Before having kids I always thought I’d be the type who would get up before the children, shower, have some time with God, maybe even my husband, and then be ready to happily greet the kids as they woke ready to begin the day with a hot breakfast. My husband is a very perky morning person and his example definitely inspired my dreamed-up “ideal.”
Once I began to have newborns that woke multiple times a night to nurse (while my perky morning partner continued his REM, lol), three-year-olds coming to my side of the bed after a bad dream, and simply too many late nights of staying up trying to accomplish something–that snooze button replaced my “ideal” and in full disclosure I haven’t been very good about getting up before the kids–and certainly not being showered before their {way too early} natural 6:30 wake-up time.
So, I was having one of those mornings where I’d failed to get in my shower before the kids were ready for breakfast (cold cereal and instant oatmeal packets, anyone?), and I stayed in my yoga pants much later than I’d like to admit. (You know, the ones that make it look like I’ve just finished working out in case anyone stops by mid-morning. Or mid-afternoon. . .ahem.)
The baby was napping and the kids were all occupied so I snagged my chance to slip into the hot water and get cleaned up for the day. With perfect timing as the mirrors began to steam and my hair was sudsy, I heard a child’s top-of-the-lung screaming. Mother’s instinct usually serves me well and I could tell it wasn’t a bloody or broken-bone kind of emergency, so I listened for a few seconds to see if I needed to jump out midstream and run down the hall naked, or if it was one tiff that could be postponed a few more minutes.
Turns out, they were just playing–tickle monster meets super-hero squad–and no disciplinary action was needed. But the incident reminded me of a story, and you know I’m always looking for an excuse to incorporate stories into teaching moments.
Retelling my kids the classic fable, “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” was a fun way to begin the discussion on “crying wolf” and we talked about examples of “real” emergencies where screaming would be appropriate. It’s also a good story to talk about telling the truth and the consequences of lying.
So many great lessons can be taught through good children’s literature, and I’m so passionate about it that I’ve decided to start a weekly link-up party—Teach Me a Tale, which will be every Tuesday (I like alliteration!).
The purpose of this linkup will be to share lessons, activities, art projects, crafts, etc. based on favorite children’s books, poems, rhymes, etc. My hope is that the weekly linkup will create a fun resource of favorite book-related activities for parents, teachers, homeschoolers, librarians, childcare workers, and book-lovers.
The rules of Tell Me a Tale are simple!
- Write a blog post sharing a story-related activity.
- Grab the Tell Me a Tale button and include it or a text link in your blog post so your readers can easily find this resource.
- Link your blog post in the linky (below) and visit a few others who have linked as well! It’s a great way to gain ideas, offer encouragement, and discover new blogs.
(If you don’t have a blog, please don’t let that stop you! We’d love to hear your favorite ideas, links to Pinterest pins, etc. in the comments section!)
Since we’re having a party, I thought we definitely needed a treat! “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” printable story set is currently for sale, BUT, as an incentive for linking up to our new party, you can get it for FREE!! Just leave a link to your story-related blog post, OR, leave a comment telling about a story-related lesson, activity, art project, craft, etc., make sure your e-mail is included in your comment or linkup, and I will send you “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” printable story pieces!
My son (8) and I read a lot of books on the iPad. One that he particularly likes is called “Dino Hunt” by Sir Ryan Dale. In the story, a man is looking for his lost cat and his wife advises him to follow the cat’s footprints. But her husband doesn’t really listen. Plus, he doesn’t seem to know what the cat’s footprints look like! So, he gets himself into quite a bit of trouble and ends up lying on a ledge inside a volcano. Later, he wakes up in his own bed and asks his wife if she saved him. “Yes,” she replies. “But how did you find me?” he asks. “I followed your footprints.” she replies. Josh and I like this story because it reminds us of what we should do when we are feeling lost, worried or frightened… follow God’s footprints. But first, we have to make sure that we recognize His footprints so that we don’t follow the wrong ones which may lead us to trouble and danger. This gives us a chance to talk about many things like what we might be afraid of right now, or where we’ve seen God’s footprints leading us lately. I don’t blog, so I can’t link you up but I wanted to share my story with you.
I hope linking up a longer chapter book is ok — I might have one next week, too! This is such a cute idea, Pam! We just read “The Wolf Who Cried Boy” this week — that’s a cute on, too!
What a great idea Pam !