A Letter to MRS. CLAUS

For hundreds of years, children have carefully written their letters of wants and needs to Santa Claus.  But, what of Mrs. Claus?  She is Santa's greatest support.  It seems only fitting that she should receive some letters too, right?  But we never think of doing that!

This year, I would encourage you to encourage your children to write a letter to Mrs. Claus.  It will be fun and interesting to see what they would say in a letter where they are not asking for stuff.  I would guess it would be more of a letter of gratitude!



Well, I won't be talking to you again until next year!  So, I'm wishing you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS full of love and warmth, happiness and plenty of chocolate!  

Doreese

Bring Christ to Your Christmas Morning

With all of the excitement over the anticipation of wonderful and many gifts, Christmas trees and lights, candy canes and Santa Claus, it's very easy for children to forget the main purpose we have a Christmas holiday.  It's pretty clear to show them who it's all about; just underline the first syllable.

Oh, many of us have Sunday School lessons about baby Jesus during December.  We sing songs about him and have Christmas programs about him.  Many of us recite the telling of his birth from the New Testament on Christmas Eve.  But, what happens on Christmas Day at your house?  As I think back on it, it was all about Santa Claus!  And, it's fun and exciting to see what Santa brings us, but on Christ's birthday, there's nothing that brings our focus back to Him.

If you would like to change that, it'd be easy enough.  There are many children's books on The New Testament.  Give each child their very own.  Then for that moment, when they open that gift, they will think, "Oh, yeah, it's Jesus's birthday today."  If they all ready have a story book about Him, give them some other object to draw their attention to the Savior.  Have it there with the rest of their gifts.  When my kids were older, I gave them a calendar that had different pictures of Christ for each month.  There are hundreds of beautiful pictures of Christ you could give them.

A good motivation for reading their New Testament books would be to have them set the goal to be to the Easter story by the time Easter comes around.  Then they can have a Christ-centered Easter too!

Doreese

Thanksgiving - Get Your Children to Think About It

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

"See abc's" spells Thanksgiving . . . C H I L D R E N

At this Thanksgiving time of the year, let's sit down with our kids or grandkids and teach them some things about Thanksgiving and what gratitude means and why the world needs this virtue so desperately.

How much do your children really know about Thanksgiving?  Do they remember much from that one or two years in school where they learned the facts about it?  The little ones need to understand it too.  Now it seems to be just the holiday that needs to hurry past before we get out the Christmas decorations and presents!  So, this year how about having an "interesting factoid" discussion about Thanksgiving with the whole family and ask questions about it to see how much they know about this wonderful holiday, and provide a teaching moment for the things they don't know?

Here's a few questions you could ask:

1.  Who was at the first Thanksgiving?    Pilgrims and Indians
2.  Did they eat turkey?  No
3.  Were the Indians friendly?  Yes
4.  Were the pilgrims friendly?  Yes
5.  Where did the pilgrims come from?  Plymouth, England - across the Atlantic Ocean
6.  What was the name of the ship that brought them?  The May Flower
7.  What did they call the place they settled?  Plymouth Rock
8.  Where is Plymouth Rock?  In what now is the state of Massachusetts
9.  What year did they hold the first Thanksgiving?  1621
10.  How long ago was that?  392 years . . . almost 400 years ago!
11.  Which Indian tribe shared in the first Thanksgiving?  The Wampanoag Indians, and they taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate the land.
12.  What President made Thanksgiving a national holiday?  Abraham Lincoln
13.  Are Pilgrims and Pioneers the same thing?  No.  The pioneers are people who crossed the plains, moving from the Eastern states to what are now the Western states.  This didn't happen until the 1800's.

Ask your children to tell you yes or no if they think the pilgrims and Indians ate these foods.  Mix up foods from the two lists:
*  Food they did not have:  Mashed potatoes, pumpkin pies, popcorn, milk, corn on the cob, and cranberries 
*  Food they could have had:  Lobster, rabbit, chicken, fish, squashes, beans, chestnuts, hickory nuts, onions, leeks, dried fruits, maple syrup and honey, radishes, cabbage, carrots, eggs, and goat cheese 

My daughter's family's gratitude tree.  Something they are grateful for is written on each leaf.  Great idea!

End your discussion with the traditional telling of things you are grateful.  And, I would write them down in a long list.  I also encourage all of you to make sure that your gratitude/blessing lists are ten times longer than your Christmas lists for Santa!

Doreese

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Tap, Don't Talk

Here's a great tip to use when helping your child read.

"Tap, don't talk."

There's nothing more frustrating to a young, beginning reader than to have his/her parent interrupting them every few seconds to correct them.  Young readers will make a lot of mistakes.  They need time to process things in their minds; mostly sounds.  If they mispronounce something, they hopefully will catch it and know that what they said doesn't make sense in the context of the story.  They also will often skip words, or add in extra words anticipating what they think the story is going to say next.  They also often substitute one word for another.  These things are important to correct, as they can completely change the meaning of the story or whatever they are reading.

There's a better way to bring these little things to your child's attention than telling them.  Hearing you correct them so much out loud really draws their attention to just how many mistakes they make.  So, rather than telling them to, "Look at it again, honey," or asking them questions such as, "How do you say this word?" or just simply saying, "Nope, that's wrong," over and over, save your breath and your child's self-esteem by simply tapping near the word they make a mistake on.  They can pause, think about it and try again.  If they miss it the second try, then tap once more.  If on the third try they still can't figure it out, then go ahead and help them.  Tapping near a substituted word; for example, they say "the" instead of "there," they will easily notice what they did wrong.  I only tap twice for each mistake.  Do NOT over emphasize the taps as that will be just as intimidating, if not more so, than you verbally correcting them all the time!

It's much nicer for your child to hear only their own voice while reading.  When you vocalize his/her mistakes, it feels like they are making many more mistakes than if you just quietly tap and allow them to correct themselves.

Happy Reading and Happy Halloween, as I won't be posting again until November.

Doreese

Can "See abc's®" Help Older Children???

Many parents wonder, "Can 'See abc's^®' help older children with reading problems?"  Well, just read the following story and see for yourself!

Millie, the mother of a beautiful, little-3rd grade daughter gave her child's teacher the following note at the spring SEP Conference:

Millie:  

        "She started out very shy and timid.  Her self-esteem was very low.  She was reluctant to even try. She was convinced that she was stupid.  Because of that, she felt that she was not as good as the others.  She was frustrated, scared and depressed all at the same time.  It was even to the point to where she was afraid to make goals or even dream.  She came home every day crying because her teacher was frustrated with her.

       We moved to College Ward, Utah, where she began the third grade at River Heights Elementary.  When her new teacher, Mrs. Nickell, began helping her with the "See abc's" reading program, she came home happy and full of hope.  She told me that she thought she had a chance, now.  The program was a simple concept that she could grasp and understand.  After three days, she came home from school and said, "I don't think it's me.  I don't think that I'm stupid."  Two weeks later, she said, "I know it's not me.  I'm not stupid.  This is even easy!"  I saw her confidence building. . . her self-esteem building. . . her happiness building!  Her willingness to participate and even her appearance and attitude changed for the better!  It gave her the strength to pick herself up, dust herself off, make new friends, and truly be happy in all  her school work, not just reading.

        One night, as I was singing to her at bedtime about the stars, she said, 'I feel like that shining star in the sky.  I have grown so much and I feel like I know what I am doing."  Now, she is convinced that school is a good thing and it's a happy piece of her life."

Of all the great stories that come in about the difference See abc's has made in the lives of children, this is one of my two most favorite!  I still can't read it without tearing up, because I know what it feels like to think you are stupid just because you are a poor or slow reader.  I'm sooooo grateful that See abc's was able to completely change not only her reading abilities, but also her sweet personality.   She completed the entire program and even read books without having to!  That's when you know a child really loves to read.  That didn't happen to me until my late 30's!

So, in answer to the question, "Can See abc's help older children?"  Yes, it absolutely can.  

Doreese

See abc's Launches Emily Far Past the Mark!

• I've told you about little Emily before.  Last year, at her kindergarten screening, she was tested reading on a 4th grade level.  I asked her mother to give me a report on how her Kindergarten year went.  I was amazed to hear of her great accomplishments.  So, from the words of her mother:
  "Emily learned the See abc's" reading program over the space of one Summer. She was only 4. By the time she was finished she still had a year until she'd start kindergarten, but it was all I could do to keep her entertained! She was so excited to read anything and everything I put in front of her.
  

  She started kindergarten the following year finishing a chapter book every other night. She could pick up Harry Potter and read fluidly. She even surpassed her older sister's reading level! She reads with influxes in her voice that make her much more interesting to listen to, and her comprehension was there by the time she started school.

  Because Emily didn't have the hurdle of learning to sound words out or try to understand what she was reading, she started trying new things. She could read the instructions on every worksheet herself and figure out what she needed to do. While other children memorized sight words and sounded out words like pot and cat, Emily was leaps and bounds ahead doing third grade math, science and reading at the level of a sixth or seventh grader. Reading wasn't an issue so she moved on to new challenges like fractions, times tables and more. 

  Her teachers loved that, even though she knew a great deal more than many of her peers, she went out of her way to teach what she'd learned rather than parade it over them that she could do it. She loves to teach and help other students learn the way she did.

  Because of her English comprehension and reading level she is top of her class with the Dual Language Immersion Portuguese program in her school. She isn't stumbling to make sense of her own language in any way, which, I believe, made her a perfect candidate for trying some new. Her Portuguese teacher was very impressed by her comprehension and even her level of understanding.

  All of this started with the See abc's Reading program. I believe it gave her the confidence she needed to feel like she could accomplish anything. I also feel that by learning to read before you begin kindergarten you are launched forward in your education to such a degree that you aren't held back by the typical stumbling blocks that other children often face. I am so grateful every day that Emily was able to use this program and that she's learned to love learning."

  Isn't that fantastic!!! Of course, it also takes a dedicated mother who is willing to sit down with their child for 20-30 minutes a day and teach them. But, the rewards from that are tremendous.

  Thanks Amy and Emily for sharing your story. Best of luck in First Grade Emily!

  Doreese
• 
  

  10:18a

For any of you new moms out there, I hope you've taken the advice in my last blog and have been reading "with" your newborns.  Once you start, make it a habit, and your baby will automatically grow up with reading "in their systems."  It'll be a built in part of their lives.

As I said last time, I'll be talking about the types of books that you should get for baby's first books. Here's a list:

1.  Board Books - These are made of very sturdy, thick cardboard and can withstand all the abuse that little ones can dish out: the chewing on, drooling on and whatever else on!

2.  Plastic Books - These books have pages made of plastic.  My children's favorite book was a plastic book about bath time.  They could pick it up easily because the pages could bend.  And, I loved it because when it got dirty, I could wash it off with soap and water!

3.  Books that have something in it that makes a noise; i.e., squeeze it and it squeaks.

4.  Books made of fabric.  I made a couple of quiet books for my children.  They all loved those!  Even though the babies couldn't perform the skills the book taught, they still loved holding it and pulling on the different parts.  Or watching me do the different things.  There may now be fabric books that are just story books.  Oh yeah, I remember seeing something in a fabric store a couple of years ago.  You can buy fabric on the bolt that is all ready for you to cut up and sew together to make up a story book.  Then when these get dirty, just throw them in the washer!


There are soooo many fun quiet book pages you can make out of just flannel and felt!  Look up "Quiet book" and "Quiet Book Patterns" on Google Images.  You'll get a lot of free ideas and see how easy it is for you to make one.

Well, happy story time with your precious little ones!

I can't believe it's been over a month since I last wrote.  I knew this entry would be easy to write up, but this summer has gotten away from me.  And, in this short time, my two new grandbabies have already changed a lot.  They're able to focus on things much longer which helps them to be more content to sit and look at their surroundings.  It just reminds me how special and extremely short these newborn days are!  In a few months, once they become mobile, they will no longer be a captive audience to your stories; having no option but to sit there and listen to you!

Doreese

Newborns - Is it Really Worth My Time to Read to My Newborn Baby?!

Oh my . . . What a busy summer it has been for me so far!  We have welcomed two new grand-babies into our lives; a little boy and a baby girl!  What precious gifts from Heaven they are.

In pondering what I should blog about, I decided to talk about some specifics in how to approach reading with your newborns.  Notice I said "with" and not "to."  In my opinion that makes all the difference in understanding why you should read to your infants.  I would guess many new moms have heard it said that they should start reading to their babies right from birth.  But many dismiss it, believing their babies are too young to get any real benefit from it, so they wait until their child is a year or two old to get serious about reading "to" them; when their baby can "get something out of the experience."

But, babies enjoy hearing the sing-song rhythm in your voice as you read nursery rhymes or stories that rhyme.  At a few months, they enjoy seeing brightly colored pictures.  But keep it simple; just one or two objects per page.  You can point to the objects and talk about them or describe them. For example, tell your baby the color of the "thing;" what it's made out of, etc. as well as what the "thing" does.  It doesn't really matter, just so long as you are snuggling them in and talking soothingly to them.  You could even sing songs while looking through books.  The songs don't have to match the pictures.  Just so the baby connects the comfort they feel while you are reading with he/she.  But, when using nursery rhymes, many of them do have tunes you can readily sing:  Mary Had a Little Lamb, London Bridges, Jack and Jill, etc.

It's the importance of your baby's time spent with you that is important; not the subject matter.  Time spent cuddling, listening to your voice and seeing something with color and movement.  Yes, infants even enjoy the movement and sound of the turning pages!

Next time, we'll discuss the types of books you should get for your baby's first books - of his/her own!

Doreese

Summer Time at the Library

Time to "Plan ahead."

With summer almost here, it's time to check into your local library's summer services. Sign your children up for Story Time before the slots are filled. Take your children to the library often during the summer. It's a great way to keep them enthused about reading; if they get to go and choose their own books!!!

And, to all of you great moms who do soooo much to teach and build up your sons and daughters, 

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Doreese

4th and Final Music Installment: Music and Personalities - Paul Harvey, Lab Mice and Wizards of Waverly Place

PAUL HARVEY NEWS, ABC 1991 . . . on the Rest of the Music Story

"Music is everywhere, in bird song and in babbling brooks and in laughter, even in the stars.  Music is the universal language that transcends time and space.  Music is one of the SEVEN FORMS OF HUMAN INTELLIGENCE.  Yet education - as is - is almost totally geared to nurturing linguistic and logical - mathematical abilities alone, leaving the other five forms neglected.  At elementary school level in the U.S., more than half have no full-time music teacher.  And thus our schools tend to refine intellects but neglect to discipline emotions.  And undisciplined emotions keep getting us into trouble.  Somebody who may be smart as all get out, if emotionally colorblind, is an unguided missile to self-destruct.  Without the arts - including music -  we risk graduating young people who are 'right brain damaged.'  For anyone to grow up complete, music is imperative."

Effects of different kinds of music on mice

Suffolk, VA, high school student David Merrell finished first in regional and state science fairs by demonstrating the effects of music on lab mice.  Merrell played classical music to one group and heavy metal to another for 10 hours a day.  After three weeks, the mice exposed to classical music made it through the maze in a minute and a half.  The rock music group took 30 minutes.  Said Merrell:  "I had to cut my project short because all the hard-rock mice killed each other.  None of the classical mice did that."

I have also heard of the same effects on plants.  When classical music was played to one group of plants, they flourished.  When hard rock was played to another, they shriveled up and died.

I'll let you draw your own conclusions from those studies and take appropriate actions to make sure that your child flourishes.

Wizards of Waverly Place

Last January an episode of Wizards of Waverly Place convinced me I was making the right choice in talking about the importance of music in connection with learning ability and personality characteristics.  I recorded it and just went to review it, and it's gone.  But the jest of it is that Justin convinces the Principal that they should play classical music during lunch.  He gets permission and things are off to a promising start.  Then, the rebel girl and Justin's sister, Alex, bring in a live hard rock band.  Well, at first it seemed great to everyone but Justin.  Then after just a few days, all the students were rebellious and out of control!  

So, both the absence of music, and the presence of the wrong kind of music can have ill effects on children.  From my experience though, classical music is best introduced when children are very young, and continued throughout their life living with you.  If you wait until your children are teenagers, you will have a harder time getting them to embrace it.  As I've said before, if you don't have your children learn how to play classical music on an instrument, at the very least, make sure that they listen to it often, just as background music even.  When you find a piece you particularly like, you could share it with us.

Doreese

The Influence of Music in Problem Solving

Just a few days ago, I decided for some reason to play one of the Handel CD's I bought over a year ago.  I haven't listened to classical for quite some time.  And, I tried to believe that I was getting smarting just by listening to it!  Again, I encourage you to just play classical music.  If nothing else, at least make sure your children hear classical music.  There are different types.  All composers are different.  Some I like, some I don't.  So, if you don't like something, don't give up.  Keep at it til you find something you enjoy.  Ask your local music store for suggestions.  Go on Pandora and type in "Clair de Lune," and see what other music compares with that; or other songs that you all ready know you like.

Debussy - Clair de Lune;                        the great Beethoven                                                       

Einstein

GJ Whitrow said, "Einstein often told me that one of the most important things in his life was music.  Whenever he felt hat he had come to the end of the road or into a difficult situation in his work he would take refuge in music and that would usually resolve all of his difficulties."  Einstein:  "Improvise and arrive at solutions.  Improvise and come up with solutions." 

I, for the first time, just finished reading one of the short stories about Sherlock Holmes; there being 56 in all.  It's called, "The Red-Headed League."  In the middle of solving a case, Holmes said,

            "And now, Watson, that does it.  We're ready for lunch, and then off to our violin concert, where there are no red-headed clients to bother us."

            That afternoon, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson sat in St. James Concert Hall, with the great detective - himself a talented musician and composer - waving his long, thin fingers in time to the music.  When the concert was over and Holmes and Watson were leaving the hall, Holmes finally brought up Jabez Wilson's case again.

            "I believe, Watson, that a serious crime is being planned, but I feel that we have a chance of stopping it."

           

And, of course, in the end, he, Sherlock, did stop the crime.  But, music appears to even have a great help in thinking of solutions to crimes!  True, Sherlock is a fictional character, but at end of the "About the Author" page it says, "Probably no other author has been able to create a fictional character who has become so real to his readers as Arthur Conan Doyle did with Sherlock Holmes."  I would guess that Doyle himself was a music lover, if not a musician.  Also, once Holmes was established as a worldwide legend, Doyle himself was regarded as an expert crime solver and solved many real-life cases.

And, think about it; a TV show, or movie with NO music.  Movie producers even know the value of having background music playing to help it's viewers more fully soak in the message trying to be conveyed.  A scary scene is not nearly as scary without the scary, intense music  (As if to prove my point, my granddaughter just now said, "They always play really scary music for the bear hunts."  "I know, I can hear it," said her sister.)   The girls are in the living room and my husband is upstairs watching the hunting channel.  But, pretty weird, right?  So, yes, music is very important!  A romantic scene wouldn't be nearly as sweet without the beautiful music.

But, putting things simply, there is something about classical music and the way it connects to the brain that helps with many things, especially in math and science, and of course, in learning musical instruments.   But, before those concepts, comes learning to read, which I believe is also greatly helped by the enhanced brain connections. If you want detailed reasons for "why" google "Classical Music and the Brain."  You will fine nearly 7 1/2 million articles!  Just reading the titles alone are quite convincing!

Next time, I'll be talking about the effect different kinds of music can have on personalities.

Doreese

Music Installment #2 - Pre-Natal and Newborns

Today was an exciting one for our family.  My daughter found out if they are going to have her 4th boy, or finally get a baby girl the end of May.  They came over and the boys all excitedly announced, "We're having a girl baby!"  And, my other daughter who has two girls is expecting a boy baby the first part of May.  That was very exciting news too!

Because of the two little grandchildren on the way, I decided to share this part about music that addresses Pre-natal, and Newborns.

Pre-Natal

Anthony De Casper of the University of North Carolina has shown that fetuses store in their memories complex songs that are sung to them daily during the last trimester.  After delivery, babies respond with increased attention to these familiar songs.  (The Times-Picayune 3/13/95)

Babies - Soothing tapes placed in hospitals.

What the hospitals have noticed, says Woodford, is that restless babies, even some babies in pain following surgery, will nod off to sleep, sometimes as soon as the tape is turned on.  Hospitals are not generally the most comforting of places.  There are too many frightful procedures, too  many strangers, too many alarms and beepers and TV sets, all creating a 'Startle effect.'  But lullabies and heartbeats are calming, even in the worst of situations, he says.  More than 30,000 of the tapes have been stolen (ooo, Kind of freaky, but on "Good Luck Charlie" a guy just now was practicing his violin, a classical piece.  Teddy bursts into the room and he says, "Huh, that was exciting for a second."  I thought so too, that's why I'm telling about it!) from US hospitals since they were first introduced seven years ago.  Woodford also says nursing homes have found the tapes helpful in calming down Alzheimer's patients."  (Elaine Jarvik, Deseret News)

From my own personal experience, my unborn children were exposed to great music at church.  Then, when I was expecting my fourth baby, I started my first child in piano lessons.  The Suzuki method.  It has you play the tapes of the songs they are going to be learning every day.  My three children were ages 5, 4, and 1.  So, they were all young enough to greatly benefit from listening to it.  Then, when I was expecting my 5th child, the older children were listening to more advanced classical music every day.  And, after my 5th baby was born, she began sleeping through the night at age two weeks!  It seemed miraculous.  I just thought she must have known that with four other little kids, I needed her to be a happy, calm baby.  But, after reading this, I have to seriously consider it was the music that could have had something to do with it.

I highly recommend playing classical music and lullabies for your little children, and those who are "on the way." 

Doreese

First New Year's Resolution for Parents: GET MUSIC INTO MY CHILD

My last blog of last year had to do with music, and I will be leading this year off by talking about music again.  The next few posts, we'll be discussing the influence of music on education.

Why should you care about music?  Because there is a direct relation to higher test scores and exposure to good music, as well as personality traits, and lots of other good stuff!

I'm using information from articles by Michael Ballam posted online 10/24/2002.  

1.  Developing "neural circuits" or pathways of synaptic response which causes and retains learning

      "Last October researchers at the University of Konstanz in Germany reported that exposure to music rewires neural circuits."   A study was done of nine string players, and the amount of the brain dedicated to the thumb and fifth finger of the left hand was significantly larger than in non players.  How long the players practiced each day did not affect the cortical map.  But the age at which they had been introduced to their muse did.  "The younger the child when he or she took up the instrument, the more cortex he or she devoted to playing it.  Like other circuits formed early in life, the ones for music endure."

      Chugani played the guitar as a child, then gave it up.  As a father, he started taking piano lessons with his young daughter.  She learned easily but he couldn't get his fingers to follow his wishes.  "Yet, when Chugani recently picked up a guitar, he found to his delight that, 'The songs are still there,' much like the muscle memory for riding a bicycle."  The musical brain learning window is 3 to 19 years.  Few concert-level performers begin playing later than the age of 10.  It's much harder to learn an instrument as an adult.

               

Next time I will talk about what we can do about developing the "musical muscle" in our children's brain.  And, don't stress out if it is impossible for you to give your child an instrument and music lessons, there are still things you can do!

Doreese