Hello Blog? It’s Me, Pat

I may have left you in the lurch,
I hope I didn’t make you search,
There’s so much back-blog on my plate, 
But first I’ll bring you up to date.

I’m Back: Hello again blogger world – mea culpa! I’ve been AWOL for a few months, but my cyber-batteries are now fully recharged.  A change in routine is always invigorating. It tends to breathe new life into my ever-deteriorating-but-still-breathing  60 something body parts, and puts a sexy shine on my 50 shades of grey hair.

What’s Up? Okay, let’s get down to business. Before I give you something new, I want to give you something old and update just a few of my past post shenanigans. Just click on the post if you need a refresher on what started the rantz in my pantz in the first place.

SCARY WORLD of AGING:
Since I wrote this post, I discovered black spots and cobwebs floating around in my left eye. I keep swatting at the invisible bugs as they land on my book or in my food.  It’s all part of this wonderful world of  aging, I’m being told. And, between Hubsey and me, we have collected a plethora of frequent ambulance-ride-points to the local hospital over the past year. We plan to redeem the points at Christmas for a swanky new fly swatter.

BACK in the SADDLE:
Hubsey got his driver’s license back! Hooray! It took 18 months of wrestling with the motor vehicle department, the medical system, the eye-doctors, the bureaucracy and all the mistakes and delays along the way. And what a test! It was 3 hours long, part written, part cognitive, and part actual driving a car with an occupational therapist and a driving instructor. All this because he lost a minor bit of peripheral vision in his right eye. He’s only been driving for over 50 years. Anyway, he’s back driving with a bad case of wheel-envy because I’ve grown into such an awesome chauffeur during his reluctant absence.

WILD GOOSE CHASE
Well, this is still a big pile of political poop. I did meet with the Director of Parks and Outdoor Spaces, and with my local town councillor. That was in June. Promises were made to address the outdated Bird Treaty Act at the federal level – and to try a pilot project to control the geese, using one of the simple recommendations I made. Nothing has been done to date and the Director of Parks is not returning my follow-up attempts. I’m now in escalation mode and will keep honking until this crappy issue gets some action. TBC…

AS THE CONDO TURNS…
Where do I start on this one? I still spend way too much time and head space – hopelessly trying to change the way things are done here. But I remain relentless in my efforts to lift the plastic covers off the furniture and replace old girdles and corsets with a comfy pair of roomy bloomers. Maybe it’s the latex restriction or pants hiked up to the armpits – that makes these old codgers, dowagers and all things ancient –  pucker their mouths into that soul-sucking-sour-lemon look when I try to make changes. And despite my two-year effort, I’m sorry to report that I haven’t made a pinch of progress with the condo board. But I’m not giving up…so stay tuned.  

FARRELL’S FIRE:
On a happier and more successful note, I am always trying to be the best grandmother I can be and follow the principles I wrote about in this post. I am so incredibly proud of this little girl, now 10 years old. Please indulge an old woman and her pride for a moment, while I go on… 

She’s Kicking Butt: Farrell has been studying tae kwon do for 4 years and achieved her black belt status in June of this year! What a kid! If only she was there to help me, when in self-defense, I whacked a guy in the head with a bag of beans at the Farmer’s Market in Toronto many years ago – or when I punched my boss in the stomach! But I digress – those are stories for another post.

She’s making Waves:  Anyway, I have something to show you. I went through an Emily Carr stage a few years back and couldn’t read enough about this fascinating woman. I bought my daughter a coffee table book of Emily Carr paintings and Farrell was looking at them last month. Without saying anything, she went up to her room and started to paint this picture to give Hubsey for his birthday. 

She’s One of a Kind: It took her 5 days to layer the paint and complete the picture. Emily Carr influence and all – this is an original painting from the delightful imagination of a 10 year old. So I’m very happy to report that the flame in Farrell’s Fire continues to burn brightly for all those around her.

So there you have it for today,
That’s it, that’s all I have to say.
My blogger fingers have been flexed,
Just wait and see what’s coming next!

Pat Skene    

 

 

Reading, Rhyming and Reciting

When a rhyme is read,
I can tap it in my head.
When the beat is neat,
I can touch it with my feet.
When a word is sprung,
I can taste it on my tongue.

Are children losing the art of language?    

Can we talk? As an author and storyteller, I enjoy a love of language. But, as I visit libraries, and schools in the primary grades, I am saddened by the growing number of children experiencing difficulty with oral language development.

I have learned from parents, teachers and children’s organizations that there are long waiting lists for speech therapy professionals to help children through these problems. What’s happening in today’s world that makes learning to speak more difficult? What can we do to help our children before it reaches epidemic proportions?

Cyber-sitters: I believe the ongoing electronic invasion of television, computers and video games has left little room for old-fashioned communication. We use television as household nannies, buy talking books that teach solitary reading lessons and we encourage kid-friendly interactive games on computers of all sizes, to keep little ones quietly busy.

While the convenience of technology certainly has its place in a busy world, I think we need to take stock of the long-term effects of excessive use of these electronic babysitters on children today. In spite of the myriad of words bombarding our kids, there is no human contact in many of the mass media of messages they are receiving. And that means there is no ‘conversation’ through these devices, leaving more limited opportunities for children to learn the art of language, outside of the classroom. 

Starting early: Speech is the foundation of all social life. Why then, do we take it for granted? Research proves that when pre-schoolers have difficulty with oral development, they could be experiencing an early symptom of reading disability. And, a child’s ability to read is an important predictor of later literacy development and potential for academic achievement. This is very important to know. At no other time do they learn as much as in the first 3-4 years of life, so what can we do to help our children during these critical early years? I believe we should be reading out loud with our children everyday, to develop a love of language – together.

Let the reading begin: Reading is a significant family activity that, unfortunately, seems to be losing its place of value in many homes. But that being said, most parents already know that any shared storybook reading between child and adult is an excellent way to promote emergent literacy. So how do we compete with the more seductive forms of family entertainment and increase a child’s motivation toward book-reading? A good start is to be pro-active and encourage the child to take an active role in the experience.

Ham it up: Some techniques to fully engage the child might include letting them choose the book and the reading location. It’s important to pause occasionally to allow the child to comment or ask questions. To enhance the story in a picture book, we can encourage children to notice small details in the illustrations that are often not included in the story. Allowing them to hold the book and turn the pages will also give them a stronger sense of involvement. Children love it when we ham it up and use various character voices or wear special story-reading hats or capes for the occasion. Many pre-school children also enjoy to ‘pretend-read’ the story of a familiar book.    

Time to rhyme: And let’s not forget the wonderful powers of rhyme to teach our children the rhythm of speech!  Stories and poems told in verse are probably the most important part of a young child’s literacy development during the critical window of phonological learning in the pre-school years. Rhyming skills are, in fact, one of the earliest milestones in a child’s path to becoming a good reader. Well-written verse teaches patterns and internal rhythms that help children connect the dots in the world around them.

Making friends: Rhyme teaches children a love of language through the excitement and anticipation of sound. Each verse is picture-poetry, painting a vivid storyboard for the reader. When I visit schools for storytelling sessions, children often complete the last word of many rhyming sentences before I say them, after hearing the line just once. I have also found that kids seem to form strong affections toward characters in rhyming stories.

Between the lines: Well-written rhyme seems to spring to life and dance in the empty spaces between the words. It often makes young readers feel like they’re bouncing along in an inner tube! Rhyme seems to wire the brain with an internal beat that lives on inside of us, sometimes for many years. I’m sure that’s why so many people can still remember favorite rhymes from early childhood.   

 Powerful stuff: The use of rhyme in teaching children oral language skills can be fun and interactive for parent and child. It’s no wonder that children who can recite nursery rhymes from an early age usually become better readers than those who cannot. So it stands to reason that pre-schoolers who speak clearly are most often reading and producing rhymes.

Great reading: I have always loved stories in rhyme! In addition to the traditional nursery rhymes and wonderfully wacky Dr. Seuss books, I enjoy the creative works of some great Canadian children’s authors like Sheree Fitch, Loris Lesynski and the late Phoebe Gilman, who have all written several excellent rhyming story books that entertain both children and adults.

Hooked on rhyme: I believe strongly in the 3 R’s for teaching children language – Reading, Rhyming and Reciting. It’s important for kids to absorb the world through the ears and not always through the eyes. As children get hooked on listening to the patterns, the rhythms and the way words are put together in a good book – it’s easy to fall in love with the delicious sound of language. It’s all right there waiting to be discovered, inside the scrumptious words of a wonderful story. 

When the rhythm goes deep,
I can hear it in my sleep.
When a sound gets in,
I can feel it on my skin.
When the lines all rhyme,
I can dance along in time. 

Pat Skene