No App to Replace Your Lap
Grandma Diane’s Story Time With Elsie and Eli
What with COVID-19 and our social distancing as well as being pretty much confined to our homes, all of my school visits have been canceled until this virus lifts. Hopefully that will be sooner rather than later. In the meantime, my grandkids came up with the idea to create “Story Time With Grandma Diane”. Every day (M-F) on my Facebook page at 11:00 a.m., I read a favorite children’s book. Homeschoolers can now listen in giving their caregivers a little time for a cup of coffee or a little breather. We started doing this on Monday, March 23 and will continue until the kids are back in school. Tomorrow I’ll be reading my own Life in the Neck New Friends as a special request of my great-niece Lily Lindemann in Oshkosh. Tune in and enjoy the story along with the rest of us. If you have your own copy, you can follow along as we read. Hope you listen in.
No App To Replace Your Lap
Gratitude is the Best Attitude
Gratitude Defined:
Gratitude is thankful appreciation for favors received. Webster’s
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home. a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. Melody Beattie
In this time of great fear and difficulty with the COVID-19 virus hanging over our heads, with schools closed, social distancing, and many many of us working from home experiencing being quarantined for perhaps the first time in our lives, we as a nation and as communities would do well to think about what we do have instead of what we do not have. For most of us, our daily needs at this point are being met. We have homes, food on the table, and clothes to wear. Most of us can walk and talk, see the beauty that surrounds us, listen to music that stirs our souls and makes our feet want to boogie. We have family and friends to love and be loved by in return. Focusing on our abundance rather than the lack in our lives helps us experience the sense of fulfillment which is gratitude at work. This fulfillment creates in us the desire to share what we have with others. What better time than now for us to reach out in love and thanksgiving to the community in which we live? What can YOU do to bring some happiness and joy into the lives of those around you?
No App to Replace Your Lap
Just thinking . . .
Covid-19 has forced us to stay home and spend more time together as a family. Schools are closed, parents are working from home, sports have been canceled (professional as well as school and community programs). So what’s a person to do?
Social media is full of advice for and from all of us. As I’m thinking about all of this, what comes to mind is that list of things I wanted to do when I retired. Read, write children’s books, clean the pantry, and the list goes on!
Now having two grandchildren home from school everyday for the unforeseeable future, my thinking has turned to them and to how can I help the “boredom” that they seem to be complaining about so much as time passes. I trust that if I put my mind to it, I can come up with a plan that may turn this time together into an opportunity to grow in learning, understanding and love.
Children need and want structure. It helps them feel safe and in control - they know what to do and when to do it - even though they will argue about it. So to provide structure we need to first talk about the “have to dos” and the “want to dos” and then make room for both in our daily schedule.
So that’s my job for today - working together to make our daily schedule. This could be exciting. I’ll let you know what happens . . .
To be continued . . .
50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration Canceled Due to COVID - 19
March 21, 1970 Butch & Diane Davies
As Butch and I were busy planning our wedding fifty years ago, we never took into consideration that the world would be suffering a pandemic of Coronavirus when it came time to celebrate our 50th Anniversary. Who Knew? Right?
Our party on March 21st has been canceled. It has been fun in the planning – going through old pictures and old memories – putting together a slide show for your viewing enjoyment – never to be seen. Oh well !?!?!?
So instead of celebrating with all you on Saturday as planned, we will be sitting home on the couch watching nothing on TV and eating macaroni and cheese. Send happy celebratory thoughts our way and envision the fun we could be having together.
Jeannie Ann’s Grandma Has Breast Cancer Trailer
By Diane Davies
Illustrated by CA Nobens
Davies 50th Wedding Anniversary Celebration Canceled due to
COVID - 19
As Butch and I were busy planning our wedding fifty years ago, we never took into consideration that the world would be suffering a pandemic of Coronavirus when it came time to celebrate our 50th Anniversary. Who Knew? Right?
Our party on March 21st has been canceled. It has been fun in the planning – going through old pictures and old memories – putting together a slide show for your viewing enjoyment – never to be seen. Oh well !?!?!?
So instead of celebrating with all you on Saturday as planned, we will be sitting home on the couch watching nothing on TV and eating macaroni and cheese. Send happy celebratory thoughts our way and envision the fun we could be having together.
Jeannie Ann’s Grandma Has Breast Cancer
By Diane Davies
Illustrated by CA Nobens
Blog #4 No App Can Replace Your Lap
Reading is important to develop language skills
By Diane Davies
The four language skills are reading, writing, listening and speaking. These four abilities allow us to understand and produce spoken language in order to communicate effectively with others.
As parents we speak with our children every day which is how we pass on language. However, we tend to use the same words and phrases in our everyday speaking. Reading books with our kids adds to their vocabulary on many differing topics while also exposing them to unique phrases and various ways of saying things. The more words they are shown the more words they will know and the more words they know the better.
Reading to our children facilitates the development of these language skills in them and expands their confidence in using them making for improved communication. Once again these skills show their importance of reading.
Happy Reading!
Blog #3 No App to Replace Your Lap
Reading to young children sets them up to succeed.
By Diane Davies
We all want our children to be successful! Right? So how do we define success? When I checked the Thesaurus, I found words like make it, arrive, pull it off, work out, be a winner, be a smash hit, achieve something or make the grade. I also came across flourish, grow, prosper, increase, blossom, deliver, and come through with the goods. The dictionary tells me that successful is resulting or terminating in success. Now that is certainly helpful and makes it all really clear!?!?!?
I found an article online entitled Defining the Successful Child from a site called familyeducation. “Success means having a favorable outcome or obtaining something that was desired or intended. As we all have individual desires or intentions, we all have different ideas of what a successful life includes. Generally, people define a successful life as being happy, healthy, and able to enjoy life to its fullest.”
‘Reading to young children sets them up to succeed’ perhaps needs to explain what they will succeed at doing. I believe that children who are read to will absorb more knowledge and develop a better understanding about the world around them and everyday life. Studies definitely show that children who are read to have enhanced vocabulary skills and are better prepared to learn how to read themselves. That alone makes the reading routine worth it don’t you think?
Blog #1 No App can Replace Your Lap! By Diane Davies
A few days ago I posted a picture of a rabbit with a baby rabbit on her lap reading a story. Under the picture it said; “No App Can Replace Your Lap.” What a perfect blog title for a retired elementary teacher turned award winning children’s author. That be me!
This is the first post in my new blog called “No App Can Replace Your Lap.” In the first few posts I plan to talk about why it is so important to read to your children. After that I will be suggesting books new, old and in between that will make great reading possibilities for the on your lap reading time each day. Across my twenty-six years of teaching experience in elementary grades, I’ve read thousands of books to hundreds of kids. I’ll be recommending some of those but also putting forward some brand new books that are hot off the presses. My plan is to advocate as well for some of the really old books and stories that are always fun to hear over and over again. So sign up today and stay tuned for fun and exciting ideas regarding good books to read during that all important lap time.
Happy Reading!
Author Diane Davies reads to Kennedy Elementary students
Diane Davies reads to elementary students at Kennedy Elementary School in Hastings, Minnesota.
Diane Davies reads from her book, Life in the Neck, to 4th grade elementary students at Kennedy Elementary School in Hastings, Minnesota.
Diane’s new award-winning book, Jeannie Ann’s Grandma Has Breast Cancer, is available online.
Special thanks to: Karen Arnold, Beth Ann Kerber, and Kyle Latch.
Diane Davies, Reads Her Children's Book, "Life in the Neck" at SC Toys
Diane reads at children’s toy store, SC Toys, in historic downtown Hastings, Minnesota.
“This is one of my favorite pictures in the story. I love it.
I’m Diane Davies, and I’m so glad that you all came today to hear my story, Life in the Neck - New Friends. I’m a retired school teacher here in Hastings.
I taught at Kennedy, 3rd grade for ten years. Then I moved to Tilden, and I taught 1st grade at Tilden. Then I moved to McAuliffe, and I taught 1st grade at McAuliffe.
I’ve been around a long time, and it’s been a lifelong dream of mine to write children’s books. I’ve read thousands of children’s books being a teacher and hundreds of books to my grandchildren.
So, I’m happy to be here today and happy to share Life in the Neck - New Friends with you.”
