Locks are cool! Our little league team has spent a good amount of time discussing canal locks during homework time over the past few months. So we were pretty excited to see a real one in action. During our team trip to Ontario, we stopped by the St. Catherine’s Museum and Welland Canal Center. Here’s a quick account from Lewis, a teen on our team.
We went to the Welland Canal.
“We saw the locks in action.” -Theo, 14
We went to the museum.
“I saw some of the classic weapons of World War I.” -Adonis, 12
There was so much to see and do at the museum, including St. Catherines’ history and the Harriet Tubman story. Of course, the most interesting display for the kids was a lacrosse game.
Then we saw a boat and the water drained.
“It takes 45 minutes to move up and down and its really amazing to see it up close.” -Tre, 14
We watched as the lock slowly drained. The crew carefully steered the ship as she sank lower and lower into the narrow canal. Finally, the doors of the lock opened and the boat floated out into the next level of the canal.
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TheI Can book series by Miriam Laundry is one of my new favorites. I consider myself a children’s book connoisseur, since I grew up with a reading specialist mother who fed me a steady literary diet of Caldecotts and Newberrys. And honestly, I’d put the I Can books on the shelf next to Eric Carle and The Little Engine that Could. The incredible success of the self-published books (Miriam holds a Guinness World Record for the largest online book discussion in a 24-hour period) is a testament to the greatness of these books. The stories are straightforward enough for a child to grasp, yet at the same time inspiring to all ages. The message is simple: “I can!” When Miriam held a workshop in Canada for the Player Development kids from Sint Maarten, she sparked an idea in their minds that they will never forget.
In the book I Can Believe in Myself, Molly believes that she can’t speak in public. As she goes through the day, she realizes that many of her classmates say “I can’t” about things Molly knows they can do. She comes up with an idea: everyone should write down what they think they can’t do, shred the paper, and go for it. If you believe in yourself and try, you just might do it! During the workshop, each one of us shredded an “I Can’t” statement.
Theo, a 14-year-old in our group, later wrote in his journal:
“Coach Tom told us about Miriam Laundry. We then went to the Tennis Academy and met Miriam and we had a workshop with her. We also went through one of her books. We also got to help her choose her next book cover.”
Theo thought that getting to help choose the cover of the next book was pretty cool. He thought the concept of “I Can” was even cooler. The day after the workshop, we visited a park with a ropes course. Theo said, “Oh, I can’t do that. That’s way too high.” So he stayed behind. After a few minutes, he changed his mind. He told us that he had thought about what Miriam said, and decided to give it a try. Not only did he go all the way up, he had a lot of fun doing it!
Big King also had an epiphany:
“I saw Miss Laundry today. She did an experiment on Stacey and I thought she was acting, so I ask Miss Laundry to do the experiment on me and it did work.”
The experiment showed that thinking falsely or negatively makes us physically weaker. She called Stacey, a chaperone in our group, up to the front. Miriam put pressure on Stacey’s lifted arm and asked her to say a negative phrase and then a positive one. Stacey was visibly stronger when she said a positive statement. Big King was skeptical, so he asked to be a volunteer, too. You should have seen the shock on his face when it worked!
“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” -Proverbs 17:22
The kids talked about the “I Can” concept for the rest of our Canada trip. They called out friends who said “I can’t.” They stopped themselves when they started to say it. They tried things that they wouldn’t have done before. And it wasn’t just the kids who overcame their fears! Peggy, one of the moms who joined the trip, made it all the way to the top of the CN Tower, despite her fear of heights. Talk about rising above your fears– literally!
I know these boys won’t forget the lesson, and I’m sure they won’t let the kids back home forget, either. We have every kid at our clubhouse read both I Can books, and now all the kids from the trip have their very own copy! We’re all excited to talk about what we learned and apply our new-found confidence to our lives.
One of our boys back home reading “I Can” at the team clubhouse
If you want to get a copy yourself, you can find Miriam’s I Can series on her website. No, this isn’t a sponsored link. I just love the books and the way kids respond to them! I’m sure you will, too. Happy reading.
Harriet Tubman is an international hero. Her story continues to inspire countless around the globe, including Triston, a boy from Dutch Sint Maarten in the Caribbean. Triston and I are on the same trip to Canada with the little league group I help coach.
Hi my name is Triston and I’m a baseball player. I’m 9 years old. I’m in Canada with my team for pleasure and learning.
Today I visited the Harriet Tubman school statue. I also saw the Underground Railroad and St. Catherines Heritage Church.
The statue is located in the Harriet Tubman School. It is her in a chair. My team and I surrounded the statue and took a picture. To escape slavery she followed the North Star. She was a courageous woman. The men dressed as women and the women dressed as men to escape slavery.
At the church there are readings about how she escaped slavery. One of them shows where and when she was born. She was born in Maryland and was born in 1820. She died in 1913.
Peg Leg Joe taught them the song ‘Follow the Drinking Gourd’. In the song explained where the Big Dipper and the North Star was. They jumped from trees to trees and lakes to lakes. The reason they jumped to trees to trees is because there were tracks on them. They swam because the dogs they sent can’t sniff in water. At night they followed the North Star.
Harriet Tubman helped slavery end.
Triston wrote this all by himself– from memory. He is our resident expert on Harriet Tubman! From his reading, he has memorized many important facts about her story, including dates, names, and places. Please take a minute to show encouragement to Triston by commenting, liking and sharing! He’ll be excited to see that other people enjoy his writing.
