Infanticide...

Just a thought...

As the political race heats up there are plenty of key things to note about each candidate that will effect how you vote. As I was finishing up The Giver I began to think about the social issue of Infanticide, which was practiced throughout the novel to promote "sameness". Infanticide is assisted suicide for infants who clearly cannot make the decision for themselves. While it is not completely the same as abortion, the idea is still very similar. Abortion can be quite taboo to talk about, especially for presidential candidates, so only as of late have they begun to really take a stand on their beliefs. Without promoting any candidate I only want to lay it on the table to be aware of our future leaders' platforms. We can all see after reading a novel like The Giver the amount of control that comes with letting a small thing go unnoticed, well infanticide is not a small thing, and abortion should be given a lot of attention and thought.

Bilingual Picture Books.

Today I went on a search for a new picture book to read for our outside reading. While scanning the shelves at Barnes & Noble, I came across a bilingual section, and pulled out a beautifully illustrated picture book. 'From the Bellybutton of the Moon' or in Spanish that is ' Del Omibligo de la Luna' is a collaboration of short story and poetry. Written by Francisco Alarcon the book is a creative way of teaching two languages through simple, descriptive poems; as well as challenging them through reading the short story portion. I had never seen this type of book before, English and Spanish. While, I am aware that it is becoming increasingly popular for children (especially in Texas) to be taught more than one language as they are growing up, I am impressed that the children's book author's have caught on to this phenomena. This new group of picture books that combines two different languages was a small section of the bookstore, but I have hope that more and more authors will begin to incorporate more languages into their writing, giving children a chance to become bilingual at a young age!

Book 8: From the Bellybutton of the Moon
Author: Francisco X. Alarcon
Picture Book?: Yes.
Posting Date: April 10, 2008

Happy Birthday!

Today was Jenna's birthday,
She is 22 years old, i dare say!
To celebrate we went out to eat,
Mexican food was such a treat!

She was showered with gifts galore,
Dresses, jewelry, purses and more!
We followed up dinner with a flick,
The movie 'Leatherheads' was her top pick.

The night was certainly a success,
And the movie was great, I do confess.
Happy birthday Jenna, I hope it was great.
Now I must go to bed, it is getting quite late!

Utopia.

Can there be such thing as a Utopia?

While reading 'The Giver', I am reminded of movies like the 'Truman Show' or 'Pleasantville', where the character's were just hopelessly stuck in this so called perfect world. I feel as though there is no uniform definition of a perfect world. For each of us it might mean something completely unique. But truly living life with no unexpected, no adventure, no true feelings would be like puppets in a make believe story. For the characters in this novel, so far, I can see beyond their planned out lives. They do feel a sense to rebel, to be creative and to love. As all humans do. They are just dictated by fear. Which, I believe would be the worst possible 'utopia'.

Aggie ring day.

This weekend I got my Aggie ring,
It was such an accomplished feeling!
Four years has flown by fast,
I wish I could make college last and last.

Our families came in to celebrate,
We dunked our ring at exactly 6:08!
Replacing pitchers for a small glass,
We guzzled down beer, but still with class.

Senior year has been so fun,
I just know I will miss it a ton!
I have made friends and memories to last,
It will be so nice to look back on this fun past!

Losing Childrens' Attention.

This past weekend in Dallas I had the opportunity to volunteer at the nursery at our church. It was so fun to get to play with the little babies, but maybe not as fun having to change them and listen to them cry. One thing I noticed about these little babies were their very distracting and busy toys that they were playing with. Even their car seats, cradles, and rolling chairs all had a million different knobs, buttons, lights, mirrors, and color.

While I think for a child it might be stimulating for them to have all of these things to look at and discover, I also believe it is contributing to the rapidly increasing number of children being diagnosed with ADD or some form of it. Approximately 1.6 million elementary school-aged children have been diagnosed with ADD (attention deficit disorder) and over 2 million kids in the U.S. take Ritalin, a drug to treat ADD.

When thinking about children's literature I have noticed in my experience of reading to kids and having them read to me that they have an extremely short attention span. Could this be due to the exposure to so many elaborate toys as a child, I kind of think so. There are a lot of studies being done, but no definite answer to this. What ever happened to the days when a child was happy playing with blocks and a teddy bear?

History in the Making.

Today in my debate class we remembered the devastation of September 11, 2001. I got to thinking back on that day, trying to recall what exactly I was doing at the time the news began unfolding the story to the nation. Although I know that my life has been impacted and forever changed by these events, I wondered how this one act of terrorism would impact children's education from here on out. Clearly the encyclopedia's and historical reference books would all have to be changed. But there is something more. Children have a tangible sense of heroism, of leadership, and of war. To me, growing up, all of these things were a part of history. I never experienced true heroism, people becoming leaders of strangers, and a war that is still going on. Not only has history changed, the present has changed, and the future for children's education will forever be changed.