GIFT

Summertime always brings an abundance of time on our hands and a search for quality ways in which to spend that time.  I have quite a collection of charts and books from past summers.  This summer we are reading, memorizing, doing service, working on manners, chores, eating right... etc.  The usual.

My family scripture journal

One thing that we really wanted to change was our approach to our family scripture study.  Different methods in the past have been both effective and not effective - sometimes burning us out for months at a time.  Now, with just two children at home -- two half-grown children -- we thought it was time for our study to grow up a little as well.  Our new approach is intended to last for six months before we re-evaluate.  One day we sat down and made a list of topics to study.  Kimberly typed these up and put them into a jar.  Every couple of days we draw out a new topic and each find a couple of verses in regard to the chosen topic.  A few minutes of personal reflection is followed by each of us sharing what we learned and thought about the subject.  We each have a little journal in which we record whatever we want - maybe our own thoughts, maybe what everyone else shares... it doesn't matter.
Quite frankly, I am learning so much!  Mark and I are both in awe over not only what we are personally taking away, but at what our children have to contribute!  This takes only a few minutes each day, but we are growing in many ways.  ...and no one is bored.

GIFT - this was our first topic.  I wondered where we would go with it and was so pleased with the result.
My first page of writing is shown in the photo.  If I had ever dreamed I would put it out for the public to view I would have worked on my penmanship... Oh well.  These are thoughts in general and read:  When a gift is given, it isn't always what the receiver wanted, or may be something they have never even thought of - but when given by someone who loves you it has been thought out and is something that will benefit you, perhaps far in the future.  Perfect gifts from our perfect Father may be unanticipated, misunderstood or even unwanted, but will always be for our good.

•  We learned to be wary of some gifts which are given in the form of bribes and must be avoided. 
•  If we wish to present a gift to the Lord (at his altar) - this could be our time, talents or any sort of service, etc... we must do so without contention in our hearts.  Harboring ill feelings toward anyone else our gift will render our gift unacceptable.
• Everyone is given at least one gift from God.  These gifts are intended to be used to benefit others, thus all of God's children will be blessed through one another's gifts.
• Christ is the greatest gift and his gives his life for us.  This is much more than just dying for us - He LIVED for us, there was never any selfishness.  He took his time on Earth and dedicated it to us, our greatest gift.

Another journal entry:  Gifts are talents and strengths.  They are also opportunities that come to us.  They may be in the form of certain interactions.  I think some of our greatest gifts come in the form of trials - if we grow and improve through the lessons of a trial - we become who we need to be... then these are gifts indeed.

That was just two days of reading and discussing.  Just a few days later we were presented with a Gift, an unexpected and rather unwelcome gift which we were prepared to embrace because of these two days' study.  I will have to write about it later... but I am so grateful that the scriptures prepared us to see our new situation as an opportunity to learn, grow and be blessed!

The Book Whisperer - Part Two

   Here in Texas we have a very early Spring Break - it is next week!  We've decided to go exploring a bit and are going to see what we can find in Arkansas.  What I am really looking forward to is shutting off the kids' phones for a few days.  I figure that this is a family vacation and their friends do not need to come along.
   I began this blog post in 2014!  I found it while searching for my original Book Whisperer... It only contained these two photos which are straight out of my old Family Home Evening scrapbook.  They are from 1999 and contain a list of some of the books that we had been reading aloud... OH!  How I wish I had kept that list going!  Anyway, reading the original Book Whisperer post was fun.
  My sister, Lori,  just asked me what we are doing for Book Whisperer now... I am glad she didn't ask me much sooner since I finally got my act together just a couple weeks ago.  I'll explain our new program right after I report on our first one.
  We began in September of 2014 and officially ended last summer.  Kimberly wanted to be done by the end of the school year and she did it.  Mark and I completed ours soon afterward with David and Natalie following up this past fall - mostly finishing up I think.  IT WAS GREAT!  The fact that we were required to read was wonderful!  It meant that there was always a book nearby and I reawakened my old habit of reading before I fall asleep.   In fact, everyone was going to bed sooner so that they would have time to read when possible.  We had a lot of quiet evenings as we sat together reading - when does that happen if you aren't Book Whisperers?

When Lori texted me her question
I looked up and there was Kimberly
reading "Standing Next to History"
A fun book we have all shared about
the Secret Service during the
Reagan years.  How we miss
Ronald Reagan!

  The other really positive aspect of our program was that we were required to read so many different genres.  They included Realistic Fiction (5 books), Fantasy/Science Fiction (5), Biography (5), Historical Fiction (5), Mystery/Western (4), Informational (4), Poetry (2) and My Choice (10).  This really worked to broaden the scope of my reading.  It also gave me permission to read some really fun books - before this I felt that I should be reading all "informational" books - and they can get rather boring.  Another aspect I loved... we shared books.  Someone would read and recommend a book and we could all pass it around over the next month or two.
  I had intended to report on some of the books that I read, but I cannot find my list - when I find it I will write about it.  For now, I will share our new plan:
  This time around we aren't counting books, we are counting pages.  We can read a lot of small books, one large one.and anything in-between   (Natalie just pulled out the unabridged Les Miserables which should fill her Historical Fiction requirement by itself... ) We will each read a minimum of 1,500 pages in the following genre:  Realistic Fiction, Fantasy, Biography, Information and Historical Fiction.  We will also have 3,000 pages in My Choice.
  A new twist... This time we have to write.  Yes, write... and I heard more than a few grumbles about this.  I bought the set of Moleskine notebooks from Costco - a little nicer to write in than composition books.  Inside of each book is the record sheet (since I kept losing my last one... seriously, once I found it outside in my backyard?!?) and the new rules.  We just have to write a short report on each book and what we learned.  I know... this kind of defeats the purpose of the Book Whisperer -reading-for-the-joy-of-reading... but last time there wasn't a prize.  This time we have prizes... and it isn't hard writing - more of a record that I wished I had from before.  What if I had written down a few notes on every book I have ever read? What a treasure (for myself)!  So... we will be writing.
  Kimberly has a big head start since she finished our last program in June 2015 and hasn't quit reading.  I explained this new program to her at the time... but (this will make everyone feel better) - I didn't get around to making these books and explaining it to everyone else until last weekend (Feb 2016).    Oh well, that's the way it goes...
  So - next week is Spring Break (without  friends texting).  The sunshine which has been so beautiful and present each day is going to be hiding behind some clouds/rain. We will be in Arkansas... and just in case rainy Arkansas doesn't keep us busy... we all have instructions to pack a couple books!  Let the games begin!

For more information search for my first Book Whisperer post - or Google "Book Whisperer" and learn about this incredible teacher.  It is inspiring!


 

The Book Whisperer

 

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be --

I had a Mother who read to me.

My mother read to me.  She read to us at bedtime and in the car.  My mother's mother read to us also - when we got to Grandma's house she often had a book prepared to read to us while we were there.  (My parents now read books aloud to each other.)  

I transitioned from picture books to "big girl" books over Christmas vacation in the second grade.  I had been excited to check out The Grinch from the school library, but one of my friends asked why I was reading little kid books.  Instead, I read Little House in the Big Woods.  That did it, I was hooked on books.  I am still a big fan of Laura Ingalls!  

In high school I was still reading.  During the summer I loved to lay in the sun and read.  During the winter I was often found sitting by our fireplace reading.  I read while I walked home from school.  One of the hardest parts of college?  Not enough personal reading time.   I was still in college as a newlywed, but after Mark's parents took us to see Les Miserables on stage - I devoured the entire unabridged book that next weekend.  

I graduated from college and Nathan was born a week later.  Four weeks after that I was working full-time.  Reading time was fading, but that was ok.  We subscribed to the Dr. Seuss book club and had thoughtful grandmothers who gave books as gifts to the children.   Nine months pregnant with Jackie, I recall finishing a James Michener novel, The Source.  That was my last "big girl" book for a long time.  Three children - no books... or were there?  It was about this time that I ran across the poem "The Reading Mother" and I wanted to begin to read to the children, not just picture books. 
 I started with an old book that I had - a really old book that I had found at a garage sale.  It was set in Colonial America and had something to do with an Indian attack.  It was torture!   It almost seemed like a punishment to make the boys sit and listen.  What was wrong?  We got through the book, but they were in no hurry to do that again... What to do?  I tried a new strategy... Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl.  There is something about that book.  It is silly, it is magical, and we all wish that we could get a tour of that factory, especially that chocolate waterfall!  

Our favorite books.  The children's
books worth keeping are in the attic
(where these Halloween decorations
belong).  We have given away many
books over the years.

Just like that... we were a reading family.  Reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory each time the youngest child was about 4 or 5 years-old helped them to enter our family reading time.  We read through so many books over the years; how I wish I had kept a list.  A few of my favorite reading memories:

• Harry Potter Clean Up:  This meant that when it was time to clean the room, I would sit in the recliner (usually with a baby), and read a Harry Potter book until it came to an exciting spot.  Then I would close the book and choose a number.  If the number happened to be "4", each child ran and put away 4 items.  Then they would hurry back to listen and we would begin the cycle again.  This only works with action-packed, suspenseful books.
• I remember many nights, after Jackie had gone to sleep, trying to rock little Natalie to sleep, while Nathan and Greg took turns walking with Baby David to try and keep him happy until he had his turn in the rocking chair.  Those big boys were about 9 and 7 and I can see them in their pajamas, walking back and forth - so carefully holding that little baby for me.  I would rock and read.
• Once the boys came home from school and caught me reading ahead in Treasure Island.  They were so disappointed!  We made a rule then and there - No Reading Ahead!  I never, ever broke that rule.  It was more fun to discover stories together.
• When the children were older, I usually had one book going in the girls' bedroom, and another in the boys'.  Sometimes I would put them all to bed and sit and read aloud in the hallway so everyone could hear.

Mark's books.  He likes to keep them
where he can see them.  Many of them
are work related and safe from us.

• All time favorite series:   Little House on the Praire and The Chronicles of Narnia.  We also love Beverly Cleary books, especially if they have Ramona in them.  I like the first four Harry Potter books, but couldn't make it to the end of the series.  
• When we were in the car we always had an audio book going.  This became more difficult when the children began to drive because you really cannot listen if someone is missing.  Both grandparents live 13-14 hours away, so long road trips still mean audio books.  Two years ago The Count of Monte Cristo ran for the entire Spring Break and beyond.
• My children each developed a great attention span - so rare in this world of video games!!

Jackie's nightstand.
Her personal collection.

I often had to stop reading because I began to lose my voice so easily.  I blame this on years of high school cheerleading.  Maybe it was too many books.  Going to bed without a book being read was sad.  Greg's chemotherapy treatments were so disruptive to our schedule that we completely lost the habit.  How sad - but this brings me to The Book Whisperer - my mysterious blog post title...
Last  year my Dad was telling me about something he read/watched regarding the way that schools are killing reading.  By making children stop and analyze everything they read - reading has become a drudgery rather than a pleasure.  I totally agree.  I have homeschooled every child for at least one year - usually around 3rd-5th grade.  I could hardly stand the reading assignments I found for them.  I have often wondered why my children didn't read more often... When I looked for information on my own - I discovered The Book Whisperer...

Natalie's favorites on her
nightstand.  The Book
Whisperer is quickly
expanding her repertoire.

She is a sixth grade teacher who expects her students to read at least 40 books during the school year.  Many of them end up reading 60.  Her lowest every was a young man who read only 24 or 25... considering most of them used to read 3-5 books, these numbers are astounding.  How does she do it?  In a nutshell, she provides them with a wide array of choices, and then expects them to read.  It is that simple.

Kimberly's Christmas list - a
bookshelf nigh stand at the top.

I blogged earlier about now knowing what kind of "program" to use over the summer - (none, we just played), and when school came I still had no ideas.  On the way home from dropping off Jackie I listened to The Book Whisperer (audio book) and realized that this would be a fun program for the family.  I typed up a form for each of us and that is all that it took.  We have very few rules, just make sure to cover the required genres and any book over 350 pages counts as two.
The best part?  Mark and I are required to read!  We are so excited.  Reading has been such a luxury over the years (especially for the one of who doesn't travel and spend hours on airplanes).  Now we have a great excuse to sit on the couch and read.  I really don't know if I can pull off 40 books, but I am having a great time trying!!

Here is a copy of our book whisperer forms....

The Reading Mother 

by Strickland Gillilan

I had a mother who read to me

Sagas of pirates who scoured the sea.

Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth;

"Blackbirds" stowed in the hold beneath.

I had a Mother who read me lays

Of ancient and gallant and golden days;

Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,

Which every boy has a right to know.

I had a Mother who read me tales

Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,

True to his trust till his tragic death,

Faithfulness lent with his final breath.

I had a Mother who read me the things

That wholesome life to the boy heart brings-

Stories that stir with an upward touch.

Oh, that each mother of boys were such!

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be --

I had a Mother who read to me.