Carmela Dutra's Blog - Posts Tagged "learning"

Before I was writing I was and will always be an artist. Everything about it, how you can take something and create wonderful works of your imagination. You can take your inner most feelings and let them out for all to see it through your eyes. The arts are an essential part of education, a vital aspect of learning that is sometimes overlooked.

Some may regard art education as a luxury, simple creative activities are some of the building blocks of child development. Learning to create and appreciate visual aesthetics may be more important than ever to the development of the next generation of children as they grow up.

Motor Skills and Language Development are two areas that are greatly impacted by art. Many of the motions involved in making art, such as holding a paintbrush or scribbling with a crayon, are essential to the growth of fine motor skills in young children. For very young children, making art or just talking about it provides opportunities to learn words for colors, shapes and actions.
What about Visual Learning? Drawing, sculpting with clay and threading beads on a string all develop visual-spatial skills, which are more important than ever. Art education teaches students how to interpret, criticize, and use visual information, and how to make choices based on it.

Inventiveness: Have you ever really noticed how excited they become when they can just jump right in with their hands and start creating something. It be nothing of much clarity, but it’s what they see, feel, and are expressing. When kids are encouraged to express themselves and take risks in creating art, they develop a sense of innovation that will be important in their adult lives. Learning not to be afraid, but to express themselves how ever best they can.
The human brain is wired in such a way that we can make sense of lines, colors and patterns on a flat canvas. Artists throughout human history have figured out ways to create illusions such as depth and brightness that aren't actually there but make works of art seem somehow more real.

Our biggest contributors to history are in fact artist. Can you imagine where we would be if we didn’t have ones like; Seurat, Rembrandt, Di Vinci the list goes on. Art is what molded and shaped them, shaped our world. We owe it to our children to encourage the Arts, just as much as we do reading.

We can even take the time to teach them about both. Introduce them to books on Art, about artists and their lives. Show them the things these individuals created, and help to spark their inner artist.

Wish you all a little art in your life.

Carmela Dutra
Author of the Adventures of Lorenzo the Bear

www.lorenzothebear.com

www.blogforyourthoughts.com

Facebook.com/lorenzothebear (like me!)

Twitter.com/lorenzothebear @lorenzothebear

Do you like Children’s Literature? I do! I even managed to tract down some of the old books from my childhood, and yes I have reread them. Children’s literature is amazing! It’s so simple, and yet complex. The depth of the dialog, and colorful vivid illustrations are often times over looked. Sadly some have come to think of children’s literature as just that, CHILDREN’S literature. It’s for kids, and not of any interest to me as an adult.

Do you remember though what it was like to read those stories you had growing up? The carefree fun you had. Exploring, playing, and learning with them. You likely had your favorite book that had to be read over and over and over (you get the point) time and again. Likely you loved that book just as much as your favorite toy (in some cases perhaps it was your favorite toy).

Children’s literature is more than just fun. It’s a powerful tool to teach children about the world, themselves, and others.

--- I hope everyone has enjoyed a look at my latest blog on the topic of Children's Literature. I invite you to pop over to my blog page to finish reading the rest! Please feel free to leave a comment while you are there.

http://ablogforyourthoughts.com/

I have often heard that the English language is one of the hardest languages to learn, let alone master. As English is my mother tongue, it’s hard to empathise. I don’t even have any recollection of learning how to read in kindergarten whilst English classes in high school all seemed a blur.

I was therefore not prepared to deal with the challenges when my daughter started pre-school. At the age of four, she began her reading journey and they did so phonetically. That in itself was hard enough for me to wrap my head around! Now that she is six, I have begun to really notice the difficulties of the language and my incapability of explaining why some words are the way they are!

Here are some examples that make my life difficult as a parent:

How does one explain that the words ‘rough’ and ‘dough’, although only have one different consonant, are pronounced so differently? I am still stumped for an answer.

Why is the past tense rule of adding ‘ed’ to end of every verb not consistent? In fact, the exceptions to the rule are aplenty! Why is the past tense of ‘buy’ not ‘buyed’, ‘run’ not ‘runned’ or ‘sleep’ not sleeped’? I am constantly correcting her. I sound like a broken record.

-- I hope everyone has enjoyed a look at my latest blog on the topic of Children's Literature. I invite you to pop over to my blog page to finish reading the rest! Please feel free to leave a comment while you are there.

http://ablogforyourthoughts.com/

November is National Picture Book Month. So for today’s blog, I thought it was be fitting to discuss Picture Books!

We want the best for kids, be it as parent’s grandparent, aunts, or uncles we want them to reach their full potential. It’s like that slogan the army had, “Be all you can be!” That’s all we want for them, is to be the best them they can be. In an effort to accomplish this, many have bought everything possible to help their children read.

From computer programs, to enrolling them in best preschools they can find. I’m not faulting them for wanting the best for their children by any means, who can argue with wanting the best for their children. Growing up I was not a good reader, I well below the average. My mother got me “hooked on phonics” reader rabbit, and everything she could find. Until one day, she gave me a picture book, then things changed.

Often time’s, individuals can underestimate the value of picture books. Some will encourage their children to move on to more text-heavy chapter books as a means to advance their skills. Chapter books are not necessarily more complex than picture books in fact, their vocabulary and sentence structure can be considered simplistic when compared with older level picture books.

So why are picture books important?

The illustrations of a picture book help children understand what they are reading and allow young readers to analyze the story. When children are having difficulty, the illustrations can help them figure out the meaning of what they are reading. The illustrations are a powerful way to help get the point across to young readers.

Children love art! Why do you think they spend so much time coloring, drawing and doing crafts? Children are drawn to the bright vivid pictures, captivated by the details each illustration holds. And let’s be honest with ourselves, as adults we too are spellbound by the beauty and intricate details on the pages.

Picture books are multi-sensory, which aids a child’s growing mind and stimulates their imagination. Not only do the children hear the story, they see the illustrations, and smell and touch the pages. Picture books are less daunting than say a chapter book, so they will be more likely to give a go at reading a sentence or two. Thereby, building their reading skills while enjoying it.

Picture books allow an entirely different, more interactive communication between parent and child. My mom use to read bothbanner-mother-child-smaller chapter and picture books with me. While I enjoyed both, it was easier for me to comment on the subject out of a picture book. Picture books allow you to talk about what you see on each page. Asking questions such as: How they are feeling? What do you think we will discover on the next page?

It’s unfortunate when kids are pushed past picture books, just as some turn up their noses at graphic novels and magazines. It’s important to encourage kids to get their hands on everything they can, especially picture books, comics, and even kid-friendly websites. It doesn’t matter what they read as long as they read and children who learn to love books will be children who grow up to be good readers.

Support National Picture Book Month by reading a picture book yourself. You never know what reading one will lead too. Please, tell us what your thoughts are on this topic, we would love to hear them.

“Literature has the ability to open up a whole new world to children, but we need to have a share in helping them to find that door and open it with them. Let’s set the example and help to foster this love of reading in our little ones. ” ~ Carmela Dutra

Wishing you all a little to Adventure today!

Carmela Dutra
Author of Lorenzo the Bear Series

www.Lorenzothebear.com
Twitter.com/Lorenzothebear @lorenzothebear
Facebook.com/Lorenzothebear (Like me!)
www.ablogforyourthoughts.com

In keeping with the theme of Picture Book month for November A.S. Chung will tell us about one of her characters from, A Brand New Day, A Banana Split Story.

I hope all of you enjoy this special two part blog presentation we have today. I want to give a big thanks to both my guest bloggers today, Carolin Palmer and A.S. Chung!

And remember, just because November is coming to a close not mean the celebration of picture books have to also.

What is the name of your character?


My character is nameless and will continue to be so for the rest of the ‘Banana Split Story’ series. For the purpose of the storyline, I felt that naming the character was unnecessary as he/she was to represent all young children around the ages of 3-6 years who hail from a divorced family.

Is he/she fictional or a historic person?

This character is based on my daughter, who was 5 years old at the time of writing. I wrote this story for her. I wanted to show her that despite the fact that her father and I were no longer together, it does not mean that we love her any less or that life would be any more difficult or less happy. I wanted to show her some of the special things that could come out of a separated family and how love could conquer anything!

When and where does the story take place?

The story is timeless and knows no boundaries. Divorce is a prevalent life challenge experienced in all walks of life.

What is the personal goal of the character?

The personal goal of this character is to represent all the young children in society today who have to live in a family with divorced parents. The character shows love, resilience and positive outlook on life.



As ‘A Brand New Day’ is about divorce and that alone is the major problem at hand. Instead on dwelling on the issue however, the character chooses to see the brighter side of life and understands that it is possible to live a full and happy life, despite her parents being separated.

How can I learn more ‘A Brand New Day’?

Visit my blog/website at http://pigeonholebooks.com Here you’ll find all my updates, book reviews and author & blogger interviews. I may also be found through these social connections:

You can connect with A.S. Chung to learn more about her, and her work by visiting the following links Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pigeonholebo...
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Wishing you all a little to Adventure today!

Carmela Dutra
Author of Lorenzo the Bear Series

www.Lorenzothebear.com
Twitter.com/Lorenzothebear @lorenzothebear
Facebook.com/Lorenzothebear (Like me!)
www.ablogforyourthoughts.com

Over the past two months I’ve had the opportunity to visit 5 classrooms, grades 2nd and 3rd. I also have had the opportunity to meet other teachers who expressed interest in having me come and visit their classrooms. Visiting the classrooms was such a wonderful privilege, I had been sharing some of the photos on my various social media pages. Each time I posted one I was asked more than once to tell them about the visit. So I thought I would take a few moments to tell all of you about these wonderful visits.

First I have to give a big thank you to a dear friend of mine Irma P. She took the initiative to reach out to the teachers of her niece and nephew. By her doing this, it allowed me to get my foot in the door with other teachers. She is probably tired of hearing me thank her, but here is one more big thanks to you Irma!

Author visits are more than just showing up to read their book(s) to the class and leaving. The best part of the visit is the interaction with the students. But how do you know what to do at these visits? What would I do? Would I talk about myself? About the book I’m reading? What kind of questions would I ask to engage my audience? Being young, their attention span might not be that long. So what would I come up with that would keep them engaged and focused during my visit?



Before visiting each classroom I talked with the teachers many times to find out where their students were in terms of the writing, and reading. What were they focusing on in the classroom? Younger grades might be focusing more on the art aspect of books, trying to tell stories through images. Or for the older students working on their understanding of verbs, nouns, and adjectives. Keeping all of this in mind would allow me to tailor my visit to each classroom to best meet their needs.



It just so happened that all of the classes I would be visiting were working on how to write their own stories (this is an author’s dream classroom visit). What better activity would there be then to have the students help write a new adventure for Lorenzo the Bear to take!

After introducing myself to the classroom I would give them a chance to ask me anything they wanted to ask (most of the time I didn’t have to even ask if they had any questions they would just start shouting things out at me). Before reading I would ask them “What would you do if your best friend didn’t show up to play with you one day?” Their answers were really thought out, and different too.

I then introduce everyone to Lucy Bear! She would spend the whole visit with all of the students. I encourage everyone to share her so everyone can have a chance to hold and play with her. Then I would hand her to the teacher to select which student would hold her first. Lucy Bear has become a key aspect of my author visits. She is used primarily for inspiration when writing. Once the reading is finished I open it up to the students, to see if they have any questions they would like to ask. E.g. characters, the writing process, illustration etc. I am always blow away by the variety of questions they ask me.



Next is time for the best part, activities! They students get so excited when they hear they will not only get to help write a Lorenzo story, but that the book will Painter classroom visit3include their ideas and be dedicated to their classroom. The particular story they were working on was a Winter Wonderland Story, where Lorenzo and Lucy journey to the artic. They are encouraged to think outside of the norm, getting creative is most of the fun!

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The ideas these kids had were so funny and unique. They ranged from artic animals to Pit Bulls, Zebra’s, and even a few made up animals. At the conclusion of my visit all of the students received a certificate, promoting them Junior Authors! They were all shocked when I handed them their certificates, I had several ask me: “Does this mean I get to write my own stories now too?” As authors is any sweeter feeling than knowing that your visit impacted them? Even if just one student puts a pen (or pencil) to paper and creates something of their own, it was all worth it.




It was such a joy to visit these classrooms, work one on one with the students, and to connect with the teachers. The best part is going home with their stories and reading their ideas for the next story The Adventures of Lorenzo the Bear. Once I have the story completed the teachers have invited me back to visit again, and share the story we all created together. I had one teacher tell me, “In all of the years I have been teaching, I’ve never had a single author come and visit my class before. This was a treat for the student’s, but an even bigger one for me.”

Music is a common singularity that crosses all borders of nationality, race, and culture. A tool for arousing emotions and feelings, music is far more powerful than language. An increased interest in how the brain processes musical emotion can be attributed to the way in which it is described as a “language of emotion” across cultures. Be it within films, live orchestras, concerts or a simple home stereo, music can be so haunting and overwhelming that it can only be described as standing halfway between thought and phenomenon.

Music unquestionably affects our emotions. We tend to listen to music that reflects our mood. When we’re happy we may listen to upbeat music; when we’re sad we may listen to slower, somber like songs; when we’re angry we may listen to darker music with heavy guitar, drums, and vocals that reflect our level of anger.



Have you ever been asked to name your favorite band or performer? Were you able to rattle off the top five you listened to regularly? We may not be able to say for certain why we prefer the artists we listen to. We might say It’s what I grew up with! Or even, That’s what my parent’s listened. We do know, and can say that we resonate with or feel the music. Or maybe even simpler, we just like the music they write.

But we can learn a lot about our emotional selves through our musical taste.

I hope everyone has enjoyed the preview of my latest blog on the topic of Music. I invite you to pop over to my blog page to finish reading the rest! Please feel free to leave a comment while you are there.

http://ablogforyourthoughts.com/




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Most of my blogs tend to stick within the same subject brand: reading, writing, arts, how this affects us, why do we do it, the benefits, etc. Like most children’s authors I have covered the subject (almost beating into the ground) the importance of reading to our little ones.

Listing reasons as to why we should do this #1: Exposure to Language #2: Closing the Word Gap (the list of reasons can go on forever!). Or discussing what makes a good reader? Then asking you as the reader to weigh in on this blog with your thoughts, or things that you appreciated doing, or wish you had done differently.



What is the point to this blog you ask? Well, not only will I be venturing into a new topic to blog about, but I will now also be able to weigh in with a different point of view; one as a parent. I always felt I had freedom of speech went it comes to things since I was helping raise my nephew during those crucial years. Well frankly, even if you don’t have children you can still offer practical wisdom and advice.

My role is now slightly reversed from that of an aunt, to that of an expectant mother. I still stand by everything I have ever said: The importance of reading to children from the very start, the impact music can have on their developing mind, and as an artist first and author second, the important role of art in their lives.

As I count down the days until I discover the gender of our little bowling ball (yes from me that is a term of endearment, besides I was called a baby moose by my mother LOL) I think about the things I want to inculcate into our little one, all of the things that are a must, and those that are not. As I read articles on giving your child a head start by reading them from infancy it takes on a deeper meaning.

I want our family’s biggest reader to also be the littlest reader. In fact, I won’t wait to start until the day we bring our bundle home, I’ll start from the womb on! Reading to your baby is critical to setting your child on the path to strong reading skills, a better vocabulary and success in school—and life. As like all of the parent’s before me, and those who will come after me, I want to give our child the best life we possibly can. A precious, satisfying life, one that is equal parts of love, spirituality, and skills that will help them to make the best use of their life.

So for me as mommy to be its simple: Ready. Set. Read!

Can you believe that January is almost over! Where did the time go!? 2015 flew by in a flash, and now January 2016 is almost gone? Things are moving so fast, it’s hard to keep up with everything! I’m sure you’ll likely feel the same way as you’re embracing the new year, taking on the challenges of life, family, resolutions, etc.

Since early December I have been somewhat quiet on social media, you might be wondering why. Or perhaps you are thinking yes those weekly emails have stopped alerting me to a new blog! Either way, allow me to introduce you to the reason why as of late I have been almost nonexistent in the social realm.

Meet the newest member of our family, Levi!



He came a whole month early, which took us entirely by surprise! I have been settling into my new role as a mother, spending quality time bonding (you know during those 2am feelings, and again at 4am lol). Thus is the reason I have been almost MIA since December, a pretty good reason I would say.

As all of us know and will likely agree (and has recently been impressed upon me), life is full of unplanned surprises. By knowing and accepting this, we can start to overthink everything all could possibly come our way. Being that we are imperfect humans, this can be a real struggle for some. I know for myself, I like to have everything planned out to the T! Alas, that is not always possible (again see the above paragraph) and I have to roll with the punches of life.

That being said, I resolve to cast aside future phobias, and the unnecessary worry about what might be. I resolve to just roll with it. Okay yeah sure this time of year everyone makes their resolutions, and by March-ish I will guarantee that most will have given up on the resolutions, or simply forgotten them. I can speak from personal experience in this area. However, in addition to the other resolutions that I’ve already put down on paper, this is one that I am moving to the top of the list.

Being a new mother I can’t afford to fret over the things I can’t control. Am I going to screw him up? Am I going to be too strict, or too lenient as a parent? How will I know what to do, and when to do it? When you start to think about it the list is Endless! And really, in the end what is it going to accomplish? Nothing! There I said, and I will say it again. Big fat nothing! Zip, zero, nada!! Worrying about things beyond your control does not add anything to your life, in reality it only takes away.

So that’s it, I am choosing to cast future phobias aside. I will not allow them to have any hold on me. And this encompasses every aspect of my life beyond being a mother. What if I don’t get my next Lorenzo book finished before school is out in June? How will I manage everything and still have time for myself? What happens if I let my photography fall to the wayside and don’t book any clients this year?

Wouldn’t you agree with me when I say it always seems as if there is something new to worry about. It’s exhausting! But what if we choose to not do it anymore? What if we choose to just let it go? Whatever it is that is holding you back from peace? What if you just let it go and stop worrying about it?

A country song once said: Life’s a dance, you learn as you go. Sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow.Don’t worry ’bout what you don’t know, life’s a dance, you learn as you go.

And that is life! You can’t control everything, and you can’t plan for everything (again I refer you to the above paragraphs), sometimes you just have to dance and let things come as they may.


So as hard as it may be, let’s just stop. Let’s try really really hard not to lose sleep over the things we can’t control in her life. Let’s stop worrying about the things that might happen, and just focus on what is happening. Before we know it 2016 is going to be gone, and 2017 will be here. Lets enjoy 2016 and all that it holds, because I have a feeling it is going to be one for the books!

Cheers!

www.ablogforyourthoughts.com
www.lorenzothebear.com

Be Humble they say. It’s a tricky thing to do – if you think you’ve managed it, then perhaps you’re being too arrogant about your humility. I can’t claim to be the humblest person ever, though I try to avoid boasting about my huge array of incredible talents, such as my awesome Hula hooping skills, my ability to recall completely useless facts at the drop of a hat. Or there’s my uncanny ability to laugh exactly like Donald Duck! Alrighty, I’m going to stop there.

Joking aside, the past several weeks have actually been a very humbling experience. As I try to work my way back into the normal routine of life and juggling the new throes of motherhood, I’ve had to admit that I can’t cope with taking it all on at once – that I do need to take things slowly. For someone who’s spent years throwing herself into things, and not needing much help from others to accomplish things has been quite the struggle.

Even though I’ve always been one to readily say asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness but rather sign of strength, this is entirely different when you’re the one on the other end. When you are the one who is having to ask for assistance when you are not accustomed to doing so. When you realize that you need help accomplish a task that once could be done in 15-30 minutes now takes you all day, if you’re lucky.

Why is this a struggle? Is it pride? Not wanting to bother someone else? Refusal to accept that things are different, and you don’t have the same 24 hours in a day that the next person has? Perhaps it’s all of the above, or none of them at all. Sadly, the reality is the society that we live in today has a way of making individuals feel as though they are weak if they express humility. Whether it is being humble about their own limitations, or humble in their accomplishments, you’re weak. Whereas pride is the sought after thing.

There is nothing wrong with being prideful, when it’s over the right things. Just as with everything modesty is key, everything has its own place and time. You can be prideful and still humble at the same time, you can strike the perfect balance.

Being humble about my own limitations has always been a struggle for me. I’ve always been the type who wants to handle and tackle everything myself, and finish it once it’s started. That’s just not always realistic, especially now. I recognize that I do need help accomplishing things that never were a challenge for me before. There just is not enough hours in the day for me to tackle everything on my own, while still maintaining my own sanity.



It takes humility on an individuals part to recognize this. To recognize their own limitations whether those limitations are physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual we all have limitations. I can attest firsthand in saying that it is never easy to ask for help, even when there is a legitimate reason to do so. However, doing so shows strength, whereas refusal can be more of a weakness.

These are just my thoughts on the day. Today is the humble day, what does this mean to you? How can you live this day?

For me, continuing to recognize my own limitations. It is not a weakness, instead I view it as a sign of strength. It allows me more enjoyment in life, and peace of mind. Asking for help allows me to have more time to spend with my baby son, I have more quality time with my husband, for work, and for myself. So for me, instead of focusing on humility and pride aspect, I’m going to focus on humility in the sense of recognizing my own strengths and weaknesses; every day of the year, not just one.