It is so nice to hear all that is being shared with children. I teach fourth grade and I am amazed when, as a situation arises in the classroom I let a nursery rhyme roll off my tongue, or refer to a fairy tale that has never been released as a Disney film, and the children get a blank look on their faces. Tall Tales to most of these kids are things read in books, but at least they have become familiar with them.

The reading of great stories and sharing rhymes, tales, and family stories, family history, recollections of days-gone-by, all are the stuff that prepare our children to be literate human beings. A child's ability to deal with language depends so much on their everyday experiences with language. In our high tech media age it is too easy to allow these important things to get left by the wayside.

As to my own kids, I remember lots of nursery rhymes, stories old and new (there is a wealth of new children's literature available now of very good quality), and singing LULLABYES to them. I haven't had a chance to ask them what their recollections are, but to me singing lullabyes at bed time are some of the sweetest memories.

Maybe a ndew thread could be lullabyes - or maybe there's already one in existence?