Author: Angela

I write so my family will always have letters from home.

Little memories

Mark looks like me.

I teach the Sunbeams (ages 3-4) at church and I love them. I have been thinking about my memories of my Sunbeam year. I have observed that young children can be very perceptive of social concepts. Childhood is not always carefree.

For instance, I remember my mother taking me to preschool. I have always been frightened of everything, especially change. I remember laughing hysterically as I climbed a small playscape as my mother walked out of the room so it would seem like I didn’t notice that she was leaving. That was hard to do.

During that same preschool experience, I observed that the teacher’s helpers always held the social, pretty girls on their laps during singing time. I was not one of these girls. One day, there was a helper who held me on her lap and gave me a small, opened package of lifesavers when she had to leave. I followed her on the other side of the fence as she walked away on the sidewalk, wishing she wouldn’t leave me. I felt so much gratitude and love for that teenage girl!

I remember sitting in my Sunbeam class and the teacher held a picture of Jesus Christ and asked the class who it was. I said it was Heavenly Father. I felt so embarrassed because that wasn’t the right answer.

This year as I have taught Sunbeams, I have tried to remember that children are so very precious and although they can’t always verbalize why they are acting upset, their feelings are real and deep. I have loved their drawings, their hugs and even kisses on the cheek when they come to Primary. I watch them enter Primary and they are hoping to be noticed.

I once heard it said that a child needs to see your face light up when you see them. I think it’s true for the very young, especially as they make the big steps into Primary and school.

Demanding more

It’s interesting to me that in addition to thinking, talking and writing are important to gaining an opinion about things. It’s evidence to me that we are not meant to be isolated; enjoying the company of good listeners and thinkers is a gift to cherish. Quiet thinking time and expression of thoughts in writing or speaking grows more important in the education of my children as they grow older. I’m moving into adolescent level instruction in my home, and it is demanding and exciting. It’s secondary education and it is something I do well.

Pre-adolescent children are very concrete in their learning. They often require props and make very tightly bound conclusions about things. They live in the “happy land of absolutes.” During adolescence, thinking becomes more organized; kids are able to discuss independent thoughts about what they have read, rather than just recite the plot back to you. However, the ability to say what they think about something (metacognition “thinking about what they are thinking”), draw conclusions or grasp abstract concepts or think multidimensionally (formal-operational thinking) is a gradual process and can show up at some times and not others. Even adults don’t always operate on a formal-operational level in their thinking. It’s even more so with adolescents. Some days they seem to understand; they are able to tell you what they learned, what they think, how it can be applied, etc. but then the next week that ability seems to be gone. Despite these setbacks, it’s good to stretch their minds.

Higher level thinking skills emerge as students are expected to rise to this level. In other words, challenge is essential to being able to learn to think well.

There are three things I have learned to help navigate the waters of higher level thinking questions.

First, before a lecture or discussion, draw students’ minds to certain points. For instance, if you are studying a document, you can ask them to “look for…” or “think about how you feel about…” before you begin studying the document. You can say, “After you read this book, I will ask you questions about your thoughts about your responsibility to family vs. country.”

Next, to help them work up to big thoughts, ask fundamental, basic questions first. These are the building blocks with which we build bigger thoughts. In book discussions I find it easier to move to higher level questions if I ask basic plot, geographical or historical questions first. People need to be a little conversant about a subject before they know what they think about it.

Last, I have also learned that big questions require WAIT TIME. This means after a difficult question, allow students some time to think. These sometimes uncomfortably silent moments can seem to drag on forever, but come on, we can’t expect profound answers without time to formulate them. Rephrasing the question helps sometimes. People need time to prepare their thoughts and even then, they don’t always know what they think.

This is where writing can be helpful. Nothing makes you analyze the logic, validity, and form of your ideas than writing them out. Wrestling with ideas as I write is something that I love to do.

And, in case you are wondering, a lot of what I said in paragraphs 2 and 3 I learned by reading this text:

Steinberg, L. (1993). Adolescence, 3rd Ed., New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc.



The Big Picture

We decided to watch Citizen Kane a few weeks ago. We watched it and then we watched it again with Roger Ebert’s commentary. I love learning the details of movies. My memories of Hearst Castle with Grandma and Grandpa were revived, too. (Citizen Kane seems to be based on the life of William Randolf  Hearst.)

Another movie I really enjoyed learning more about was Dear Frankie. If you haven’t seen it, you should, but skip the scene with the dying man in the hospital. Gerard Butler is very good in this movie and so is the little boy. Every costume, set, and lighting design comes from a vintage palette and has a gold tone to it. The music is like a dream and the ocean and childhood.

This weekend we’ll tackle Gone with the Wind.

Home Schooling and a Unicorn

My neighbor was house hunting in town. They toured a property the other day and her 6 year-old daughter said that if the family chose to live at this house, she had a list of demands.

First, she would need a unicorn of her own.

Second, she would need to be home schooled.

I forget the rest of the list because I was snickering. Home school and a unicorn! Does she think home school would allow her more time to ride the unicorn?

Dinner party

I’m just skipping Halloween this year and decorating early for Thanksgiving. It seems that many of my neighbors have omitted the Halloween decorations, too. I wonder if it’s the economy. I just don’t like scary stuff, but oh, how I love to dress up.

The other night I had the perfect idea for our family Halloween costumes… if I had some time to sew. I asked the kids if they wanted to dress up this year. The boys seemed unenthusiastic, but Paige said, “Well, of course,” indicating with her voice that her answer was ob-vi-ous… (my girl).  In my brilliant plan, Daniel would be Peter Pan; Paige would be Wendy; Timothy would be John (top hat, Harry Potter glasses) and Mark would be Michael with his teddy bear named Chunky. Richard would be Captain Hook and I could be Tiger Lily or Tinkerbell. I swear the Tinkerbell idea was not mine. It was Paige’s. I know, I know. Don’t worry. I won’t make myself ridiculous. And there isn’t time to make costumes this year. Halloween is on Sunday, so that pretty much destroys my plans: we’re not going to be Peter Pan this year.

In other news, I haven’t been blogging lately because I have been

a. pouting

b. reading

c. really grumpy

d. all of the above

Yes, you guessed it. The answer is d.

Today I finished reading McCullough’s John Adams. I love that book. I find a lot of comfort and inspiration in the Adamses’ relationship and sacrifices. I also like reading how time and experience mold perspective and patience. I’d be a historian if I could remember facts like Melinda Ross. As it is, I have to read things every few years to remember them.

I plan dinner parties in my mind. I never carry them out, though. If I could invite any prominent person living today, it would be David McCullough. I used to think the guest would be Michael Medved because even though we might disagree, he would keep things civil and would talk with a soothing voice about a broad range of subjects. Now I just want David McCullough to come over and talk to our kids about American history and all of those Providential Storms in the Revolution.

One more thought before I drive Paige to ballet. The blog phenomenon is interesting to me. Why do people keep reading? I recently decided to stop reading two very popular blogs because they were getting on my nerves. Updated daily, these two blogs were a part of my daily routine (yikes).After removing them from my blog list, I literally feel no loss in my life. It has made me think that blogs are read because they are

a. much like reality t.v., providing a glimpse into someone’s home that we wouldn’t otherwise have.

b. updated. People come back to anything that moves.

c. inspirational. Some truly make me happy.

d. a good way to communicate/sort family and personal events.

e. a way to feel connection without commitment.

Hopefully you’re not reading  just because this blog moves. If you are, you should rethink your decision. It’s a beautiful world out there. Go turn off the computer and enjoy it.

A Little Red Schoolhouse

We saw this a couple of years ago on a drive to Patagonia Lake. Adorable.

Today I discovered personal notes from the books I had read recently and some notes from a religious institute class I took a couple of years ago. I decided to put them in a binder and call them evidence of my continuing education and love of learning. And the fact that I can’t remember anything unless I write it down.

We discovered today that five days of vacation from school just isn’t enough to allow for all that we want to do. Today we went off-roading. Paige and I were amazed to find a Red-tailed Hawk that was brave enough to perch just a few feet away from us almost at eye level. This sight was enough to stop me from rambling on and on to Paige about John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Mark rode the little jeep up and down the hill. Daniel rode his scooter and Timothy rode his bike. We found a tree with nearly every leaf bearing the eggs of some kind of insect. We baked in the sun. I really need a refund. I was led to believe that fall is pleasant in Arizona.

The night I got burned

I used to cook with a pressure cooker all the time. One night I was making mashed potatoes and there was a lot going on. As I was running water over the pot and opening the valve to release steam, the lid burst off and potatoes flew out on my face and hands.

I learned the hard way about being in the way when high pressure objects go flying.

It’s so cliche to hear people saying it’s okay to say grumpy things in order to “let off steam.” I think this is a poor excuse to behave badly and spread the anger. It’s better to release steam slowly and allow time for high impact moments to die down before words are said. The last few months have brought some intense situations and I’ve learned to appreciate Richard’s wisdom through it all.

Since I’m not complaining in this post or “venting frustration” in a negative way, I will say a few words of gratitude. I’m thankful for a little knowledge of logic. This has helped me identify error and truth in what people say. I’m grateful for the teachings of Jesus Christ as a guide for reacting to people who have been grumpy to me about my faith. I’m grateful for Richard who spent the weekend with me, talking to me, listening, and encouraging me. His steady and direct words have made a great difference.

Anger fills a room, exclusive in its dominion; it drains its object of self-confidence; anger finds its expression in gossip, name-calling, and humiliation of others; it is contagious. It hurts like a burn, too.