getting it right for kids

Ken Baker: Children's Author: Advice to Aspiring Authors

2011-10-16T08:17:00.000-07:00

Advice to Aspiring Authors

"Every once in a while I'm contacted by aspiring writers for advice on how to get started as a children's book author. Whether they want to write picture books, chapter books or YA, my advice is pretty much the same. . . ."

Ken Baker: Children's Author: Advice to Aspiring Authors

Hanford Chinese Moon Festival - Living History

2011-09-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

No one to my knowledge has written anything that comes within a shadow of portraying the epic feat of the Chinese in the building of the West. Quotation from–The Chinese Railroad Men

Celebrating the Chinese Harvest Moon Festival in China Alley, Hanford, California is a way to breathe life and realism into the study of California’s gold rush years. You and your favorite kids can watch authentic lion dancers, sample moon cakes (think not-too-sweet Twinkie traditionally filled with all manner of things—but often with plum paste at the Hanford festival), reconnoiter through the gold rush era museum and Taoist Temple and visit with descendants of Chinese Pioneers. From gold mines to farms, from railroads to mercantile establishments Chinese immigrants helped to build the American west and this is an especially exciting year as Hanford's China Alley is now listed in the national registry of endangered historical sites. I am privileged to be invited to participate in the festivities again and I’d love to see you there! I’ll be signing my series of China-related mathematical adventure picture books in China Alley between noon and 4:00 pm, October 1, 2011. You'll recognize me right away. I'll be the one with a tangram quilt on a lap-quilting hoop.

For more information about the celebration see "China Alley set for Annual Moon Festival" in the The Hanford Sentinel the source of the delightful photo above.

Getting Ready for Geometry

2011-09-02T11:55:00.001-07:00

Readiness for Euclidean geometry can be gained by teaching intuitive geometry or by giving children an opportunity to build increasingly elaborate constructions with polygons (closed plane figures having three or more straight sides)
-Jerome S. Bruner , 1966

Many quilt blocks allow us to experience polygons in a special way. Boys and girls alike are enticed by the colors, textures and patterns of traditional quilts. Earlier this year my niece Marlene provided passage on a quilter's cruise for me. Some gift, right? Classes were filled by the time I registered so before sailing I cut all the pieces for a tangram block quilt (green, yellow & red-- see my quilt block layout above) to piece together by hand. In 2000, when The Warlord's Puzzle hit bookstore shelves, a master quilter in upstate New York designed this tangram block. For detailed instructions see my newly updated website on the bottom of the "For Teachers" section. Quilt block pieces may be enlarged to suit. During scheduled "Quilt at Sea" classes, I settled myself on a comfortable deck chair and stitched my tangram blocks. Passengers strolling by stopped to ask about my colorful project. I "just happened" to have a copy of The Warlord's Puzzle and chatted about how touching, arranging, and sewing plane geometric figures helps prepare children to learn Euclidean geometry. During my seven day cruise I met lots of delightful people and was able to piece an entire lap-quilt top. Now I am hand-quilting the sandwich of quilt top, batting and backing. I find my bright handcraft perfect for the slow times at book signings--a fine conversation starter about picture book crafts and mathematics learning. If you choose, you'll find this project perfect to share with your favorite kids--an equally fine conversation starter about squares, triangles, rhomboid parallelograms and practical geometry.

The picture below is one of my fellow sailer/quilter's take on the tangram pattern. For instructions on paper-quilting the tangram block request pattern & instruction from vwpilegard@gmail.com

SOME DARES ARE WORTH TAKING!

2011-08-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

As a post script, I won honorable mention in the Shabby Apple Dare to Design contest with this entry. I've already spent my prize gift certificate! My mom used to say, "take it big." I agree. We dreamers and darers need to take the even tiniest of successes "big."
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Kids (and their elders) need to dream dreams and find the courage to make their dreams come true. I’m entering Shabby Apple’s Dare to Design contest to prove I’m dreaming! Shabby Apple Dresses offers Internet shoppers dresses in classic and vintage styles.

My entry is a daffodil of a spring dress in light-weight cotton fabric, with white trim edging the round collar, cap sleeves and empire waist. Shabby Apple promises to include the winner in their spring list and this is the kind of dress I dream of finding--with simple, sunny comfort and a mid-knee-length skirt!

The contest is open until August 10, 2011, if you'd like to share the dare. Rules

DESIGN FOR SHABBY APPLE

A SADNESS SHARED

2011-07-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

In my own grieving of so many losses during my fifty-nine years, I have learned to ask myself sooner or later in the process: “what is the gift of this loss?” Rev. William L. Vaswig, President P.P.M. (1990)

I awakened this morning to the news a grandson of a dear friend died last night of a drug overdose. My friend’s heartache is deep and unavoidable. She grieves for promise unfulfilled and sweetness lost. Her grandson wasn't a rebel or a tyrant. He was a gentle, artistic boy, troubled beyond his family’s reach. In her own mourning my friend hurts, too, for her granddaughter--the younger sister who found him lying on the floor. My friend is no stranger to loss. She’s faced death with strength and dignity often through her life. She wonders how her granddaughter will manage?

There should be pat answers and a five-point lesson plan for helping kids face death.
The closest I can find is the following meditation written by my pastor for
A Sadness Shared (1999), a chapbook Judith H. Hussain and I co-authored.

A COUNTRY PASTOR’S THOUGHTS ON CHILDREN AND DEATH

My son’s hamster died recently. Devastated, Joel mourned Chester as you and I would grieve the loss of a close friend.
I had read that it is good for children to experience the death of a pet without parents’ jumping in to save them. In this way, children learn that sorrow, with time, hugs and understanding, can be overcome. This made sense to me.
Although I hated to watch him suffer, I determined not to rush out and buy a replacement present, a game, or an outing. Instead, I escorted him, his younger brother, Seth, and a neighborhood friend to the back yard. Joel wept as he dug the grave and drove the cross into the ground, but the real pain came as each one of us said, “Goodbye, Chester. Thank you for being my friend.” The boys asked me if there was an animal heaven. I said I hoped so. As we prayed together, even I got wrapped up in the sadness.
From this experience, Joel learned that “dead” means gone from this earth. He also knows he is strong enough to survive sadness and that family and friends can help. He knows a little about funerals and mourning.
Above all, he understands that time heals.
Rev. Paul Demant

"Dead" means gone from this dimension of earth. With God's help, one can be strong enough to survive sadness. Family and friends can help. Funerals and mourning must be endured. In even the most wrenching loss there is a gift, if one can dare to ask. Time heals. We've learned these things, maybe to guide our kids through the same lessons.

Sharing Wonder

2011-05-20T12:12:00.000-07:00

won•der [ wúndər ]

noun (plural won•ders) Definition: 1. amazed admiration: amazed admiration or awe, especially at something very beautiful or new

2. something marvelous: a miracle or other cause of intense admiration or awe
. . . online Encarta Dictionary

If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life, as an unfailing antidote against the boredom and dis-enchantments of later years, the sterile preoccupation with things that are artificial, the alienation from the sources of our strength.
If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder without any such gifts from the fairies, he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in. . . . Rachel Carson. Woman’s Home Companion (July 1956)

I’ve spent lots of time thinking about wonder,wondering what fosters a sense of wonder in my life? I recognize wonder as a wellspring of creativity and find my answers both unique to me and essentially quite trite—my puppy Otis, each new blossom in my iris garden, bluebirds nesting in our homemade birdhouse, quiet time in the little overstuffed barrel chair in the corner of my office, any mountain stream with even the tiniest waterfall, children, answered prayer, honest friends, quirky family.

My mom used to say children only remember things they learned in a white heat. By that she meant things taught with wonder and excitement. My most beloved graduate advisor Larry Ecklund gave aspiring mathematics teachers the materials to make lots of hands-on teaching aids. I fell in love with one I never fit into a tradition primary mathematics lesson but used often, a small wooden viewer with a peephole, a birthday candle and a mirror at each end to reflect the light infinitely. He said it was to foster wonder. California’s standards based learning with scripted lessons leaves teachers little time to explore wonder in the classroom. Makes being an adult who can share wonder with children take on fierce importance. Think about what fills you with amazed awe and admiration and share it with a kid.

The Real Purpose of Education!

2010-08-18T14:19:00.000-07:00

“The true purpose of education is to bring the child into his inheritance.” --
Curry, Charles Madison & Erle Elsworth Clippinger, CHILDREN’S LITERATURE. Rand McNally & Company, New York, 1923.

My coveted invitation to a Literary Gala, sponsored by the Arne Nixon Center and Petunia’s Place, included the directive to bring my favorite children’s book. After considering bringing one of my own (only a few seconds, honest!) I realized that my hands-down-all-time-favorite children’s book is my mother’s text book from her children’s literature class at UCLA during the roaring twenties.

This precious book, now too tattered to be repaired, offered student teachers training in literature instruction and many beloved classic stories and poems. Living on a remote cattle ranch in the central California foothills, my brother and I were a half-hour’s hike from the nearest neighbors. When we tired of exploring and arguing we read. Mother borrowed boxes of books from the library. Still, we ran out. Each of us had a favorite book (mine was Little Women Ralph’s, Little Joe Otter), but still we ran out and Mother would hand us Clurry & Clippinger's Children's Literature.

Nonsense poetry entertained us best. The book’s pages of traditional fairy stories and fantastic tales remain intact; poems by Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll and John Towsend Trowbridge are so worn as to be barely legible.

If your childhood was so deprived as to have omitted John Towsend Trowbridge, I must introduce you to his epic poem, “Darius Green and His Flying Machine.” While you read imagine my brother and me building wings from various household items and leaping off furniture while shouting as many of the five pages of rhyme as we could remember.

If ever there lived a Yankee lad,
Wise or otherwise, good or bad,
Who, seeing the birds fly, didn’t jump
With flapping arms from stake or stump,
Or, spreading the tail of his coat for a sail,
Take a souring leap from post or rail,
And wonder why he couldn’t fly,
And flap and flutter and wish and try,--
If ever you knew a country dunce
Who didn’t try that as often as once,
All I can say is, that’s a sign
He never would do for a hero of mine.

An aspiring genius was D. Green;
The son of a farmer,--age fourteen;

That’s about as much of the poem as either of us ever managed to learn, but the joy of the thing makes me giggle sitting here all alone.

Poetry feeds children’s spirits and aids in language development for both native and non-native speakers. Well-chosen poetry provides a uniquely pleasurable language experience while introducing the richness of our western literary heritage. I’m packing my mother’s precious old textbook to share tonight, after I finish reading the rest of these poems. No one will notice if I’m late.

The Emperor's Army -Available Feb. 10, 2010!

2009-12-07T13:11:00.000-08:00

Talking about ideas!

2009-12-02T15:27:00.000-08:00

Small people talk about others. Average people talk about things. Great people talk about ideas! - Adapted from a quotation by Eleanor Roosevelt

Years ago, a fellow education student shared this truism with me over some cheese and a loaf of many-day-old French bread while we avoided studying for finals. The two of us gossiped about instructors and classmates. Sometimes we considered things such as our inoperative cars. Rarely did we happen across anything that might have been mistaken for a great idea. I do remember thinking about the quotation again when considering levels of communication that influence children’s language acquisition.

In order to talk about Eleanor-Roosevelt-worthy ideas, children need vocabulary, words on which to hang their thoughts. In many households, communication between child and parent consists of "kitchen" English. “Come in.” “Shut the door.” “Sit down.” “Eat.” Little meaningful interaction or language acquisition happens in these conversations. It is only if an adult has the time and/or energy that communication moves to the next level, talk about others, e.g. “What ticked Grandma off this time?” It takes even more time and effort to reach the point where the child in included in conversations about things. “We need to figure out how to get that car started.” Rather than dismiss the chance for a child to discuss others and things as “small” or “average,” I celebrate any conversation in which a child is given the privilege to interact in ways that develop the vocabulary of socialization and practical problem-solving.

Still, I agree with Eleanor. Great people talk about ideas. In order to talk about ideas--mathematics or world peace, for example--a child needs experiences with the words that define those ideas. The struggle to provide the necessities of life deprives many parents of the time and energy to discuss ideas with their kids and don’t get me started on how the struggle to teach to standardized tests inhibits meaningful conversation in classrooms. Words, and the concepts they represent, are the framework upon which thought is built. Just as talking with an adult about others and things develops a child’s language and thought processes about those subjects. Talking about ideas provides the language of ideas needed for greatness. Children’s literature can help. Adults and children naturally share ideas over a good book. (Come on now, you can’t say you’re surprised this is where I was headed.) A whimsical storybook that introduces mathematics vocabulary like “rectangle,” “triangle,” “square” and “parallelogram” in a non-threatening way gives children the words on which to build ideas about informal geometry. A modern translation of the second chapter of Luke is appropriate for acquiring the vocabulary of the season of prayer for “peace on earth good will amoung men.” And on that note: Have a blessed Christmas, if I don’t see you before then!

2009-11-10T18:37:00.000-08:00

Children’s stories follow the mythic Hero’s Journey.

There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before.
--Willa Cather, in O Pioneers!

Some years ago, a writers’ workshop introduced me to the concept of the “hero’s journey,” the universal story structure that creates the most satisfying plots. Over time, my notes were lost due to the weathering and natural attrition that occurs in my home office, but to my delight a friend loaned me Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey: Mythic structure for Writers, which refreshed my memory.

According to Vogler’s interpretation of the model, all stories, whether myths, fairy tales, dreams or movies, consist of universal structural elements:

Ordinary World
Call to Adventure
Refusal of the Call
First Threshold
Tests, Allies, Enemies
Approach to Inmost Cave
Ordeal
Reward
The Road Back
Resurrection
Return with the Elixir

Not all of these elements are immediately recognizable in every story. (For a simplified telling of the “hero’s journey” see the creative writing lesson in The Warlord’s Fish study guide, FOR TEACHERS section @ http://virginiapilegard.com ) However, being aware of the elements of this time-honored formula gives children’s authors a powerful tool for creating pleasing stories.

The tale begins on an ordinary day. The storyteller introduces her hero in his everyday world, and then allows something extraordinary to happen—a call to adventure! The hero’s quest, the thing he wants most, is defined by the call. Perhaps he must avenge a wrong, seek a prize, or discover an answer.

At first he refuses the call. His refusal provides an important plot devise, helping the reader understand how risky and life-changing the journey will be. During this part of the story, the hero examines his objectives. What is he willing to risk? How important is his goal?

He soon overcomes his fear and commits to the journey, only to be tested at the first threshold. The first of many obstacles occurs—the thing that would keep him from entering the "special world" of the adventure. This test needs to be a dilly to convince the reader she’s being invited on an exciting journey. Remember the story must increase in intensity, so even though this is a worthy obstacle, it must be less dramatic than the ultimate ordeal to come.

Through this first challenge, the hero begins to sort out his friends, or allies, and his enemies. In this test, or immediately before, the hero meets his mentor, usually an older friend, who helps equip him for what is to come. Often the hero changes costume to something suitable for the battles ahead. (In a romance, the heroine receives a stunning new outfit. In spite of sexist language the hero’s journey is not gender exclusive.) The mentor offers the hero gifts he will need. Gifts may be magical, spiritual or something as simple as the advice: “Breath. Hang in there. You’re doing fine. You’ve got what it takes to handle any situation, somewhere inside you” (Vogler, p. 125).

The approach to inmost cave translates into “Have fun storming the castle,” in the movie Princess Bride. Now the hero must move deep into the “special world”. The approach provides a time for planning, more obstacles and the realization that the hero’s options, except the one that leads to his ultimate test, are blocked.

At this stage the hero faces his greatest challenge, the ordeal, and walks away the victor with his reward. His success turns out to be short-lived. He risks losing his reward during tests on the road back. He must return to his ordinary world. His journey has changed him allowing him to experience a type of resurrection and the storyteller must make sure the hero faces one last obstacle to show that he can apply the lessons he learned.

In the end, the hero returns home with the elixir, the object of his quest and the resolution to his adventure.

Vogler applies these elements to movies from The Wizard of Oz to Goldfinger. If a children’s author can apply them to her own story, she stands a chance of writing a classic.

And, having reread it, I promise to return The Writer’s Journey: Mythic structure for Writers, Michael Wiese Productions, Ventura, 1998, to friend Judi Hussain (creative force behind http://beautybread.blogspot.com) . I’ve probably had her book ten years, but it happened to surface in one of my office weathering and natural attrition cycles.

A Good Picture Book Takes Advantage of "Old Ways."

2009-10-30T06:40:00.000-07:00

“It’s the grandmother’s job to teach the children.” – a Mono elder

Last night I attended a Halloween party at the new North Fork Mono Indian Community Center. Built on the top of a ridge with plenty of windows to take advantage of the view, the center is inspiring as well as functional. It was bitter-sweet to have people call me “Mrs. Walton.” They say I look more like my mom every year. One of Mom’s students, now a grandmother, introduced her grandson and mentioned he is at the top of his class because she reads with him, tells him stories and teaches him.

Julia V. Clark, author of Minorities in Science and Math, states, “story-telling and demonstration are historic teaching methods in the Indian culture.” Several years ago I discussed learning styles, particularly the visual learning modality, with North Fork Mono educator Connie DeSilva. She told me that children in her Mono Language and Culture classes learned through watching, listening and doing. “Isn’t that how all children learn?” she asked. She spoke of learning from her grandmother. “She died when I was eleven years old. I was privileged to go with her to pick sticks to make baskets, and to gather food. I learned by watching her. I learned by listening to her and many of the Indian elders.”

“How a man get lost, mountains all around?” my own father’s mentor Pinky Bethel used to ask with some exasperation. And if you stood on my front deck you’d understand. I live on the side of Omabi. Look behind my house, up the hill, and you’ll discover the top of Omabi is different from the top of Shut Eye, that peak you see to the east. Peckenpaw Ridge (that’s the ridge between my house and Shut Eye) doesn’t look anything like Thornberry Ridge, (south west of Omabi). You won’t get lost if you study the “mountains all around.” When I quoted Mr. Bethel’s remark to Mrs. DeSilva as an example of keen visual perception among the Mono, she agreed. She spoke of her love of nature and how she notes the shapes of mountains, the colors of rocks and the growth patterns of trees to find her way. “Most Indian children are wonderful artists,” she added, “Isn’t that visual?”

Observing one’s environment to find the way through the woods and find the way home, producing exquisite art, baskets and beading are obviously visual skills. However they do not automatically transfer into text-related visual perception skills as defined by Jerome Rosner, namely the child’s ability to analyze patterns of light (printed letters and numerals [and] geometric designs) in a detailed, organized way. “Instruction in the form of story telling, story books with pictures, and video demonstrations” are suggested as beneficial for Native American learners. (Craig, 2004) These tools provide a valuable transition from concrete visual experiences to the more abstract letters and numbers on a page. (Gailey, 1993)

So, call me Grandma, and understand my heart. I write my little mathematical adventure stories to help kids from all cultural backgrounds transfer their “real world” visual perception strengths to the learning of mathematics.

Resources:

Clark, Julia V. Minorities in Science and Math. ERIC Clearinghouse for Science Mathematics and Environmental Education, Columbus, OH, 1999. ERIC Document Reproduction Service ED433216

Craig, Gloria. “Dr. Gloria Craig Introduces Section 3 Concepts” Module 2 section 3. n.d. South Dakota State Department of Education. 2004

Gailey, Stavoroula K. “The Mathematics—Children’s Literature Connection.” Arithmetic Teacher. January 1993:258259

Rosner, Jerome. Helping Children Overcome Learning Difficulties. Walker: New York, 1979

Can a testosterone deficiency hinder mathematics learning?

2009-09-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

We’re all going to get in a fight. –Pink, “So What”

Bringing up gender differences in learning is a great way to start a “spirited” discussion. Learning styles researcher Rita Dunn (2002) contends boys and girls tend to exhibit different learning style strengths. Boys learn visually, tactually and kinesthetically. Girls tend to be auditory. Is this because Sister is given a doll, while Brother is given a model airplane to assemble? Mark G. McGee (1979) surmised back in the dark ages of the past century, “. . . a minimum level of androgen, specifically testosterone, is required for normal expression of spatial (one component of visual perception) abilities.”

Mathematics is a visual pursuit. Processing the abstraction of numbers on a page requires visual perception. A deficit in any of the visual perception components must be considered a learning disability affecting performance in mathematics. The auditory child may not even have copied the problem correctly on her work sheet. Ask me how I know. I am unspeakably grateful to the Probabilities and Statistics instructor who understood this and accepted my “wrong” answer on a final exam. Right answer for the numbers I’d written down. Just not the right answer for the numbers he had on the test! Funny, but I still feel guilty about that “A.” I understood the concepts, just didn’t process those numbers and the man offered “grace.”

A child with average eyesight spends her days processing visually. She responds to the color and beauty of her world. She becomes adept at “reading” emotions on the faces around her. These visual perception strengths developed through cultural socialization may be capitalized on and developed. Specific experiences may be provided to develop the ability to focus on the abstractions of numbers, geometric figures on a page. Evidence of the narrowing of the gender gap in mathematics performance, probably due in part to heightened parent and educator awareness since the 1970’s, is cause for optimism. That girls, given similar experiences and opportunities, can succeed at mathematics as well as boys is no longer questioned. To assume that all girls now have those equal experiences and opportunities would be irresponsible.

Sheila Tobias says, “The teaching of math . . . suffers from being all scales and not enough music.” (2002) Amen! If providing a variety of experiences—including a good picture book now and then—in the mathematics classroom can draw an auditory child into the circle, I’m not sure I care whether it was nature or nurture that held her outside. Of course, I’m always delighted to go a few rounds.
Also delighted to report you can pre-order The Emperor’s Army by Virginia Walton Pilegard, illus. by Adrian Tans, my latest mathematical adventure picture book, from http://Flipkart.com. ;) Flipkart happens to be in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. I was delighted to find their ad!

References:
Dunn, R. “Learning styles: Theory, research, and practice,” National Forum of Applied Educational Research Journal, 13.1 (2002) 3-22
McGee, M. G. Human Spatial Abilities. New York: Praeger, 1979.
Tobias, Sheila. “Rethinking Teaching Math, Science: E-interview with Sheila Tobias,” interview by Ellen R. Delisio, Education World. 12 December 2002 http:.umich.edu/news/Releases/2003/May03.html

A Good Picture Book Helps Kids Learn Three Ways!

2009-09-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

Some principles that can be helpful in ensuring that struggling learners maximize their capacity in school are: look for the struggling learner’s positives, don’t let what’s broken extinguish what works, pay attention to relevance, go for powerful learning, teach up, and see with the eyes of love.

Carol A. Tomlinson

Tomlinson’s attitude toward teaching warms the hackles of my heart. My goal in writing for children is to provide math concepts in the guise of an adventure story with auditory, kinesthetic and visual clues. Children learn by touching, listening and talking, and by looking. Walter Barbe, a pioneer in the study of learning styles, believes most children rely heavily on only one of these learning modalities. Maturity and experience seem to explain why more adults tend to exhibit mixed learning styles. “We are born,” Barbe states, “with certain characteristics that contribute to our later learning strengths. The experiences we encounter early in life, such as nutrition, stimulation and interactions with other children and adults, may also influence which learning channels will be strongest.” The wise teacher does not value one learning style above the others—although being able to process information visually does put a child at an unfair advantage in most classrooms. I love Tomlinson’s idea of looking for a child’s positives with eyes of love! I interpret that to mean celebrating children’s individual learning styles and presenting the same information in different ways.

I am an auditory learner. You suppose that’s why I’m a story teller? No surprise that unless I’m careful, when I teach I talk and talk and talk and talk. I remember one bright-eyed little boy who struggled mightily in my class until I learned to stand quietly by his desk at the end of a lesson and simply work the problem on a piece of paper while he watched. I had talked the poor kid into a daze because my teaching style didn’t match his learning style. I also remember high school geometry (a subject requiring visual/spatial learning skills) with some angst. The teacher would finish each lesson by asking, “Does everyone understand but Walton?” And sure enough, Virginia Walton didn’t understand. Maturity provided experiences to strengthen my visual learning modality. Dealing with my own visual learning deficit made me a crusader for providing information in ways children with differentiated learning styles can process.

For an overview of learning styles, I recommend two fine websites:

http://homeworktips.about.com/od/homeworkhelp/a/learningstyle.htm

http://www.ldpride.net/learningstyles.MI.htm#Learning%20Styles%20Explained

References:

Barbe, W.B. Growing Up Learning. Washington D.C.: Acropolis Books Ltd., 1985.

Tomlinson, Carol A. How To Differentiate Instruction In Mixed-Ability Classrooms. 2nd ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2005.

2009-08-17T20:36:00.000-07:00

Update: Our library will stay open, fewer hours and staff, but open. Yeah.

Nothing sickens me more than the closed door of a library.
- Barbara Tuchman

This past Wednesday someone who had been sitting in budget meetings told me that because of California’s money problems worst case scenario is that two of the five public libraries in my county will close--including the one that is a vital part of my personal eco-system. This inspired me to wage a frantic email assault on my county supervisors and to become maudlin over the following quotations:

Knowledge is free at the library. Just bring your own container.
-Unknown

Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest.
- Lady Bird Johnson

A library is thought in cold storage.
- Herbert Samuel

Your library is your portrait.
- Holbrook Jackson

A circulating library in a town is as an evergreen tree of diabolical knowledge! It blossoms through the year!
- Richard Brainsley Sheridan

They are the books, the arts, the academes,
That show, contain and nourish all the world.
- William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost

With special thanks to http://www.useful-information.info/quotations/library_quotes.html. from whom I have borrowed liberally in a good cause!

Thoughs on a Summer Morning

2009-08-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

Lord, worthy, merciful and true, you pick up pieces,
all my shattered, mismatched pieces and mend my life.
But, Potter whose hands shape high and stately vessels,
why would you come to save these shards of mine
when, Wounded King, mine are the jagged bits
that tore your feet, when you limped up that hill?

Wandering the WWW in Search of Truth!

2009-08-06T12:25:00.000-07:00

One witness is not enough . . . . A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. Deut. 19:15 NIV

To begin, http://www.virtualsalt.com/evalu8it.htm offers the excellent article “Evaluating Internet Research Sources.” My early Internet research brought the need for fact- checking even on reputable sites home to me in grim fashion and even though that experience would make amusing reading, I’ll not tell on myself here.

I will say the Internet has opened the world to me. I especially appreciate China related forums such as: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DragonSeedLegacy
http://asiawind.com
http://www.chinapage.com.

Through these I have met patient, knowledgeable people who have answered untold questions on their forums and I have found email friends from Beijing to Shanghai willing to answer even more questions. I have also met some cranky curmudgeon types who have set me straight on more than one occasion and to whom I am indebted.

The Internet Public Library features a convenient service called Ask an IPL Librarian in which the IPL's dedicated on line volunteer staff answers reference questions for visitors to http://ipl.org. This staff of volunteers is amazing. Whenever I ask them a question, I learn insider secrets of Internet research as well as receiving a thoughtful answer including all sources. After you have worn out your welcome with your local reference librarians, you can still anonymously bug these fine folks. Not that I would know anything about worn welcomes personally, you understand.

My most delightful Internet discovery (more about that later) came through the venerable search engine pioneer http://google.com , however http://freeality.com offers the choice of an astounding number of search engine possibilities as well as bunches of other useful stuff. It’s great fun to start there and spend the day chasing down research rabbit-trails. It was at the end of just such a research adventure that I met fifth-generation master Chinese puppeteer Yang Feng. Through his son-in-law Dmitri Carter http://nwpett.org I was able to ask this incredible gentleman questions about Tang dynasty string puppets for my fourth children’s book, The Warlord’s Puppeteers. Although this kind and gifted man died the summer before the book’s publication, he had left instructions that his copy—the only payment he required for his help—be personalized to his grandson. Additional information about Yang Feng’s life may be obtained from http://www.psto.org/yangfeng

If my world wide web research had only ever netted my email meeting with Yang Feng, it would have still been my greatest tool for getting it right for kids.

Nobody Writes Alone

2009-07-30T09:38:00.000-07:00

"You're the same person you were ten years ago but for the books you've read and the people you've met."

Writers meet all the best people at writers' conferences. I'm jazzed about folks I met at this past weekend's Central Valley Writers' Symposium.

Agents Elizabeth Wales, owner of Whales Literary and Kelly Sonnack from the Andrea Brown Literary Agency and Associate Editor of Tor Books Stacy Hague-Hill lived with us through our San Joaquin Valley triple-digit heat and our bumbling one-one-one pitch sessions. They each shared what they are looking for in a manuscript and the things that turn them off. They ate with us, trying to swallow their food between our ubiquitous questions.

Okay I admit shouting questions over the bathroom stall wasn't my best moment, but here are some random treasures gleaned:

The story needs to come from the words--lively prose.

What are your goals as a writer? Positive earn out? Changing lives? Writing more books? Don't tell a prospective agent your goal is to be on Oprah, hit the N.T. best seller list and have instant worldwide recognition. May be true, but it's best not to overwhelm them up front.

Allow the child reader figure out the problem before the hero. We all love to feel smart!

Harry Potter changed children's publishing. Adults aren't ashamed to be seen reading YA. YA crossover has new energy. Big name authors are coming over--and isn't that just what we all needed.

Picture Book sales are down with the economic downturn. Pardon me while I blot my sniffles.

Agent/Editor Turn-offs:

mouthes dropping
faces draining of color
eyes widening in surprise, same with eyebrows
"as you know, Bob" dialog
chatty narrators
First sentence weather reports
children's manuscripts about pets, ABCs, holidays, rhyming anything
and paranormal creatures unless they are new and fresh
recaps of action as opposed to things happening on the page
too much emotion before reader knows and sympathizes with characters
too much description

Agent/Editors look for:

compelling stories & characters who make them "care"
real emotional responses described in fresh new ways
universal themes

I'm convinced now--at least at Whales Literary Agency, Tor Books and Andrea Brown Literary Agency--our queries are viewed by "friendly faces" who read submissions with anticipation because they love to discover talent. Kelly Sonnak says, "If you do what you love, part of your salary is loving your work."

These new acquaintances gave me insider tips, a new appreciation of our business and the jazz to keep on writing.

Getting it Right For Kids cont.

2009-07-22T20:29:00.000-07:00

Ray Bradbury says, “Libraries raised me.”

And if you’re a writer, I’ll bet you can say the same thing. I know I can. When I walked into my hometown library after being gone for 30 some years, I explained to the new librarian, “this is my natural habitat.” Over the past twelve years she’s placed dozens of inter-library book orders to help with my research and even shelved a few China related titles she might not otherwise have purchased.

She helped immeasurably when she steered me to the children’s section. Children’s non-fiction is an amazing resource. Easy reading too. One personal aside, collections of adult non-fiction tend to be a bit outdated in California public libraries. Friends of the Library funds often go to buy the latest best-selling novels and although our Governor’s proposed budget allows library funding to continue at present levels, our present levels have taken a 75% cut over the past few years.

Ray Bradbury recently appeared at a fund raiser to help a library in Ventura, California, threatened with closure. Libraries are particularly vulnerable during economic down turns. Ironically, it’s during these times that they are most valuable. Families rent books and videos they can’t afford to buy. People swarm the free computers. So, say a prayer for us in California and do what you can to protect your own dear public library. They are fundamental in getting it right for kid’s books.

You'll Hear About It!

2009-07-16T09:26:00.000-07:00

“Eastern dragons don’t have FLAMES! They are water beings.”

The Warlord's Puzzle, my first mathematical adventure picture book set in medieval China, had barely been shelved in bookstores when my sales rep called to tell me a woman in New England questioned its veracity. Second to a bad review—and I was smarting from several of those—nothing scares a newly published author more than being told she’s gotten her facts wrong.

Thank God, Nicolas Debon, the Warlord’s series artist and I based our picture and description of “red flames” curling around the legs of “painted golden dragons” on a photograph of Tang Dynasty artifacts! I subsequently learned Eastern dragons are indeed water creatures, bearers of thunder. They have flames coming from their joints, not from their mouths like St. George’s western dragon. I should have known all those things before I dared mention a dragon!

In his introduction to Bells and Grass, Walter de la Mare cautions, “I know well that only the rarest kind of best in anything can be good enough for the young.” These words (and my fear of a certain New England reader) keep me in constant fact-checking and research mode. Do I make mistakes? Sure, but not for lack of trying. You probably will too, and you can be sure your readers will let you know.