I would never call myself a perfectionist. In fact, my family would probably fall over laughing at that description. But perhaps I’m really what I like to call a “reverse perfectionist”, meaning I often won’t start a project if I don’t think I can get it 100% correct the first time. Maybe it’s just a fear of failure, but whatever I call it—it’s PROCRASTINATION! And when I put that self-imposed limit on my writing, I end up with a blank page. And here’s a little inside secret; writers can’t revise something that hasn’t been written!

I have been reading Ann Whitford Paul’s excellent book, Write Picture Books: A Hands-On Guide from Story Creation to Publication, and I’ve found it to be very inspirational. She gives some excellent advice on page 11:

“Remember, your first draft will rarely be ready to submit to an editor. Just as milk needs churning to become ice cream, your draft will need revision to become publishable. Get your story down and you’ll have something to work with.”

Those words make me ask myself—how much am I churning? How about you?

To overcome my tendencies to be a reverse-perfectionist writer, I’ve found the following tips and strategies to be very helpful:

1. Just Do It – Just get your ideas down on paper without stopping to analyze or make corrections. Turn off the inner editor and don’t stem the flow.

2. Junk Is Okay – Even if you think what you write is worthless junk, it’s better to get it on paper and discard it later than not write at all. Writing needs to become a habit. Besides, once the process is started, it’s easier to keep the momentum going. And the longer you write, the better chance you’ll have of writing something you can revise.

3. A Timer Is Your Friend – When I’m really in a bad reverse perfectionism slump, I can set the timer for fifteen minutes and tell myself that I can do anything for that short amount of time. Usually however, those fifteen minutes turn into a much longer writing session. Once again, momentum is the key. But if a time crunch is the problem…

4. Bits and Pieces Add Up – Some writers don’t want to tackle a writing project unless they have a large chunk of time to devote to it. However, I’m a busy wife and homeschool mom, and I know from experience that little bits of writing time here and there do add up over time. It’s not the ideal scenario, but ten or fifteen minutes throughout the day can equal a couple of hours of writing time. And that doesn’t include the ‘thinking time’ when I’m in between tasks. It can be done.

5. Have a Writing Day/Night – One night a week, my family graciously allows me to slip away to the library for a few hours of writing time. This hasn’t always been an option for me, but it’s a luxury I’m able to enjoy now since my youngest children aren’t babies anymore. Because I know I’m ‘on the clock’ I can really buckle down and get some serious writing done—I make it count! Actually, I think it’s called focus!

6. Someday May Never Come – Today is the day! If I let my reverse perfectionism take over by waiting until ‘someday’ when I will have more time or feel I can turn out a masterpiece on the first try—that ‘someday’ will probably never come. I will have a bunch of blank pages in a notebook or empty files in my computer.

I have to keep reminding myself that anything I write is better than nothing at all. I tell my inner reverse perfectionist voice that a few words become a sentence, and a few sentences become a paragraph. Several paragraphs become a page, and pages become a manuscript. With this mentality, the pages will add up. No, my work won’t be perfect or 100% complete, but at least I’ll have material that I can craft, edit, revise and polish into something special.

*This is an article I previously published over the National Writing for Children Center.

Kick the Cowboy by Joe Gribnau

What’s New At the Zoo by Suzanne Slade

Mother Osprey: Nursery Rhymes for Buoys and Gulls by Lucy Nolan

Moose and Magpie by Bettina Restrepo

Count Down To Fall by Fran Hawk

Saturn For My Birthday by John McGranaghan

Henry the Impatient Heron by Donna Love

Where Should Turtle Be? by Susan Ring

Little Toot (Anniversary Edition) by Hardie Gramatky

NARRATION: THE ART OF RE-TELLING

Picture this cozy scene. You are sitting on the sofa with your little boy tucked closely beside you enjoying a wonderful picture book or an exciting read-aloud. Your son listens with delight and begs for more. So, of course you continue, talking about the pictures or what’s happening as you go along.

Later, when Daddy comes home, your little boy runs up to him and excitedly begins to retell (in his own words) the whole story in great detail. You know without a doubt that he has absorbed and comprehended what you read earlier in the day. Moreover, a month later, he retells the same story to Grandma, again remembering small details that you yourself have forgotten. Your child has naturally utilized one of the greatest learning tools there is, and one that will certainly help him in his educational endeavors as he grows older. It’s called narration.

WHAT IS NARRATION:

Narration is simply the art of “telling back”, and it’s a technique often used by classical educators and those who employ the teaching methods of Charlotte Mason (a 19^th century British educator). However, on a broader scale, it’s much more than that, and it can be used by anyone of any age to facilitate concentration, vocabulary, comprehension, memorization, language skills, and even writing skills.

WHY USE NARRATION:

One of the easiest ways to explain the importance of narration is to borrow from Miss Mason herself. In some of her writings, she used the illustration of a sick patient in the hospital. The person was suffering from intense pain and the doctor had written the remedy on a piece of paper. He told her this would alleviate the pain, however, he would only let her look at the card for a few minutes. Then the card would be destroyed permanently, and the doctor wouldn’t write it again. Can you imagine the intense concentration the patient would put forth to remember what was written?

Although a small child naturally “tells back” what he hears, it’s a skill that should be encouraged and developed when he is very young. Because just think of the benefits when the child is older and needs to remember certain information. If he knows that he will be asked to ‘retell’ after a reading, he will definitely pay more attention to the material at hand so that his narration will be accurate. What he can tell—he knows! He has to think, sift through the information, and choose the important parts to narrate. He has to assimilate the material, make it his, and put it into his own words. With this concentrated effort, he WILL remember!

Charlotte Mason said, “What a child digs for becomes his own possession.” In addition, oral narration is only one step before written narration, which is basically composition! So technically, oral narration is a forerunner to processing one’s thoughts and putting words on paper in a way that makes sense. It’s a skill that’s invaluable.

NARRATION AND YOUNG CHILDREN:

The art of narration begins very early, even before a child can read. As mentioned above, children love to “tell back” the stories they hear. And have you ever noticed a little one who will pick up a beloved picture book, turn the pages slowly, and perhaps ‘read’ it aloud to a younger sibling or even a favorite stuffed animal or doll? This is beginning narration, and the continuing pattern is a natural progression—if the child is encouraged and the skill is fostered. Too often, this desire to “tell” is schooled out of the child as he grows older. But language expression is so important, and the ability to organize and demonstrate the knowledge he gains from books is priceless.

IDEAS FOR USING NARRATION:

We have established the fact that narration is a valuable learning tool, so let’s look at some practical ways to use it with young children. And because we want our little ones to retain their natural curiosity and desire to “tell back”, we don’t want to overwhelm them with heavy ‘educational’ language. Instead, a gentle approach is best; plus this early discovery stage is so much fun and a joy to witness. Many parents probably already do many of these things without realizing they are creating a solid foundation for future learning.

• Use high quality ‘living’ books. Even young children can appreciate well-written literature, and they will understand far more than we give them credit for.
• Do some pre-reading activities. Let the child look at pictures and guess what will happen in the story.
• When reading the story, use different voices, inflection, sound effects, and even suspenseful pauses before turning pages. If your child asks questions, answer them. It’s easy to become a bit frustrated when we want to read and they want to talk about what’s happening.
• Turnabout is fair play. Ask your child questions about the story or what he thinks will happen next.
• After you are finished reading, ask the child to retell the story in his own words…you’ll be surprised at the detail.

OTHER IDEAS:

• Record your child’s narration on cassette or CD.
• Let them draw a picture to ‘tell’ about the story.
• Let them dramatize or act out the story, use a flannel board, or how about a puppet show?

The possibilities are endless, and no matter how you choose to foster your child’s narrative ability, encouraging them to talk about or retell what they’ve heard or read is extremely important. Narration is a skill that will pay great dividends farther along the educational road.

Below is a list of all the articles I’ve had published on the National Writing for Children website. Some are for the Parenting/Teaching Tips column and some are about writing:

A Look At Lady Liberty

Our Awesome America: Historic Symbols

Nature At Night: Learning After Dark

Kids in the Kitchen: Fun AND Learning

Creating Learning Guides and Instructional Activities for Trade Books

Teaching Character Point of View: The Big Bad Wolf versus The Three Little Pigs

Picture Book Pleasures: Delicious Picks for Fall

Celebrating Through The Year: Seasonal Tableaus and Displays

Making Family History Come Alive

Newspapers in Education: Not Just for News

Helping With Your Child’s Homework May Boost Your Writing Career

Autumn Fun: Learning With Leaves

Family Night: Make It A Tradition

Family Mealtimes Are Important

Teaching Personification With Picture Books

Welcome to my new blog. I’m still in the process of setting everything up and making changes to personalize my space here. Look around and come back soon. Hopefully, I will have everything functional shortly!

It’s so true—ideas are everywhere. As writers, we are constantly on the lookout for grist for our writing mills that we can use to develop into articles or stories. We search the world wide web. We use information from our lives, jobs and careers. We sift back through our own memories from childhood, and much to our children’s dismay, we may even play off humorous things they say and do. We are persistent and consistent in our quest to mine for those little nuggets and ideas that we will make uniquely ours.

However, one fantastic source for ideas may be so obvious that it’s simply overlooked. In fact, until I started thinking back on how I originally came up with the ideas for some of my published non-fiction articles, I too had forgotten about my ‘secret source’—my children’s schoolwork! For example, when my twin daughters were studying about westward expansion in America, I checked out a video about the Oregon Trail from the library. As we were watching the documentary, the narrator commented that the Oregon Trail is the nation’s longest graveyard. If the graves were evenly spaced along the length of the Trail, there would be one every fifty yards from Missouri to Oregon City. Light bulb moment! My interest was piqued, and I began to research. The result was an article entitled “The Oregon Trail: Destiny or Death?” that was published in Learning Through History Magazine.

The same thing happened when my children studied about ancient Rome, ancient Greece, the Great Depression, the French Revolution, and World War I, all resulting in the following articles:

Roman Baths: Ancient Health Clubs

Eureka! Archimedes and His Accomplishments

Herbert Hoover: From Prosperity to Depression

Tragedy In the Temple Prison

A Deadly Cloud of Poison Gas

When my daughters were very young, they learned about various animals during one particular unit study. We became fascinated with the leaf eating proboscis monkeys of Borneo which led me to write an article called “Snoots and Snouts” for Guideposts for Kids, a piece about funny animal noses. This came on the heels of another article called “Power In A Bottle” that I sold to Jack and Jill after teaching a class of second graders about the chemical reaction of mixing baking soda and vinegar to create carbon dioxide.

I once heard a podcast featuring children’s author Kathi Appelt (“The Book Report” 6/25/08). She said that she found her inspiration for writing her non-fiction book, Down Cut Shin Creek: Pack Horse Librarians of Kentucky when she was helping her ninth grade son with his research for a paper about the WPA. As she was scanning various websites for information about the WPA, she came across a site called the “Kentucky Pack Horse Library Project.” According to Appelt in another interview conducted by Cynthia Leitich Smith:

“It wasn’t anything that Jacob could use, but with my life-long affection for all-things-horse I bookmarked the page and returned to it a couple of days later. Then I contacted the webmaster who turned out to be Jeanne Cannella Schmitzer, a librarian in Cookville, TN and we started corresponding with each other.

“One day, she invited me to come with her to Beattyville, KT to interview a woman named Grace Lucas who had been one of these librarians. Of course, I jumped at the chance, and both of us just fell in love with Grace and her story. I felt so touched and impressed with Grace’s life and the impact that she and her co-workers made on the lives of so many people, that the book was almost inevitable.”

I loved the way Appelt said, “…the book was almost inevitable!” And due to helping her son with the homework assignment that led her to find a website that inspired to her write her book, the ripples of Kathi Appelt’s discovery continue even further. When another children’s author, Kimberly Willis Holt, saw a picture in Appelt’s book of a bookmobile librarian who worked in a Louisiana bayou community, she was inspired to write her fictional book, Part of Me! I’ve read both of these ladies’ books, and they are exceptional. Thank goodness for that research paper on the WPA!

So the next time you need to help your child with schoolwork, don’t think of it as a chore or an inconvenience. Yes, it is a labor of love, but also consider it an opportunity—an opportunity to mine for writer’s gold. You never know when that perfect nugget of information will turn up to spark your creative interest and lead to greater success in your writing career.

Children’s picture books are a staple in the homes of most families. They have long been the first choice for bedtime stories or just for when someone needs a cuddle on the couch. Well-loved stories have stood the test of time and bring back good memories from our childhoods, and we all need that special reminder from time to time—no matter how old we are. Moreover, we are always discovering new favorites as we share them with our children, ever adding to the cherished cache.

Picture books can also help us celebrate the changing seasons as we read beloved classics concentrating on winter, spring, summer, or, as we are enjoying now, autumn. In fact, this delightful segment of the year brings us colorful falling leaves, cooler days, cozy quilts, and comforting smells of good things baking in the oven. Autumn also means pumpkins and APPLES and the many delicious possibilities they contain. Below are a few book suggestions and several ideas for using these stories as a ‘jumping off’ point for some yummy autumn fun for everyone!

How To Make An Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman is a wonderful story about what happens when it’s time to bake an apple pie, but the market is closed. Of course, this situation requires you to take a trip around the world to gather all the fresh ingredients, right at their sources. For example, you’ll need semolina wheat from Italy, a French chicken to lay a fresh egg, an English cow to give the richest milk, the bark of a kurundu tree from Sri Lanka that will be ground into cinnamon, seawater to evaporate for salt, and rosy apples from Vermont. No problem, right?

This delicious tale by Ms. Priceman is perfect for fall! There is a recipe for apple pie at the end of the book which would make a perfect finish! While eating a slice of your pie and a drinking a glass of milk, you might even want to explore a globe or map to locate the places mentioned in the story—a great geography lesson to go along with a delectable culinary creation!

The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall is another great ‘pick’! Two young sisters follow the cycle of an apple tree and how the apples are formed—from the bud to the fruit. The story includes the role of weather and bees in the production of the fruit, as well as a little side story about the robins who build their nest in the tree. The tale concludes with the apple harvest, and of course another recipe for apple pie is included.

In addition to a pie baking activity, this book lends itself very well to the whole scientific aspect of fruit production, pollination, weather patterns, and life cycles in general. Visiting an apple orchard or U-Pick facility would make a great field trip to go along with any of these books.

Applesauce by Shirley Kurtz takes the ‘apple’ idea one step further. This book focuses on a family’s quest to gather enough apples to make enough applesauce to last through the winter. The pictures in the book are very helpful for understanding the process of making applesauce, and easy directions are included. Jars of homemade applesauce would make thoughtful gifts for children to give to family and friends.

Johnny Appleseed by Reeve Lindburgh would make a wonderful wrap-up after baking up so many apple goodies in the kitchen. This poem about John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) tells the story of one man’s crusade to spread apple seeds from Massachusetts to the Midwest. Can you think up other recipes that use apples as the main ingredient? Search your cookbooks and see what yummy things you can discover. Create your own autumn recipe idea notebook.

There are also quite a few picture books about pumpkins too, and many can be used as a starting point for enjoyable kitchen activities as well. Perhaps a side trip to the pumpkin patch is in order before coming home to bake up some down home goodness. Some suggestions are:

-The Pumpkin Patch by Elizabeth King

-Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum

-Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White

-Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

Need more ideas? Here’s an excellent bonus recipe for Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread.

Ingredients:

· 3 cups white sugar

· 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin

· 1 cup vegetable oil

· 2/3 cup water

· 4 eggs

· 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

· 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

· 1 tablespoon ground nutmeg

· 2 teaspoons baking soda

· 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

· 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

· 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three loaf pans. In a large bowl, combine sugar, pumpkin, oil, water, and eggs. Beat until smooth. Blend in flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Fill pans 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bake for 1 hour, or until a knife comes out clean. Cool on wire racks before removing from pans.

So scan your library bookshelves, ‘pick’ a few great books to share, and pre-heat the oven. Don an apron, bake up some autumn goodness, and enjoy the ‘fruits’ of your labor!

As surely as autumn follows summer and winter follows autumn, the cadence of the seasons alerts us to the passage and cycles of time. And for very young children, observing and celebrating the changing seasons helps them develop a better understanding of how days and months turn into years. It teaches them of life and nature, and it also makes them aware of the special attributes and joys of each season. They learn to appreciate the beauty around them all through the year.

One of the best ways to celebrate the different seasons is to create a rotating tablescape or tableau. This is easily done by designating a small table or shelf as a spot for a “nature or seasonal” display. Some people may even choose a windowsill to house their tableaus. The point is to set aside a special area solely for the purpose of showcasing a specific season.

The Waldorf, Montessori, and Charlotte Mason methods of education all encourage the use of “nature tables,” but delighting in the changing seasons is for everyone. In fact, many families simply call this display a “seasonal table” which can encompass and include a wide variety of things—from pinecones to pumpkins, handicrafts to photos and drawings, or even favorite books about the season. The possibilities are endless!

However, these seasonal tables are certainly not a new idea. According to Sarah Ban Breathnach in her book, Mrs. Sharp’s Traditions: “Victorian families let the four seasons weave the fabric of their family life together in harmony and creativity with handicrafts to beautify their homes.” (pg. 66) In fact, their seasonal tables were a place to display items they discovered on nature walks or things they’d made. Although simple, the table was a focal point for families to enjoy seasonal treasures and concentrate on specific times of the year.

Ms. Ban Breathnach went on to say of this old tradition that we can still enjoy today: “…the Seasonal Table helps children develop a sense of the year’s rhythms and an appreciation for the four seasons. We know that there will be paper snowflakes and evergreen branches in winter; pussy willows and a bird’s nest in spring; seashells in summer and autumn leaves displayed in the fall.” (pg. 66)

So why not take a lesson from the past and set aside a corner, table, shelf, or windowsill to designate as a specific place to exhibit seasonal displays? Children will take pleasure in finding, choosing or creating items for the tableau, and the whole family will enjoy this timeless and special tradition!

*Quotes taken from Mrs. Sharp’s Traditions by Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance Press (Scribner), New York, 1990.

Every family has a story, and children are naturally curious about their heritage. They like to hear about the ‘olden days’ when their parents or grandparents were little boys and girls. In fact, they are usually amazed that there was actually a time when there were no cell phones, microwave ovens, televisions, or even indoor plumbing.

But more than that, learning about their own special lineage, culture, and heritage gives children a connection to the past, a foundation, and a stronger sense of belonging as they pursue their futures. It also creates a fun opportunity to delve into history while providing a glimpse into the lives of their ancestors. This makes history seem real or come alive for them.

Here are a few ideas to help spark some interest in learning about your family’s special story:

1. Create a family tree to give the child a visual aid. If possible, use photos along with names and dates. Help the child distinguish his relationship with each person. Can the child find any similar physical characteristics between himself and his ancestors?

2. Create an oral history resource. This can be done using audio or video, but let the child interview family members (grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.) about when they were young, what they remember about their ancestors, what was happening in the world at the time, or any special memories. Encourage the child to make a list of questions and give them to the interviewee beforehand so that they can think on their answers. The audio interviews can always be transcribed and put into a special book.

3. Create a family photo album or scrapbook. Many times, older relatives will have lots of photographs that have been passed down through the years. Try to borrow as many of the pictures as you can, make copies, then help your child create a family album or scrapbook. Create captions telling who, what, when, and where. You could also insert other pages to correspond with the photos (if you have enough information about dates) telling what was happening in the world or nation at the time. You could even include newspaper clippings if you have them. Put history in its proper place!

Note: This would be a great time to discuss good photo preservation techniques, taking special care of items that belong to others, and responsibility to return what is borrowed.

4. Create and label a family map. Display a world/country map and use little flags or stickers to label each country, state, or town where ancestors lived. If your family came from a distant place, study the area, the culture, the food, and the language. Check out travel videos, books, and cookbooks to learn more about the special ‘flavor’ of the homeland.

5. Create a family cookbook. Many families have special or secret recipes that are handed down through the generations. Why not create a family cookbook to keep these recipes in one place? Have relatives contribute their favorites, but also include information about where the recipe originated, who taught them how to prepare it, or any special story associated with it. Add an ancestry tree page in the front of the book, and you have a great family heirloom. This would be a wonderful summer project to do with your child, and it would also make a thoughtful gift for each individual family who contributes!

6. Introduce your older child to genealogical research. There are many online websites and databases where you can access records and information. Some are subscription based, but there is also a lot of free information out there as well, if you know where to look and enjoy digging for nuggets. An older child might be bitten by the ‘genealogy bug’ and discover an enjoyable lifetime hobby. A good starting place is www.cyndislist.com where you’ll find lots of lists and links to genealogy sites on the internet.

7. Encourage your child to keep a journal. After delving into his family history, your child will see the importance of recording things that are happening in his world, the weather, special memories, or even just the little details of daily life. Who knows—one day his descendants may decide to research their family history and they’ll already have a fantastic resource right at their fingertips. A priceless gift for future generations!

Check out these resources for more information about researching family history:

· The Great Ancestor Hunt: The Fun of Finding Out Who You Are by
Lila Perl Yerkow

· Me and My Family Tree by Joan Sweeney

· Family Tree: Writing Historical Fiction Based on Family History by
Jennifer Johnson Garrity

· Climbing Your Family Tree by Ira Wolfman

· Who’s Who in My Family? By Loreen Leedy

· Through the Eyes of Your Ancestors: A Step-by-Step Guide to
Uncovering Your Family’s History by Maureen Taylor

· Roots for Kids: A Genealogy Guide for Young People by Susan
Provost Beller

· Creating Jr. Genealogists: Tips and Activities for Family History Fun
by Karen Frisch Dennen

· My Family Tree Workbook by Rosemary Chorzempa