World's Fanciest Playground?

I guess this new-fangled playground opened at South Street Seaport (NYC) today.

Listen to this:
The playground has been five years in the making, a result of tons of research in progressive learning theory and child-development research, as well as $7.4 million in financing. In smaller, portable versions, it has been tested and tweaked after trial tours all over the city.
Instead of monkey bars and jungle gyms, there are fountains with canals of cascading water that can be dammed in infinite ways, or transformed into a network of rivers. There is an engaging set of lifts and pulleys. Play is proctored and interaction fostered by a staff of city workers trained as “play associates.”

I'm hoping to go check the playground out as soon as possible- rather, as soon as Q's Aunt Katie, who lives and works in the city, has some time to see us! Click here to read full entry.

My Blue and Yellow Nursery!

Well, it's not MINE, exactly, but I'd love a nursery like this if I were having a girl. I have posted before about yellow nurseries, so to find a bright one like I was imagining sort of took my breath away.


This is a nursery for a boy since they didn't know what they were having. I love that I could easily (well, sorta easily) just change Q's nursery to look like this since we already have an aqua blue wall in the room. If I don't have any more kids, or a baby girl, I'll just have to make an office for myself that looks like this!

Thanks to Ohdeedoh for the awesome nursery pics.

See my decor tab to see other nurseries I've written about. Really, is anything cuter than a nursery? Gosh, I should probably start thinking about Q's "big boy room" or whatever. I'm dying to get him out of the crib and into a regular bed, but we shall see.

Hmmm that white crib looks so nice. I sort of wish we'd gotten one, but I do think Q's natural crib looks good with our orange and blue theme. I'll try to get a decent pic of it soon. Click here to read full entry.

Saying Things Once

A couple months ago, I realized I was repeating my requests to my baby at least two times and often three. I know repetition is important for learning, but I was repeating things I knew he understood just because he wasn't doing them right away. (Like, "Go get your sippy cup." I figured he was going to start expecting everything repeated, so I started trying to only say things TWICE. This allowed me to be more patient and wait longer after my first request to see if he was going to complete it, then if not, I'd repeat it again. I tell you, it makes me feel more sane.

("Sit down in the chair!" is a popular request around here. Or at the beach, which is where the photo above was taken, hence the wicker, wood paneling, and cooler.)

I think that if I weren't a teacher, I might not be aware of this. Any teacher will tell you how maddening it is to give a couple directions, then say, "OK, any questions? Great, go ahead and begin!" and then have three kids say, "Wait, what do we do?" Of course, you have to check that you yourself have made directions clear, but if you know you have, then what you have is a case of "I've learned I don't have to listen carefully, because I know you'll do the work for me by repeating it for me personally later."

I noticed this a lot when I came back from my maternity leave. I very quickly taught them I was not going to repeat myself. I often had to explicitly say, "I am not going to repeat myself. I am only saying this once, so listen up." I would see them perk up and focus, which told me that indeed, they hadn't been focused before. (Hey, I understand- sometimes I'd a really bad listener.) After I had their attention, I'd give the directions, keeping it as simple and clear as possible, then ask if there were any questions, then answer the questions, and tell the kids to begin... and there would often be a kid who'd then come up to me and ask what to do. I used my judgment on whether or not the kid needed it repeated. If it was a student who I knew was confused, I'd re-explain. If it was a kid who I knew was just insecure that he or she was doing things right, I'd say, "No, you know what to do." Or I'd say, "Go ask someone at your table," because that way they'd know it was OK to ask for help, but that I wasn't going to re-explain, because I'd just said I wasn't going to re-explain. (You might think I was sending conflicting messages by only repeating it for certain kids, but the students understand that learners are different, and I explain from the very beginning of the year that we all have strengths and weaknesses as learners.)

Anyway, what I'm saying is, it's important to keep track of how you talk to kids. You want to be clear, but you also don't want to be a sucker and do all the work for them.

I also think it's kind of a life lesson: "Oh, you are confused? Well, you better figure it out yourself, whether that means trying to do it to the best of what you remember of the directions, or to ask for help wherever you can." But not from the person who just said, "Do not ask me."

If it looks like the students it stressed or upset, I'll help them- I'm not mean.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, if my kid doesn't do what I want him to do after the second request, I'll say it a different way, then just do it myself, or do it with him- whatever makes the most sense for the situation. Click here to read full entry.

Montessori Blog

I just discovered a great blog: MariaMontessori.com.

I have been interested in Montessori ever since my friend Laura sent me the Michael Olaf Montessori materials catalogue, which you can easily view online (I'll post link later-Q sleeping on me right now- see photo).

So much of the Montessori ideas make sense: a floor bed, a low shelf for toys, teaching life skills, letting kids choose what to learn, etc. The blog I just found via Mighty Marce is a quick way to learn about some Montessori ideas.

Try as I might to incorporate Montessori ideas into my public school classroom, it's really hard without spending a ton of time thinking about how. Actually, it's pretty Montessori of me to let my students choose their writing topics, and choose their own books, but... much of what I do is NOT Montessori. It's going to take time to research, and I just do not have tons of time for that while working and having a toddler.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Click here to read full entry.

Imagination

In a few hours I get to meet my new nephews and I have some funny images of what I could do. My mom made a foam board welcome poster, so one image has me holding the poster and throwing handfuls of confetti in the air when my sister comes out of the international arrivals area. The other image has me crashing through the poster, breaking it in half, and running to her. I will, of course, do neither of those things, because they would scare six month old twins, but I like to imagine stuff.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone Click here to read full entry.

Reminder to Husband

This is what I want for my birthday!!!

I suppose I should check more carefully what it's made of... since I prefer the rubbery grips as opposed to smooth... but c'mon, this is adorable! Click here to read full entry.

I Miss Mississippi!

My sister was plenty ready to leave Mississippi, but seeing my Mississippi mug this morning reminded me that I'm a bit nostalgic for it. It was a relaxing place and I had many great visits there. I loved flying New York--> Memphis--> Tupelo, going from hustle and bustle to a Southern drawl. It was also a way faster trip than California. Plus I got some good posts out of MS... See the Mississippi category to the right!
This is our new K-cup coffee maker, purchased, three years later, with a wedding gift certificate from my coworkers.
Also, I'm doing this post so I can try out my new app: Blogpress for iPhone. So far I really like it and am kicking myself for not getting it earlier.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Click here to read full entry.

Jim's Fancy Pancakes

Oh man. I just cannot compare myself to this guy Jim, who makes truly fancy pancakes. And blogs about it!

You just can't compare yourself to other people in this world, because you will always come up short.

I mean, he makes a 3-D biplane model out of pancake batter. And note Tetris pancakes to right. Sigh. Click here to read full entry.

Loft Nursery: Pretty But Unsafe. DUH.

It really is funny when the baby design/decor blog Ohdeedoh by Apartment Therapy features TOTALLY UNSAFE NURSERIES. Previously I posted about a nursery with a step ladder up to a window and too widely-spaced crib bars. Today Ohdeedoh has a nursery in a LOFT... with OPEN railings.


And the crib and changing table are right against the railings! Reader comments are appropriately along the lines of, "Are you FREAKING SERIOUS?"

See the whole post to view reader comments and see the "before" photo of the loft when it was an office.

Note: Comments have since been disabled on the site, and while I wish it was because Ohdeedoh was embarrassed by the criticism, I think it was because Apartment Therapy renamed the site "Apartment Therapy- Family." Click here to read full entry.

Pop Goes the Weasel Gets Philosophical

I just noticed these lyrics to "Pop Goes the Weasel:"

You may try to sew and sew
And never make anything regal
So roll it up and let it go
Pop -- goes the weasel!

I love it. It's another way of saying, "Take it easy on yourself!" which is one of my life philosophies.

Lest ye think I am a total slacker, there are areas in which I'm highly driven: mainly my writing, which is why, after I took a summer writing course, my husband (then-boyfriend) said, "Do you promise never to take another class again?" because I was so obsessive about my researching, writing, and revising. I'd stay up til 1am, completely immersed in it, then get up at 6am to ger ready to drive to Fairfield. I loved every second of that physically and emotionally tiring class.

Teaching, I work hard at, but it's an art in which going for perfection is a BAD idea since it involves the precious little souls of kids. For that, I say, Set extremely high standards, give them tons of attention and feedback, then roll it up and let it go. Same for parenting: Give it your all, then roll it up and let it go. You cannot control another person. You can just give them your best.

Caption: my friends sewing and knitting while I organize my iPhoto on our Woodstock Crafting Weekend, Winter 2007. Did I care that I can't craft? Nope, I rolled it up and let it go and did not compare myself to other (craftier) people. Note: my hair is NOT this long any more.



I absolutely adore music- always have. I used to sing in a 100+ person chorus until voice problems forced me to stop (and to take a year off of teaching, but that's another story). The people in this chorus were so good that I was pretty much the worst person even though I'm decent. Anyway, I'm happy the kid is at an age where I can tell he enjoys music, so I've created a "Q mix" for him on the iPod with all of the good songs from the CDs I downloaded from my sister a couple of years ago- the sister with three kids- so I have loads of great music to play for him- and me-, including several version of "Pop Goes the Weasel."

You can try to sew and sew...

Take it easy on yourself. That's the advice I gave today to a colleague who's returning from her maternity leave and is going to pump at work... set the standard you want for youself, and then take it easy on yourself. Hard-working people often don't enjoy themselves like they should, because while it's great to set high standards, you also have to enjoy life, and sometimes that means doing a little less amazing job than you'd like. Now that I have limited time for my writing, I've had to force myself to set lower standards. It's hard, but I'd never publish a darn thing unless I gave myself permission to just do a good enough job. Click here to read full entry.