Have you played today?

Wow. I have to say that this book will blow you away. Thanks to my friend who recommended it to me. Play by Stuart Brown is one of those life changing reads that truly changes the way you view the world.

Brown has dedicated his life to the study and promotion of play. He teaches us that play is a fundamental and crucial part of human and animal life for both children and adults. We learn that play is the root of humanity and that it affects our brains in unimaginable ways.

What I really took away from this book is that as adults, we must remember to include play in our lives, whether it is in the form of a hobby, sport or as Brown says, to literally stop and smell the roses on a walk. The section on relationships really struck a chord as well. Brown says that couples who do not take the time to play together will have a tough time keeping their relationship afloat. In our careers, play can stimulate creativity and problem solving skills as well as bond us to our coworkers. I was reminded of a time at one of my schools when we spent half the staff meeting playing a game of pick up floor hockey just to let off some steam. Why don't we do that kind of thing more often?

Brown encourages us to do a play history and take time to think about what  type of play we enjoyed as children. This can help us to rediscover the kids of grown up activities that may bring back the joy in our lives. 

"When enough people raise play to the status it deserves in our lives, we will find the world a better place." (218).
Do yourself a favour and read this book! It will change your outlook.

Mermaids are the new vampires

Look out vampires, wizards and rich gorgeous dominants, there is a new hot ticket in town. Sarah Porter's Lost Voices is the first book in the mermaid trilogy series of the same name. Published in 2011, I am sure that this story will be hitting the big screen sometime in the future and will become as popular as other teen reads such as The Hunger Games.

Set mostly in Alaska, this mesmerizing tale introduces us to Luce, the heroine of the story. She is lonely and living with an abusive relative (I am not going to give any parts of the story away that are not included in the book jacket summary, don't worry!).  At the peak of a terrible night, she is magically transformed and begins a new life in the sea.

This book is part Lord of the Flies, part Harry Potter and part Mean Girls.  It includes lots of beautifully descriptive language that brings the world of mermaids to life in a most original way. You really want to hear the mermaids singing and see their shimmering tails! This book has many strong female characters, with a dash of teen angst and girl problems mixed in to remind us all of the awkwardness of being a teenage girl.

I highly recommend this read to anyone who is looking for a bit of an escape from reality. It is the perfect get away. I am now off to reserve the second book in the series at my local library!

Having it all?

I got the book "Having it all and making it work" in the hopes that it would contain some type of golden wisdom that would solve all of my work vs stay home with the kids internal
 battles. Sadly, there is of course no holy grail that will tell me exactly how I can really have it all and make it work, but this was a quick flip through read that provided some insightful ideas.

The most useful part of Mills et al's writing for me was the idea that everything comes with a price, including achieving balance in one's life. We have to get balanced by understanding what we are willing to let go of in our lives so that we can make room for what we want most of. Mills encourages the reader to make a list of the top few things that we want in life and a list of things we can let go of. 

Is it possible to keep friends, exercise and family and work on one list? 

He encourages readers to make good choices about the career they choose and see if it fits with family life. He says that we must create balance, it is not going to magically appear on its own. 

I will leave you with a few gems from the book:
Having it all does not mean getting everything you can imagine. It means having a lot of what is important to us. 

We can't possibly be superstars in everything. We are who we are. And we need to be satisfied with that.We must choose to balance those aspects that define who we are -to find and balance the unique combination of wants and needs that is authentically ourselves. We must accept that what we want may not be the same as anyone else, and that is absolutely fine. 
. 

Syrupy Sweet review number 2

I finished reading Ron Clark's latest book "End of Molasses Classes" this week. I have previously read (and actually own) his other books "55 Essentials" and "Excellent 11". Part teacher, part administrator, part motivational speaker, Ron Clark is an American legend in the world of education. His latest book is aimed at both parents and teachers and is about the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta, Georgia. I found this to be an easy and very inspiring read.

As with his previous books, there are many suggestions offered by Clark that are fabulous and groundbreaking, but he also has ideas that are not very realistic. He is the founder and principal of his own school and can therefore set his own rules. I am not sure that I could choose a student from my class each year and give them a complete bedroom makeover with the help of community members... (maybe I could but it also seems to cross some lines and boundaries to me). He also writes of the necessity of opening your house to students and having them over for dinner (with other staff members of course) and of visiting students at their homes. If a student is struggling, Mr. Clark will go and have dinner at that kid's house and tutor them one on one. Who has the time or energy for that?

To foster a love of reading, Clark recounts reading a mystery novel to his class who were disengaged. He decided to inspire them by inviting students to come to the school at night where he had a donated limo waiting to whisk them away to a friend's mansion where he had set up a whole ' who done it' murder mystery night. That sounds like an amazing time for those kids, but again, the time and field trip paperwork involved in something like that just to get kids into a novel study is a bit much. I inspired my kids this year by bringing in a guest speaker and a live owl. I still had to to paperwork for that! Perhaps I have a bad attitude saying that this is unrealistic, I can feel Ron Clark frowning at me and saying that anything is possible if you put your mind to it!

On to the wonderful parts of this book. Clark has included a "Role of the Parent in the Success of the Child" chapter in this book. This part of the book is gold! I am tempted to copy large chunks of his tips to give to parents on conference nights or throughout the year. (I will email him if I do decide this to get his written permission). In this golden section, Clark gives sage orders such as 'don't be a helicopter parent'. One of the best pieces of advice that I think all parents would benefit from hearing is " Realize that even very good children will sometimes lie." Clark explains to parents that they need to trust the teacher and not always their child. I'm sure every teacher has been the victim of an angry parent who has listened to a half truth at home and is eager to pounce on and blame the teacher for a problem that their child has lied to them about.  He writes " Listen, teachers have no reason to lie. They are not at risk of being punished. We are telling you about a problem in order to help you and because you need to know what your child has done. Unless you have a concrete reason to think otherwise, believe us and then please handle it at home." (148). "Trust your child's teacher. They are with them every day and they have no reason to lie." (150). GOLD!

More gold from the chapters that are more for teachers in point form:

• The importance of checking out what other people are doing in their classrooms "If we are never learning from one another, then we are performing in a bubble and denying ourselves the opportunity for growth." (184).

• The pointlessness of stressing over test scores and "sending students the message that the purpose of learning is to take a test". Ron believes that students should be learning because it is a joy! " Saying that the students are preparing for a test takes the entire heart and soul out of the school. It cheapens our system and belittles our teachers and students. (195). 
• One of the best parts of the book is under the heading " Not every child deserves a cookie." Clark echoes from his 55 Essentials when he explains that if he is rewarding students for good behaviour or anything else, he only gives the treat or reward to the students who actually deserve it. He says to parents who scoff and say that it damages their child's self-esteem to not receive the treat that others get:

Has it really gotten to the point that we are so concerned

with our child's self esteem that we aren't realistic with them

about their performance and abilities? If we give a cookie when

it is not deserved, then we are telling our young people that they 

do not need to work hard to get rewards. We are sending the  message

that the cookie will always come. That is why we have so many young 

people in their twenties who have no idea what it means to work hard. And

that is why they are still looking to their parents to provide support

(And to give them the cookie).

( 10).

I could go on and on about the gems in this book but I am getting tired of typing! Pick this one up at your library or buy it, you won't regret it. You will be inspired, your practices will be affirmed, and you can always smile at some of the more outlandish suggestions.

 

Here is my first book of the "year", it is from the apparently bestselling series of "Chicken Soup" books. A bit of a cheesy read, but I was looking for some inspiration and confirmation that I had made the right choice by giving up my teaching job for the coming year. What I enjoy about the books in this collection is that each story is a very quick read and at most five pages. This allowed me to quickly pick up the book if I happened to have a quiet moment between making oatmeal or changing a diaper or fulfilling some other request, to enjoy a short story.

I enjoyed most of the stories in this collection. The one section that I skipped were the stories about "mom preneurs" starting their own companies as this just didn't speak to me. It was great to read about other mom's daily struggles and triumphs and it was just the type of fluffy uplifting read I was seeking. The story by Britney Spears' mom Lynne was not all about Britney as I had hoped, but rather about her brother's asthma.  Author Jodi Piccolt's contribution was inspiring as she told of writing novels while juggling three kids and having them compare her to their former nanny!

All in all I would recommend this book as an easy and sometimes inspiring read. It would make a nice gift to someone who has just decided to stay home and give up their career, however temporarily for the joy of being with their kids.  

On another note, it is fascinating that this chicken soup collection has done so well. Among their titles are chicken soup for golfers, dog lovers, students etc. Wish I'd thought of that idea!!!

Welcome to my new blog! My goal in the writing of this blog is to keep track of that books that I will read during my upcoming year off! I aim to read all sorts of books (as the blog title suggests) and I hope to expand my horizons. I have tried in the past to keep a list of the books that I read just for fun, but I tended to stop after a while. I am hoping a blog will allow me to keep a visual record of the books that I will read as well as give me a chance to recommend or diss books! Stay tuned!