Do you remember…? This is a favorite topic when gathering with my family. I have so many memories of my childhood home—both bitter and sweet. My favorite is one I call “Thermo Cats.” When I was growing up my family tried to conserve energy and our finances by keeping the thermostat set on the low side. The thermostat was on the hallway wall just around the corner from the kitchen table. It was about 4 ½ feet from the floor and had a gold dome with a round, toothed dial on the front that you could turn to adjust the temperature of the house.
For some reason our heat kept being turned up. Dad was angry and blamed us. My two sisters and I claimed our innocence while secretly wondering which one of us had done it. No matter what we said, Dad thought we were guilty until…
…One day we were sitting at the nearby kitchen table eating supper while the cats ran around the house like their tails were on fire. As if tearing up and down the hall at full speed were not enough to keep the cats entertained, (It was not a long hall as we lived in a five room ranch-style home at that time.) they started jumping up and swatting the thermostat on their way by.
Dad immediately realized that the cats were the culprits and we girls were indeed innocent. With much chagrin he quickly apologized! Forty years later, we still enjoy a satisfying chuckle when we recall this time of our childhood.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Maple Sugaring
The best part about spring in New England is maple sugaring! There’s nothing like sipping the slightly sweet, slightly maple-y sap out of little paper cups. Step into a sugarhouse and it’s as if you’re stepping into a maple-sauna. The cloud from the evaporator steams your glasses and you can’t see a thing! But the smell…heaven!
Over the years, my family and I been to several sugarhouses but our favorite one is Maple Corner Farms in Granville, Massachusetts. (http://www.hidden-hills.com/maplecornerfarm/) Not only do they have a fabulous sugarhouse, they have a full restaurant set up as well. You order at one counter and they give you a wooden carved maple leaf with a number or letter on it. Take a seat and wait as patiently as you can for the wait staff to deliver your breakfast! Trust me, it’s worth it.
The most amazing thing about maple syrup is how it is made! I find it astonishing that it takes about 50 gallons of sap to boil down for one gallon of syrup! The Ripleys, owners of Maple Corner Farms, hope to produce 1,000 gallons of syrup this season! That’s a lot of sap!
The nights are freezing; the days are warm. Sap is flowing. Maple season doesn’t last long—get to a sugarhouse before you miss out!
Over the years, my family and I been to several sugarhouses but our favorite one is Maple Corner Farms in Granville, Massachusetts. (http://www.hidden-hills.com/maplecornerfarm/) Not only do they have a fabulous sugarhouse, they have a full restaurant set up as well. You order at one counter and they give you a wooden carved maple leaf with a number or letter on it. Take a seat and wait as patiently as you can for the wait staff to deliver your breakfast! Trust me, it’s worth it.
The most amazing thing about maple syrup is how it is made! I find it astonishing that it takes about 50 gallons of sap to boil down for one gallon of syrup! The Ripleys, owners of Maple Corner Farms, hope to produce 1,000 gallons of syrup this season! That’s a lot of sap!
The nights are freezing; the days are warm. Sap is flowing. Maple season doesn’t last long—get to a sugarhouse before you miss out!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
April Fool's Day
I don’t like April Fools’ Day…I love it! It is so fun to pull simple pranks on people. I don’t do anything hurtful, just mischievous. This year I started small: just pointed to the floor and said to children walking by, “Be careful!” They looked down and I said, “April Fool!”
Prior to the children arriving yesterday, I set my big plan of the day in motion. I left a note for the school secretary to call my classroom at 10:15 AM. At the prearranged time, the phone rang. “Hello. What? If you say so. Thank you,” I said into the receiver. I told the students we had to evacuate the school but not to worry. We were going to the high school to wait for their parents to pick them up. The best thing, I continued, was the milk shake machine in the high school cafeteria. We’d have a treat while waiting.
So we packed our bags and put on our coats. We walked to the cafeteria. My students sat at a long table and looked at me expectantly. I leaned forward and said, “April Fool!” They were angry, which I expected. Nobody likes to be made a fool. I had also lost their trust. I knew I would have to do something to gain it back. I decided to tell them we were having a pizza party after lunch. I knew they wouldn’t believe me, which they didn’t. But that was the point.
Meanwhile, the kids pranked me. They put on band aids dotted with red marker and told me they got a really bad paper cut, used red marker on facial tissues and told me they had a bloody nose, and hid under my desk. They tried to get me to look out the window or go out into the hallway but I didn’t fall for everything they did.
With some help from a coworker, they got me--twice. When I got back from ordering pizza, they were sitting in the wrong seats, pretending to read silently, trying not to giggle. We had a good laugh and got back to work. Soon it was time for lunch and I reminded them to not eat too much as we were having pizza after. “Yeah, right,” they all said, very skeptically!
After lunch we settled in and played a game of division bingo. When the secretary came in the door with a large pizza box, their eyes lit up, their jaws hit the floor, and then they yelled, “Yay! We really are having a pizza party!”
At the end of the day they got me again. My coworker told me the principal wanted to see me in her office. Those words struck doom in the pit of my stomach! Was I in trouble due to my hijinks of the day? I reluctantly went into the office and asked where the principal was. The secretaries jumped up from their desks and shouted, “April Fool!” They were in on it too, apparently!
When I got back to the classroom I told the class, “You got me good!” We enjoyed a good laugh and all agreed it was a fun day. It was a welcome relief from the tension of our high stakes testing and as some kids said, “This was the best day ever!”
Prior to the children arriving yesterday, I set my big plan of the day in motion. I left a note for the school secretary to call my classroom at 10:15 AM. At the prearranged time, the phone rang. “Hello. What? If you say so. Thank you,” I said into the receiver. I told the students we had to evacuate the school but not to worry. We were going to the high school to wait for their parents to pick them up. The best thing, I continued, was the milk shake machine in the high school cafeteria. We’d have a treat while waiting.
So we packed our bags and put on our coats. We walked to the cafeteria. My students sat at a long table and looked at me expectantly. I leaned forward and said, “April Fool!” They were angry, which I expected. Nobody likes to be made a fool. I had also lost their trust. I knew I would have to do something to gain it back. I decided to tell them we were having a pizza party after lunch. I knew they wouldn’t believe me, which they didn’t. But that was the point.
Meanwhile, the kids pranked me. They put on band aids dotted with red marker and told me they got a really bad paper cut, used red marker on facial tissues and told me they had a bloody nose, and hid under my desk. They tried to get me to look out the window or go out into the hallway but I didn’t fall for everything they did.
With some help from a coworker, they got me--twice. When I got back from ordering pizza, they were sitting in the wrong seats, pretending to read silently, trying not to giggle. We had a good laugh and got back to work. Soon it was time for lunch and I reminded them to not eat too much as we were having pizza after. “Yeah, right,” they all said, very skeptically!
After lunch we settled in and played a game of division bingo. When the secretary came in the door with a large pizza box, their eyes lit up, their jaws hit the floor, and then they yelled, “Yay! We really are having a pizza party!”
At the end of the day they got me again. My coworker told me the principal wanted to see me in her office. Those words struck doom in the pit of my stomach! Was I in trouble due to my hijinks of the day? I reluctantly went into the office and asked where the principal was. The secretaries jumped up from their desks and shouted, “April Fool!” They were in on it too, apparently!
When I got back to the classroom I told the class, “You got me good!” We enjoyed a good laugh and all agreed it was a fun day. It was a welcome relief from the tension of our high stakes testing and as some kids said, “This was the best day ever!”
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Puppets
There’s something magical about puppets—they really seem to come to life like Pinocchio!
The best thing about puppets is using your imagination to create stories about them! You can make puppets from just about anything! Over the years, I’ve used puppets in my classroom, my clown act, and with my own children.
One time, I was visiting a nursing home as Peppermint Patti. After finishing my show, I visited the people who weren’t able to get out of bed. I brought my bunny puppet with me as an ice breaker. It is so realistic looking; people thought it was a real bunny. As they patted the bunny, they reminisced about the pets they once owned.
Jr. Mint is my faithful sidekick when I do my Peppermint Patti shows. She is a skunk puppet but she doesn’t know it. She thinks she’s a kitty cat. She likes to play tricks on me. She also loves it when I read to her. (That’s another way to get kids to read books—involve a puppet!)
When my children were little they loved watching a video by Sheri Lewis. What a talented performer! She inspired us to make our own puppets and put on puppet productions on many a rainy day.
Recently our fourth grades went on a field trip to the Lincoln Theater in Hartford, Connecticut. We watched a Jim West production of Aesop’s fables. The puppets were incredible! When they showed the audience how to make a newspaper tree, it brought me back to my childhood. My favorite books from the library were ‘make and do’ books. I’m hoping that the show inspired some of my students to try puppetry. Perhaps Jr. Mint will make a surprise visit to our classroom soon!
Has your family enjoyed a good puppet show lately? Leave me a comment—I’d love to hear about it!
The best thing about puppets is using your imagination to create stories about them! You can make puppets from just about anything! Over the years, I’ve used puppets in my classroom, my clown act, and with my own children.
One time, I was visiting a nursing home as Peppermint Patti. After finishing my show, I visited the people who weren’t able to get out of bed. I brought my bunny puppet with me as an ice breaker. It is so realistic looking; people thought it was a real bunny. As they patted the bunny, they reminisced about the pets they once owned.
Jr. Mint is my faithful sidekick when I do my Peppermint Patti shows. She is a skunk puppet but she doesn’t know it. She thinks she’s a kitty cat. She likes to play tricks on me. She also loves it when I read to her. (That’s another way to get kids to read books—involve a puppet!)
When my children were little they loved watching a video by Sheri Lewis. What a talented performer! She inspired us to make our own puppets and put on puppet productions on many a rainy day.
Recently our fourth grades went on a field trip to the Lincoln Theater in Hartford, Connecticut. We watched a Jim West production of Aesop’s fables. The puppets were incredible! When they showed the audience how to make a newspaper tree, it brought me back to my childhood. My favorite books from the library were ‘make and do’ books. I’m hoping that the show inspired some of my students to try puppetry. Perhaps Jr. Mint will make a surprise visit to our classroom soon!
Has your family enjoyed a good puppet show lately? Leave me a comment—I’d love to hear about it!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Read Alouds
My favorite part of the school day is when I read aloud to my students. It’s so much fun to make a book come alive as I change my voice for the various characters. I love the looks on my students’ faces as they become lost in the telling of the tale. Even my reluctant readers become engrossed in the story.
I read three long novels per year. In addition, I read shorter books that correspond to the season or holiday (Friendship, women’s rights, Black History, etc.). The book we’re currently enjoying is Peter and the Starcatchers. It’s a contemporary book written as a prequel to Peter Pan.
Our read aloud time is about twenty-five minutes every day—just before recess. I try to time it so that I stop at a real exciting part. (The kids are onto me—they know I do it on purpose!) It’s great to leave them hanging until the next day.
Sometimes if they’ve been really good I’ll read to them for a few extra minutes at the end of the day. It’s great incentive for them to get ready to go home quickly and quietly. It’s also relaxing for all of us as we are transported to a place and time with pirates, crocodiles, and mermaids.
Do you read aloud to your child? Does your child’s teacher read aloud to his class? Leave me comment below.
I read three long novels per year. In addition, I read shorter books that correspond to the season or holiday (Friendship, women’s rights, Black History, etc.). The book we’re currently enjoying is Peter and the Starcatchers. It’s a contemporary book written as a prequel to Peter Pan.
Our read aloud time is about twenty-five minutes every day—just before recess. I try to time it so that I stop at a real exciting part. (The kids are onto me—they know I do it on purpose!) It’s great to leave them hanging until the next day.
Sometimes if they’ve been really good I’ll read to them for a few extra minutes at the end of the day. It’s great incentive for them to get ready to go home quickly and quietly. It’s also relaxing for all of us as we are transported to a place and time with pirates, crocodiles, and mermaids.
Do you read aloud to your child? Does your child’s teacher read aloud to his class? Leave me comment below.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Indoor Winter Fun
Indoor winter fun
There are endless possibilities when it comes to indoor fun during a New England winter. Some of my favorites include baking, playing games, and making paper snowflakes. When my children were little, as a stay-at-home mom, ours would often be the go-to house when it came to snow days. This sometimes resulted in a houseful of kids!
After a morning of quiet-ish activities such as building blocks, dolls, dominoes, and the like, it was time to get moving! Getting the kids to clean up was easy as they were excited about what we were going to do next—go sliding—indoors and not with sleds. What? You are probably thinking. That’s right, on bad weather days we would do static electricity experiments with a small plastic slide in our family room!
The kids got in a line and took turns sliding down the slide. I gave them old keys to hold. When they got off the slide, they tried to see how close they could get to someone else’s key to make a spark jump. It was really great on dark and dreary days to see that electricity crackle through the air. We rubbed balloons on our heads and stuck them to walls. The kids loved it when their hair stood up on end! We put salt and pepper on paper plates and made the pepper jump onto a static-filled balloon! Science was my salvation on those long days when I was grossly outnumbered.
Now that my kids are grown, snow days are much quieter, filled with correcting papers and shoveling out elderly parents. It’s fun to remember the look of wonderment and joy on the kids’ faces on those wild winter days.
Do you have any snow day memories? I’d love to hear about them! Please leave me a comment below.
There are endless possibilities when it comes to indoor fun during a New England winter. Some of my favorites include baking, playing games, and making paper snowflakes. When my children were little, as a stay-at-home mom, ours would often be the go-to house when it came to snow days. This sometimes resulted in a houseful of kids!
After a morning of quiet-ish activities such as building blocks, dolls, dominoes, and the like, it was time to get moving! Getting the kids to clean up was easy as they were excited about what we were going to do next—go sliding—indoors and not with sleds. What? You are probably thinking. That’s right, on bad weather days we would do static electricity experiments with a small plastic slide in our family room!
The kids got in a line and took turns sliding down the slide. I gave them old keys to hold. When they got off the slide, they tried to see how close they could get to someone else’s key to make a spark jump. It was really great on dark and dreary days to see that electricity crackle through the air. We rubbed balloons on our heads and stuck them to walls. The kids loved it when their hair stood up on end! We put salt and pepper on paper plates and made the pepper jump onto a static-filled balloon! Science was my salvation on those long days when I was grossly outnumbered.
Now that my kids are grown, snow days are much quieter, filled with correcting papers and shoveling out elderly parents. It’s fun to remember the look of wonderment and joy on the kids’ faces on those wild winter days.
Do you have any snow day memories? I’d love to hear about them! Please leave me a comment below.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Sledding
Winter is so much fun, filled with many outdoor activities not available any other time of year because of that fun precipitation--snow! We’ve had more than our share of snow this winter, resulting in frequent snow days!
One of my favorite winter activities is sledding. I always wondered why I don’t care to jump on a sled and careen down a steep, slippery slope face first. I prefer to sit on my bottom and slide down, ready to lean and fall off the sled at the first hint of danger. That mystery was solved recently during a family movie night. While enjoying some crunchy buttery popcorn and warm hot cocoa, we watched some old films of my childhood. These super-8 films have been put on video tape making them much easier to view.
One event caught on film was a family outing. I was probably about five years old or so at the time. We were all dressed warmly in puffy snowsuits, boots, mittens, hats, and scarves. Our chubby cheeks peeked out from our hoods and you could see the puffs of our breath as we spoke. Unfortunately, our conversation is lost forever because was no sound recording at that time (c. 1965).
There it was—a shot of me sliding face first down the hill at Cook Playground…into a snow pile. My back arched as my legs flew up over my head. Ouch! It’s a wonder I don’t have worse back problems today! The person who transferred these movies from film to video thought it would be hilarious to also record this segment in slow motion backwards and forwards a few times. I found it a bit painful to watch.
Now I know why next time I go out sledding, I’ll be sitting on my bottom, enjoying the rush of the wind in my face rather than a face full of snow.
Do you like sledding? Where is your favorite hill for sledding? Leave me a comment below.
One of my favorite winter activities is sledding. I always wondered why I don’t care to jump on a sled and careen down a steep, slippery slope face first. I prefer to sit on my bottom and slide down, ready to lean and fall off the sled at the first hint of danger. That mystery was solved recently during a family movie night. While enjoying some crunchy buttery popcorn and warm hot cocoa, we watched some old films of my childhood. These super-8 films have been put on video tape making them much easier to view.
One event caught on film was a family outing. I was probably about five years old or so at the time. We were all dressed warmly in puffy snowsuits, boots, mittens, hats, and scarves. Our chubby cheeks peeked out from our hoods and you could see the puffs of our breath as we spoke. Unfortunately, our conversation is lost forever because was no sound recording at that time (c. 1965).
There it was—a shot of me sliding face first down the hill at Cook Playground…into a snow pile. My back arched as my legs flew up over my head. Ouch! It’s a wonder I don’t have worse back problems today! The person who transferred these movies from film to video thought it would be hilarious to also record this segment in slow motion backwards and forwards a few times. I found it a bit painful to watch.
Now I know why next time I go out sledding, I’ll be sitting on my bottom, enjoying the rush of the wind in my face rather than a face full of snow.
Do you like sledding? Where is your favorite hill for sledding? Leave me a comment below.
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