Do You Haiku?
Children love the rhyme and rhythm of poetry, the quick stories told in vivid language. If you’re unfamiliar with haiku, you’ll find them just a little different.
Continue reading →Category Archives: Family Stories/Memories
My Reading Hat: The Power of Ritual in a Child’s Life
Children thrive on ritual. Just think back to your own childhood. Did you recite the same prayer every night before falling asleep? What about asking your mother to read the same book over and over again “just one more time”? … Continue reading →
My “Once-in-a-Lifetime” Grandmother
“A house needs a grandma in it.”—Louisa May Alcott Nonna Anna stepped into my seven-year-old life with laughter, love, and lore. As the day of her arrival from Italy approached, my heart swelled with excitement and anticipation. It would be … Continue reading →
Three Keys to Effective Discipline
My mother-in-law was a wise woman. Once, when my husband and his older brother were young children, they had a terrible argument. As a means of helping them resolve their differences, my mother-in-law made each of her two boys wash … Continue reading →
Miss Ritter’s Bible
“A teacher affects eternity.” ~ Henry Adams Almost always she wore a simple black dress, but the black only made her gentle, smiling face shine ever more brightly. A splash of white trimmed her hemline for, almost always, her slip … Continue reading →
Training Kids to Rule the Playground
I sat sunning myself on the park bench watching her almost-five-year-old self scoop and sift sand through her fingers while eyeing the boy across the sandbox digging holes with his long-handled shovel. She offered small talk but he’d have none of it … Continue reading →