Added: 02/25/2006 |
Some Happy Memories of Father's DayI think that teachers the world over should be grateful for the creation of Father's Day, especially since that day comes in late June. I make that statement after watching the manner by which various Father's Day gifts added to my sons' ability to derive some enjoyment from their education.
By late June my sons, like most boys were rapidly loosing interest in school. Their thoughts did not focus on books but rather on the approaching summer vacation. My sons' kindergarten teacher was not unaware of that fact. However, she managed to find a way to have her young male students apply themselves to their classroom work. She had that work involve the making of a Father's Day gift.
After his last day in kindergarten my older son brought home one of his creations and hid it in his drawer. I did not see it again until Father's Day. It was a coupon book. Each coupon in that book was an offer to do a job for his father. My son had had to write out for himself the words on the coupons. Thus the teacher had helped my son and the other male students to derive some pleasure from practicing their writing skills.
Father's Day added enjoyment to that same son's school work during his first year in middle school. That had been a difficult year for him. It had started badly, throwing at him all sorts of medical problems. He had begun to develop an ulcer, and he had had an allergic reaction to the paint in one classroom. Fortunately, all of that had changed when the calendar showed the approach of Father's Day.
During the final quarter of that year my older son took a woodworking course. He found that he loved working with wood, and he rapidly finished many different projects. For his final project he made a Father's Day gift. He designed and constructed a wooden tool box. After all of the struggles that he had been through that year, my son demonstrated great joy from knowing that he had an extra special gift for his father on that Father's Day.
When my younger son was learning to read, I used the giving of Fathers Day gifts as a chance to re-enforce his reading skills. I knew that he loved his father, and that he would be excited about giving him a gift on Father's Day. I found a large white mug that had on it the word "Dad." I purchased that mug, and I had my son present it to his father on Father's Day.
Although my son struggled for many years with his reading, he understood that reading could be fun. He had had fun reading the word "Dad" on that mug, and then giving the mug to his father. He had also had fun riding with his father, and reading some of the street signs for his father. One night I even watched with pleasure while the two of them, father and son, read together a children's book that had been purchased for use in a Reading Is Fundamental program.
My son never chose to give his father a book as a Father's Day gift. One year he did, however, decide to use a book as a Mother's Day gift. He selected a book by Collin Powell. My son had come to the realization that his mother enjoyed reading much more than his father did.
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