Catching Up

It has been a very long time since I have blogged. So much has happened… Since my last post, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita released their fury on the Gulf Coast. Many have had to recover from all this tragedy. Luckily, as I see it, the hurricane region doesn’t snow much… Here we are in Northern Idaho experiencing, what I have heard to be, the earliest winter in a while.

Hurricane Rita reunited me with a couple of cousins that I have not been in contact with for over 20 years. The last I remember, I think I was 16 years old. That is over 100 years ago you know… <sheepish grin> Anyway, that was only a short visit in passing… The time before that, I think I was 12 years old.

When I had heard she was and her mother and her brother, and all their families combined were now refugees, I began to be a little concerned. So, I contacted my cousin. We spent HOURS on the phone catching up with each other. It was so much fun.

My cousin is a Professional Storyteller and author. This hurricane was devastating to her business. Her main area of business is Louisiana, Texas, and Florida. She loves kids and telling stories. She is such an animated person, even over the phone.

One dilemma I have with my homeschool is getting my boys to write. I feel like I am battling a monster sometimes… I am sure you can relate. I get anything from, “Momma, do I have to write a paragraph?” to “Momma, will you write for me?”

The main point to THEM writing is to ignite their creativity! My boys are very animated. They LOVE to tell stories, but the don’t like writing. It doesn’t matter that writing is another form of telling a story… it’s writing! BLECH!

Well, I decided to talk to my cousin, ask her what she would recommend. She gave me some really neat tips. “First,” she said, “have them write in a journal daily. Anything they want to write.”

Well, we do that already. I have my boys read a chapter a day in the Bible and then write about that chapter. This gives them something to write about.

“Secondly,” my cousin suggested, “don’t make the write book reports. Instead, have the write book reviews. When one is really good, have them submit it to the local library for posting so that other kids can see if it was good or not.”

Well, I did ask my librarian, and she said that would be a great idea. She would start up a board. After speaking to her, I went poking around on the Internet. I remembered that Blogger.com had free blog spots online… So, I talked with my boys… I get really excited. They love the Internet. Anything that they can do on the computer or the Internet they would love. I told them that I no longer required ‘book reports’ of them, but I would like them to write a review for me to put on their own blog. This blog could and would be read by family and friends. They could share their work, or their opinions with their loved ones.

Anytime we do Creative Writing, or a language arts assignment that really is a job well done, I ask them to post it on their blog. Anytime they read a book, watch a movie, or play a computer/Playstation game, I ask them to post it on their blogs. They like using their blog.

My cousin, as I have said is a Professional Storyteller and Author. She has her stories on CD and one day, decided to send a copy of her stories to us to hear. My boys are going to wear them out, I think. They love both CDs. One day, my youngest, he’s 9 years old, came to me and told me he wants to write a story. He even told my cousin on the phone that he wanted to TELL her his story…maybe she could write it … (this was his thinking.) My cousin encouraged him to write it and email it to her, then she would proofread it for him and return it. If it was really good, she might help him publish it. He was so excited that she was interested he got busy writing! Yes, my son… WRITING… well, until he was hit with writer’s block.

Well, they do have their own blogs and I think they are terrific. Take a look at them. http://matthews-review.blogspot.com/ and http://nikolas-info.blogspot.com/ …

Well, thank you Dianne for encouraging my boys to write!

You can check out my cousin’s web site to learn more about her stories. You can find her at http://www.storyconnection.net .

More later…

Heidi