Polka dots in the kitchen

Just wanted to share how the apron turned out that my budding chef requested. She loves it and I love seeing her in it. And really, the most stylish way to wear any apron is over a leotard and tutu, wouldn't you agree?

Can anyone arrange for me to keep her this age just a little bit longer?

Protect Play

GREAT article (or radio story--both are available) on the fundamental importance of free, unstructured play for all children. While we've heard this information before, I think this article is especially well-written and researched. Take a look here.

How empathy happens

This in-school program, Roots of Empathy, is just one of the most beautiful ideas I've seen in a while. If you can spare the 11 minutes, the overview video is really worth watching.

There are many good ideas out there...

Destination: Gunston Hall

We went to Gunston Hall this weekend, and we had a wonderful time. What? You say you haven't been to Gunston Hall yet? You must go. Here, take my car.

Gunston Hall is the restored residence of George Mason, one of America's founding fathers, and generally deserving of a lot more recognition than history has alloted him. He wrote the Virginia Bill of Rights, which was the basis of the US Bill of Rights, the French Bill of Rights, and the UN Bill of Rights. In fact, the wording of the US Bill of Rights is so similar to Mason's Bill for Virginia, that one is compelled to ask the uncomfortable question of whether Thomas Jefferson should really be getting the credit for authoring the US Bill.

George Mason was one of only three delegates who refused to sign the Declaration of Independence. Not because he disagreed with the principle of it, but because he felt so strongly that we needed a Bill of Rights in place first, before we declared independence. And then later Jefferson wrote that bill. Interesting.

Also, he was a family man, devoted to his wife and nine children. He was heartbroken when his first wife died of "childbed fever."

The house is charming and lovingly restored, the interpreters are well-versed on the revolutionery era, and they let you walk through the whole house and grounds. It's amazing, really, how much access you get. And here's the heart of it all: you'll pretty much have the place to yourself. AND, there is a little red one-room school house in the yard, pictured here, where those nine children learned their three R's. You'll love it.

It's in Lorton. You're driving past rows of town houses and strip malls and others typical sights in Lorton, thinking, where have I come? And then you turn onto a country road, and there you are on a peaceful old plantation, with pleasant interpretive center, gift shop, and picnic grounds off to one side. They're having a Kite Day on March 29th. And lots of other stuff. Totally worth it. Check it out here. And children "Kindergarten and under" get free admission.

Kid Science that's fast, fun, successful, and cheap

That's what I'm looking for in a kid's science experiment, and we found it this weekend with this little gem: celery drinking up red food coloring. I've seen this done many times before with carnations, but I didn't really want to buy carnations for this purpose. I thought a cheap ol' stalk of celery with its leaves still on might do the trick, and I think it worked wonderfully. If we repeat this experiment, we'll add the element of putting it in a measuring cup, so we can see exactly how much our thirstly celery was drinking. Hey, kids, try this at home!

Bibliophile, I've got your number

Now here's a fun website: Good Reads. Log in, log the books you've read, the books you'd like to read, and what you'd recommend. Then send e-mails from the website to your friends, and before you know it you've got your own online book club going. Or, at least, a handy place to keep track of your reading life and that (ever growing) list of books that you know you want to read, and you just haven't got to yet.

Many thanks to Greta, a pal from graduate school, for e-viting me to join her on Good Reads. If you recommend it, Greta, I'm totally reading it. I don't know when, but I'm eventually getting to it, darnit.

A really good cookbook

I've been doing some cooking today on this not-quite-Snow Day. (Let's call it a Rain Day, as Arlington Public Schools have canceled school for, um, rain. Not that I'm complaining! I'm loving this lazy day with my children, who are building a huge train set/Lego/marble run/plastic animal empire in the play room. Fantastic!)

And it put me in mind of this cookbook, which I love. The Mom's Guide to Meal Makeovers, by a couple of moms who are also registered dieticians, who are also good friends. Who are also good cookbook writers.

I first encountered this book when I was reviewing parenting books for Northwest Baby and Child in the Seattle area, and when I got it, I heaved a sigh....another cookbook? There are so many!

Yes. But this one I've kept and used very regularly. I've never had a failed meal out of it. And their perspective is friendly and refreshing--you don't have to eat perfectly, but most Americans do need to eat better. Then they proceed with 100 or so really tasty recipes that kids (and grown-ups) will (mostly) eat, and get more food groups on the table in more creative ways. Love it!

Also, check out their website, and their lovely and lively blog.

Of two minds regarding snow

I love, love, love a snow day. I am very hopeful that tomorrow my children and I get a day of hanging out in our pajamas, drinking too much cocoa, making things we feel like creating, reading things that aren't school-related....all while watching the snow/sleet come down outside. Oh my goodness that sounds like heaven.

On the other hand...
I have a date with a new preschool to preview Kindermusik classes with them, and I'm so excited about it. My bag is packed and I can't wait to go.

But not in the snow/ice. Yikes.

It is snowing as I type this...

Mama bloggin'

Another wonderful blog for you: Blue Yonder. Not only is she well known and well read in the family life/mom blog community, but the photography community as well. She's great, and I think you'll like her post about her family's living room jam session on Feb 18, 2008. Enjoy!

Ahhhh, now that's more like it

I'm back on line! My computer was down for FIVE days. Wow. Not having e-mail nor internet access for so long taught me exactly how much I rely upon it. It turns out that only a portion of my brain is in my head, and the rest is sitting here on my desk. It is very nice to be able to blog again. To communicate again. To look something up just as I think of it. What did we all do before the www?

And thanks, dear reader, for coming back after my silence.

I heart Kindermusik families

Happy Valentine's Day, friends. My wishes for you: hugs from your children, a little chocolate, and if you're really, really lucky, a handmade valentine from a young person.

I taught today, and I realized that there is absolutely nothing I'd rather do on Valentine's day than to make music with children and their families. Or on any day, for that matter. You fill my heart, you really do.

Drawing by Leah. Thank you, Leah!

Following his own guitar vision

I'm so glad this musician, Andy McKee, didn't have a guitar teacher who said, oh, no, dear, we hold the guitar like THIS. Or, maybe he did, but he didn't listen and followed his own vision. I absolutely love watching this guy play. Enjoy!
This is why we present a new instrument in Kindermusik without a lot of instructions up front. We let our emerging musicians make their own sense of it.

Hilton basic tango

In our Village (babies) class this week, we are dancing the tango with our favorite dance partners--our babies! While I'm sure my rendition of the tango looked very similar to these professionals :), I thought the parents in my Village class might enjoy seeing this. You were wonderful dancers today and very good sports!

I've got the egg-shakin' blues

In my toddler classes ("Our Time" classes), we've been enjoying a tune called the Egg Shakin' Blues. It's just too much fun to sing and dance and shake our eggs to it. And my toddler families have harmonicas at home this session, which is a cornerstone of the blues sound. So, I thought you might enjoy checking out the Blues Hall of Fame website! Great stuff on here. Enjoy!

Discerning differences in versions of the same song

In a reflective mood, an older child may really enjoy this game: play this radio piece comparing many different versions of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata," and see what subtle differences you can discern among them. This kind of listening discernment is a game we play in Kindermusik classes all the time. We're helping children build listening skills that not only enhance their musicianship, but are called upon every day in school--literally, children are asked to discern subtle differences in sounds (language arts, foreign language), and metaphorically, children are asked to make distinctions throughout the curriculum, and in Kindermusik they have practiced that framework.

For a younger child, try finding online two different covers of a famous old standard your family enjoys, and talk about the differences in the versions.

My kids got a big kick out of hearing the differences between "Lydia" as sung by Groucho Marx, and "Lydia" as sung by Kermit the Frog. High art around here, I tell you.

life stories captured in six words.

Could you distill your life story into 6 words? The writers in a new anthology by Smith, an indie lit mag, did. Makes for compelling (and quick) reading. Check it out here. One of my favorite aspects of this project is that "obscure" writers are represented beside known writers. In a former life I was a fiction writer, and the few times I was published, I appreciated that kind of editorial policy. I was also the fiction editor for a while at Sycamore Review, Purdue University Press, and we tried to find both fresh and established voices there, too.

Okay, I can't help but to take a stab. Leave a comment with yours, wouldja?

Moves often but frequently finds stillness.

The independant bookstore that could

There's an independant bookstore in a little town in Ohio that you really should know about: Loganberry Books. Check out their website here, as there are many wonderful things to explore. But the feature that Loganberry Books offers that just kills me is this: Stump the Bookseller.

Did you read a certain book as a child that you've thought about ever since? Perhaps the cover illustration, or a certain turn of phrase, or the killer plot line. But, being a kid, you didn't take note of the title or author. You didn't yet know how much this book would grow to mean to you. You didn't yet know that a scene from this book would be one of the images that comes to you in those few minutes before you fall to sleep at night. But you have no idea what book it was.

Enter Harriet Logan. As the proprieter of her bookstore, over the years she was on the receiving end of many of these kinds of quieries: "um, I don't know the author, title, or when it was published, but it was a wonderful book and I could describe the cover to you...." Anyway, she could often solve these mysteries, but sometimes could not, and she decided to give over the unsolved mysteries to the internet. Stump the Bookseller was born. You go to the website, type in your description of your mystery book for a nominal fee of 2 bucks, and tons of other devoted Stumpers will attempt to solve it for you. Lots and lots and lots of mysteries have been solved in this manner, which makes for good and touching reading--go see for yourself.

A side note: my own mystery book has now been archived, as no one was able to solve it for me. But please don't let this dissuade you. In fact, dear readers, here's mine--perhaps one of you knows the answer!

"Old couple spruces up house for sale. Children’s book, early 70’s at the latest, possibly much earlier. An old man and woman live in an old, tumble-down shack. They want to sell it and move somewhere nicer, but no one wants to buy it. They decide to paint it, then plant flowers, then do another and another improvement….at the end of the book they like their spruced up house so much that they want to live there after all."

inventing a new piano

I bet you'll be pleased to know, as I am, that new instruments are being invented out there, including a bowed piano (played by many musicians simultaneously, as you see here).

Read about Stephen Scott's invention here.

I love this photo. They are clearly musicians with their black attire, backdrop of heavy draperies in a performance hall, and their serious, "I make music" faces. Yet the instrument in question is beautiful in the way of the inventions that the kids on my Odyssey of the Mind team produce, made of string and duct tape and balsa wood and God-knows-what. The best part, though, is how these musicians must be glommed together in order to play the bowed piano. They look like kids earnestly working together, using kite string and chewing gum, to retrieve a penny dropped into a rain gutter.

I'd love to hear this thing. I bet it's fantastic.

loquatious, erudite, and online

I just found a new blog. Five different people contribute to a blog called "Ionarts: Something other than Politics in Washington, DC." They cover music (mostly classical), art, and film. Prolific, smart, and thorough. I just read a post about a 20-year-old pianist who is wowing the classical music world right now, Yuja Wang. In the post is a You Tube video of her playing in jeans, in a rehearsal room, that wowed me, too.

Here's your link: http://ionarts.blogspot.com/

This blog reminded me that I live on the cusp of an amazing cultural scene, and I need to take advantage of it more....even just a little more.

The symphony orchestra in our backyard

Friends, I wanted you to know about the performances coming up from the very wonderful and very local Alexandria Symphony Orchestra. I haven't actually been to a performance myself, but I'm hoping to rectify that situation very soon. My dear friend Melanie has been to a few, and she highly recommends it. They have programs that are specifically aimed at young children (see details on their schedule) and they look fantastic, but there are more matinees coming up soon that combine live symphonic music and dance that look to be captivating for anyone, including children. Take a look, enjoy! If you're planning to go, let me know!

http://www.alexsym.org/index.shtml

Follow me to Kindermusik

Friends, enjoy this video from Kindermusik International.

Fairy Tale Heaven

I just came across this site, and it gave me a little shutter of joy. Packed with more info than even I ever wanted to know about Fairy Tales. There seems to be enough information here, and links, for (too) many entertaining visits.

http://www.surlalunefairytales.com

How much of this site, and fairy tales in general, you share with your little ones is a really good question. I've struggled with it a lot. When I tell fairy tales to my children, and I frequently do, I've typically been in the "and then the little pig ran into the woods just before the wolf caught him" camp. I don't feel completely right about this, but that's what I do. Now that my children are 8 and 5 years old (the 5 year old is my primary audience), I have found myself gradually segueing into something closer to the original tellings of these tales. The woodcutter's new wife wanted Hansel and Gretel killed. Goldilocks runs away unrepentant. The wolf eats the grandmother and Red Riding Hood, and then the woodcutter kills the wolf. But, I still can't bring myself to tell how one ugly stepsister cuts off her toes, and the other her heel, to try to fit into the glass slipper. Yikes, I can hardly even type that. Nope, some censoring will still go on around here, though perhaps not so much as before. There's lots of discussions about this at this website.

How do you tell fairy tales to your children?