Rock-a-Bye Baby

I was looking tonight at the history of some of my favorite nursery rhymes. We have laughed in class at how funny some of them are when you really think about the words. However, I found out that Rock-a-bye Baby, for example, is believed to have been written by a Pilgrim boy. He was intrigued by the American Indian mothers who rocked their babies by hanging their birch bark cradles in a tree. They could then work, while the wind did the rest.

It's amazing what you can "pick" up!

My mother sent this photo to me. She took it when we were geocaching recently. If you don't know, geocaching is where you use a GPS system to find hidden containers. These containers contain various treasures large and small. If you take a treasure, then you must leave a different treasure in the box. Anyway, when I saw this picture, I was immediately taken back to a good ol' third grade saying. You can pick your friends, and you can pick your nose. But you can not pick your friends nose! Hope it made you smile as much as it did me!

Book of the month

Someone suggested that I post some of the books I recommend in class on the blog. After all, who has a pen and paper handy while we're movin' and groovin' in Kindermusik class! :-) So this month's recommended book is "Discovering Your Child's DQ Factor" by Greg Cynaumon. This book talks about misbehavior and breaks it down by motivation or personality type. There are tests in each chapter to determine your child's particular personality. The author then discusses what forms of discipline work best for that personality type. This book has helped me as a teacher and a parent. It was so enlightening for me to better understand the motivation behind a child's misbehavior.

Too good for drugs

I read an email today that concerned me very much. It was about a new form of Methamphetamine that is being produced. It is being flavored and packaged to possibly entice children. You may already be talking to your children about drugs, but with this new type of meth, children would easily think it was candy and ingest it. You can read more about this important safety issue at this website or you can google "candy meth" and find several news articles.

What a wonderful world!

I want to finish up my postings on the Love Languages of Children. I briefly touched on the final love language, acts of service, in my original post. Therefore, I will only offer a few extra points here. "In serving your children, the main motive-doing what's best- means you are trying to fill their love tanks." The cool thing about this language is that, as we are showing our children love, they are learning how to serve others through our example. This is becoming a lost art in our "ME" oriented society. "Thus acts of service has an intermediate step. We serve our children, but as they are ready, we teach them how to serve themselves and then others." Even though children will gain the most from their primary love language, they actually gain from experiencing all of the love languages. In light of that, it's important to show them a good example of appropriate physical affection, loving words, quality time, thoughtful gift giving, and kind acts of service. They will learn by our example. What a wonderful world that could be!

Pg. 84 & 85 "The Five Love Languages of Children" by Gary Chapman amd Ross Campbell

***Gustafer Yellowgold***

So much has already been said by so many reviewers about this wonderful, wonderful project, there's really nothing left to say about the re-release. Wait, lemme say this: if there is ANY possibility of seeing Morgan Taylor's live multimedia presentation of the Gustafer Yellowgold story, you MUST go. I've seen grown men crying with joy at the end of "New Blue Star" when all the children in the audience are blissfully singing "Neeeeeeeww Bluuuuuuue Staaaaar!!!" Absolutely heavenly.

And with the new release you get two additional songs: "A Cooler World", which could be Taylor thinking ahead to the possibility of an animated series, because this little ditty succinctly encapsulates everything Gustaferish within a perfect pop tune; and "Rocket Shoes", a typically wistful Taylor tune that fits right in with the feel of the older songs. Both have been available for a while on the Gustafer website, but it's nice to have them incorporated into the total storyline and CD/DVD package.

Here's what I had to say about the original DVD-only release:

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

As you sit reading this review, I feel sorry for you, I truly do. For you see, friends, the minutes you waste eyeballing these pitifully mundane comments are minutes you could be digging this mindblowingly awesome DVD. This stuff is so far ahead of typical kids' entertainment, everyone else might as well give up. OK, allow me to back up and let you in on what all this proselytizing is about.

Illustrator/songwriter Morgan Taylor, originally from Dayton, Ohio, currently a Lower East Side resident, is the creator of Gustafer Yellowgold, a character from the Sun who befriends otherwise friendless beings like a flightless pterodactyl, a crying green bee, a dragon who makes his home in a fireplace, and an eel. Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World is the soundtrack of their intertwining lives, filled with stories of friendship, loneliness, loss, death, and love. But these subjects are dealt with in such a subdued manner that you don't so much read the lyrics or hear the music, you feel them, you understand the emotions channeled through the songs, you empathize with the characters.

The eight songs on the DVD are iconographically illustrated with Morgan's simple and colorful drawings, enclosed within a square wooden frame, and lyrics to each stanza appear on the frame as each song flows by. The DVD also includes wordless versions of all the songs so you and your little ones can sing along with "I'm From the Sun", "Your Eel", "New Blue Star", and the rest of the joyous tunes and aching melodies.

After having opened for bands such as the Polyphonic Spree and Wilco, Morgan is currently performing the Gustafer Yellowgold music locally, playing live as the images from the DVD are projected onto a screen. If you live near NYC, go see the show. If you live anywhere else in the world, come see the show. If you are of this universe, buy the DVD and share it with everyone you know.

The very hungry caterpillar

About two weeks ago, I had a local company, Fluttering Flowers, put in a butterfly garden at my classroom. It turned out just beautifully and is filled with a wonderful variety of colorful flowers. I thought it would be great fun for the children to enjoy some butterflies and caterpillars as they come to class each week. On Monday, I found this chubby fellow munching away on milk weed. A few plants over was a brother or sister, who was also making himself quite at home. Judging from their size, I would guess they will be getting ready for a chrysalis soon!

GIFTS!!!!

Hopefully, you have been following along with our conversation about the Love Languages of Children. I wanted to move on today to language #4, gifts. No before you max out your credit card, let me define gift. By gift, I am referring to a meaningful expression of love that is freely given. "When a parent offers a gift if the child will clean his room, this is not a true gift but a payment for services rendered. At times parents who have every intention of offering a true gift may be sending confused messages if they ignore the child's deep emotional need for love." It's not about what you give or how much it cost. It's about the thought behind it. Be creative. For example, I have a daughter that is very interested in birds. If I stumble on a pretty feather when out for a walk, I pick it up and bring it home for her. Some of these items are her most treasured things, and they cost me nothing but my time and thoughtfulness. What are some of your most treasured gifts?

pg. 73 "The Five Love Languages of Children" by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell