Skip to main content

Long Weekend


I cooked a pre-Thanksgiving dinner for my son, daughter and grand children on Sunday.  It seems like we never get together on an actual holiday—well, rarely—so I figured I would make the best of it by celebrating whenever.  And it was a holiday, anyway.

The grand kids had Monday off from school so they stayed overnight because their mom had to work.  We had a busy day.  Dane brought his packet of kindergarten homework.  He is in an all day program and he has a packet of activities to practice letter recognition, numbers, and writing his full name.

Here is what I noticed about that.  While we were walking around downtown Burlington (our trip to the city), he was constantly counting things—pigeons on the sidewalk, items in store windows, wrapped packages they were bringing in for setting up under a Christmas tree.  He was reading off the letters  and numbers on signs all over the place, even when we stopped at a light on the way home.  He seemed to be having a delightful time practicing these skills.  Then we got home and decided to do one of the activities.  He has a hard time with the pencil and he got frustrated right away.  “It’s so hard.  I hate school.”  That just broke my heart.  He really does enjoy school though—at least for now.

The library was closed for Veteran’s Day, but I still had a job to complete.  The kids helped me out.  We made puppets.
DSCN2222
The story time group is being treated to a puppet show and then the kids are going to  make their own puppets.  We made the examples.  Since we ran out of paper towels during this activity, I made a tube puppet as well.
DSCN2224
My daughter made the napkin holder when she was in middle school.  All the schools around here have cut out those industrial art and home economics programs. Schools are making me feel sad today.

Comments

  1. As a former teacher, I'm sure that Dane's outburst bothered you even more. Isn't it sad when you see the results of his learning (counting, letter recognition) but the work he's given can be so frustrating for him. I wish teachers would recognize the need for differentiation since each child learns in a different way. [Okay, down from my soapbox!]

    Love the spoon puppets! good luck with the puppet show!

    Peace,
    Muff

    ReplyDelete
  2. How fun counting stuff along the way. I felt his frustration when he got to the paperwork. Sometimes those fine motor skills take a while to catch up with the brain. Sounds like a smart little guy. You made some good memories having a puppet show. I'll bet there was lots of laughing and giggling.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love your tube puppet! Kind of reminds me of the traditional Grammy!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Two of my grandsons are the same way - smart and love learning but get frustrated with the drills and paperwork. Also, I think they're sometimes pushing kids before they're developmentally ready to do pencil and paper drills. My one grandson was put in "remedial handwriting" in first grade! Learning as play or as part of everyday life is so much more meaningful to children. (Gosh you might get long comments from all the retired teachers who read your blog!) Love those puppets. It's given me an idea for a fun craft project to do with the Grands!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree. Here is an interesting fact:Developmentally, the pace at which kids write does not even out until 9th grade, and there is really nothing you can do about it. But what misery if you are at the slow end of that spectrum.x

    ReplyDelete
  6. I couldn't agree with you more. What happened to making learning fun? Schools today make me sad also. I was looking at a notebook I put together in the mid-60's for a class in art for those of us who were preparing to be elementary school teachers. As I looked through my notes and examples of activities from all those years ago, I was struck by how much we have lost in today's educational environment. Thankfully, your grandson has you in his life. The puppets are creative and fun.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love your puppets! I planned to try wooden spoons too. Tube puppet? is that a paper towel tube?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I appreciate readers' comments so much. You don't even always have to agree with me.

Popular posts from this blog

Updates

 On September 29, I had the closing on my condo. Everything that was not going to the buyers was out and packed in the ABF moving truck which had by the been taken over to the storage units. Don thought it would take him until Wednesday to finish packing the truck with the help of his son. It took him until late Thursday with Chris' help and mine. Kevin was supposed to help load as well but he was in a mountain bike accident and wrecked his shoulder the week before. That added driving him to doctor appointments to my to do list and dong some shopping for him plus jobs around the house that might need two functioning upper limbs.  We stayed with Kevin on Friday night after the closing and then had a suite in an extended stay place for the coming week. This was the worst possible time to have to get a room because the prices balloon during leaf peeping season if you can even find a room at all. But it was close to the storage units where we were working and it was dog friendly. We ju

Wedding

 Don and I drove to South Carolina to attend the wedding of my step-grandson, Will. Will Will and Katie The wedding took place on Dataw Island, a beautiful outdoor ceremony followed by a reception in the country club. We stayed in a tiny cottage in the historic center of Beaufort, rented from Vrbo. Since the wedding was at 5 p.m., we had time to explore the area a bit. I really like the low country scenery and historical charm. Sitting quietly in the curtained gazebo I was visited by multiple cardinals. They came to visit the feeder, not me, but I can always pretend! How I will always remember Will!

Rest In Peace

 In a summer that has been so wet, Sunday was a reprieve. The humidity dropped and the sun came out. It was a day that could have been special ordered by the family of a friend's husband. It was the day they had arranged his celebration of life ceremony set on the shore of Lake Champlain. I was not looking forward to the gathering, even couched as a celebration. This is a family fraught with relationship tensions. It turned out to be a beautiful day and a beautiful ceremony. A Catholic priest gave a brief but meaningful homily and two Air Force members played "Taps" and presented the American flag to my friend. I am not a Christian, but I do know about Christ Consciousness. That priest's word's filled me with such a sense of peace and love. I hope it did the same for the family members and neighbors who attended.