Being The Light: My Contemplation of Verse 27 of the Tao Te Ching

Dr. Dyer's book is Change your Thoughts--Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao.

Today, I want to focus on verse 27 of the Tao Te Ching, specifically these portions:

Be wise and help all beings impartially,

abandoning none.

Waste no opportunities.

This is called following the light.

What is a good man but a bad man's teacher?

What is a bad man but a good man's job?

If the teacher is not respected

and the student not care for,

confusion will arise, however clever one is.

This is the great secret.

I was viewing Dr. Phil yesterday.  He and his guests were discussing the topic of bullying.  Then, I knew that I had to discuss this particular verse.  I was compelled to tie in the idea of bullies needing to be taught by good teachers.  Bullies need to learn about what their impact is on the people around them.

Those that are wise are not to boast about it, but to share of what they know.  A good teacher, who imparts wisdom, does not judge the shortcomings of the student.  Rather, the teacher realizes that the student, for example, the bully, has much to learn.  Further, the teacher takes the teachable moments and uses them wisely.  This is how the teacher sheds light to the darkness, or ignorance.

We must realize that we are capable of being teachers.  There are students all around us, especially our children.  Even we ourselves stand to learn something new.  I think it is very sad when some people don't understand this concept.  We all should be in a constant state of learning.  

The question arises of whether we are willing to learn.

That's why I think it's important to respect each other.  I think it's important to understand that our children can teach us, too.  Even though we are adults, our children can be quite awesome, too.  I just saw a fellow homeschool mom post on Facebook that her own son was an inspiration to her.  I thought that was a special blessing that she bestowed on her child.

At the same time, I think it's important to nurture a child's learning and self-esteem.  Let's use the correct language, with the right tone of voice, when we communicate with our children, especially our teenagers.  Please know that I have to do the same thing.  I need to remember to use the correct methods to teach my children.  We need to capture the hearts of our children through our words and actions.

We are meant to be a blessing to each other, whether student or teacher, whether parent or offspring.

Let's be a light in each other's lives.

How about it, my friends?  Are you a light in your family?  Do you see your children as a light in your life?  Is there a sense of respect in your family?  I would recommend all parents to look for opportunities to teach respect.  I encourage you to pray to God to show you how respect and love can be taught within the home.

May God bless you, my beloveds, with His wisdom and peace, in Jesus' name.  Amen!

This has been an entry for Wisdom Wednesdays.

I am currently drawing inspiration from Dr. Wayne W. Dyer's book and the 81 verses of the Chinese wisdom book the Tao Te Ching.

Word World Website to Teach Reading

Word World Website teaches Reading.

A dear friend of mine in the homeschooling community told me about a wonderful website that I wanted to share with you.  You can find it at:  

http://wordworld.com/index.php

Word World is an educational website that teaches reading.  I especially like the vibrant colors and picturesque view of the world of words.  I enjoy watching the stories as the characters, which have their names written on their bodies, interact with each other.  This certainly is a great website for kindergarten age children.  It is based on a cartoon series that has appeared on Public Broadcast Station.

The following are sections within the website:

Ebooks- A child can view books like The Big Race, Totally Terrific Duck, Duck's First Sleepover, Snug as a Bug, and A Smile for Crocodile.  Each story has a synopsis, with the educational target areas in the fields of phonics, comprehension and vocabulary.

My daughter enjoyed reading The Big Race on Word World.

(My daughter viewed the Ebook, The Big Race.  It read the story, highlighting each word as it was said; she had a little bit of time to create the word.  That portion went a little too fast; however, the story was fun to watch.  This is akin to the website http://www.starfall.com/.)

Videos- A child can watch an episode or have a sneak peek; again comprehension, phonics, and vocabulary are explained on the right hand side.

Duck's Alphabet- This is a game that a child can play to learn letters and their sounds.

For Kids- This area includes the following:

--Activities Sheets-coloring sheets, activities, games

--Episode-Related Activities- list of episodes with a particular game

--Birthday Supplies- invitations, banners, thank you notes, and certificates

Parents & Teachers- This area includes the following:

--Introduction- There is a welcome page to teachers and parents.

--Educational Philosophy- There is an explanation of the use of phonics and words to teach reading based on research, with an emphasis on using the print awareness and letter recognition to aid comprehension; also emphasizes social side of the stories.

--Department of Education Funded Study- According to Education Week, about the selected children viewing the cartoon on PBS during school time-- "the gains the program viewers had made in expanding their oral vocabulary skills and in reading and recognizing words significantly outstripped those of their counterparts in regular classes [who did not watch the show during school time]."

--Parent Viewing Tips- Listed are activities parents can do while and after watching the show.

--Teacher Viewing Tips- Listed are activities teachers can do before, during, and after the show.

--Episode Descriptions- Listed are episodes with a short description of the plot for each one.

Workbook on Word World ties in with The Big Race.

Finally, I was fortunate enough to have a workbook featuring the cartoon Word World.  I found this page that ties in perfectly with the Ebook The Big Race.  

I believe the PBS cartoon, website, and workbook related to Word World are wonderful ways to show a child how to read.  The more a child is exposed to a theme that he/she enjoys, the more likely they are to learn from it.  In our case, I knew that my daughter had been watching the show.  I had bought her the workbook because of that.  Finding the website was a bonus, thanks to a fellow homeschooling mom.

Thanks for reading about our reading fun!

How about you, my readers?  How do you encourage the children in your life to read?  Do you have oodles of books in your home?  Do you let your children read from educational websites?  I encourage you to give this website, Word World, and others like it, a try.

God bless you all with His peace, my beloveds.

This has been an entry for Technology Tuesdays.  I hope you enjoyed it.