If you've been in my classes, you know I share a lot of the mistakes I made as a parent and yes...I made a lot. Today, I came across a list on my iPod in "my notes" from a long time ago of things I did great! I think I was trying to come up with things I could do to better connect with my sons. Looking back, these are the reason for some of our best memories.
- Walk with them
- At dinner: "What are you grateful for?"
- At dinner: "What was the best part of your day today?"
- Take pictures and send them
- Make a slideshow of their projects. Below is one picture, but click here for the all the pictures. Powerpoint of 3rd Grade Projects - Matthew Barney Take pictures of all the things they bring home and then make a make a powerpoint. (Another benefit is that this way you don't need to rent a storage unit to store boxes full of their projects!) I would then have it as one of my slideshows on my laptop. It was very fun to see it come up all of a sudden when the laptop was "sleeping". Another great thing to do is to make a ppt of all their Christmas presents...they can see it later and have a sense of what they liked.
The expanded version.........
Walk with them: For kids to feel loved, they need to feel cared for, accepted, respected and...connected. I know of no better way to connect than to walk with them...even if it's around the block. I was always saying, "let's go for a walk" or "let's go for a hike!" Two of our absolute favorite hikes were: Huckleberry Botanic Regional Reserve and Cave Rocks and Little Yosemite
At dinner: "What are you grateful for?" I would start out with, "ok, guys, let's say what we are grateful for" and we'd go around and around and around and around....meaning we'd all say something we were grateful for and then we'd go around again and say something else. One time I heard my son Andrew say: "it's easy to see the bad stuff...but we gotta look for the good stuff".
At dinner: "What was the best part of your day today?" This was a favorite question of mine after some day-long activity, like after Disneyland, or after a hike, or after going to the arcades. I was always amazed at what they said...but then again...they always amazed me.
Take pictures and send them: I love to take pictures. Since I was always traveling, I would take pictures of things I saw and would send them to them. It could be beautiful flowers at Whole Foods, or pictures of snow-capped mountains as I drove to Reno, or a truck on the freeway that looked like it was about to fall apart or a picture of something in a gift store...like a quote.
Make a slideshow of their projects. Take pictures of all the things they bring home and then make a make a powerpoint. (Another benefit is that this way you don't need to rent a storage unit to store boxes full of their projects!) I would then have it as one of my slideshows on my laptop. It was very fun to see it come up all of a sudden when the laptop was "sleeping". Another great thing to do is to make a ppt of all their Christmas presents...they can see it later and have a sense of what they liked.
Comments from Mrs. Stevens: This is for Matthew, who is now 20 and a sophomore in college. I want Matthew to see what his 3rd grade teacher wrote about him in the comments section of his report card:
- Has good work habits and works hard for achievement.
- Matthew is well liked by his peers and very well mannered.
- He has a wonderful attitude.
- Shows much pride in his work.
- He has a sense of humor we all enjoy.
- Continue to master multiplication and division facts and read aloud to increase fluency and practice reading with expression.
- Matthew is a joy - a very sweet boy - caring to all.
SHARING IS CARING
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