Christmas is About People, not Things

The spirit of Christmas is the spirit of love and of generosity and of goodness. It illuminates the picture window of the soul, and we look out upon the world's busy life and become more interested in people than in things.
~ Thomas S. Monson
Merry Christmas!

The Magical Wonder of Christmas

Last night I went to a wonderful Christmas Concert at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, at which the Sesame Street Muppets and Santino Fontana performed with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square. An audience of 21,000 people, including children ages 5 and up, were enchanted with the delightful and magnificent performance. 

I was especially intrigued watching the little children, including my 7-year-old grandson, as they witnessed this magical performance. What a wonderful experience...to not only enjoy the fun of the Muppets and the wonderful dancers, the lights and decorations and special effects, but also to have a chance to listen to a full symphony orchestra and exceptional choir perform. 

These are the kinds of experiences that help mold children...experiences they never ever forget.

Give the Gift of Creativity

I've run across some websites lately the share lists of creative gifts you can give this holiday season. Instead of toys, consider giving a child such things as magic markers, colored paper, scrapbook scissors, glitter glue, craft foam...things that can be used to create a myriad of artistic masterpieces. The same holds true when it comes to adults...give such things as scrapbook supplies (for the scrapbook fanatic), a gift certificate to Home Depot or a yarn store or fish lure store, depending on the interests of the person you have in mind. For the wannabe artist, give art supplies. You get the idea. Other ideas for creative gifts include providing lessons, special family excursions and coupons for spending time together.

It may take a little extra thought, but this holiday season give gifts of creativity and gifts of memories.

Writing Concisely

Here's a great example of writing concisely. Saw it on Facebook today.

The monkey bars claimed another victim today...‪#‎raisingboys‬

Adjectives Can be a Nuisance

I substituted in a second grade class the other day. Their language arts for the day was learning about adjectives. The flowery descriptive adjectives they were coming up with made me cringe.

As far as I'm concerned, adjectives--and adverbs too--can be a bit of a nuisance. It is so much more important to dig for powerful nouns and verbs to put your point across. Instead of writing a long skinny dog with floppy ears and a pointy nose, why not use the word dachshund, then everyone will know what you're talking about.

Let Me Make Myself Perfectly Clear

Sometimes we assume that young children have an understanding of things that we as adults consider elementary.

This week I substituted in a third grade class. The science assignment was to study two paintings and to list the things in the picture that are living and the things that are non-living. When I first read the assignment, I thought, how simple can it get. Was I surprised.

Many of the children struggled with the distinction between living and non-living. "Mrs. M., is sky living? Are clouds? They move." "No, the sky and clouds are not living." "Are mountains?" "Well, some of the things on the mountains are living, like bushes and grass, but mountains are basically rock and dirt. They aren't living." And so it continued.

When we work with children, or write for children, the challenge is to make sure they not only understand what you're trying to say but also don't misunderstand you. How do you do that without talking down t them?

Happy Creative Halloween

Happy Halloween! I subbed today at an elementary school. The kids were all so excited and looked fantastic in their Halloween costumes. I was especially drawn to the costumes that were obviously put together by creative families, using a minimum of materials. What fun it is to see what you can come up with out of what you have around the house.