
I read in order to write. I read out of obsession with writing. ~Cynthia Ozick
A dozen articles chosen especially to spark your creativity this weekend.
I was born about seven months after my parents emigrated to the United States from Germany. One of the many things my mother did right (probably at the suggestion of the neighborhood moms) was read to me every day. This practice helped her strengthen her English language skills and also introduce me to what would become my primary tongue.
One of the books she read over and over was Mother Goose. I heard it so many times that I knew it by heart. She capitalized on my memorization by running the tip of her finger under the words as she read, so that even as a toddler I connected the words I heard to the visual representation of them, and began to recognize them in different contexts.
When my children were little, I also read to them twice a day, before naps and bedtime, and Mother Goose rhymes were a staple. (So were Dr. Seuss books.) All five were readers before they entered kindergarten.
During my first elementary general music teaching career (right out of college in the 1970s), I often used nursery rhymes in musical exercises to develop rhythmic and melodic awareness. Most of my students were familiar with them. However, when I returned to the classroom (after a 27-year break during which I raised my children), few students knew of Mary, Mary quite contrary or Humpty Dumpty. I know the rhymes are from a different age, but why has Mother Goose fallen out of the childhood canon? Nursery rhymes are a tradition we cannot afford to lose.
Why nursery rhymes are important:
To learn more about nursery rhymes, read further:
What? You don’t know any nursery rhymes? Bless your heart—here are 50 rhymes you can start learning today!
Now it’s your turn. Did you grow up reciting Mother Goose rhymes? Did you read or teach them to your children? Do you think they should remain part of standard children’s literature? Or could you suggest books of more modern rhymes (maybe the poetry of Shel Silverstein, for example) that would make suitable updates? Share in the comments below.
For creative people everywhere.
This week’s offerings are heavy on writing tips. But there are some crumbs for the quilters and crafters.
I missed my own blog birthday! On June 3, ARHtistic License turned five years old.
My goal for ARHtistic License is that it would be a place where creative people would come together to celebrate the arts and discuss the creative process. A year ago, AL had 683 subscribers; today it has 941, an increase of almost 38%. I’m happy about that growth. I’m on track to hit 1000 subscribers before the end of 2020. Are you a subscriber yet?
Here are the ten most popular posts on ARHtistic License in the past year, based on the number of “likes” they earned:
Nine of these posts fall in one of two categories: photo challenges and curated articles (Creative Juice). The outlier, “Hiking in the Arboretum,” is a photography-heavy post, more of a photo essay. So, should I focus on photography and reading recommendations, since these are the kinds of things that my readers apparently like? It would certainly free up a lot of my time, since those kinds of posts can be generated fairly quickly.
In contrast, here are what I consider to be some of my very best posts this year, in no particular order, which received very few likes:
Are these articles dull? Should I avoid spending time on posts like these?
Please help me. What would you like to see more of on ARHtistic License? What would you like less of? If you read a blog post you like and there’s a “Like” button, do you click it? If not, why not? I’d love feedback on all the questions that appear in bold throughout this article. Please comment below.
Three poems this week, some funny stuff, and some useful information, as well as beauty.