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Practicing Mediocre Skills

11 Oct
El Capitan, near our home, looks like an evil enchanter’s castle to me. It looms over the landscape, and can be seen for miles.

After two weeks of substitute teaching at the Elementary school, two things happened. First, I was shocked at the low literacy rates, the high amount of worksheets, and the low amount of actual books the teachers were reading to the students (nearly zero.) In my mind, these things are very much related. How can we expect children to learn to read if it isn’t exciting and fun? Books are exciting and fun. Worksheets are not. When I asked about books, I was told, “The teachers don’t have time to read for fun.”

I wanted to cry, “But what about reading for knowledge? Reading for context? Reading to learn how to read?”

Since I have no public school teaching experience yet, I held my tongue. But my heart is weeping over the dismal daily grind of copying answers on worksheets the kids are subjected to.

Skeeter Pie

The second thing I learned was, I prefer to know what I am doing every day, instead of it being a surprise.

So, I applied for and accepted at job as para, or teacher’s aid, for the JR High reading teacher. He is so gracious and happy to have my help, and I am happy to be busy working for something meaningful. In the JR high and high school, many of the students are still at a zero-first grade reading level. Here too, the daily school work is pretty much copying answers from the board onto worksheets, because they cannot even read their worksheets. Direct phonics instruction is a pretty new occurrence in this school, so the high schoolers never had it. That’s where I am focusing my efforts, that and reading from actual books.

I have found that my patience for struggling readers in the classroom is much higher than my patience was when my own children were the struggling readers.

I was blessed to find this excellent resource. I love that it gives basic learning sequences and best strategies for reading.
Skeeter’s third grade teacher shared this excellent resource with tons of free online tools. So awesome.

When we moved to Monument Valley,

I expected that my well-developed music skills would be instantly needed here. Instead, I have been using my mediocre hair-cutting skills to give the missionaries hair cuts, saving them hours of time, and lots of money. (The closest barbershop charges $35 for a basic men’s haircut.)

I have also been using my fledgling invite-people-to-gather skills to create more connection and community. I’ve organized play-dates with the stay-home-moms and invited families to our house for dinner and games and singing more times since we moved here than I did in a year in Missouri. There are plenty of new teachers who are alone because they know this isn’t their forever home, and some are reluctant to invest time in building relationships, not to mention overwhelmed with their teaching work–but at the same time, they are lonely and need the support of community. I know the best thing to do is gather.

I was surprised that what I have been useful for so far has been these things that are not my strengths. As I thought more on it, I realized, of course, God is always putting us places where we can grow, not places where we can rest easy on skills that we already have.

❤

GlowWorm

The Deer Still Dance

11 Apr

It was last Spring (2022),

I was reading “Little Brother to the Bear” to the age 8-11 year old kids in our homeschool co-op. The author tells stories of animal behavior he observed while spending hours and days alone in the wild (in Canada, I think.)

One of the stories was of the deer playing a game or a dance where they ran in a circle or a figure-eight pattern, leaping and bounding.

My feeling reading this story was that we had no chance of observing this for ourselves, because it was written so long ago, and there are so few wild places left, and we don’t spend that much time outside.

I even thought that probably the animals don’t act like that any more.

But this morning, before dawn, Blueberry Pie went out to his car, and there were white-tailed deer in our yard.

He later described to me that they were running fast in a circle or a figure-eight pattern, as if they were playing a game or doing a dance.

They completely ignored him for several minutes.

You guys!! The deer still dance! 😭😭🥰

Reading Paradise Lost

22 Aug

(I’m not supposed to have favorite bits, according to CS Lewis, but to let the impression of the whole poem be its value. Yet I can’t help attaching to small lines that made a sharp impression on me. As a whole, it feels like reading The Fellowship of the Ring, and while I was reading the creation part, I was vividly reminded of reading the creation of Narnia in The Magicians Nephew. CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien were both clearly influenced by Milton.)

In Book 2 line 1046, Milton describes Satan flying toward Earth
“At leisure to behold Far off the empyreal Heav’n extended wide
In circuit….of living sapphire…
And fast by hanging in a golden chain
This pendant world in bigness as a star…”

At first I read past this, hardly pausing, thinking that was a pretty way to describe the Earth. Then suddenly, I realized that Milton wrote this description of the earth seen from space in about 1658ish. Man didn’t see earth from space until 300 years later. How did he know that earth looks like a sapphire pendant glowing like a star in space? By the the time he wrote Paradise Lost, he was blind. But surely, living and writing in the green rolling hills of England, he would have pictured the earth as green? Maps of earth still said “here be dragons” about the edges and InSt the sea around England mostly gray and stormy? Later in the poem, he describes Earth wrapped in her “cloudy tabernacle.” again, how did he know? I still feel amazed by this every time I consider it.

In book 10, Adam and Eve have eaten the fruit, and so the Eternal Father sends His Son to “judge Man fallen”. And the Son says
“I go to judge
On Earth these Thy transgressors but Thou know’st,
Whoever judged, the worst on Me must light
When time shall be, for so I undertook
Before Thee”

This is a new side of the Atonement that I never had thought of before, that Jesus as our judge is the most fair judge because whatever punishment is fixed, He is the one who suffers most.

After judgement is passed (which basically follows Genesis) Milton shows Adam lying on the ground in despair that his posterity must suffer because of his transgression. Eve suggests that they evade this by not having children and by ending their own lives. Adam considers it, but then he remembers his seed will have power to crush the serpent’s head. Satan will evade punishment if they don’t have children. He reminds Eve how merciful their judgment was. Eve shall have pain in childbirth, but children bring joy. He will have to work to earn bread, but work is better than idleness.

“Remember with what mild
And gracious temper He both heard and judged
Without wrath or reviling…
And His hands clothed us unworthy,
Pitying while he judged…”

I love this image of the mercy of the Son

I have 2 “books” left to finish of the 12.

Book Journal!

5 Feb


I’ve occasionally thought that it would be nice if I kept a list of the books I have read in a notebook or something, but who has time for one more thing?

However, a couple of years ago I started using our state’s online library.  And let me just say, it was LIFE CHANGING!!  When I have a nursing baby and a bunch of toddlers running around, it is the best thing ever to be able to “check out” an e-book or audio book to read.  When I’ve finished a book, I can just “return” it and instantly check out a new one, without ever having to take small children to the library.

**Chorus of Angels Singing**

Also, when I have limited hands because one is holding a baby, or two, it is so much easier to hold my iPhone than a paperback!  and I can turn the pages with my thumb! Audio books aren’t my favorite, but it sure is nice to listen to something intelligent while I’m driving, or folding laundry, or cleaning the kitchen.

Back to the point: the Overdrive Online Library app has a history tab, and I discovered that I absolutely LOVE to look back at the books I read. It isn’t just nice, it is a huge happy boost for me.  It makes me feel like I accomplished something.  I smile about the books I enjoyed and even like to see the books I abandoned and remember why.

Last week I listened to this cool podcast from “What Should I Read Next?” in which different women shared how they keep track of the books they read. Some use Excel spreadsheets, some have a bookmark that they write on, some keep notebooks, bullet journals, or use smartphone apps.

After listening to all the great ideas, I printed out the reading journal that is offered free on Modern Mrs. Darcy (I had to give her my email address- a fair trade) I printed it at home, but took it to FedEx to be cut in half and spiral bound. They only charged $3 to do that for me.

This year I am making a thoughtful effort to put back into my life beautiful things.  Things that make me happy.  Things that may not be practical, but give me such a boost that I know they are worth while.  This reading journal is one of those things.

I also downloaded the “Library Thing” app to catalog the books I own. Its free. I already wish it had a feature where I could add notes about each book (like if I’ve loaned it to someone), but at least when I am at the book store, I’ll be able to check and see if I own Wind in the Willows already or not.  The handy bit is that it has a bar code scanner, so many of my books, I can just scan and the phone adds them into my library without my having to type anything.  So that is sweet.  Another bonus is that it is counting my books for me.  512 so far, but I haven’t scanned the kid’s picture books yet….

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