So I've been talking a lot lately about reading to the LAB and, like I said, if doing this is nothing more than a way for my mind to stay occupied while he grows in there; and maybe for him to start recogonizing my voice, then I'm more than OK with that.
Once he gets out though, that's another story.
I don't plan on being one of those parents like Rick Moranis in "Parenthood" who's teaching his daughter Spanish at six months of age, but I do believe there's a great disconnect in what we teach our children at an early age and what they're capable of: call it the death of the Count (from Sesame Street... remember him?)
Just last week looking through the shelves of a local store I found heaps upon piles upon mounds of books for little kids that taught them how to read, how to speak, and how to write. I even saw one teaching kids sign language. Nowhere in there did I see anything even remotely related to math or science.
Now before you start laughing, yes, I know that my profession (Nerd) pre-disposes me toward this opinion, but I really do believe there's room for more math and science in our kid's educational diets than they get right now outside of the classroom. I think there were some fine television examples when I was younger that maybe still exist, but if they do I haven't been able to find any of them so far. Remember any of these from your younger days?
3-2-1 Contact
Square One
Mr. Wizard
While I applaud Bill Nye "The Science Guy" for his contributions I still think there's room for so much more, especially in the literary end of things. Some ideas I've thought about recently:
Project books for kids along the lines of "scientific paper dolls" where kids get lessons on science and technology in ways they could understand. (I learned what makes airplanes fly by building hundreds of different shaped paper ones, and learned about air pressure by stringing straws, with baloons attached, across my living room, so maybe things like that). Basically, I want to take math and science ideas and make them accessible to kids at an earlier age- something I think could definitely be done. Call it Physics for Five-year-olds, or Engineering for Eight-year-olds.
Children's fiction with a math/ science tilt. Anyone out there remember "The Adventures of Encylopedia Brown"? These were collections of short, ten or so page, stories that were written in a mystery novel type setting and were easliy my favorite books. Not just then. Ever. It was the one time in my life that reading ever really held a great sense of adventure and possibility for me. At the end of each story there was a one page conclusion in the back of the book that gave the "solution" to the mystery; one that could be logically deduced from the contents of the story itself. What about taking that same idea and juggling it into a math and science-based set of "solutions"?
Like I said, I know part of this is me "looking out for my boy" and another part of me is just a math-happy nerd who wants everyone else to come over to the dark side. But part of me really does believe this is possible.
Anyone who has seen some great resources like the ones I've described above please let me know. I'd love to get my hands on some copies. Maybe I'll even share them with the LAB... eventually.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Baby I Was Born A Rambling Man
I'm feeling the LAB kick all the time now. A few nights ago I was reading "The Sneetches" by Dr. Seuss (I gotta start reading different authors to him or he's gonna end up like that cat in the Heathcliff cartoons that only spoke in rhyme) and it the middle of the story, with my head on Kate's baby-belly he kicked me- or punched- or whatever- square in the ear. It didn't freak me out or anything. It was all just very cool.
I can feel him all the time now and can sometimes even see it right through her preggo clothes. The only "weird" part for me so far had been when I'm doing a bit of pressing on the belly and I'll suddenly get to a spot that's significantly harder than all the other spots. It's at that point I know I'm touching a foot, his butt, or maybe even his head. It amazes me to think that what I'm feeling through less than an inch of clothing and body is my son. Especially when you realize that; while it would be extremely dangerous for him at this point, he is basically old enough to be born.
I'm convinced that the reason children can't walk as soon as they're born is a combination of lack of muscle development (because of their confinement) and a lack of orientation. Even now, as an adult if you've been laying on your side or upside down for nine months you'd have a hard time getting up and walking right away too. I'm convinced that if the child were carried in an upright position in the womb the entire pregnancy that that child would learn to crawl and walk significantly faster than would otherwise be possible. See, he's not even born yet and already I'm an expert.
I had an odd thought last night at about 11p. Katie had a rough day and went to sleep early so I stayed up, cleaned up in the living room a bit and watched the Flyers game against the Canadiens. After Phillies baseball Flyers hockey is easily next on my local "favorites" list. So I'm watching the Flyers pull another one out of the hat last night, getting them one win away from a conference finals that three weeks ago no-one thought they would have any chance to be in; when it dawns on me: the last time the Flyers won the Stanley Cup was the 1976-77 season. The same season I was born. I find this especially significant since outside of football (which he played in both High School and College) Flyers Hockey was probably #2 on my Dad's sports list as well. I still remember playing indoor soccer as a teenager and talking to him after games- he would always try to relate the play on the field to what was going on in a hockey game. He never played soccer growing up, but it was his way to talking to me about the game I loved, in a way we could both kinda understand.
I've been thinking about him a lot lately.
We watched Juno over the weekend. The third prgenancy-themed movie we've seen since we found out. I really enjoyed it but had a bit of a hard time with how cool the parents were with her being pregnant. The show of emotion when she makes her decision at the end of the movie (I'm being vague to avoid any spoiler-type info.) was appropriate, but I feel as if it was just a bit too saccharine for the subject matter. It could have still been funny, but a little more serious too. But that's probably just the cynic in me coming out.
The other two we've watched? "Knocked Up", which I bloggesd about, and "Parenthood", the movie from which my roller coaster quote came from that no-one decided to guess on. Dissapointing.
We went out to dinner last night at Scoogi's on a whim. One of our favorite Italian places. I had the white pizza with pesto, diced tomato and grilled shrimp when midway through the meal I said to Katie "guess we can't do this on a whim in a few months, huh?" Probably not.
When she's sitting on the couch or laying in bed sometimes she'll get a smile on her face, almost like she knows something no one else does. Then, without me asking (though I'm pretty sure I have some sort of "look" on my face) she'll put her hands on her belly, look at me, and say "he's swimming". It's what she calls it when he's not kicking but just kinda moving around in there. The simle on her face when that happens is perhaps been the best part of the pregnancy for me so far.
She thinks baby likes country music. I need to introduce the LAB to some rock and roll... and soon ;)
I can feel him all the time now and can sometimes even see it right through her preggo clothes. The only "weird" part for me so far had been when I'm doing a bit of pressing on the belly and I'll suddenly get to a spot that's significantly harder than all the other spots. It's at that point I know I'm touching a foot, his butt, or maybe even his head. It amazes me to think that what I'm feeling through less than an inch of clothing and body is my son. Especially when you realize that; while it would be extremely dangerous for him at this point, he is basically old enough to be born.
I'm convinced that the reason children can't walk as soon as they're born is a combination of lack of muscle development (because of their confinement) and a lack of orientation. Even now, as an adult if you've been laying on your side or upside down for nine months you'd have a hard time getting up and walking right away too. I'm convinced that if the child were carried in an upright position in the womb the entire pregnancy that that child would learn to crawl and walk significantly faster than would otherwise be possible. See, he's not even born yet and already I'm an expert.
I had an odd thought last night at about 11p. Katie had a rough day and went to sleep early so I stayed up, cleaned up in the living room a bit and watched the Flyers game against the Canadiens. After Phillies baseball Flyers hockey is easily next on my local "favorites" list. So I'm watching the Flyers pull another one out of the hat last night, getting them one win away from a conference finals that three weeks ago no-one thought they would have any chance to be in; when it dawns on me: the last time the Flyers won the Stanley Cup was the 1976-77 season. The same season I was born. I find this especially significant since outside of football (which he played in both High School and College) Flyers Hockey was probably #2 on my Dad's sports list as well. I still remember playing indoor soccer as a teenager and talking to him after games- he would always try to relate the play on the field to what was going on in a hockey game. He never played soccer growing up, but it was his way to talking to me about the game I loved, in a way we could both kinda understand.
I've been thinking about him a lot lately.
We watched Juno over the weekend. The third prgenancy-themed movie we've seen since we found out. I really enjoyed it but had a bit of a hard time with how cool the parents were with her being pregnant. The show of emotion when she makes her decision at the end of the movie (I'm being vague to avoid any spoiler-type info.) was appropriate, but I feel as if it was just a bit too saccharine for the subject matter. It could have still been funny, but a little more serious too. But that's probably just the cynic in me coming out.
The other two we've watched? "Knocked Up", which I bloggesd about, and "Parenthood", the movie from which my roller coaster quote came from that no-one decided to guess on. Dissapointing.
We went out to dinner last night at Scoogi's on a whim. One of our favorite Italian places. I had the white pizza with pesto, diced tomato and grilled shrimp when midway through the meal I said to Katie "guess we can't do this on a whim in a few months, huh?" Probably not.
When she's sitting on the couch or laying in bed sometimes she'll get a smile on her face, almost like she knows something no one else does. Then, without me asking (though I'm pretty sure I have some sort of "look" on my face) she'll put her hands on her belly, look at me, and say "he's swimming". It's what she calls it when he's not kicking but just kinda moving around in there. The simle on her face when that happens is perhaps been the best part of the pregnancy for me so far.
She thinks baby likes country music. I need to introduce the LAB to some rock and roll... and soon ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
