It's SPRING! I love spring, it is a great time of year to get outside and work in the yard or go for a walk. There really isn't anything better than a brisk walk on a fresh spring day. The sun magically lifts our spirits and puts a smile on our face.

I have a good friend whose husband suffers with depression. She told me that his therapist makes him walk outside for at least a half -hour before he will see him. He is literally a different person after excersizing outside! The endorphins produced by the sun and excersize make a profound difference in his attitude. We can all benefit from taking a walk outside so grab your husband or a friend, maybe a child or a grandchild, or maybe your dog and get outside and enjoy this beautiful season! The sun is waiting to embrace you, the birds want to sing you their song and the blossoms will tickle your nose with the fragrance of God's love. You are SPECIAL! Make the most of each day because you deserve the the best of all that this amazing earth has to offer!

oxoxo!
Sherry

Comfort Counts

After the NSA meeting I blogged about last time, I got to speak one on one with Mark Eaton (the former 7'4" Utah Jazz basketball star.) It is so strange standing next to someone of that height. I wanted to talk to him, but I was a bit star struck and didn't know what to say intelligently. So, what did I do, probably what 95%of people talk to him about, his size. Afterwards, I thought, "That's probably that last thing in the world he wants to talk about!" But it had just occurred to me how very uncomfortable it would be to have to sit in normal-sized chairs for someone with such long legs from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. with a few breaks in between. So, I asked him if it was difficult to sit on such small chairs for so long, and he said that it was okay, but that he did have to get up and stand sometimes. I said, "Yeah, it would be like me sitting in my little grandchildren's chairs." Driving home, I thought, "It would be great if someone could custom make folding camp chairs for really tall people that they could easily take with them to day-long events." (Somebody probably has somewhere.)

Well, as you are reading with your child, think about their comfort - them being small in your big world. When kids are just playing with learning the alphabet and numbers, they can relax on the couch, or sit on the floor, whatever they are most comfortable doing. But when it comes time to start reading, it's time for a little more structure; just because it's easier to lay the book on the table while using their finger to read with. It's harder to do that on their lap.

When a 4 or 5-year old sits on a regular chair at a regular table, they are seated way too low to make reading comfortable. They need to be up higher so it is easier for them to both see and follow along with their finger. With my 5-year old granddaughter, we tried the baby's booster seat, and as Goldilocks would say, "It was just right!" It made a huge difference. Also, by sitting at the table, it seemed to help her to concentrate better. Even though other kids were still running around, it was much better than being on the couch with them running around right in front of her.

No booster seat? Try a stool to the table or a stack of big books. When my students read at my house, I pull the piano bench over in front of the couch and it works great!

Comfort really does count. Children, like the rest of us, perform much better when they are comfortable.

Doreese

Get and Give

Another blog about something that really had an impact on my life. Day before yesterday, I attended a day-long event in Salt Lake City presented by the NSA (National Speakers Association). Our hearts and minds were fed by 10 different speakers; some of the top motivational speakers in the country. Here are their names:

Marty Val Hill, Jean Palmer Heck, Mark Eaton, Doug Nielsen, Judith Rasband, Jathan Janove, Jason Hewlett, Brad Barton, Tim Border, Kathy Loveless and Dan Clark.

I invite you to google each of them and find out why they are so special; see what they've done with their lives.

There are so many horrible things going on in the world today. It can really get us down. But, when I attend something such as this, it reinforces my confidence in humanity. If you are feeling a little empty inside, and even if you're not, look around you for the many opportunities there are for you to go and get filled. Check into your community's calendar and go to a seminar, take a class, go to a concert, etc., etc. Also, a good, uplifting, motivating book will do the trick.

Then once you have been filled, you will be more in a position to give to others. I like to call it, "get and give." There's just something about seeing other people giving and sharing their talents to help me that makes me want to go out and do the same. I'm sure you can guess that the way I like to give is through improving literacy. I LOVE teaching kids how to read, and I LOVE teaching parents how to teach their kids how to read. I'm also a big supporter of volunteerism.

If you don't have a cause, go out and find one. To name a few, there's: volunteering at a school, or an animal shelter, you can call your city office and ask if they need volunteers for anything, be a Boy or Girl Scout Leader, a 4-H Leader, be a SCORE counselor (they help people in small businesses), help the less fortunate, and on and on. Even just a phone call to lift someone in need. There's something that's a perfect fit for you.

The really amazing thing about this NSA event was that all proceeds were being donated to the Boy Scouts of America! Talk about giving!!!

I hope that if you're ever feeling down, these words will come to your mind and you will go out and do them: "get and give."

Doreese

Music and reading?

I saw something last night that inspired me so that I wanted to blog about it, even though it didn't have anything to do with reading. Then as I thought about it, I realized it has everything to do with reading! My son took me to see a young man, Haochen Zhang - age 19, who put on a piano concert. I was completely blown away by what I both saw and heard. He played five numbers, some with three and four movements by Mozart, Brahms, Chopin, Shuman and Stravinsky. Then he played an encore piece. He had it all memorized; nearly two hours worth! The numbers had the right mix of loud and soft, fast and slow. I especially liked the loud, fast parts. When he played fast, his fingers were just a blur! And it sounded so neat. I really could not believe what I was seeing and hearing.

In order to learn all of that, he had to know how to read music. Music is the universal language. It is decoding note symbols into corresponding tones. As a mother of five who all grew up learning how to play the piano, I know some of what it takes. Before I ever had children, I determined that they would all learn how to read books and they would learn how to read music. Reading and playing music greatly helps increase learning in other areas, especially math. The piano and other instruments that require two hands are really good because they use more of both the right and left side of the brain's power.

Haochen began studying at age three. When he was five, he had his first recital at the Shanghai Music Hall. He played 15 Bach 2-part inventions and sonatas by Mozart and Hayden. Wish I could have seen that! At age six, he played with an orchestra.

His experience supports my belief that the best time to start learning is when you are really young. Children are like sponges; soaking up everything. I haven't really pushed reading with two-year olds other than just reading the beginning books to them. But, I am now working with some two-year olds, and I have realized... "Don't under estimate the two-year olds!" They are really capable of learning a lot and they have so much fun doing it.

Experts say that just listening to classical music stimulates learning. So, way before your child can learn a musical instrument, or if playing an instrument isn't going to work out, just let your child listen to the music. If the experts are right, it will make a difference.

Doreese

Every Day Literacy for Pre-schoolers

Pre-school age children can learn a lot about literacy just from their every day environment. Take advantage of the many teaching opportunities that are all around you. Start with street signs. Both the shape of a stop sign as well as the word "STOP" which is written on it are forms of literacy learning. Same with yield signs. It's been interesting to me to observe that most pre-school children readily recognize a stop sign, but they don't know what a yield sign is. Where I live, there are almost as many yield signs as their are stops signs, yet children don't know what one is. (Hint: If you teach them to recognize a yield sign, they will more quickly learn the clue I use for upper case 'Y'.) Literacy doesn't have to always involve words. Point out railroad crossing, school crossing and speed limit signs; just anything you drive past. Logos are great. Do they know what it means when they see the double arches of McDonald's, or the big hat of Arby's? There are many things they can learn before actually learning how to read. Just get them observing things around them. You can still show and tell them signs with words on them such as what it says on the grocery store, gas stations, banks, clothing stores, etc. It may surprise you what they will pick up on.

According to the Webster Dictionary, literate means, "Versed in learning and science; educated." Doing the above activities takes literacy and brings it down to a 2-5 year olds' level. It has to begin somewhere, right?

So, the next time you go somewhere, turn your outing into a pre-school literacy adventure!