ALL ABOUT LIFE BEYOND KINDERGARTEN! Kindergarten is the basic building block for all future learning. It is true that everything you need to know in life was really learned in Kindergarten. The trick is to remember what you learned when you were five or six. What you liked then will most likely be something you will like now. So be true to yourself and who you really are and who you will really be. Look back and you just may find your true self! Yes…this blog is about a variety of topics…because we are all a smorgasbord of thoughts and ideas.
Photo by kindergartenknowledge.com…Dallas, Texas…Summer, 2017
The thunder, the lightning, the clouds, the howling dogs, the cats hiding under the bushes, the rush of the wind, the bending trees, the falling limb on the roof… plus the brightest sunset…just another evening thunderstorm in Texas. Like the people we meet each day…every storm is different. Some loud. Some quiet. Some needed. Some not needed. And yet…amid the noise from the sky…we know tomorrow will be brighter because we surely learned something from the storm we encountered.
Your disposition, your attitude, your demeanor precede you throughout your life. It is true…people can sense a poor disposition by the scowl on a person’s face. There was a time when I thought that a sad and discordant disposition was an inherited trait. I believed that there was nothing that a person could do if they were born with a negative personality. They were stuck with it. They just had to figure out how to live with negativity, how to simply give in to negativity, how to accept that they were the inevitable complainers. I changed my mind in the years after college when I was working at newspapers. I really changed my mind after I began teaching elementary school.
Nature vs Nurture…the debate that has continued through generations.
Blaming naturemay be the easy way to explain away your far from positive attitude and lack of motivation. A coworker at a newspaper where I worked was a prime example…temperamental to the point of throwing things off of his desk; curt and rude answers; never thought that he was at fault for anything; blamed the general population of the city for any complaints about his articles; argued and yelled during staff meetings; stomped out of multiple meetings. His overall negative disposition and blatant behavior caused havoc for the entire staff. What a downer of a person. He was lusting for control of every situation.
One comment that he always made was… “I act just like my grandfather. I am proud of it!”…followed by “I could easily act a lot better, but I like the attention!”
He eventually lost his job. He never went back into the newspaper business. His disposition preceded him at every location where he applied. What talent he had! What a very fine writer! What research he completed for each assignment! And yet…he could not succeed in a competitive environment. The fault was completely his own.
I wonder how his upbringing came into play. Was he nurtured by his family? Was he taught to accept responsibility for his own actions? Was he taught to seek happiness even if it took a huge amount of effort? Was he taught the critical importance of behavior restraint? Was he taught about kindness?
Craig Jarrow wrote an interesting article on his site, Time Management Ninja…”21 Ways to Define a Positive Attitude”. Jarrow states that productivity in a job setting is contagious and your attitude is also very contagious. A positive and happy disposition can be contagious, but a negative and poor disposition can seem like a virus. In other words…a poor disposition can be a corrupting influence in any setting.
A positive attitude works in tandem with a positive disposition.
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“21 Ways to Define a Positive Attitude”
By: Craig Jarrow
It is looking adversity in the eye…and laughing.
Getting what you get, and not pitching a fit.
Enjoying the unexpected, even when it’s not what you originally wanted.
Motivating those around you with a positive word.
Using the power of a smile to reverse the tone of a situation.
Being friendly to those you don’t know.
It’s getting beck up when you fall down. (No matter how many times you fall down.)
Being a source of energy that lifts those around you.
Understanding that relationships are more important than material things.
Being happy even when you have little.
Having a good time even when you are losing.
Being happy for the success of someone else.
Having a positive future vision, no matter how bad your current circumstances.
Smiling.
Paying a compliment, even to a total stranger.
Tell someone you know that they did a great job. (And mean it.)
Making someone’s day. (Not just a child’s…adults like to have their day to be special too.)
It’s not complaining no matter how unfair things appear to be. (It is a waste of time…instead do something.)
Not letting the negativity of other people bring you down.
Giving more that you expect to get in return.
Being true to yourself…always.
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Your choice…adjust your disposition and havea positive attitude!
Choose to be the type of person that everyone wants to work with, to talk to, to collaborate with…a positive and happy disposition is a cohesive force!
When I read that the prompt for today is tea, I thought about the above quote and all of the wonderful friends who have come my way through blogging. From Iowa, South Carolina, Texas, California, New York and all across the United States, England, Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, Cameroon, India, Dubai, Nigeria, Norway, Japan, China, Iceland, Switzerland, Ireland, Vietnam, Russia, Italy, Canada, Estonia, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Denmark, United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Singapore, Albania, Argentina, Sweden, Hungary, Indonesia, Belgium, Finland, Saudi Arabia, Romania, Paraguay, Czech Republic, Thailand, Mexico, Croatia …and on and on and on.
I thank all of you for your kindness, your thoughtfulness, your proud voices, your talent, your differences, your likenesses, your strong opinions, your faith, your humor, your ability to reach out across the world.
We are indeed involved in a particularly important venture…writing for the sake of the pure spirit of communicating. We are building a world for ourselves that is wider and larger that ever we expected. I do think that we are reaching for a glimmer of understanding…a glimmer of peace…a glimmer of sharing.
Thank you for your friendships. I tell my friends and family about you and they are amazed at how fortunate we are that you are in our world!
A true statement…for sure!!
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A poem by Kate Greenaway…a children’s book author and illustrator in the latter half of the 19th century…
In the pleasant green garden We sat down to tea; “Do you take sugar?” and “Do you take milk?” She’d got a new gown on– A smart one of silk. We all were so happy As happy could be, On that bright Summer’s day When she asked us to tea.
Whatever belief we hold…whatever faith we hold, I believe that we do share in the journey of helping those in need…for we already understand friendship.
Someone might ask…just what is a traditional home life? What is traditional in Texas might be different from a traditional home life in California. What is traditional in Japan might be different from a traditional home life in Brazil. Differences are understandable and expected. Everyone can define a traditional home life in their own way.
However…I would hope that traditional in any part of the world would (or could) involve the basic levels of need for sustainable life. Abraham Maslow, a noted American psychologist, wrote “A Theory of Human Motivation” in 1943. His findings stated that the basic needs are arranged in a Hierarchy of Needs. A pyramid is often presented as the foundation for a person’s basic needs. Lower needs must be met before a person can reach the top level called self-actualization. When this level is completed, a person reaches their full potential, according to Maslow.
Those lower needs on the pyramid include the very basic needs of water, food, sleep and shelter. When I was in graduate school for Educational Administration, the presentations on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs made a serious impression on me. To me, it represents the eventual motivation that is especially needed for a young child to successfully progress through school with a sense of joy in learning, pride in accomplishment and a feeling of creative thinking.
In my own classroom, I have sadly seen the effects of the absence of these basic needs. When I was thinking of the word “traditional”…I thought immediately of the small child who was in my classroom more than ten years ago. I cannot help but think about currently young children who are in the same situation. Is there someone there to hear their voice? I only hope that someone at their school listens like a group of educators at my school listened. I wrote the following post in the second month of my blog…
The child walked quietly into my elementary school classroom.
His eyes were cast downward. His smile was absent. His walk was slow and hesitant. His smile was absent. Other children walked in laughing and talking and skipping. Most everyone had something to say…”Good Morning, Good Morning”, “Want to hear something funny?”, “Hey teacher…look at my new backpack! I found it at a garage sale! Do you love it?”, “Today is pizza day in the cafeteria. Is it lunchtime yet?” and on and on.
Yes…most everyone had something to say and all of the children greeted me with a smile. All smiled except for one small, fragile boy. He sat down at his table and put his head down on his folded arms. He was asleep in less than 30 seconds. I tried to wake him up for circle time, for the main lesson of the day, for the teacher read-aloud. Clearly exhausted.
He evidently came to school to get some peace and quiet. I never consider my classroom to be particularly quiet and sometimes I don’t consider it particularly peaceful. I do know that my classroom is filled with love and care…love from me to the children, from thechildren to me…love and care is always my goal.
I rarely know right away about a child’s life away from school. I listen, learn and discern information in bits and pieces for a few weeks. I would eventually know what type of home life they bring to school. With this sad little boy, I knew that things were certainly not right. Something was missing. Please, please…help me find the missing part to the puzzle.
I asked the mother and step-father to come in for a meeting. I sent a note home in his daily folder. I called repeatedly. I left messages. The number was quickly disconnected. A relative picked him up in the afternoon. She would barely talk to me. She muttered a quick greeting with the same look of despair as the child.
Everyday, I spent extra time with the child while his classmates were busy with projects. Little by little, he started talking quietly to me.
He was hungry. He usually did not eat at night. The breakfast and lunch provided at our school were mostly his only means of sustenance. He did not have a bed. He slept on a couple of blankets on the floor. Sometimes a sibling would take the blankets away from him.
His mother had two jobs. I was glad that she was working, but worried about the care he was receiving or obviously not receiving. I doubted that she had time to talk with me. I began trying to get the step-father to talk with me. No luck. Collaboration? Not from these parents.
A few days after the child began talking to me, he said his leg hurt, his tummy hurt. The story came out in a blur of words. I immediately talked with all of the appropriate people at my elementary school and beyond my school. The counselor talked with the child. The sad truth was indeed the really sad truth. Things were very wrong at his house.
Action was taken very quickly by the appropriate agency. He was sent to foster care in another school district that very day. I hope he found love and support. I hope he found a warm and comfortable bed. I hope he found a good dinner waiting for him every evening.
I do not know what happened to him after his placement. I hope that he learned to smile. I hope that his mother learned that she needs to collaborate with the teacher and the school and anyone else who would help her. Fear keeps so many parents from seeking assistance. If only she really knew how much effort we put into finding a bit of a future for her child.
I certainly did not find a chance at a better life for him all by myself. It took a group of people working together. And it all started because a group of educators listened to his quiet voice. That is why I believe that it takes a truly committed village to raise a child.
YEARS AND YEARS HAVE PASSED. I STILL REMEMBER THAT SMALL VOICE.
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Summer of 2017...the child who was in my class is now grown up. My prayer is that he made it…that he became the happy child that he deserved to be. I hope that his basic needs plus more were met.
LET US NOT FORGET TO LISTEN TO THE QUIET VOICES FROM THE CHILDREN.
Michael Henry and Justin Robinettwere students at Texas Tech University in Lubbock Texas when they decided to record a YouTube video in 2009. It was just on a whim…just for fun. Justin had a set of amateur recording equipment that he had acquired back in high school. Michael was curious about how they could make a video. Why not try it out? Anyway… who in the world was really going to listen?
They both had a musical background in their growing up years and met when they were both on the Texas Tech drum line. Michael took piano lessons for a couple of years and played drums in his high school Jazz Ensemble. His singing ability was unknown to most everyone. Justin started taking piano lessons at ten years old and later began playing drums and playing guitar. He attended Texas Tech as a Music Performance Major. They had no idea of the fan support that they would receive from those first and subsequent YouTube videos.
And…another YouTube career was soon launched. Just by accident. Just for fun. They did not even think about the real people who would watch their video. And people watched…and people listened. People loved the blending harmony of their unique voices.
Michael and Justin have over 385,000 subscribers and over 74 million views on their videos. I first heard about them when a friend sent me a video of Michaeland Justin singing “Hallelujah”. It turned out to be one of the best renditions that I have ever heard.
Their covers of well known hits are astounding. I have heard that they are currently on separate career paths…Michael now has a law degree from Texas Tech and Justin has several degrees from South Plains College in Sound Technology and Audio Engineering. I am simply hoping that they keep sharing their musical talent…
Michael and Justin’s harmony is truly a wondrous sound!
Indecision…the long way to success or the easy way?
Indecision…to laugh at knowledge or attain knowledge?
Indecision…scorn the poor or reach out a strong hand?
Indecision…give up your hopes or follow your dream?
Indecision…use sarcasm to communicate or kindness?
Indecision…invite disastrous results or find peace?
Waiting to make the best decision is very slow. Fear…slower. Lost in sorrow…time is so long. Choose to celebrate…time is so fast and fleeting…yet full of joy.
However…look for true love and your time becomes a matter of eternity.
1 Corinthians 13:13…
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Family Trees are unbelievably fascinating to me. I started working on our family tree at least six years ago. I joined Ancestry.com on a whim. I had been looking through old family photographs and thinking about…Who were the people?…What did they hope to accomplish in their lives?…When did they marry or did they remain single?…Where did they originally come from?…Why did they look so serious or so happy?…How did they lead their lives?
Who? ? ?
What? ? ?
When? ? ?
Where? ? ?
Why? ? ?
How? ? ?
Literally, the basic and the most important questions that journalists attempt to precisely answer are “who”,“what”, “when”, “where”, “why” and the inevitable “how”. These are the first elements of writing that I learned in my first journalism class in college. In trying to figure out the puzzle of a Family Tree, I thought about these questions and how they would give me more information about my relatives. As in any good story, the writer (or in this case…the researcher) needs to figure out what questions are not being answered. The best help can come from photographs and copies of old documents such as census or marriage records.
As I delved deeper into my family history, I knew that I would need new technology and scientific concepts. DNA appeared to be the direct route to the ultimate units of universal information.
The first portion my DNA results from Ancestry.com:
My Ethnicity Estimate According to Ancestry.com DNA Testing…
Europe 100%
1. Great Britain
65%
2. Europe West
16%
3. Ireland
9%
4. Europe East
7%
5. Iberian Peninsula
1%
6. Finland/Northwest Russia
< 1%
7. Scandinavia
< 1%
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A second portion of my DNA results from Ancestry.com…Genetic Communities.
What are Genetic Communities?
Genetic Communities™ are groups of AncestryDNA members who are connected through DNA most likely because they descend from a population of common ancestors, even if they no longer live in the area where those ancestors once lived.
For example, some Genetic Communities trace their roots back to groups of people who were isolated geographically. Mountains, rivers, lack of roads, or other barriers made it likely that each new generation would marry someone who lived close to home. Others have their roots in groups who typically married others of the same religion or ethnic group. In each case, these groups came to share a significant amount of DNA. Modern-day descendants who inherited some of that DNA make up Genetic Communities.
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My Genetic Communities:
According to Ancestry.com, the majority of my relatives lived in the following locations…some for hundreds of years…some arrived in the mid to late 1880s…
1. Settlers of Northwest Alabama
2. Settlers of Western Tennessee, Arkansas & Northeast Texas
3. Early Settlers of the Deep South
Pictured above is the home owned by my great-great grandfather in Nashville, Tennessee… as it looks today….a blue house with a picket fence. The house was built in the late 1880s and is shown in the top right picture in the early 1900s. My relatives are standing in the front of the house. The entry hall staircase evidently looks as new today as it did when the house was built. The house has had numerous owners and is now divided into four apartments. It is located on Park Avenue not far from downtown Nashville, Vanderbilt University and Centennial Park.
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The information concerning my Genetic Communities is totally on target. My maternal great-great grandfather immigrated to Nashville, Tennessee from Oldham, Lancashire, England in the mid 1800s. He was a very young man. My mother grew up in Nashville and I still have relatives who live there. On my father’s side of my family, his relatives lived in Tennessee and moved to Arkansas in the 1800s. My grandfather was born in Hot Springs, Arkansas in the late 1800s. Later, he moved his family to Louisiana and then to Texas. I grew up in Northeast Texas. Through research, I discovered that my paternal ancestors were indeed very early settlers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
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Ancestors. Family. Cousins. Aunts. Uncles. Some that I knew when I was growing up. Some that I am just now finding. My DNA results identified 1,498 4th cousins or closer who are currently living somewhere around the world! Unbelievable!!
The architect brings abstract thought to fruition…to reality. The architect finds a way to combine the beauty of nature with the beauty of life. In a way, we are all the most important architects of our own lives. Unlike professional architects, some of us seem to choose a life without a plan…floundering under the guise of needless procrastination. Some of us have not been introduced to the idea of reality…to the real idea that we have a less than expansive time to create a masterpiece of a life. And yet…we all have that opportunity…should we decide to reach towards that particular choice.
In my own thinking, the word “architect” means the type of person who takes a blank canvas of earth and turns an object…turns a building…turns a dwelling… into a companion to the trees, the sky, the hills, the water.
A professional architect blends the earth and the building together so that they complement each other. Can you do that with your own life? It takes effort, but you surely can put forth that effort.
An interesting article on architecture was written by Steven Holt on “What is Architecture? (Art?)”…and published in “The Brooklyn Rail”. Holt is considered one of America’s most intriguing and important of currently established architects. He has been widely recognized and honored for his ability to blend space and light with contextual sensitivity.
Holt’s article defines architecture with simply four words:
1. Abstract: Architects work from the abstract to the real. Architecture does have constraints such as safety, function, economy…and yet, it can transcend to inspire with ideas in space and light.
2. Use: A function of architecture is to inspire. Architecture’s highest “use” is to inspire us.
3. Space: Architecture draws us from one location to the next. It seems that the idea of architecture can surround us like music. Architecture, like life, is the art of space.
4. Idea: Architecture has an idea…a link between concept and form. The idea of space and light and detail convey the art of architecture. This occurs whether or not the organizing idea is really totally grasped.
“This idea is a hidden thread connecting disparate parts with exact intention”…states Steven Holt.
If at first you do not succeed…try again and again and again. You cannot just bury your mistakes in the sand.
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In comparing the concept of architecture in constructing a building to the concept of architecture in constructing your life…I believe that we can see a common thread. We need to have a plan, an idea, a concept, an intention…we need to fill our space with light. We need to find a way to be an inspiration to our own part of the world.
When I first heard about Liptauer Cheese, I refused to try it after I read the recipe. The idea of anchovy paste and capers was not the least bit interesting. Soon after, I was served Liptauer Cheese Spread as one of several appetizers at a wedding reception. Since I was typically talking and not paying any attention to what was on my plate, I had no idea what I was eating. I just knew that it was good. Very good.
Surprise! Liptauer Cheese was the most delicious appetizer being served!
The Dallas Junior League Cookbook was first published in 1976 and I added it to my “just beginning” cookbook collection soon after. I cannot believe that this book is now 41 years old. I must have been a small child when I bought it. Sure!
I found my favorite Liptauer Cheese Spread recipe in my new cookbook…a good recipe even in 2017!
Capers!
LIPTAUER CHEESE SPREAD…HUNGARY
Ingredients:
8 heaping tablespoons cottage cheese
3 ounces cream cheese
1/2 medium onion, grated
1 1/2 teaspoon capers, drained
3/4 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 heaping teaspoon anchovy paste
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon white wine
***I add 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped garlic, but it is not included on the original recipe!***
Directions:
Sieve and blend cottage cheese with cream cheese. Beat in onion and all other ingredients, folding in capers. Chill at least two hours before serving with thin crunchy wafers.
The following is an article about a wonderful summer camp in East Texas…Pine Cove. Both of our children attended Pine Cove from third grade through their senior year in high school. Our son-in-law also attended Pine Cove. What an amazing experience for our entire family! The friendships, the beautiful setting, the life lessons and the camaraderie of the entire staff are still impacting our lives today!
***click on the link below for the entire story!***
Every year, at a camp by a lake in the piney woods of East Texas, the lives of tens of thousands…
kindergartenknowledge.com 