how singing is living

I am such a happy human being right now. I am really discovering who I am and I cannot wait to share that with children. I don't think it will be easy, but it's a good and right thing to do.

I have been reading the memoirs of opera singer Renee Fleming, The Inner Voice. What a great time to come across this in my life. This book is a moving story about what it means to work hard and learn who you are. I love Ms. Fleming's voice and style, but it's great to learn about her sensible background and read about her emotional honesty. It's nice to know that other folks are full of self-doubt about the things they love.

The original link to my photo of Ms. Fleming got messed up, so I found this one of her looking all kinds of sassy from an Italian website. YAY!

books for women's history month

It's time to start the ordering process for that March 1st kick-off. Nicely corresponding with Dr. Seuss' birthday on March 2, I might add. I'm a little skeptical of the month mentality which does seem to encourage segregating well-rounded historical information from a year-round curriculum. However, I hope to see these lists as a good reference for future lessons, regardless of whether or not they fall in a certain celebrating month.

Women's History Month gained national regonition only in 1987, so it seems like some of the zeal for celebrating it when I was a child came from its relative newness. And the crappy assignments came because there were so few print resources out there about women.

So...here's what's out there celebrating the accomplishments of women and the struggle for gender equality and freedom of expression.

I am rushed at the moment, so I've checked some favorites over at Powell's, where they graciously list 176 titles that discuss women in history. To see my list, go to powells.com, and type in doingmontessori@gmail.com. Also, feel free to send me an email at that address.

More to come. Now, on to a haircut.

Words about progress

When I think of system reform, I think of road blocks.

When I am trying not to think about systems and think instead of my self, I still often see what's in the way instead of the way.

Thanks to An Old Soul for some bedtime inspiration.

children's books about civil rights and black history

Starting this week, I hope to post weekly children's booklists on a variety of topics. Although I find Amazon's customer produced lists to useful, I want to gather my own research here. I know there are some excellent civil rights teacher reference books out there, especially Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching.

The difficulty is really the layers to the movement, the reality that while we've moved towards equality, we're not there yet. My own 1980s intergrated public schooling was full of "but now blacks and whites can be friends" social studies lessons and I don't want to see another generation grow up ignoring complex discussions of race, class and equality in the classroom. So, maybe some of these books will be useful in planning meaningful lessons.

Public School Integration
Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges (ages 8-12)
Linda Brown, You Are Not Alone by Joyce Carol Thomas (ages 8-12)
Remember: The Journey to School Integration by Toni Morrison (ages 8+)
Days of Courage: The Little Rock Story by Richard Kelso (ages 9-12)
The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles (ages 4-8)

Civil Rights Movement
Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-ins by Carol Weatherford (ages 4-8)
Speaking Out: The Civil Rights Movement 1950-1964 by Kevin Supples (ages 10-14)
Freedom School, Yes! by Amy Littlesugar (ages 4-8)
Freedom's Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories
by Ellen Levine (ages 8+)
Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters by Andrea Davis Pinkney (ages 9-12)
Rosa Parks by Eloise Greenfield (ages 6-9, chapter book)
Rosa by Nikki Giovanni (age 7+)
Dear Mrs. Parks by Rosa Parks (ages 8-12)
If a Bus Could Talk : The Story of Rosa Parks by Faith Ringgold
...If You Lived at the Time of Dr. Martin Luther King by Ellen Levine (ages 8-12)
White Socks Only by Evelyn Coleman (ages 5-9)
Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles (ages 5-9)
The Other Side by J. Woodson (ages 5-9)
Free at Last: A History of the Civil Rights Movement and Those Who Died in the Struggle by Sara Bullard (ages 10-15)
Witnesses to freedom :young people who fought for civil rights by Belinda Rochelle (ages 12+)

Celebrating African-American Lives
Langston's Train Ride by Robert Burleigh (ages 5+)
Alvin Ailey by A.D. Pinkney (ages 4-8)
Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa by Andrea D. Pinkney (ages 4-8)
When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson by Pam Ryan (ages 4-8)
Teammates: Jackie Robinson by Paul Golenbock (ages 6-12)
Thank You, Jackie Robinson by Barbara Coleman (ages 8-12)
Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream by Delores Jordan (ages 4-8)
More Than Anything Else: Booker T. Washington by Marie Bradby (ages 5-9)


Surviving and Escaping Slavery
Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky by Faith Ringgold (ages 4-8)
Harriet and the Promise Land by Jacob Lawrence (ages 4-8)
From Slave Ship to Freedom Road by julius lester (ages 9-12)
To Be A Slave by Julius Lester (ages 9-12)
Allen Jay and the Underground Railroad by Marline Brill (ages 6-9)
The Daring Escape of Ellen Craft by Cathy Moore (ages 6-9)
Freedom River by Doreen Rappaport (ages 8-12)
No More!: Stories and Songs of Slave Resistance by Doreen Rappaport (ages 8-12)
Escape from Slavery: Five Journeys to Freedom by Doreen Rappaport (ages 10-14)
The Underground Railroad by Raymond Bial (ages 10-14)
Barefoot: Escape on the Underground Railroad by Pamela Duncan Edwards

Secrets of the Underground Railroad Quilts
Under the Quilt of Night by Deborah Hopkinson (ages 6-12)
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt by Deborah Hopkinson (ages 6-12)
The Patchwork Path: A Quilt Map to Freedom by Bettye Stroud (age 6-12)
The Secret to Freedom by Marcia Vaughn (age 8-12)


To be edited with more goodies. Some added 1/21/06

picture books about adoption

Some work-related research I thought I could share. In sharing these books with an adopted child, it seems important that the gender of the book character matches the adopted child's gender. Is this a sexist notion? It seems like a important idea because so many other factors of a child's adoption may differ from the few books that are out there. I think it might vary family to family, since I've worked with a variety of family politics while searching for books about adoption for young ones.

In my store right now, we only have I Love You Like Crazy Cakes, which is about an Asian girl.

Books about adoption with boy characters:
Happy Adoption Day! by John McCutcheon
We Adopted You, Benjamin Koo by Linda W Girard
Borya and the Burps by Joan McNamara
Through Moon and Stars and Night Skies by Ann Warren Turner
Horace by Holly Keller

Books about adoption with girl characters:
My Family Is Forever by Nancy Carlson
I Love You Like Crazy Cakes by Rose Lewis
My New Family: A First Look At Adoption by Pat Thomas
How I Was Adopted by Joanna Cole
Adoption is for Always by Linda Walvoo Girard**
Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born by Jaime Lee Curtis
I Don't Have Your Eyes by Carrie Kitze
Over the Moon: An Adoption Tale by Karen Katz
The Red Blanket by Eliza Thomas *single parent
When I Met You: A Story of Russian Adoption by Adrienne Ehlert Bashista
Familes Are Forever by Shemin

Gender-free:
The Day We Met You by Phoebe Koehler
Kids Like Me in China by Ying Ying Fry *photo essay

Wow. An hours worth of research reveals that almost ALL adoption books are about international adoption by white couples. Many of these titles are based on the family of the author. Politically and culturally interesting that the folks that choose and are able to widely publish a book have adopted girls in much higher proportions. Listen up, authors and publishers, let's recruit some more diverse offerings!

Next up for research: foster parenting books...