Susan Dayley's Blog, page 44

Elements of a Story / Plot

Identifying a plot to a story can be like reading the last chapter first. When you know what type of plot it is, generally you can figure out how the story will end. That is why I prefer to have children figure out the plot type after the story is done. This is simple to [...]

Favorite Snacks for the Road

With the holidays coming, many of us will be driving to grandma's and usually half way there, passengers get antsy and it's a good time for a snack. Today I was on the road with my husband. He had several clients to go see in an area a couple of hours away, so I packed [...]

Halloween Pranks

Straddling the seasons of fall and winter, plenty and privation, life and death, Halloween is an intriguing holiday. Celebrated each year, its' roots come from ancient Celtic practices, Catholic and Roman religious rituals and some home spun European folk traditions. Martha Stewart.com writes: "In 1883, around the time Halloween was starting to pick up steam [...]

Elements of a Story / Characters

When discovering the stories of books, finding the attributes of the characters will provide your child with unequalled lessons. By identifying those traits that distinguish him as a Christian, he is also coming to understand what makes a person likeable and good. And when a story includes a character that makes mistakes, your child can [...]

Pieces of Paris

It was the simple things that undid her, Annalisse had discovered. Something as ordinary as the scent of lilacs when the air was heavy, a brief measure of Tchaikovsky, or a dream. A dream like the one she'd awakened from last night—so real she could smell the Paris Metro in it. Any of these things [...]

One Potato, Two Potatoes, Three Potatoes, Four

I dug the potatoes in my garden this week. Being from Idaho it is inevitably my favorite vegetable. Our family always laid up a winter's supply of potatoes each fall. These were big, hoagie sized russets that could feed 2-3 people each. Often in the evenings we'd ask our mother what was for dinner and [...]

Elements of a Story / Setting

The setting of a book is one of the reasons children love books. They picture themselves living in a boxcar, herding sheep on a mountain, or standing on the deck of a ship with the salt spray in their face. They can travel the world through a book, go back in time, or step through [...]

10.10.10

This Sunday it will be October 10, 2010, or in more simple expression: 10.10.10. Oh my Goodness, what does it mean? (You have just crossed over into the Twilight Zone.) Numerologists are having a heyday with this date (too detailed to list). And in Pythagorean numbers 10.10.10 is 6.6.6 (shut the blinds!) but written in [...]

Elements of a Story / Author

Before a child begins a book, introduce them to the author of the story. Learning about an author may inspire your child to write their own story. Provide them with a picture of the author for their notebook. Do you recognize which author this picture is? (She is one of the ones mentioned below.) Beatrix [...]

The Thorn

Today I am featuring The Thorn by Daron Fraley. Three tribes are at war on the planet Gan, unaware that the sign of Christ's birth on an unknown world – Earth – is about to appear in the heavens. During a bloody skirmish with Gideonite troops, Jonathan of Daniel spares Pekah, a young enemy soldier, [...]