Eric Van Raepenbusch's Blog Posts Tagged 'December' (11)

Can you freeze bubbles? My first thought was, "Sure, it's just water and soap. Of course, it can freeze." Then, I did a Google search and found one of those unreliable "Answers" websitesthat said, "The ice crystals would pop it. The air on inside would shrink and create a vacuum that would automatically pop the bubble."  Even after reading this, I wanted to believe that my kids and I could freeze bubbles.  I…

I have never written a belated-birthday post.  I am usually very particular about publishing the night before the author's birthday so that it is ready for the next morning.  This time, however, my idea for an activity was just not feasible before Jerry Pinkney's birthday.  However, many other blogs including Anita Silvey's Children's Book-a-Day Almanac recognized the very special day.



I enjoyed reading many of…

December -- O, December! I think it is one of the busiest times for reading at our house.  Every year we read from stacks of holiday favorites that include books like How the Grinch Stole Christmas,  The Polar Express, and The Christmas Blizzard.  The author birthdays in December are fantastic and lead us to read books like George Shrinks, Punk Farm, and The Wall.  This year, we even found a library used book sale that produced many old comic…

The countdown had been on for quite a while. The anticipation grew with each passing day.  My daughter could hardly wait any longer for (no, not Christmas) me to be the "Guest Reader" in her first grade classroom. 



At Parent Night, before the first day of school, a sign-up sheet circulated the room for parents to volunteer to read aloud books to the class.  I chose December 16th because I recalled quite a few…

William Joyce described the main characters in his new series, The Guardians of Childhood, as "capable of extraordinary things, all in the defense of kids -- to keep them safe, to keep their imaginations alive, and their hearts happy and soaring and full of possibilities." (Simon and Schuster).  The Guardians include The Man in the Moon, who Joyce describes as "The Dude. He's the Guy who starts in all." (…

Our routine for reading at bedtime is that my children and I each pick a book to be read aloud.  We choose among the books from our weekly trips to the library. This week we picked up a large stack of books and over half of them were written by Eve Bunting.   From the stack this week, the book that emerged as my children's favorite was I am the Mummy, Heb-Nefert.  In this book, Heb-Nefert, tells a story of when she was young and beautiful and how things changed throughout her life.…

Children have an internal drive to be creative. Observe their pretend play when they are outside, artwork they create without much effort, or conversations they have with themselves when they think no one is listening and their creative spirit is evident.



However, teachers and parents have roadblocks that can prevent them from providing additional situations for children to express themselves and be creative. As a teacher, I found there were many roadblocks that stifled my…