Wednesday was the feast of
St. Jerome, the man who gave us the Latin Bible- the
Vulgate- when he translated it from Hebrew and Greek . One of his most famous quotes is "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ!" The children colored some pictures of him while I read from these books-
I wanted to share these two talks that I feel are totally paradigm shifting on what is most important to nurture competent communicators. We all think that if children are great readers they will be great writers. That is not so! Children will be good writers when they have HEARD great language- preferably through great books read aloud (audio books count!).
Andrew Pudewa explains this so well in his talks:
Nurturing Competent Communicators and
Reading Aloud to Older Students. I listen to these talks when I need to step back and remember the big picture on how I want the children educated and how I don't need to stop reading out loud just because they are voracious readers.
In that vein, we read aloud for hours a day- history, science, literature, and religion- usually on the porch. The little boys come in and out during this time. Tucker is always working on something. Tuesday as I was reading Tucker got graph paper and made a model of the "ideal family classroom" for our home. He made a reading rug, a desk for each child and a circular bookcase. He was very proud to show his floorplan to me.
Then he went inside and made some flags. :) (Anything Tucker does Charlie does too).
Then he made a boat with a Popsicle stick mast-
He makes planets every single day. I said, "why is Jupiter sad?" He said, "I like them to all have different expressions." :)
And water-colored maps.
And he draws all types of animals. Even tonight at supper out of nowhere he said, "I think if I were to draw a tadpole it would be more oval at the base than circular." :) Always thinking about how he'll do his next art project. :)
I think Tucker might want to manage a craft store when he grows up. He makes at least four crafts a day. We love you and your busy crafting hands Tuck Tuck!
By the way, I introduced him to the show "How the States Got Their Shapes" today and he loves it. He ran to the kitchen when it was over-
I said, "what are you doing?" He said, "that show told us how Missouri got it's notch," I am going to think of all the states that have a notch. He did it without looking at anyhing.
On the back side- islands. He said, "Mommy, don't take a picture- I'm not done yet." :)
A few Tucker quotes:
Getting out of the car to go into a restaurant-
Tucker: "Can I please bring my cursive practice book?"
Mommy: If you promise to be good. :)
The children were jumping on the trampoline with the neighbors-
Tucker: "For he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother!"
(from Henry V's St. Crispin's Day speech, which Marc plays in his car when the children ride with him.)
