Jen may be right,
I have been doing some thinking about what has happened at the start of the month actually at that school board meeting with 'that' look.(1st paragraph) ‘That’ look which I thought shunned me for loving books and indoctrinating my children with them.
And here perhaps I need say the kind of thinking that happened to me; Jen put me right and told me I was probably wrong.
This whole issue came about and became particularly articulated in our home on Friday morning after I came home from dropping of Liliom at school. It has been snowing the night before and neither the janitor nor the other person trusted with shovelling snow off the paths could make it to school. They both live some 10 or 15 kms from the school and snow, especially quite some snow just makes it impossible to travel distance. The school bus for instance was more than an hour late.
Anyways, I grabbed a snowploughingshovel, whatever they might be called, probably shovel and started clearing off the stairs and front of the school. I remained alone in my work although some other parents stood around smoking cigarettes on the street corner (they couldn’t even have the excuse of having to rush off to work).
So Jen’s theory is that the look I was given on that school board meeting was a ‘you know what I’m talking about, you’re with me’ look. The exact opposite of what I have been theorising earlier.
Grabbing something to do in and around the school when it is there to do is very much in line with the Steiner philosophy and I have been trying to take an active part in the life of the school. Let’s hope that my reading of ‘looks’ is just lousy, and lets hope I am not as paranoid as I think I am (a rather paranoid wish).
A funny addition to the book issue. Yesterday in the Library while Jen was cruising the snowy street of Szeged frantically searching for her passport - which she also moved to the location of the home – with the children I had some pretty ok time at the library. Ernest was fascinated by all the children and their fascination with either the books or him while Lili somehow managed to find the very book her teacher reads stories from. That was a good catch amongst the possible tens of thousands of books just in the children’s library but it was also a welcome revelation realising that although in first grade at the stiener school they may not be too encouraging about books, they don’t burn them.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Saturday, 26 February 2011
Thursday, 24 February 2011
16th February - On Libraries
Last week on the school board meeting conversation jumped off the agenda a bit and discussed topic became rather unworthy of the elevated nature of the board: bitching about some families and parents. A fellow member had a passing comment about parents who not only don’t pay the fees (they are called ‘offerings’ – because we are not a private school!), not only don’t participate in the school but there are some homes where you feel the parents work against the philosophy of the school. In this last part she looked at me meaningfully.
Yesterday we were in the library with the children. With Ernest we go regularly, at least once a week and I remember with Liliom we used to go often as well, back in Oulu, till I started uni when it became a rare outing. In her own gentle ways she has been trying to let me know that this isn’t right. So recently I have begun a constructive response and decided that at least every other week we will make it there with her.
Since there is a ski break and we don’t ski in the dry and snowless southern plains of hungary we hang out all day and do things like going down to the market together, playing with clay, painting the kids cardboard playhouse. And yesterday we have been to the library.
Should I let Lili, she would take home all the books. Should I let me I would do the same but fortunately there is a very strict limit of six books per library card, we have three in the family. Eighteen books is still enough.
Lili carrying a handful of books to the desk to check out, with Ernest marching right behind her with another couple of books he has chosen is a wonderful sight. Lili then sitting in the armchair at home surrounded by and disappearing behind books practically piled on top of her is another wonderful sight. Jen relived of her concerns for Ernö not bothering with books now they sitting on the sofa reading books to each other is another sight putting tears in one’s eyes.
We love books. I love books. I always have, as far as I can remember. I cannot remember my parents actively encouraging me but I am certain it was there. I love doing the same for my children, I love helping them to build a habit of using libraries and an appreciation for them. Books are incredibly important and certainly a far more productive way of receiving stories than television.
In steiner schools to begin with, books are pretty much shunned. First graders should know nothing of letters and spelling and reading and writing and all that and in some ways, generally be illiterate in the world of books. Hence Jen’s recent blogpost about their ‘learning’ the letter ‘D’. In In Lili’s school this doctrine seems to be taken seriously. I tell my colleagues at the school board and fellow parents about our lives. Liliom tells about our adventures during circle times in the mornings and an outing to the library for her is an exciting adventure, and a return packed with interesting stories, facts and science.
There is a conflict of interest with the very school we chose and pay for yet so long as I hear seven years old kids chatting on the school playground about the recent Madonna and other music videos I know that I have the moral high ground. Anyone finds it a problem?
Yesterday we were in the library with the children. With Ernest we go regularly, at least once a week and I remember with Liliom we used to go often as well, back in Oulu, till I started uni when it became a rare outing. In her own gentle ways she has been trying to let me know that this isn’t right. So recently I have begun a constructive response and decided that at least every other week we will make it there with her.
Since there is a ski break and we don’t ski in the dry and snowless southern plains of hungary we hang out all day and do things like going down to the market together, playing with clay, painting the kids cardboard playhouse. And yesterday we have been to the library.
Should I let Lili, she would take home all the books. Should I let me I would do the same but fortunately there is a very strict limit of six books per library card, we have three in the family. Eighteen books is still enough.
Lili carrying a handful of books to the desk to check out, with Ernest marching right behind her with another couple of books he has chosen is a wonderful sight. Lili then sitting in the armchair at home surrounded by and disappearing behind books practically piled on top of her is another wonderful sight. Jen relived of her concerns for Ernö not bothering with books now they sitting on the sofa reading books to each other is another sight putting tears in one’s eyes.
We love books. I love books. I always have, as far as I can remember. I cannot remember my parents actively encouraging me but I am certain it was there. I love doing the same for my children, I love helping them to build a habit of using libraries and an appreciation for them. Books are incredibly important and certainly a far more productive way of receiving stories than television.
In steiner schools to begin with, books are pretty much shunned. First graders should know nothing of letters and spelling and reading and writing and all that and in some ways, generally be illiterate in the world of books. Hence Jen’s recent blogpost about their ‘learning’ the letter ‘D’. In In Lili’s school this doctrine seems to be taken seriously. I tell my colleagues at the school board and fellow parents about our lives. Liliom tells about our adventures during circle times in the mornings and an outing to the library for her is an exciting adventure, and a return packed with interesting stories, facts and science.
There is a conflict of interest with the very school we chose and pay for yet so long as I hear seven years old kids chatting on the school playground about the recent Madonna and other music videos I know that I have the moral high ground. Anyone finds it a problem?
Sunday, 6 February 2011
February 5th - a late posting
Yesterday I was going to tell about our Library visit but it wasn’t coming together, I forgot the core of my saying, or at least the aspect that would have provided some moral message (alas politics).
Once posting and putting away the computer it came to me and sitting in the library today I had to work hard to keep on task rather than chattering away on my blog. It was an especially gruesome task as my essay topic is anything but fun. And don’t get me wrong here. Although I do stress out about essay and always, always think that I haven’t researched enough and my notes are nowhere near organised enough (which usually is true) and I believe that i haven’t enough reference (way off, I scare people with the amount of referencing I can do). It is a productive stress mostly and I enjoy writing academically too so the reason I end up moaning about an essay topic is nothing like the usual student whining where one is constantly in an end of the world mood when ask to produce evidence of cognitive process. It is simply that writing about what may have gone wrong in a process to result in genocide is simply a shit topic.
So I managed and as I was deprived coffee, the library was in preparation for a charity ball so facilities of codeine dispersal were non-functioning, I am sitting in a cafe now before returning home. It’s a bit of a wind down, although my brain was fried and needed some buffer before Ernest.
Here is the chance than, which also functioned as a ‘carrot’. The library experience.
Actually now I am starting to be concerned there may have been way to much raising tension and expectation before... ops.
Usually we go to the library as a morning activity with Ernest. We like to rain in the place when it is mostly empty. I however started to feel that we are depriving Liliom from the chance of having a more sophisticated roaming than what we have with Ernest so decided that it is necessary to have a session. The three of us set out leaving Jen home to study and we found a very different library from what I am used to with Ernest. It was round 4pm and packed. There were children and young people everywhere. It was really nice to see that there are members of the following generation who still believe books have value.
Asked Lili to chose a book for me from four available by Sven Nordquist. She took her work incredibly serious and spent a lot of time browsing the books. Eventually she came up to me with two of them letting me know that those two were the best, we are taking them both. Then she went on to find some other stuff while it became increasingly difficult for me to ‘contain’ Ernest. He was tired and in such circumstances he becomes what we refer to as ‘high maintenance’. Adding to this I forgot to change sock and in my warm winter socks in the incredibly heated building I was slowly dying of warm feet. Eventually we had to go.
On leaving Liliom has showed me one more book she wanted to take. It was a children’s book by a guy called Wass Albert. Only recently I realised he was into writing children stories, since we started to go to library here and I find that amongst the newest books available there are many penned by him. He is a bit of a cult nowadays among, hm, patriots of Hungarian origin. In his life he was very pro-Hungarian and perhaps not offending to say extremely nationalist. For his excuse, growing up in 20th century Transylvania as a member of the former ruling elite I can understand why he had rather negative perception of so called others. Apart from romantic nationalism and the extreme stylistically tackiness, cheapness in his writing (vow, I bet I gut some fuses blown with this one) I wouldn’t have problem with Lili exploring his book.
Unfortunately it is his wider political views, having openly been supporter of fascist regimes and - in emigration – organisations and periodicals I simply said to Lili ‘sorry, but the guy who wrote that book was a fascist, I don’t want you reading that book’. I managed to raise some eyebrows and we were off. Lili was cool with it. There will be time she will read what she well please. For the time being I try to help her into reading books by people who think that empathy and solidarity is the birthright of every human being.
(should this have been written into the blog yesterday, it would have meant three ‘moral’ issues in an apolitical blog – I rock)
Once posting and putting away the computer it came to me and sitting in the library today I had to work hard to keep on task rather than chattering away on my blog. It was an especially gruesome task as my essay topic is anything but fun. And don’t get me wrong here. Although I do stress out about essay and always, always think that I haven’t researched enough and my notes are nowhere near organised enough (which usually is true) and I believe that i haven’t enough reference (way off, I scare people with the amount of referencing I can do). It is a productive stress mostly and I enjoy writing academically too so the reason I end up moaning about an essay topic is nothing like the usual student whining where one is constantly in an end of the world mood when ask to produce evidence of cognitive process. It is simply that writing about what may have gone wrong in a process to result in genocide is simply a shit topic.
So I managed and as I was deprived coffee, the library was in preparation for a charity ball so facilities of codeine dispersal were non-functioning, I am sitting in a cafe now before returning home. It’s a bit of a wind down, although my brain was fried and needed some buffer before Ernest.
Here is the chance than, which also functioned as a ‘carrot’. The library experience.
Actually now I am starting to be concerned there may have been way to much raising tension and expectation before... ops.
Usually we go to the library as a morning activity with Ernest. We like to rain in the place when it is mostly empty. I however started to feel that we are depriving Liliom from the chance of having a more sophisticated roaming than what we have with Ernest so decided that it is necessary to have a session. The three of us set out leaving Jen home to study and we found a very different library from what I am used to with Ernest. It was round 4pm and packed. There were children and young people everywhere. It was really nice to see that there are members of the following generation who still believe books have value.
Asked Lili to chose a book for me from four available by Sven Nordquist. She took her work incredibly serious and spent a lot of time browsing the books. Eventually she came up to me with two of them letting me know that those two were the best, we are taking them both. Then she went on to find some other stuff while it became increasingly difficult for me to ‘contain’ Ernest. He was tired and in such circumstances he becomes what we refer to as ‘high maintenance’. Adding to this I forgot to change sock and in my warm winter socks in the incredibly heated building I was slowly dying of warm feet. Eventually we had to go.
On leaving Liliom has showed me one more book she wanted to take. It was a children’s book by a guy called Wass Albert. Only recently I realised he was into writing children stories, since we started to go to library here and I find that amongst the newest books available there are many penned by him. He is a bit of a cult nowadays among, hm, patriots of Hungarian origin. In his life he was very pro-Hungarian and perhaps not offending to say extremely nationalist. For his excuse, growing up in 20th century Transylvania as a member of the former ruling elite I can understand why he had rather negative perception of so called others. Apart from romantic nationalism and the extreme stylistically tackiness, cheapness in his writing (vow, I bet I gut some fuses blown with this one) I wouldn’t have problem with Lili exploring his book.
Unfortunately it is his wider political views, having openly been supporter of fascist regimes and - in emigration – organisations and periodicals I simply said to Lili ‘sorry, but the guy who wrote that book was a fascist, I don’t want you reading that book’. I managed to raise some eyebrows and we were off. Lili was cool with it. There will be time she will read what she well please. For the time being I try to help her into reading books by people who think that empathy and solidarity is the birthright of every human being.
(should this have been written into the blog yesterday, it would have meant three ‘moral’ issues in an apolitical blog – I rock)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
