tawnyember, Author at tawnyember

Parent Perspective: Skye

by tawnyember | Jul 1, 2021 | Parent Perspective

I am an editor. Twenty years ago, I was a wildlife biologist. In my spare time, I sell art in a gallery. Before that, I had a side gig playing steel drums in a Caribbean restaurant. I sometimes wonder how I never just settled on one thing. Somehow, I couldn’t leave behind any of my disparate interests. I have dragged them all with me.

I think it must have to do with the worlds that were given to me as a child through books. These worlds of interest were added to my native love of the outdoors and all things wild. Above all, a love of literature was gifted to me. I thank my dad for not only showing me pond water through a microscope but for reading to my siblings and me without fail every night—authors such as E. B. White, Roald Dahl, Mark Twain, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Hans Christian Andersen, and Jack London. And I thank my mom for passing down her good eye for grammar.

Today, most of my time is spent reading and improving on what others have written on topics ranging from space radiation to feline orthodontia to child development. I find a broad knowledge of basic things extremely useful in editing. I’m able to understand the premise of an article or chapter even when I’m clueless about the details. I love continuing to learn and check on facts about subjects all over the map.

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As my three kids grew up, I read a range of books to them. There was the couch reading of picture books, the after-dinner reading of scriptures that brought the family all together, and bedtime reading. The latter was my favorite, as I could read for longer and mostly chose the books myself. I read all of the Chronicles of Narnia, adding my commentary about Christ along the way. I read Dahl and Tolkien, I covered the Little House books, and I cried as I read aloud the end of Charlotte’s Web (eliciting some groans from the bunkbed).

My kids have not yet turned out to be huge readers, but they all read and write well. Just as important, they have various interests. Their knowledge expanded with each book we read, as much as if they had read all these books themselves. I recently copyedited a report by a client who does evaluations of children with learning disabilities. She gave this recommendation to the parents and teachers of one boy: “When you ask him about what he’s reading lately, he should talk about his audiobook, as that is simply reading with his ears instead of his eyes; in both cases, the information gets in.”

The information gets in. And with it comes a world of possibilities for our children’s futures.

Thanks, Skye

Skye is another of my amazing sisters! Her prowess in finding writing errors are akin to a hounddog tracking game. She is remarkable. As disappointed as I am when she finds something in my poetry or essays, I never quite feel my writing is complete without having her take a go at it. Her website is edit-guru.com. Go check it out! Editing may sound boring to some, but I can assure you that Skye is the most adventurous of all my siblings. She enjoys hiking, traveling, painting watercolors, and playing the piano, steel drums, and clarinet.

tawnyember

The Star Festival Literacy Activity

by tawnyember | Jun 29, 2021 | Articles

There is a piece of my heart I haven’t shared with you yet, mostly because I couldn’t see a connection to child literacy . . . until now! So I am extremely excited to bridge my love of reading with a country on the other side of the world.

I have lived in Japan a few times. All told, I have spent about two years there. But I helplessly fell in love with it the very first day I arrived. The people, their history, food, and language have me spellbound. Of particular interest to me are their festivals, many of which originated centuries ago. The Japanese people take their obligations (work, family, community) quite seriously. On that account, it is refreshing to see them relax and celebrate with one another.

I’d like to introduce you to one of my favorite Japanese Festivals: Tanabata, or the Star Festival. It takes place annually on July 7th. There is a folktale associated with this celebration, which is summarized in the adjacent image. I invite you to learn more about Tanabata with your children by doing the following activities:

1 – Read the folktale together.

Pictured below are a few ways to do this. In the children’s book The Star Festival by Moni Ritchie Hadley, an old woman tells her young granddaughter about Tanabata just before they attend the festival themselves. Check your local library, bookstore, or the internet to obtain a copy. There is also a website that tells the folktale through a slideshow. And the two videos are told in Japanese with English subtitles. You may want to turn the sound down or off so you can easily read aloud. As you read, be sure to ask your children lots of questions to check for comprehension and to broaden your reading experience.

Kids Web Japan Slideshow

2 – Write on ***tanzaku, or Tanabata* wish cards.**

After reading the story, you can continue to celebrate Tanabata together by writing your heartfelt wishes on colorful strips of paper. The paper represents the girl’s weaving in the folktale. Cut strips about three by six inches wide. Punch a small hole at the top and tie a loop of yarn or string through it. Please encourage your children to write in complete sentences on their paper. (For more step-by-step directions, click here.) Some examples of what they can write are:

“I wish I could have a new . . .” (book, friend, bike, etc.)

“I wish I could get better at . . .” (reading, football, dancing, etc.)

“I wish for a great . . . next year.” (teacher, schedule, team, etc.)

3 – Hang up your wishes.

Tanzaku is traditionally hung on bamboo stalks as decorations, but you could hang them in your yard or on a large indoor plant. Invite any guests who stop by in the following weeks to add to your wish tree. They are bright, festive summer ornaments and remind us of our worthy desires. And as we all know, the more we think about our goals and dreams, the more likely we are to achieve them!

4 – Send your wishes off.

After enjoying your tanzaku for a few weeks, it is customary to either float them down a river or to burn them, sending your wishes up to the stars. Before disposing of them, I would suggest taking a picture to help you remember what your wishes were. Next year, you can look back to see whether or not your wish was granted.

5 – Go stargazing.

You may also want to look at constellations with your children. In the Tanabata folktale, the star Vega is the weaver girl and the star Altair is the cowherd. Finding them in the night sky would be a fun activity on its own, but really makes the story come alive. The more connections we draw from books to daily life and the world around us, the more meaningful and stimulating the stories become to our children.

Feel free to make this activity your own. You can do as many or as few of the suggestions above. But be on the lookout for this kind of project that combines reading, writing, and recreation. Your children will gain more interest in learning about stories when they are given the opportunity. This also provides you with quality time together, which seems harder and harder to come by in our modern, fast-paced world.

I would LOVE to see pictures of your Tanabata wishes! Please share those happy photos on my social media pages, and have a delightful time celebrating the Star Festival with your children.

Parent Perspective: Janna

by tawnyember | Jun 24, 2021 | Parent Perspective

I just wrapped up my fifth year of homeschooling our daughters. It feels like I’m in school as well because we are learning together, and it is much more fun than when I was in school at their age. Is learning always more fun as an adult? Or when it’s the second time around? Or is it more fun because I get to choose what books we use to learn from?

Yep. That must be it!

In the great southern state that we live in, there is no mandatory curriculum that I’m required to use for homeschool. I get to use my best judgment and piece together what I think is right for my children. Because of that flexibility, I have been able to choose historical fiction novels slightly above their reading level, and we read them together several days a week.

Our first year of homeschool, our daughters were six and four. We started with my American Girl collection from my childhood about Addy, a young slave that escaped to freedom in the 1860’s. The series held my girls’ attention well, and then we were able to build upon what we read in the series through non-fiction borrowed library books about that time period.

After completing the American Girl sets, we found another series called The Magic Treehouse, and we continued to build upon what we learned from those chapter books. Each time we finish a book, we are sad and wonder if we will ever love a novel as much. Then we stumble upon one book here, one book there, whether borrowed from the library, a friend, or purchased second-hand on eBay, and we keep learning together.

We have made crafts, food, and played games based on what we have read in historical fiction novels. We have felt like time travelers because of the magical ability an author has to paint the scene, inform us, and draw us in to the book.

Some of our favorite historical fiction books are:

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan
One Crazy Summer series by Rita Williams Garcia
The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
I Survived The American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis

Reading together has been such a gift to me, and hopefully has created impactful memories that my girls will have forever.

In addition to reading historical fiction, we loved the mini biographies in Good Night Stories For Rebel Girls and Stories For Boys Who Dare To Be Different. After reading about the person highlighted, we would search YouTube for a performance or interview of them.

Reading with my girls has given us an excuse to snuggle on the couch, to unwind, to laugh and cry together, to learn, implement and improve our lives. By choosing books that are intriguing to them, it has encouraged their thirst for more knowledge, as well as a desire to read on their own. Reading together has been such a gift to me, and hopefully has created impactful memories that my girls will have forever.

Thanks, Janna

Janna is my nephew’s wife, but since we are close in age, I consider her a sister-in-law. She has a wonderful bubbly personality and is a talented, certified self-love life coach. You can find her website at coachwithjanna.com, and her videos are incredibly helpful! Janna loves reading, chocolate, minimalism, and visiting sunny beaches.

tawnyember

How to Magically Improve Your Child’s Literacy

by tawnyember | Jun 22, 2021 | Articles

When our kids were in 2nd grade, kindergarten, and preschool, my husband’s job sent him to San Diego for six weeks. The kids and I decided to tag along. To give us plenty of freedom to explore during the day, we decided to homeschool. We used workbooks and some learning targets the teachers shared with us as a guide, but for the most part, we were winging it.

There was one activity in particular I believe helped the kids make the most strides in learning to read and write. Knowing how young they were, I was afraid they would forget that incredible trip and all the fun things we did together. For that reason, I gave them each a notebook so they could write about our experiences. One hiccup: our youngest two couldn’t write on their own. But I wanted the journals to reflect their personal thoughts and feelings, which required some creativity.

First, I had each of the kids dictate to me what they wanted to say about that day’s events. I wrote down what they said in my clearest handwriting. Then, I had them copy it directly under my writing. Finally, we decorated the pages with drawings, clippings from visitors’ guides, and other fun finds to add a visual reminder of our activities.

Something about the process of speaking their own words, seeing them in print, and then writing them out themselves really clicked with each of them. Before our trip was over, our oldest’s writing had definitely improved, our middle child was able to read on his own, and our youngest was recognizing letters with greater ease. This project worked so well for us, we have repeated it with each of our kids. I highly recommend you try it with your own. It doesn’t require that you go off exploring a new city; there are plenty of other things to write about. Here are some ideas to help you get started.

Writing about COVID-19

Now that we have just begun our summer break, it’s the perfect time to have our children look back on this unprecedented year. Here are some sentence starters to help them sum up the past school year in their own words.

I will never forget the school year 2020-21, because . . .
Doing remote learning felt like . . .
Having to wear a mask at school was . . .
I wish that instead of having to . . . we could have . . .
I was surprised that I got used to . . .
I really liked the way my teacher . . .
It felt harder to learn this year because . . .
I really missed being able to . . .
Next year I hope we can . . .

Writing about Summer Activities

Try to select outings that use as many senses as possible. This will help your children remember events more clearly and help them put words to how they felt about what they did or saw. Remember to grab ticket stubs, pamphlets, coupons, or any other small, flat, visual representation of your adventures. They will love attaching them to their journal and making it their own, unique record.

My favorite thing about today was . . .
(Walking through the forest) was like . . .
I was as happy as a . . .
I will never forget how . . .
(Swimming in the lake) made me remember how . . .
After a day like today, all I want to do is . . .
I can’t believe (Mom made us) . . .
Tomorrow I hope we get to . . .
I’m glad to be part of this family, because . . .

Tips for Success

You may prefer to write at the end of each day while memories are fresh. If you find that hard to fit in with your nightly routine, you can write the following morning, or even once a week. Consider setting a timer to help you remember that it’s journal-writing time.
While your children write in their journals, you might take that time to write in yours, as well. Setting an example will make it easier for them to want to participate.
Don’t expect perfection. This should be a fun project, not a graded one.
The shorter the entry, the better. Keep it to a few sentences. Just cover the highlights!
If they enjoy drawing pictures to go along with their writing, make sure to give them plenty of time to complete their sketches.
When your children have difficulty describing the day, feel free to prompt them. Refer to the sample sentences above, or ask, “What did you think about the . . . (name a particular thing you saw, did, or ate)?”
Allow your children to show off their journal to friends and loved ones. The feedback they receive will motivate them to keep working at it.
Give them the chance to try their hand at similes and metaphors. They might surprise you!
Be sure to reread old entries. Your children will enjoy reliving memorable days.
Don’t worry about trying to make up for any missed days. Just start where you are and keep moving forward.

Our kids’ journals are a treasure, both to them and to us. It reminds us of the incredible things we saw, the exciting things we did, and just how little our children were when we explored San Diego. The fact that this project contributed to their literacy is truly icing on that delicious cake.

Parent Perspective: Ryan

by tawnyember | Jun 17, 2021 | Parent Perspective

With Father’s Day approaching, my wife Tawny asked me to write a Father’s perspective on reading with our children. I’m grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts. While I have enjoyed putting together the technical side of this website, I have also been inspired by everyone’s response to and participation in it. And now I’ll try my hand at the writing side.

As a small boy, I was enthralled with raccoons. Inevitably, my mother treated me to all kinds of raccoon paraphernalia, including stuffed animals, t-shirts, and books. It has been quite a treat to turn around and share these items with my children. My youngest in particular has us read Rutherford Raccoon to her at least once a week. I find that both tender and odd, because her animal of choice is meow-meows.

I have done a fair share of reading to kids over the years. Some of my favorite memories are of reading to a small child or two on my lap. I will admit there are a few books that are difficult for me to get through. The Giving Tree and Love You Forever are a couple that somehow always put a catch in my throat. Maybe it’s because that’s how my mom read them to me. As the kids each get older and begin to read more on their own, I get that bittersweet feeling they don’t need as much of my help anymore.

My second youngest was well on her way with intermediate reader books, but still loved to be read to. She got her hands on a lengthy graphic novel called Smile by Raina Telgemeier. The book centers around a young girl who, while running, trips and breaks out her two front teeth. (I don’t really know why she loves this book so much, but she does.) She had already gotten my wife to read it to her once, and was hoping to read it again, but Tawny wanted to move on through the other library books.

Now, I don’t really care for graphic novels very much, but I wondered if this might be one of my last chances to read with her before she was a self-sufficient reader. Every night we read a bit together. After a couple days, I started to really look forward to the evening, when things would quiet down and we would read together. Sometimes she wanted to read and other times she let me read. It was amazing to listen to her read so fluently. Every once in a while she would need my help, but not often.

We finished that book after about a week. It seemed like that might be the end of it, but then she found another Reina Telgemeier book to read. We eventually finished up with that series and have since read about the Titanic, Egypt and King Tut, and Queen Elizabeth. We have read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Because of Winn Dixie, and many others.

If I hadn’t been willing to read that first book, I would have missed out on so much. I wouldn’t have found out about all the things my daughter is interested in, and we would not have enjoyed all that time together. My takeaway from that experience I want to share with other dads is this: your kids might already be very capable readers, and they might already have a routine with their mom, but don’t miss out on the opportunity to grow closer to them through reading good books.

Thanks, Ryan

This remarkable man held my hand
Through high school and college.
Then gently let go for missions.
He gripped it again at the altar;
Clutched it through moves, degrees,
Chronic pain, infertility, work trips,
Adoption, childbirth, church,
House projects, hobbies, and dreams.
Oh, how grateful I am for this man,
Who clings to our five children
With his other devoted, mighty hand.

tawnyember