Category: Gage

The Wall by Eve Bunting

2 Comments

The Wall. Written by Eve Bunting. Illustrated by Ronald Himler. 32 pages, published 1992.

This is a fictional boy’s first person account of visiting the Vietnam War Memorial with his dad. The emotion portrayed was palpable and reading it slow let it all sink in. Not filled with facts or details but the heaviness of what war leaves behind.

For us, because we’d been talking about protests, this was the perfect time to read this one. We watched a few videos of actual war protests and how important they were. Here’s a short one I found to be helpful for kids. I found it interesting that the reporter called for more law and order until the police came for him.

Gage’s thoughts…

This book is sad because is shows people who died.

My connection to the wall is that my Grandpa fought in the war, but luckily he didn’t die.

I liked this book and recommend it to anyone who likes to learn.

Sometimes People March by Tessa Allen and Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice

7 Comments
Sometimes People March

Sometimes People March, written and illustrated by Tessa Allen, 32 pages, published 2020

I thought this was a nice, easy book to introduce kids to the many reasons people protest and how. There is a double page spread of signs from different marches. The last few pages focus on how a march is started by one person who talks to another and another until there are enough of them to march together and lets kids know that person could be them. I also appreciated the index in the back with the specific marches each picture represented.

Gage’s thoughts…

There are many reason people march. People protest for clean water, freedom, the Earth and people they love. We also protest against litter. The most important thing I would march for is clean water

Something Happened in Our Town

Something Happened in Our Town: A Child’s Story About Racial Injustice. Written by Michael Celano, Marietta Collins, and Ann Hazzard. Illustrated by Jennifer Zivion. 40 pages, published 2018

This book focuses on two families, one white, one black, in the aftermath of the police killing a black man. Not only is this a great way to see the perspective of different races to the tragedy, but also generations. Since we have talked about police shootings and protesting at different points over the summer we spent more time talking about how important it was to see a situation from a point of view that you couldn’t really understand completely, but one you could still respect and sympathize with. There were a lot of resource pages in the back for parents and teachers. The illustrations were gorgeous.

Gage’s thoughts…

What’s the point of the story?

You can change the world by doing little things. Black and white should be treated fairly, equally. They still aren’t though.

Who would you recommend this book to?

People who think everyone should be treated the same.

Have you ever seen racism?

Not that I remember in person, no.

Does that mean it doesn’t happen?

No.

Favorite part of the book?

When Emma and Josh became friends with Omad.

At the end what happened between Emma and Josh?

They worked together for the same purpose, to make a new friend.

Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea: Marie Tharp Maps the Ocean Floor by Robert Burleigh

6 Comments

Gage has been obsessed with shipwrecks and sinking for a while. I thought the Titanic class would be good (and it was!), but it has ushered in a YouTube video obsession with all things sinking. Check out Cardboardia and know that he has watched these videos more than one time. So, I chose this book hoping it would help move his attention to something else. And I banned Cardboardia for the weekend to save my sanity.

Gage’s thoughts…

Marie Tharp loved to draw and figure out how the world worked. She used sounding, that is measuring the sound that goes to the bottom of the sea and bounces back, to confirm continental drift, the world land is splitting apart. She was treated differently because she was a woman (this was 1948) and was told she couldn’t go on a research ship because women were bad luck.

Thankfully, we live in different times and Gage didn’t understand the bias of women not being treated as equally smart as men. Every time it comes up in a book he makes sure to tell me how smart I am 😉

The Seed of Compassion: Lessons from the Life and Teachings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama by His Holiness the Dalai Lama

9 Comments

IMG_5708 (2)The Seed of Compassion.  Illustrated by Bao Luu.  40 pages.  Published 2020.

We read a Bible worksheet every morning to start our lessons and we follow it up with Mindful Movements from Thich Nhat Hanh’s book for kids.  This was a nice book to read right after that to solidify positive thoughts to start our day.  The Dalai Lama talks about his mother and how she taught compassion from the heart in the short years he lived with her before being chosen as the next Dalai Lama at four years old.  I love when books open up discussions that let me know what’s going on in that big brain of his and this one did that.

Gage’s thoughts… 

This is a memoir.

The Dalai Lama is the head of Buddhism.

Compassion is caring for one another.

This passage sums up the book…

“But only humans have the ability, with discipline and effort, to train the mind.  It’s what makes us different from all other animals.  It is our superpower.  And it is where the seed of compassion thrives.”  pages 32

I’d recommend this book because he’s a good person.

 

He also read to me Love which was pretty sweet.

 

The Secret Cave: Discovering Lascaux written and illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully

Leave a comment

IMG_E5693 The Secret Cave.  40 pages. Published 2010.

We’re studying ancient history and took this tour (watch it, so cool!) of Lascaux last week.  I was excited to find a book about the discovery of this cave, by four boys and a dog, no less!  I liked the cave map, the illustrations and the last two pages of the real story best.  The story in the book was okay, but could have better appealed to kids, I think.

Gage’s thoughts…

Main characters- Jacques, Jojo, Simon, and Marcel

This book is fiction based on real people.

Four boys find a cave under a fallen tree.  They went in to search for gold.  They found lots of cave art.  Marcel wanted to keep it a secret, but it wasn’t a secret for long.  Too many kids knew so they had to tell their teacher.  The teacher was amazed.  Their discovery was put in newspapers all around the world.

My favorite part is the illustrations.

I would recommend this book to people who like history.  I’m glad I read this book because I learned a lot.

 

We also read Life in the Stone Age: DK Readers L2 and Isle of You.  Gage appreciates me having younger books like the Isle of You around when he has to read to me.  I don’t mind.  Surprisingly, he liked the whimsy of it and making an Isle of Gage is something going on our schedule this week 🙂

Sundays with Gage – A new Book Advent Tree with a reluctant reader

10 Comments

ODVY2746 Last month I went to parent teacher conferences perplexed and left with the same questions I started with.  In second grade Gage was in a lower reading group (there were four and he was in the third one) and this year he’s in the top reading group and she only wants him reading 4th grade books.  Although she acknowledged that he had no interest in reading chapter books.  How many 4th grade picture books can you find? I guess it’s good she thinks he smart?  Anyhoo, we’re trying, but it’s going so slow.  For years I’ve been worried about a reading disability, but have been assured that isn’t the case, and now I’m wondering if it’s an attention problem.  They call him the wanderer since he likes to walk around the classroom when his work is done (and sometimes when it isn’t!) 🙂

All of this to say that choosing his books for his yearly advent tree took longer than normal as I tried to find the books she wanted him reading with something that might possibly keep him interested.  Also this year, I bought some like new used books as I sorted donations at the library so I was able to do this year way cheaper than in years past.  Today’s book is a Scooby Doo book and we’re halfway through (5 chapters) and he’s liking it better than most.

On the shelf below is the Lego advent calendar that is a treat for all the books he’s going to be reading, lol.

Why Meeting Kristan Higgins Was Important

17 Comments

Bestselling author Kristan Higgins is a mama bear, unabashedly in love with her kids.  When she visited the library last night on her last book tour stop before heading home she spoke with great emotion about her family.  She had a late miscarriage in her 20’s that makes her appreciate her two healthy children even more than she might have otherwise.  She said something like grief can break your heart wide open and make it even bigger.

Most of you know the challenges we’ve faced over the years and  I mentioned that Gage was having nightmares for a few weeks and the doctor wanted me to watch him.  She recommended us to a pediatric neurologist so yesterday we went to our appointment to discuss the nightmares and the shaking with a very nice doctor.  After about 15 minutes he, very nicely, recommended a 3 day video EEG.  Gage checks into the hospital on a Sunday afternoon, gets hooked up with all the wires, and then stays there in his room until Wednesday afternoon.  Needless to say I was completely floored, not at all expecting this.  It seemed so extreme.  I was a bundle of nerves, anxiety and a lot uncertainty.  I even let myself have a glass of wine over dinner with Jason as we discussed it.  Then it was time to leave to see Kristin and I did.  Because I needed it.

GYLC9260

She was every bit as personable as I’d hoped she’d be based on her presence on social media.  She told funny stories, got a little choked up when discussing her miscarriage, answered questions, and spent time with each of us even though the line was long and it was getting late.  I made some friends in the line while we waited to meet her and left the library feeling 100% better about life, deciding all worries could wait until morning.

Well, it’s morning and I’m still feeling okay.  And I bet if I read one of her books I’ll feel even better.  Gage is fine and the hospital stay could answer a lot of questions I’ve had over the years.  Keeping my 8 year old in a small room with wires on his head for 72 hours still causes me much anxiety, but I’m putting off the worry until tomorrow.  He isn’t scheduled until next month so I can keep the worry away one day at a time for awhile.

Thanks Kristin for getting me over the initial panic 🙂

 

Sundays with my only kid Gage

8 Comments

I read this article from the Washington Post yesterday and thought I’d weigh in as an only with an only.  Growing up there were times I wanted a sibling, but I rather liked my childhood and didn’t feel like I missed out on anything.  Sometimes I felt like the house was too quiet, but you don’t need a big family to fill a house with laughter.  There are times Gage tells me I need to have a brother for him (never a sister) and I do sometimes wish that was in the cards, but it’s not.  Honestly, I don’t understand the stigma attached to only children.

While families with siblings manage relationships among the siblings, we go out and forge relationships with other families, often with those that have only one kid.  Not because that’s important, but because it’s practical.  A few weeks ago we took a four day vacation with another family of three and the boys (who have already been friends for years) had a great time.  Gage and I rode with the family for the one and a half hour trip there and the boys had a blast (so much so that they carpooled with Jason to science center camp this week).  We all had a great time.

Both of these boys had challenges when they were younger and neither one would be where he is now if there had been siblings to look after also.  What I’ve been able to do for Gage health-wise never would have happened if he was not my only focus.  I never would have had the time to go on research trips, study, cook so many different diets, reach out to other moms, experts and doctors (let alone the cost) if we’d had another child.

I read the comments to the article on Facebook (where nothing good ever happens) and was sad at how much judgement there still was for a fast growing population of kids.  According to the article 22% of women who had kids only had one.  During our presidential studies we recently read a few books about Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his being an only child featured prominently into his story, and this man born to extreme privilege and indulgence did some pretty great things for the least among us, and I told Gage that we only kids should aspire to such great things.  #Putman2048

Sundays with Gage – Gerald McDermott

16 Comments

IMG_0062Gage is reading at grade level, but it is still a big struggle for him.  As most second graders are reading chapter books, Gage is finally comfortable reading the grade level picture books.  In the past I’ve tried to push him, but now I just try to find things that will make him enjoy the story and know that progression will come when he’s ready.  I found this at a book sale and included it in his yearly advent tree (Raven: A Trickster Tale from the Pacific Northwest).  We liked it so much that we checked out the ones they have in this series of trickster tales at the library.

Gerald wrote and illustrated these folktales and says, “I celebrate the comic nature of the trickster as troublemaker, resourceful champion, and sometimes fool.”  Raven takes place in the Pacific Northwest, Zomo in Africa, Coyote in the Southwest, Jabuti in the African Rain Forest and my favorite Monkey is from India.  There are a few others in the series as well along with other books about myths and legends.  I’m going to enjoy finding them all.  The stories are multilayered and give us something to discuss and the illustrations are colorful and gorgeous.

If you see these when you’re looking for kids books make sure to take a look.

Although I tend to stress about the slower progress of his reading, Gage never needs our help with math and tested in the 98 percentile in the state.  Guess he gets those genes from his dad 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sundays with Gage – Presidents

17 Comments

Over the years I’ve tried variations of ‘mom school’, but for the most part let it go by the wayside when he started 1st grade over a year ago.  Too much school work and way too many activities. But, well, mom school was never really about hard learning.  It was more for fun time spent learning together – usually both of us.  I like teaching and connecting and learning with my son and decided to bring back mom school.

In December (when we had time) we did 5-10 minutes learning about kids who did amazing things and it was fun.  But with the new year we started something with a little more stretch.  We are spending 5-15 minutes a day to study each President in order.  The first four are pretty easy since big things were happening.  I don’t know how it will hold up over the next 41 (and the 45th? it will take all of the diplomacy this Libra possesses).

img_5211 (2)

So, my goal was to read a book and then choose one thing that we could do.  Jason and I visited Mount Vernon last month and I picked up a book of paper dolls.  It took me more time to cut out George and his stepson and all of their clothes than we actually used them, so not sure that was a win for me, but they are cool.  For John Adams we had a 10 minute drawing contest to see who could draw the best picture of the first White House and then we called Jason in to see who did the best.  I was robbed.  For Thomas Jefferson we read through the two picture books shown Thomas Jefferson Grows a Nation and Worst of Friends and then Gage traced from a photo America before Jefferson was President and after the Louisiana Purchase to see what a big deal it was.  James Madison’s book was okay and after we learned that the White House burned to the ground in 1812 Gage went to work burning down the White House he drew  two days earlier, lol.  We also watched a video on the story behind the Star Spangled Banner.

So, as you can see, we aren’t doing anything mentally strenuous here, but it’s nice that we can spend a few minutes together each day reinforcing that knowledge and learning are important.  I want him to remember that learning can be fun and so can his mom (when she wants to be ;)).