Humberto the Bookworm Hamster

As a kid I had a pet hamster named Hamstead that I loved dearly. I also loved books. Lots of kids today also love hamsters, other little animals and books so they should love reading a picture book like the one I've recently discovered by Mayra Calvani. Here's some information about it:

Humberto is an antisocial little hamster… he’s totally addicted to

books! His neighbors, the squirrel, the rabbit, the skunk, the

hedgehog and the beaver want to become his friends, but Humberto

doesn’t have time for them. He’s too busy reading! Then one day,

disaster strikes and he must choose between saving his books and

helping his soon-to-be friends.

Available in print and ebook!

Find out more at: http://www.guardianangelpublishing.com/humberto.htm

Visit the author's website at www.MayrasSecretBookcase.com or her blog

at www.MayrasSecretBookcase.blogspot.com.

Learning to Read

When I started first grade thousands of kids hadn't gone to Kindergarten because no census had been taken during WWII and school districts didn't know they were coming. I'd gone to Kindergarten, but only for a few weeks. But first grade was legally required, so there were 42 kids in my first grade class. Our teacher was new to the job and I won't go into how terrible she was except to say 21 kids were held back and had to repeat the grade because they hadn't learned to read.

But seven of us started second grade reading at fifth grade level.

Of course we all had parents who read to us at home, but so did most kids. And all parents "knew" it was harmful to try to teach kids to read themselves, so none of ours had tried. So what was the secret?

The public schools in California at that time were using sight reading (See, Hear, Say) curriculum but, because so many of the first graders weren't learning by that method, the teacher had tried using phonics and required them to chant the letter sounds every day while the rest of us worked at other things.

Remembering that experience, I played a phonics record or tape (you can tell that was a long time ago) every day as the children in my home preschool settled in for their naps. The familiarity would help them doze off.

I think doing that was one of the main reasons so many of the children began reading

on their own.

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm firmly opposed to trying to push

reading skills on kids who aren't ready for them, but this is an entirely

pressure-free way to prepare them to learn.

And it might also be a help to older kids who have learning disabilities

to play phonics CDs as they fall asleep at night.

Helping Kids Read Well

One of the first posts I ever made on this blog was about helping kids become excellent readers. It's about time to bring up that important topic again.

When my daughter was little I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, but couldn't afford not to work, so I ran a home preschool.

I didn't believe in trying to push academic learning on little kids because reading readiness develops at different ages and if children aren't ready to learn to read, instead they learn that reading is impossible. Working with special education kids I saw quite a few who were so sure they would fail because they'd done so in the past that they wouldn't try to read.

On the other hand, some young kids are ready and eager to learn and it's frustrating for them to be in environments that don't allow reading instruction.

I wanted to meet the needs of all the kids so I set up a program to do that.

Every morning at circle time we'd spend about five minutes on a letter and number of the day. We'd count objects according to the day's number. Then I'd tell the kids one sound the letter of the day made and go around the circle saying, "If your name started with... it would be..." or, "If you had ... in the middle of your name it would sound like...." The kids loved hearing the funny changes to their names.

At the end of each day we'd put away the toys and have Independent Learning Time while waiting for parents to arrive. The kids could choose a book, puzzle, coloring page or other quiet table activity. They'd put each one away as they finished with it and choose another, so everything would be neat when the children went home. I'd provide a workbook for each child according to his or her learning level and interests and if one workbook was completed I'd give another. Those who wished could use their own workbooks at Independent Learning Time and many did so, but there was absolutely no pressure to use the workbooks at all. That part of the day worked sort of like the Montessori method.

The rest of the day we'd have lots of free time to play, both inside and out, a special activity such as a messy art project, a visit to the nearby library for Story Time, a cooking or science project, or a Special Event such as a field trip, party, visitor, or (rarely) a movie.

Of course I'd read to the kids during morning and afternoon circle times, letting them choose from the pile of books related to the theme of the week. Some of those would be Big Books designed so teachers could point to the words while reading. Often the kids would keep requesting more stories for 45 minutes or more.

Many of the four year olds and a few of the three year olds spontaneously began reading independently and all those activities probably helped them do so, but I'll tell you about one of the most important things I haven't mentioned next time I blog.

Where the Wild Things Are

By now you've certainly heard about the new movie based on the classical children's picture book by Maurice Sendak, Where the Wild Things Are. I haven't seen it and may never do so, but I'm pleased that yet another generation of kids will probably want to read the book.

In all the years I taught preschool and Kindergarten children that was certainly the best loved book of the hundreds I read to the kids. One little girl was frightened by the monsters in the book, but she was the only one who didn't love the book and ask to hear it read over and over again.

Probably every child on this planet with a normal family has experienced being punished for misbehaving, having scary dreams, and being reassured of their parent's love. No wonder so many kids can identify with Max.

Expanding a picture book into a full length movie certainly required adding a lot of material not included in the original story and I hope Hollywood did a good job of staying true to the original.

Medieval Manners

Although our culture isn't as careful about things like manners as it used to be, most parents usually try to teach their kids to have good ones. Perhaps it might interest children and help them remember to be polite if they knew where many of our customs come from.

For example, in the Middle Ages people believed that when someone sneezed their soul came out of their body until they inhaled again. During that crucial moment an evil spirit might get in and possess the sneezer unless someone said, "God bless you."

A lot of our manners are based on war.

We no longer kneel or bow except in limited situations. Back then bowing was a way of showing submission and trust because doing so gave another person the opportunity to attack the one who was bending over by hitting them on the head or even cutting it off .

Knights in armor wore helmets, and removing them was a sign that they were not intending to defend themselves. That's why men removed, or later tipped, their hats when meeting a lady or a man they respected, or entering a church or the home of a friend.

But even homes were not always safe places in those days. When tables were set a sharp knife was placed on the side near the right hand, which was dominant for most people. The knife was used for cutting food, but available in case a fight broke out.

And men would extend, join, and shake their right hands to show that they weren't going to use a weapon.

Even saying "Please," which is short for the phrase, "If you please," showed submission because people in positions of power would simply command others to obey them while everyone needed to ask equal and superior people if they were willing to do something.

Although most people aren't aware of the origins of such traditional behaviors we still do them. I wonder how much longer things like that will continue to be used in our culture.

Shroud Poems

Since my tweener fiction book, The Peril of the Sinister Scientist, is about a kid who thinks he was cloned from the blood on the Shroud of Turin a friend, Rev Earl Langguth, gave me these two poems he wrote with permission to post them here.

SEQUENCING JESUS

Might Turin’s shroud be stained with Jesus’ blood?

Could we from it extract some DNA?

What might this tell us of our Saviour’s birth,

And might it cause the faithful some dismay?

While mitochondria from Mary came,

Might autosomes suggest a man to blame?

But then, how did the Holy Spirit work?

Could sequencing detect divine control?

Since Jesus was as human as ourselves,

Would not His chromosomes be normal, whole?

I doubt we could the slightest change display,

Divinity’s not shown by DNA

God’s Spirit did that special babe conceive,

He was to live and grow as Joseph’s son,

Would not the genes of David’s line be there,

As if with Joseph’s seed He was begun?

God’s Word is seen in all He did and said,

God sealed it by His rising from the dead!

SEND IN THE CLONES

Geneticists now seem about to gain

Abilities undreamt of in the past,

The monk named Gregor Mendel found the key

To make us think to master life at last.

The double helix yields its complex mold

As mystery relinquishes control

We hope at length to use new knowledge vast,

But know you this: you cannot clone the soul!

If you could clone a man, you’d get his shape

His kind of hair, his eyes, his build, his skin;

And outwardly you’d think him quite the same

But lawlessness would reign there, deep within

An animal in man-shape, not a man

You would achieve, far short of reason’s goal,

Without a spirit, lacking right and wrong—

Because, you see, one cannot clone the soul!

Oh yes, perhaps some scientist will strive

To clone himself— his wife— perhaps his kin;

And he’ll endure the years which then must pass

Before his claims to fame might then begin;

But he will soon discover how he’s failed;

His creature’s nature will be flawed, not whole

A beast which looks quite human, but is not!

Be warned: we cannot think to clone the soul!

I would be interested to hear what people think of Rev. Earl's ideas and will share any comments with him.

A few people have expressed concern about mentioning the possibility of human cloning in a book for kids, but The Peril of the Sinister Scientist is obviously fiction. Most younger readers would just consider Joshua's imaginative ideas part of the plot, and parents of kids old enough to understand the concept would find it an excellent opportunity to discuss such things with them. The book has a definite Christian message.

Tiny Angel

I recently had the privilege of reading a soon-to-be-published book by Nancy Carty Lepri called Tiny Angel.

It was bad enough that Macy had to move away from her best friend, whose letters showed she had quickly found another best friend.

Attending school in a new town where she had no friends at all and became a victim of the class bully was worse. And it didn't help that her teacher was pushing her to participate in a major spelling bee, which would make her seem like a nerd to everyone.

To top it all off, the tiny angel who unexpectedly showed up might turn out to be more of a problem than a help.

How could Macy ever make some friends and have a normal life?

Kids can easily identify with Macy's troubles and the touch of supernatural influence makes Tiny Angel more than just another book about problems in school. I think young readers will love this book.