day 203: a book a week

"A good book should leave you slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading it." ~William Styron


Over a year ago, we established a good reading routine that I would like to share with other “Positive Parents.” My older kids read a lot; well, that is an understatement when describing my first two kids. Joshua and Kayla easily read two to three chapter books a week during middle school and continued that avid reading practice in high school with much more than just “junior fiction.” (As adults, the two of them always have three to five books each going on—audio books, fiction, non-fiction, research, etc.) While I was sometimes concerned that they read too much, I was pleasantly surprised when that “junior high reading habit” grew into a more mature reading habit in which they read wide varieties of materials—fiction, biographical, historical, devotional, and more.


I found myself, however, with three “little boys” who loved to listen to me read (practically anything)—and who readily devoured their devotionals and sections of non-fiction books (like Usborne, Dorling Kindersley, Eyewitness, etc.), but did not enjoy sitting down and reading an entire book—whether fiction or non-fiction. As a matter of fact, I could hardly get them to read fiction at all. Even though they loved devotional and non-fiction writing to a large extent, I knew that I would have to intervene to make true readers out of them—to help them love all types of reading, see the value of varied reading, and enjoy the process.


So well over a year ago now, I instituted the “book a week” program in our home. Basically, this meant that each of them had to read a book every week at his level. To be sure that my goal of “varied reading” was accomplished, I allowed them to choose one book, then the next week I would choose the book. If a book was especially lengthy for that boy’s level, I would make it a two week book.


At first, it was hard—many a Fridays at 5:00, books were not read without good reasons. (Busy-ness in the family, a lot of work that week for TFT, or other logical excuses were always accepted as valid reasons for not getting a book read that week, of course.) I offered extensions at first—until Sunday at bedtime but with the next week’s book still due on Friday, regardless of when the next week’s book was begun. (I like for them to start books on Friday as soon as the previous one is finished, taking it with them when we go away on weekends, reading in bed on Friday night or Saturday night when bedtimes are not so crucial.)


With our two oldest (of the youngest kids!), we fell into an awesome reading routine. They would stack books up to prepare for upcoming weeks, looking forward to the books that they would “get” to read. With the then-ten year old, a little more effort was needed, including loss of privileges many, many times when a book was not done, double book weeks when a book was left at a motel or Grandpa’s, etc.


This single practice of “a book a week” has been one of the best things we have done for our boys’ reading development and love. They have been so challenged by biographies; changed by inspirational and devotional writings; moved by great literature; and entertained by fiction. Whether your child goes to school or does school at home, I highly recommend this practice. This summer I am trying to apply it to myself as well. And I, too, am enjoying my “book a week.”

day 202: "mombrellas"

Last summer our-now-missionary daughter was the camp nurse for a summer teen camp for several weeks between her junior and senior year of college. She had been an RN for over a year (she was on her second degree—this time in biblical studies) and had worked during the school year at the large, outstanding Baylor Hospital in Dallas. She was so excited to have the opportunity to give her summer to over six hundred young people each week—and to hopefully learn some “outdoor” emergency skills that she might need on the mission field. (There were experienced EMT’s also serving, but Kayla would be the only nurse and, thus, would have the title of official camp nurse.)


I was excited for her, but I also felt such a burden for her. It seemed like such a huge responsibility for a twenty-three year old. Kayla had worked in an ER, worked full time as a nurse for a year, etc., but it still felt “big” to me. I prayed and prayed for the safety of the campers and that nothing devastating would happen as Kayla was in charge this summer. (Obviously, I didn’t want anything bad to happen period, but I especially felt heavy-hearted for Kayla’s critical role in the summer camp.)


Early in the second week of camp, the phone rang first thing in the morning, and I felt butterflies in my stomach as I saw that it was Kayla’s number. She had been so busy during the first week that she could only call at ten or eleven at night after all the campers were in their cabins. I quickly answered the phone, feeling that something was amiss.


And something was. In the night, Kayla got called to a cabin in which a sixteen year old boy was having CPR administered to him by one of the EMT’s (whose cabin was closer). The EMT, Kayla, and the counselors knew the young man’s chances were slim to survive, but the EMT continued to work until the ambulance got there and rushed the camper to a local hospital. The hour in which the medical personnel worked on the man had to have been the longest hour of Kayla’s short life thus far. Here she was, camp nurse—and one of her campers was lying in front of her dying.


I cried and cried that day—for the counselors, fellow campers, the boy’s family—and for my camp nurse who was hurting like she had never hurt before. There was nothing any of them could have done. The young man died of an acute asthma attack of which nobody could have prevented or resuscitated him from. Yet still the burden and responsibility of this young boy’s death weighed heavily on Kayla.


During the days that followed I wished so much that I could pull out my imaginary secret weapon: the “mombrella.” You know, that invisible umbrella that we moms can just open with a click of a button and spread above our dear children. That fool-proof, repellant dome that protects our kids from all of the horrowing things this world dishes out to them. The hiding place that we can create under this beautiful mombrella that no pain, sorrow, or hurt can break through.


And yet, I couldn’t. I had to enter Kayla’s dark, stormy days with no umbrella of any kind—much less the secret, perfect mombrella that I envision carrying into my kids’ turbulent winds and hail.


Or did I? I mean—maybe I can’t give my kids the “mombrella” that I would like to give them…but maybe I can give them something even better—that is, if I can get past the fact that I myself have nothing to offer, no mombrella, no hiding place that I create. If I can see beyond myself as my kids’ savior in dark days—and trust God to take them through whatever comes their way. I mean, after all, isn’t a “God”brella so much better than any “mom”brella that I might create, even if I could fashion a large, colorful, full-protection one?

day 201: character training workshops by the Reishes

Our family ministry, Training for Triumph Family Ministries, is working on scheduling character training seminars for the upcoming year. If your homeschool support group, church, or small group is interested in possibly hosting one, please contact Ray to find out more information. We don’t charge a lot of money—just our expenses and the ability to sell some of our publications and we’ll be there! Last year we went to Florida—and we are hoping to go to Maine soon (!), so don’t hesitate to call for information even if you are a distance from Indiana. We love traveling and helping parents!


I will post the two main options for seminars that we have—one for all Christian parents and one specifically for homeschoolers. However, we have over fifty topics that we can also do for support groups, conventions, etc., so if you don’t see what you’re looking for, check our site: http://www.tfths.com/speaking.php Also, for homeschoolers, we have our “Almost 3 R’s” seminars—reading, writing, and language arts workshops all put together in one continuous seminar.






TRAINING FOR TRIUMPH WORKSHOPS AND SEMINARS…SCHEDULE ONE TODAY!










Character Training From the Heart Seminar---for the Christian Home






Our new seminar, Character Training From the Heart, contains many of the elements from The Well-Trained Heart seminar with many, many character-focused additions. If you desire a Christian parenting seminar that gets to the heart of raising children in a Christ-centered home—for all Christian parents—consider Character Training From the Heart! (Same seminar, with the subtitle—for the Homeschool Family, is available for homeschool groups. See notes about that below.)






Costs will vary according to location, but as long as our expenses are paid and we can have materials available for sale, we should be able to come to your group!






We can adapt for a variety of settings, including but not limited to:






*Friday night only—6:00-10:00 (mostly focusing on ages ten or so and under)






*Friday night and half day Saturday—7:00-10:00 on Friday and 9:00-12:00 on Saturday






*All day Saturday---9:00-12:00 and 1:30-4:30






Sessions go in chronological order, age-wise (with 45 min sessions and 10 mins breaks between, so parents may choose the ones that pertain to them if they are unable to attend all of the seminar), beginning with the early qualities of contentment and obedience and moving along from toddlers to however long you desire (up through teens for full seminar)






Sessions include:






*The Why’s and How’s of Character Training: The Importance of Character Training, Modeling, Developing Good Family Habits, and More


*The Early Qualities: Contentment, Obedience, Cheerfulness, and Submission


*Laying the Foundation for All Qualities: Focus on Obedience and Submission


*Adding Virtues to the Lives of the Little Ones: Responsibility, Helpfulness, Kindness, Respect, and Honesty


*Growing in Character: Initiative, Deference, Resourcefulness, Diligence, Promptness, Empathy, and More


*Character and Morals for Teens: Purity, Disciplined, Wisdom, Organization, Honor, and More










-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------










Character Training From the Heart Seminar---for the Homeschooling Family






Our new seminar, Character Training From the Heart, contains many of the elements from The Well-Trained Heart seminar with many, many character-focused additions. If you desire a Christian homeschooling seminar that gets to the heart of homeschooling children in a Christ-centered home—for all Christian parents—consider Character Training From the Heart—for the Homeschooling Family. Costs will vary according to location, but as long as our expenses are paid and we can have materials available for sale, we should be able to come to your group!






We can adapt for a variety of settings, including but not limited to:






*Friday night only—6:00-10:00 (mostly focusing on ages ten or so and under without sessions that draw out obedience and diligence in separate sessions like full length one does)






*Friday night and half day Saturday—6:00-10:00 on Friday and 9:00-12:00 on Saturday






*All day Saturday---9:00-12:00 and 1:00-5:00






Sessions go in chronological order, age-wise (with 45 min sessions and 10 min breaks between, so parents may choose the ones that pertain to them if they are unable to attend all of the seminar), beginning with the early qualities of contentment and obedience and moving along from toddlers to however long you desire (up through teens for full seminar)






Sessions include:






*The Why’s and How’s of Character Training: The Importance of Character Training, Modeling, Developing Good Family Habits, Creating a Homeschool Schedule That Fosters Character Training, and More


*The Early Qualities: Contentment, Obedience, Cheerfulness, and Submission


*Laying the Foundation for All Qualities: Focus on Obedience and Submission


*Adding Virtues to the Lives of the Little Ones: Responsibility, Helpfulness, Kindness, Respect, and Honesty


*A Top Quality for School and Life: Diligence Training in the Homeschool


*Growing in Character: Initiative, Deference, Resourcefulness, Promptness, Empathy, and More


*Character and Morals for Teens: Purity, Discipline, Self-lessness, Wisdom, Organization, Honor, and More

day 200: reading through collections

Yesterday I described how Jakie and I are reading through our bookcases. One of the types of books I have enjoyed with my children through the years are those that are collections. That is, they are larger books with many or several stories in them. We use collection type books for character stories, devotions, story time, and more.


I will list the current “collections” we are reading for “story time,” along with their authors and links. Check them out. I think your kids will love them!




1. Dr. Seuss collections by Dr. Seuss (We are doing “Six by Seuss”) http://www.christianbook.com/a-hatful-of-seuss/seuss/9780679883883/pd/9883886?item_code=WW&netp_id=105954&event=ESRCN&view=details

2. Beatrice Potter collections (a lot of her books with illustrations are available online here) http://www.tcom.ohiou.edu/books/kids.htm to buy complete collection http://www.amazon.com/Beatrix-Potter-Complete-Tales/dp/072325804X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273675639&sr=8-1

3. Billy and Blaze series http://www.amazon.com/Billy-Blaze-Boy-His-Horse/dp/0689716087

4. Curious George books Margret and H.A Ray (we’re doing a collection) http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Adventures-Curious-George-Anniversary/dp/0618164413/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1273680685&sr=8-1-spell

5. Disney Americana Stories http://www.amazon.com/Disneys-Americana-Storybook-Collection-Collections/dp/0786834021/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280801857&sr=1-1

6. James Harriot’s Treasury for Children by James Harriot Animal Stories http://www.amazon.com/James-Herriots-Treasury-Children-Creatures/dp/0312085125/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_2

7. E is for Ethics by Ion James Corlett http://www.amazon.com/Ethics-About-Morals-Values-Matters/dp/1416596542/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280801778&sr=1-1

8. From Sea to Shining Sea, a Treasury of American Folklore, Stories, and Songs by Amy Cohn http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Shining-Treasury-American-Folklore/dp/0590428683

9. Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Stories (see review in earlier post: http://positiveparenting3-6-5.blogspot.com/2010/05/day-137-devotionals-read-aloud-faith.html
bottom item in that list….)

day 199: Read your way through your bookcase this summer

"The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it." ~James Bryce




Jakie and I have been enjoying some awesome story times this summer! Instead of going to the library, getting armloads of books to read aloud, we have been doing something unique: reading our way through our bookcases.


We have well over a thousand books (used to have two thousand before we got rid of half of everything we owned and moved to our small house eleven years ago). There are many of these books that I have read to my older kids; some I have read to my middle kids; and some that I have never gotten around to reading with Jakie! So we are correcting that this summer.


I pulled several of our collections off the shelf and put them in my room on my “current reading” shelf. We pull these off every reading time, start where we left off the last time and read a story or entry or two. Then we move on to the next one. (I will share our current “collection” list tomorrow.)


Additionally, we each choose a couple of picture books to read during that session. Jakie is choosing from all over the bookcase, but I am being a bit more systematic, in the hopes of getting through all of our picture books again this summer. I started at the top shelf of the picture book bookcase and pull off the next one we haven’t read yet this summer.


It’s not too late to institute a story time this summer! So….read your way through your story books. You will, like me, not regret the time you spend sharing stories with your kids.


Just a couple more days on reading story books and collections. August will be “organization” and “back to school” month with tips for getting organized, raising diligent workers, and back to school tips for all! Thanks for joining us at Positive Parenting 3*6*5!