Lucinda's Library Notes

Zeal is something I would love to see more of in this world. A real passion for something motivates people to greatness and leads them to excel in their field. Their excellence then serves to inspire others to do more and raise their standards higher as well. As a result, more and more people are giving their best and the world becomes a better place.  When a person is excited about something, they are motivated to be 'in the moment' and truly focus on what is in front of them. Because they are 'all in' they get more out of those moments. They experience more, take in more, learn, grow and develop further skills as compared to another person who is less motivated and only half invested in paying attention, if that. This commitment furthers their knowledge and skills. Their higher level then opens new doors to develop higher levels again as they expand on the solid foundation that they have built. When you have more than just a taste for something, and you begin to reall...

You are Special is a book by Max Lucado that expresses the unconditional value of a person. There is no condition added to that. It is not you are special if you are handsome, intelligent or successful. You are special for who you are regardless of where you are along the spectrum of humanity.  I first want to remark on the fact that this story tells us that our value is in God's eyes. The only One who can truly know who we are and has the ultimate right to judge us not only for our actions but for our very thoughts if the same One who looks at us and lovingly says, "You are Special". Nobody else can evaluate us as God does so their opinion of our value is not very important in comparison and yet He is the one who holds us up high. You are special is a message I want the world to hear. I want people to recognize the value of human life and appreciate people in their lives whether they particularly like them or not. There is a phrase that everyone is someone's son or d...

🌞Yellow is the colour of sunshine! Well, maybe not in reality but in our depictions of it, we use yellow. It is well known to be a cheerful colour that brightens our day just as the sun does. So if we want to have a theme day based on the colour yellow, incorporating the sun in only natural. Expanding it to a broader discussion on weather is an option. 😄The next thing I think of for yellow is a smiley face. Yes, they are done in a multitude of colours but yellow is the most standardized depiction of a happy face. Again, it is cheerful. A yellow smiley face can represent YES, happy thoughts, something good, something positive. Along with a thumbs up, it is one of the most popular emojis and there are also many variations of it such as a smiley face with sunglasses! Cool! 🌟A star is next. I think of the song,  "Twinkle, twinkle little star" and of the encouraging words, "You're a star" when someone does something well. 🍌As for foods, a banana is first to come ...

The Yield sign tells us to make way for others. We do not have the right of way but are being asked to put others before ourselves. Failure to yield can lead to our own demise as it can create accidents that harm us so it is for our own good to listen and obey. Unfortunately, in the world of parenting, there is a little less clarity about yielding. Put simply, a child should lead to those in authority over them such as police officers, teachers and parents. However, children are naturally inclined to oppose which we see as early as their first year of life when they cry, tantrum and shake their heads as they verbalize "No, no no!" However, this is a critical skill for us to teach children; they need to learn to yield. Some children are very challenging as they stubbornly want to do things their own way but it is a basic fact of life that nobody has complete autonomy and freedom to live their own way and they may as well learn that early in life when the stakes are not as high...

Xylophones! Funny what a letter will bring us to. Let's brainstorm some activities related to this instrument for you to enjoy with the child(ren) in your life. Science : Make a row of glasses filled with differing levels of water. You can colour the water to make it a rainbow of glasses if you want to. Now experiment on the different sounds that each glass makes. Can you make them into a range of notes similar to a xylophone? Construction : Line up wooden blocks of varying lengths. Practice ordering them by size, smallest to largest and find a stick or spoon to tap each one. Does the length of the block of wood alter its sound?  Music : Learn a tune on an actual xylophone. Can you play the notes to copy the melody of a favourite song? Try playing several different tunes on the xylophone. Music : Expand on the music session by adding in other instruments to make it a band! They can be homemade like a maraca made from an easter egg filled with rice or store-bought like a ukelele. Co...

I chose X-Men because it is important to realize that sometimes we have a reluctant reader who does not particularly enjoy books. However, there is so much to gain from reading that we really want to get them interested using every tool in our toolbox. Sometimes, it takes a book like X-Men to lure a young one in to a reading session. The advantage of this series is that it is written at multiple reading levels so you can find the one that is best suited to their interest and skill. Some may prefer a comic book version while others prefer the movie star character version. Some are okay with simple retells and others want to know behind the scenes facts to share with others. X-Men has something for everyone. Perhaps the child even has a favourite character in which case they may like to branch out to other books in the series based on that main character. The advantage to a series like this is that you can follow up a reading session with an animated version of the story and then discuss...

When can you make an exception to a rule? There is a saying that we should say what we mean and mean what we say. When we tell our child what to do, we need to follow through to make sure it happens so that they are clear that our words have intention and meaning and that we are serious about having them listen to what we say.  The question is, are there any exceptions to this rule?  I would say there are always exceptions because we need to adapt for individual differences. We need to understand that in any given situation there is going to be someone who didn't hear properly, who was ill, who didn't understand or who was unable to follow through for one reason or another. Is that an excuse? Not always but we need to be understanding and first fully consider the circumstances and why they may need us to be gentle and possibly make a revision or exception in that moment. However, I can say that with one other comment. It should be accompanied by a discussion. "Normally thi...