Read to your children

This semester I am taking a course on literacy for young children. On the first night of class we were given an article about Raja, a young boy who was read to from the day he was born and every day after that.

"A few of the books read to him where Mercer Mayer's Just For You; Bill Martin's Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?;..." and other books. These stories are easy reads, repetitive, rhyming, and predictable.

Obviously for the first few months baby raja didn't pay attention to the books. After two months, when Raja was in his crib crying, the book Just For You was held up to him and read, he stopped crying. He looked at the book until the story was finished. He listened through two more familiar stories with the same interest.

"It was as if during those first 2 months Raja had gradually developed a nonverbal association between reading books and comfort." The sounds of the words being read were like the mothers heartbeat in the womb.

"At 3 to 4 months - Raja was restless when a new book was read to him. These books needed to be introduced slowly, a few pages at a time. Raja identifies with the sound of the language and not just the pictures. One of the familiar stories acts as a pacifier... His piercing scream (produced by a vaccination shot) is stilled by his father reciting "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see?" With the needle still in his arm, he starts to laugh.

At 5 months - Raja has an attention span of at least 40 minutes and a repertoire of 15 familiar stories.

At 9 months - His attention span with familiar stories is at least 75 minutes. He sits with his father or mother for 75 minutes reading books. He has a repertoire of 22 stories. He turns pages by himself.

At 10 months - his attention is now inexhaustible; his parents' is not!

At 11 months - He brings to a parent books that are requested by title. His parents can pull him away from almost any other activity by beginning to read one of his favorite books. He spend up to 45 minutes playing with his books by himself - turning pages and laughing at favorite scenes."

It was an incredible article!

All of this is before he is even a year old! All from reading to him from day one. Parents can even start reading to them while they are still in the womb. Read them these simple books listed in the article. Read them over and over again. Trust me, they never get tired of "Brown Bear Brown Bear what do you see?" (You will, they won't!)

Work, BBQ, Movie

Yesterday was a very long day. I left home at 7:00 am to get to work. I had a good day at work but I did get a little annoyed at a few people.

Nathan, the night lead custodian at my work always draws pictures or leaves notes on my dry erase board. When I got to work yesterday the note on the board started out, "Callie is messy" and then he left a long note about something I asked him the day before. Now I know I am a little messy and my desk is always covered with stuff and we joke about it sometimes, but I thought that went a little to far. I was mad at him but he doesn't get to work until 2 o'clock so by then I wasn't as mad. Plus he brought me a file cabinent that I had been asking for so then I couldn't be mad at him anymore.

The other person I was annoyed at was the music teacher. She decided she needed to tell a second grade teacher that my class is wild. REALLY?!?!?! They seem to only have a problem in their special classes (Art, P.E., Music, Library). When they are with me they are great (most of the time). They are five and do have their bad days. But I didn't think is was the music teachers place to let others know how my class is.

After work I had to go to a ward activity just down the street from my work. So I didn't go home in between work and the activity. I am on the activities committee so I needed to be there at 5:15 to help get things ready. The BBQ was pretty lame. Not many people showed up, but of course I left around 7 so maybe more people showed up later. I didn't want to stay at the BBQ long and then Celena came and wanted to go see Eagle Eye so I went with her.

It was a good movie. Kinda along the lines of I-Robot. Plus Shia LaBeouf is an actor that I enjoy watching.

It was a busy day and I didn't get home until 10:30!

Switzerland

On many occastions I have been refered to as "Swizerland." Especially where politics are concerned. I don't like to ruffle feathers. I can, and do when I feel that I need to speak up and let my view point known. Now is one of those times.

SO SWITZERLAND IS ON VACATION!!!

I have left Switzerland for a few minutes to let everyone know my point of view.

There has been alot of discussion regarding gay marriage and the proposition that will be on the ballot in November. Some say that gay and lesbian couples should have the right to be married. Others say that marriage should be reserved for the union of one man and one woman.

Where do I stand? Marriage is meant for a man and a woman. I will be voting Yes for Prop 102! There are alot of arguments for and against this propostition. Here are my arguments,

The biggest concern I have is the freedom of religion. There have already been several lawsuits throught the country because people are trying to uphold their religious beliefs.

"California Lutheran High School, a Protestant school in Wildomar, holds that homosexuality is a sin. After the school suspended two girls who were allegedly in a lesbian relationship, the girls' parents sued, saying the school was violating the state's civil rights act protecting gay men and lesbians from discrimination. The case is before a state judge." (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91486340)

"A clerk in Vermont refused to perform a civil union ceremony after the state legalized them. In 2001, in a decision that side-stepped the religious liberties issue, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that he did not need to perform the ceremony because there were other civil servants who would. However, the court did indicate that religious beliefs do not allow employees to discriminate against same-sex couples."(http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91486340)

"Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association of New Jersey, a Methodist organization, refused to rent its boardwalk pavilion to a lesbian couple for their civil union ceremony. The couple filed a complaint with the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights. The division ruled that the boardwalk property was open for public use, therefore the Methodist group could not discriminate against gay couples using it. In the interim, the state's Department of Environmental Protection revoked a portion of the association's tax benefits. The case is ongoing." ( http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91486340)

Each of these cases are a clear example of the freedom of religion being attacked.

I am sure anyone who disagrees with me on this issue will have their reasons for choosing to vote the way they are. I will gladly hear those reasons. Will it change my point of view? No. Am I wanting to change anyone elses vote? No. I just want everyone around me to know where I stand on this issue and why.

And with that said, I am on my way back to Switzerland.

The Cure-all for Dental Phobia

I HATE going to the dentist!!!!!! At least I used to. Well, now I only dislike going to the dentist. What changed?

BRACES

After having braces on for two years, nothing can hurt me now!!!!! Having braces was PAINFUL! Going and getting my teeth yanked this way and that every month for two years made getting fillings very easy.

I had to get three filling replaced today. I had silver ones in and they were pretty old so they replaed them. I was very nervous before I went. I was terrified to get the shot to get numb. But I went and it was fine. It didn't hurt at all. Why?

Because nothing compares to the pain of braces!

My Yenta

Several months ago I came across a blog written by a single lds woman. She is an incredible writer and I enjoyed reading one particular post. It is titled, "I Need a Yenta" I will put the link to the site at the end of this post but I also wanted to just put some highlights from her blog in this post. In her post about a Yenta she talks about people setting her up with men. She makes some really funny and true points.



"I base my selective listening on the spouse of the person offering the advice. If their spouse is less than perfect or desirable, I choose not to take their formula into account. Because really, if that is the best man she could find, why would I want to take her advice on the subject? She clearly is not an expert on finding the perfect man..."

"Few people know that the real Yiddish definition of yenta is "busy body," or someone who knows both parties well. An LDS yenta could really serve some helpful purposes, because, trust me, the art of matchmaking has really gone downhill..."

"in my humble opinion, it is all too often found that a wannabe yenta has set up a man and a woman with all of the forethought of "He's single, she's single. Let's set them up!..." (P.S. I have had this happen SEVERAL times!)

"A truly qualified yenta would find and plan a first date that caters to both parties' common interests. All the stress of meeting and dating would be taken off the couple, and true love would ensue..."




So in all fairness, I do appreciate the help of family and friends in their endevers to find me a man. I would just love it if they thought through the process of the set up. Two single people DOES NOT mean perfect match.

So did I find my Yenta? I'm not sure but I'll let you know. I just might have done that, if she goes through with set up. I was talking to her today and she asked me who I have my eye on. "Who is it that you watch in sacrament meeting?" Are you serious, did she just ask me that? She did and I answered. I am not getting my hopes up that she will do anything. I have had enough people tell me they would set me up and do nothing (wannabe Yenta) So I will keep you posted on wether or not I found my Yenta.

http://singles.ldsblogs.com/2007/10/09/i_need_a_yenta