids - and it is somewhat disturbing to me that even at this young of an age that the media has so much influence over them.

I was thinking of these things last night and what I realize is that the media policies that exist in Waldorf education serve many purposes and it is my hope that as families turn to Waldorf schools and enroll their children there they will follow the policies to the best of their ability. Though I have no PROOF of this, I would daresay that the day for an average child in the US goes something like this:

Get up in the morning, get dressed, have breakfast and turn on the TV. If the child is not at a school that has a dress code, they might put on a Dora or Scooby Doo shirt. They go to school where other children are wearing character clothing. At some point during they day they may be shown a movie (yes this happens, I remember it as a child and have recently had families tell me that their child is regulary shown movies at school and I KNOW that MANY daycares use movies for toddler/preschool children). They spend much of their free time disucssing TV shows and then come home to turn the television back on.

There is really not a point during the day when the children are free of the distractions of television. I say television but I also lump video games into this category. Most of the families we know outside of Waldorf have at least one gaming system, many have them all. We go to restaurants and see children as young as 5 walk in with DS games and never once look up or talk to the parents. We see kids texting and never interacting with their families at dinner.

It is incredibly sad.

So...that is one of the reasons we are so grateful for our school and the Waldorf perspective. While at school the children are not allowed to discuss TV or pop culture. No cell phones are allowed. No video games. No clothing covered in Bakugan. None of those things. The children are able to knit, read, paint, do their work in a media free environment giving them the one respite they may have. Our children will have MANY years to be rammed by the media machine. Childhood only happens once and I am glad we have chosen this path for Noah where he will have at least a few years of having a few precious hours of each day in a media free environment.

With that said, I would LOVE to have a Wii. Oh well.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

No News + A Few Good Books

For those following along, we are still waiting for our SCL (Seeking Confirmation Letter) Chinese Center for Adoption Affairs). As soon as we know, you will know. I suppose it is not entirely a bad thing we are still waiting. Our social worker came by last week to see the new digs (a formality) and we realized our homestudy is not written to allow us to adopt a 3 year old with special needs. So, that is having to be rewritten (or will be as soon as we get our new police reports showing we have committed no crimes). When I have told people that adoption is not for the feint of heart, I've been serious. So, for now, we update and wait and....read lots of good books.

One of the pluses of living in Nashville is access to the great library system they have here. Noah and I frequent 3 of the libraries, including the downtown library and it is so much fun. We have gotten lots of great books and one of our favorites lately has been Thea's Tree by Alison Jackson. This is a clever take on the Jack and the Beanstalk fairytale and is great for older kids.



We are huge fans of the Nate the Great series by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat and we found some of the books on CD, so our car rides have been filled with listening to the story of a 9 year old detective who loves pancakes solving neighborhood mysteries. Big fun!

And, of course, we are listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone again...and again...and again. Noah really gets it now and says he is ready to move on to The Chamber of Secrets. We are going to try it. It is a little scarier and the kids are a little older, so I'm not sure. Maybe when he turns 8. We'll see.

See keep checking back here for more book recommendations and updates on our journey to Arwyn.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The Thumbtown Toad

I had to blog about this book today. We were given this book, if I remember correctly from our dear Australian friends as it was too scary for their son. I remember scanning through it and sort of thinking...maybe in a few years, but it has stayed on the Sun's bookshelf for the last - oh - 3 years. I think somehow we all shied away from this book for some reason. Last night, though, was the night.

We all lay down in Noah's bed and Nathan begins reading this book. My first reaction is absolute horror. It is really a horrific book in some strange way. The Thumbtown Toad (by George Mendoza) is a woman, a horribly wicked woman, that catches people and eats them. The book is illustrated for children and done in short rhyme so it does not seem that bad. But, seriously, it is horrible. But! Strangely, Nathan and I really began laughing at the absurdity of the book and that it was written for children in the early 70's that by the time we got to the end, we were all three laughing hysterically! The end of the book has the Thumbtown Toad going to sleep and having a nightmare and she was so scared she burst into flames. Seriously!

The really funny part - her crow who would spit on her would not even spit on her to put out the flames. All I could think of was "he wouldn't even spit on her if she were on fire!"

Seriously twisted book. But, we all got a good kick out of it. Apparently it is out of print as I have searched the web to attempt to add a photo of it here but I cannot find it anywhere in an image.

Oh well. If you come across it, you'll know what I mean.

Dana

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Mamma Mia


Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, ABBA and a Greek Island. What more can a girl want? Well, to see this movie with her best girlfriends. However, said girlfriends said they would rather "stick hot pokers in their eyes" than see this movie. So, I went with my best guy friend, whose name I shall not mention here.

Well, the opening of the movie was a bit slow and I was a little worried. You would have been, too. But, it soon picked up and what we have is a fabulous musical with some great actors/actresses. Meryl Streep still has the ability to wow me and Pierce Brosnan...well, he was a Bond....enough said.

None of the cast sings very well, but I don't think they are supposed to. The movie was cute and campy and is just a feel good story that all women should see with their best friends, mothers, sisters, etc.

I cried during several parts of the movie and was so moved over watching the main character - Donna - sing about the times she had with her daughter growing up. It may have been a little too close to home for me as I prepare to send Noah off to school in 9 short days. Where has the time gone?

So...see Mamma Mia. My MIL loved it even more than the Broadway version which she loved on Broadway!

See it today.

Dana