Inspirations
A collection of stories and poems that don't really have a link that have meant something to me. I've tried to give credit where credit is due. If I've credited the wrong person, or if you know who should be credited where there is none given, please contact me. I'd love for everyone to be able to take credit for their own words!
Play with Me
I tried to teach my child with books,
he gave me only puzzled looks.
I tried to teach my child with words,
They passed him by oft unheard.
Desparingly I turned aside
"How shall I teach this child"? I cried.
Into my hands he put the key
"Come" he said "Play with me!"
Amy in WV
GOD'S CAKE
Sometimes we wonder, "What did I do to deserve this?" or "Why did God have to do this to me?" Here is a wonderful explanation!
A daughter is telling her Mother how everything is going wrong, she's failing algebra, her boyfriend broke up with her and her best friend is moving away. Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the daughter says, "Absolutely Mom, I love your
cake."
Here, have some cooking oil," her Mother offers. "Yuck" says her daughter.
"How about a couple raw eggs?" "Gross, Mom!"
"Would you like some flour then? Or maybe baking soda?" "Mom, those are all yucky!"
To which the mother replies: "Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves. But when they are put together in the right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! God works the same way. Many times we wonder why He would let us go through such bad and difficult times. But God knows that when He puts these things all in His order, they always work for good! We just have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all make something wonderful!
Here is the text of our popular movie, "Animal School". The story
has been reproduced from Preparing Our Children for Success, by
Rabbi Z. Greenwald with permission from the copyright holders,
Artscroll/ Mesorah Publications, LTD.
*****
Once upon a time the animals had a school. They had to create a
curriculum that would satisfy everyone, so they chose four subjects:
running, climbing, flying, and swimming. All the animals, of course,
studied all the subjects.
The duck was very good at swimming, better than the teacher, in
fact. He received passing grades in running and flying, but was
hopeless in climbing, so they made him drop swimming so that he
could practice climbing. After a while he was only average at
swimming, but average is still acceptable, at least in school, and
nobody worried much about it except the duck.
The eagle was considered a troublemaker. In his climbing class he
beat everybody to the top of the tree, but he had his own way of
getting there that was against the rules. He always had to stay
after school and write, "Cheating is wrong," five hundred times.
This kept him from soaring, which he loved, but schoolwork comes
first.
The bear flunked because they said he was lazy, especially in the
winter. His best time was summer, but school wasn't open then.
The zebra played hooky a lot because the ponies made fun of his
stripes, and this made him very sad.
The kangaroo started out at the top of the racing class, but became
discouraged when was told to move swiftly on all four legs the way
his classmates did.
The fish quit school because he was bored. To him, all four subjects
were the same, but nobody understood that because they had never
seen a fish.
The squirrel got an A in climbing, but his flying teacher made him
start from the ground up, instead of from the treetop down. His legs
got so sore practicing takeoffs that he began getting Cs in climbing
and Ds in running.
The bee was the biggest problem of all, so the teacher sent him to
Doctor Owl for testing. Doctor Owl said that the bee's wings were
too small for flying and they were in the wrong place. The bee never
saw Doctor Owl's report, so he just went ahead and flew anyway. I
think I know a bee or two, how about you?
The duck is the child who does well in math and poorly in English
and is given tutorials by the English teacher while his classmates
are doing math. He loses his edge in math, and only does passably
well in English.
The eagle is the child who is turned into a troublemaker because he
has his "own style" of doing things. While he is not doing
anything "wrong," his non-conforming is perceived as troublemakeing,
for which he is punished.
Who does not recognize the bear? The kid who is great in camp,
thrives on extra-curricular, but really just goes flat in the
academics.
The zebra is the heavy, tall, or short, self-conscious kid whose
failure in school few realize is due to a sense of social inadequacy.
The kangaroo is the one who instead of persevering gives up and
becomes that discouraged child whose future disappears because he
was not appreciated.
The fish is a child who really requires full special education and
should not be in the regular classroom.
The squirrel, unlike the duck who "manages," becomes a failure.
The bee, oh the bee, is the child who the school just feels it
cannot deal with, yet, against all odds, with the backing of his
parents, has enough self-motivation to do well even though everyone
thought he couldn't. I had the pleasure of knowing many bees.
{---End of production--
Your child is a unique blend of talents, personality, and
ingredients nowhere else to be found.
Some children are skilled intellectually, others are blessed
emotionally, and many are born with creative ingenuity.
Each child possesses their very own exclusive collection of gifts.
The kids didn't come with direction booklets.
Effective parents are always learning, studying, and customizing the
instructions for their individual child.
Each and every child is as unique as their fingerprints; a sparkling
diamond of unparalleled beauty.
Don't let your child be a kangaroo!
You Know You're A Homeschool Mom When...
You get to change more than diapers, you get to change their minds.
When a child busts a lip, and after seeing she's okay, you round up
some scotch tape to capture some blood and look at it under the
microscope!
Your children never ever leave the "why?" stage.
When your teenager decides to take one community college course, and
comes home and asks you why the teacher wrote "At" on his paper. (A+)
You ask for, and get, a copier instead of a diamond tennis bracelet
for your wedding anniversary.
Your kids think reading history is best accomplished while lying on
the floor with their head resting on the side of their patient dog.
Your husband can walk in at the end of a long day and tell how the
science experiment went just by looking at the house.
Your neighbors think you are insane.
Your formal dining room now has a computer, copy machine, and many
book shelves and there are educational posters and maps all over the
walls.
You have meal worms growing in a container....on purpose.
Talking out loud to yourself is a parent/teacher conference.
You take off for a teacher in-service day because the principal
needs clean underwear.
You can't make it through a movie without pointing out the
historical inaccuracies.
You step on math manipulatives on your pre-dawn stumble to the
bathroom.
Some day your children will consider you to be a miracle-working
expert and will turn to you for advice.
You can't make it through the grocery produce department without
asking your preschooler the name and color of every vegetable.
You can't put your produce in your cart without asking your older
student to estimate it's weight and verify accuracy.
You live in a one-house schoolroom.
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