Previously, I had another blog documenting the more theoretical side of education and my thoughts on them. But its too cumbersome, so I have decided to combine it here.
Because J is sick, we will be staying home today. She had a major nose bleed in the middle of night, daddy says. It took a long time for daddy to stop the bleeding so daddy is tired out today and is still in bed sleeping.
Right now, J is listening to "Charlotte's Web" on audio tape and seems to be really enjoying it. She had previously read this book. I was almost thinking we will not have time to listen to this and I will have to return this to the library, but her illness has given us an unexpected blessing.
This morning, Prime also came down stair asking for help because his nose was also bleeding. He was upset since it got on the sheets. It was not a pretty sight. Needless to say, a hectic morning.
Anyway, I sneaked in some reading this morning while J was listening to the audio tape and wanted to write down my thoughts here before I forgot. I'm reading Marva Collins' Way by Marva Collins and Civia Tamarkin. I first heard Marva Collins on LadybugandDandelion's blog.
Here is a line in the book I found humorous. Marva says, " If a student tried to score points by tallying on a classmate, I immediately say, "If God had meant for you to see for me, he would have stuck our heads together." LOL, I could definitely use this line on Prime and J.
What struck me most about Marva is how much she genuinely cared and loved each of her students. She believed in each of them and was very sensitive to each child's individual needs. She made individualized homework for them, based on areas where each child needed to work on. She had children of different ages and different abilities and they all came to her because previously they failed in other school, public and private.
Another point that really struck me is her enthusiasm to teaching and I believe because of her enthusiasm, her students were enthusiastic. It seemed like her students found joy even in the mundane, repetitive stuff.
She always had an abundance of quotes for her students, and they caught on fast. She also persuaded them to see learning as fun and everywhere.
" On the last day of the school year I couldn't get the children out the door. "what's this? *laugh* Don't you know that children are suppose to be excited about vacation? You're supposed to be happy about being out of school. Don't you know that?"
"No!" they sang out.
"... you deserve a rest, too. But remember, a rest from school is not a rest from what?"
"From learning,", they chorused.
"And what are you going to do over the summer?"
"Read 10 books."
"And I'm going to read all 20 books on the list, because I won't know which 10 you would choose. At this school you can never what?"
"You can never fool Mrs. Collins,"they roared.
Don't you just love that? I sure wish I knew and met a teacher like Mrs. Collins.
Okay, gotta stop. J's nose is bleeding again. :(
5 comments:
Apply ice to the nose....stops bleeders everytime! Just stick an ice pack right on the bridge of the nose. The ice freezes the blood and makes a clot. Good luck and I hope everyone is feeling better soon!
we do, but the blood sometimes is too strong. I had this problem when I was young too- large blood vessel too close to surface and when it breaks, it just does not stop and will back up to to my throat. I Had to get it catheterized. Daddy just told me he almost took her to emergency since he could not stop it for 2 hours. Anyway, I cleaned their nose with hydrogen peroxide and put Vaseline in their nose this morning. We also run humidifier in the upstairs hallway.
I tried ice, icepack along with pressure. The only thing that temporary slowed it down or stopped it was applying pressure on the bottom of the nose bridge--about the middle of the nose. It was flowing heavy on both nostrils. When it stopped for 5 minutes, it would start up again either by itself or when J coughed.
If I apply the pressure point a little off, the blood would go down her throat or come out of her eyes (depending on her position).
Just before I decided to send her to the emergency room, I plead to Jesus with a desperate prayer. And almost instantly, it stopped bleeding. J was no longer coughing and the bleeding did not restart. Thank you Jesus! Praise the Lord!
How horrifying!!!! Poor babies (and poor you two as well)! I hope everyone has a better evening tonight.
I too wish that I could have had a teacher like Marva. I also wish that I could have attended a Montessori school. One or the other above mentioned would have been great!
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