Morningtime

We start out Morningtime with a verse.  I print off a label for each of our journals with the current verse.  We use white blank-paged (unlined) journals so we can draw/paint/write with no lines in our way.  

 Just a quick snapshot when we were making prayer lists last week during Morningtime.

Making board books "irresistible" to toddlers....an invitation to read.

This little one LOVES books, but I have a little trick up my sleeve to get her interested in books throughout the day.  Occasionally when I walk past her little basket of books, I'll grab a few out and take them to some spot in the house and set them open, on end.  This always grabs her attention and she sits down with them and "reads" through them for a few minutes.  It's a fun and simple book invitation and a little surprise that gives her joy!!

@MamaSchool.....baby edition. A great book for babies!

This week we had a little 4 month-old fosterlove with us.  Of course she was included in Mamaschool, too!  Beck and I set up our little play gym and Beck happily and lovingly hung EVERYTHING he could find for her to look at.  :)  We also found the perfect book to prop open for her to look at.  

Ten Little Beasties is a short book that can be sung to the tune of "Ten Little Indians."  I love books that are also songs, and so do babies!  The high-contrast illustrations are perfect for tiny readers--even newborns would be captivated by this book!  My big boy loves it, too, which is a win-win!  

 We often prop up books around our babies, especially when they learn to roll on their tummies!  This allows them to see something beautiful, stimulating and interesting at their level!

We just love Ed Emberley's books!!!!

Make Your Own Library!

This summer my kids had so much fun playing library!

One day I decided to get them interested in some of the books we own in our home library that they haven't read in a while.  I gathered up a handful of different genres and set them up on our stairs.  I put animal non fiction together, biography together, fiction together, etc.

I let them each choose a couple books, and we got out their little toy cash register and they pretended to check out the other one's books!

Not only did they have fun PLAYING library, but they were also motivated to read some books they hadn't touched in a while and revisit some books from our home library!  I got to direct which books they were exposed to (because I chose them and set them out!) and I pretended to be the librarian who asked them about their interests and helped them choose some books.

Over the course of several days we made paper library cards for each of us and also signs for the shelves!  Great literacy skills!

My kids were both really excited about this pretend play and both of them subsequently set up libraries in their own rooms!

I remember playing library as a kid, too!  A great pretend-play activity that can be adapted to any age--from board books to chapter books!  Don't have a cash register to use for checkout?  Make one out of a box!  Get creative!  Remember it's about the process!  

Books to read to First Graders/ Audiobooks for First Graders

This list is a continuation from my BOOKS TO READ TO KINDERGARTENERS, so I am not going to go into a lot of discussion--click back there if you are interested in more details!  I'll go straight into the booklist of recommended titles for first graders.  Yikes!!  How do I have a first grader!  I will need to note that first grade was my favorite grade to teach in my public school days, so everything first-grade-related is so very sweet in my heart!  

I will update and add to this list as Q's first grade year goes on, so this is just the start of our list!  Stay tuned!

And now the books!!

The Oz Series by L. Frank Baum

(note--Q has listened to the Wizard of Oz and this book in the series, but I am going to wait a bit more before really getting into the series.  With some classic, beautiful series', I want to wait a little longer until she is old enough to fully appreciate and remember them.  Just a "thing" I have.)

Dragons of Crumbling Castle by Terry Pratchett

Anything written by Beverly Cleary

The "Little House" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Piper Reed Series by Kimberly Willis Holt

Freddy series by Walter R. Brooks

Encyclopedia Brown Books by Donald Sobol

Cam Jansen series by David A. Adler

The Chinese Siamese Cat by Amy Tan

Horrible Harry series by Suzy Kline

The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes

The Blossoms Series by Betsy Byars

Classics of Childhood Collection by Blackstone Audio

Humphrey Series by Betty G. Birney

The Treehouse Series (The 13-Storey Treehouse, etc) by Andy Griffiths

Homer Price by Robert McCloskey

Kid Who....series by Dan Gutman

The Railway Children by E. Nesbit

My Weird School Collection by Dan Gutman

Dragon Series by Jackie French Koller

Dragon Academy series by Kate McMullan

Lad, A Dog by A.P. Terhune

The Callahan Cousins series by Elizabeth Doyle Carey

The Paintbrush Kid/The Poppy Seeds by Clyde Robert Bulla

An art desk in her room and making a colored pencil holder

Quinn has been begging for an art desk in her room for quite some time now.  I've held off because art desks can get messy....lids get left off markers....oil pastels get dropped on the floor.....crayons get stepped on.  I like our art desk where I can keep an eye on it and give reminders to clean up properly.  Finally, though, we decided at almost-seven she was ready to have one in her room.  We started off so simple.  We moved our little writing table from the kitchen up to her room.  They weren't using that table for art or writing since I set up the big table in the living room.  Thus it had just become a place to pile junk, so I wasn't too sad to repurpose it!  In her room I set it up with a painting the neighbor had made her, a bulletin board to hold some of her finished work, a sketch pad (actually she is already on her third one!), a marker block and a colored pencil block.  Less items means less she has to maintain.  She isn't ready for paint or glue or other media in her room....plus those are nice activities for us to do together still.

She just adores her little art desk and cranks out work by the dozen.  Drawing and writing is (and always has been) so very soothing and calming to her and she often unwinds at the end of the day here, drawing by her soft lamp light.

She wanted to display her work in her room, so I gave her a roll of washi tape--that way it won't harm the paint on her walls.  My kids know they aren't allowed to use real tape on walls.  We spent far too much time painting this house to have to redo it!  So washi tape is perfect.

Lately she found a couple children's dictionaries and has spent hours copying the words onto her own dictionary.  I remember doing the same thing as a child and it fills my heart with joy to see her discovering the world of words and their features, motivated intrinsically.  I could get onto a big soapbox here, but times like that confirm our decision to progress very slowly initially with her academic schooling.  I need to write a post about that someday soon!!

She also took a Van Gogh art book her Grandbob and Grandsue gifted her with into her room and made her own versions of many of his pieces.  Be still, my heart.  :)

I really like for writing and drawing media to be displayed beautifully and in a way that invites their use.  One of my favorite ways is to make a simple marker block or colored pencil block.  I start with these even when my kids are tiny (click HERE to see what this looks like)--with just a few markers to choose from.  Now she has way more choices since she can handle more!  I bought her a new pack of colored pencils, so I knew it was time for a new block!  I just cut two 2X4's to the same size and used woodglue and a clamp to stack them.  The next day when the wood had dried I sanded the corners slightly, measured the size of the colored pencils and found a drill bit slightly larger.  I made a mark on the drill bit so I could plunge in the same depth on each hole so there would be uniformity.  Then I drilled my holes, inserted my pencils, and presto!  It looked so pretty with all the pencils arranged in color order that I kinda wanted to plop that baby in the middle of our dining room table.  But my girl intervened and carted it off to her room to draw away!  And I've already had to help her with a pencil-sharpening session when she wore em all down to nubs!!

Best Audiobooks for Preschoolers/Older Toddlers

This list is a younger version of my AUDIOBOOKS FOR KINDERGARTENERS.  In that post, I discuss some of the nuts and bolts about using audiobooks with young children, so you might want to read it first.

The following is a list of some of our faves for the older toddler/preschool crowd.  Also, many of the books on the kindergarten list are also great for preschoolers!  I have a lot of the photos included on the Kindy list, so you can see which ones are in bagged sets with the book--best for littler guys.

I taught my little guy to use a CD player very early on (before he was even 2), so he is independent with it.  Kids love cd players and, with teaching and practice, can be very careful and independent with them, if it is expected of them.  I always had a cd player available for listening to stories in my 2 year old classroom and the children were allowed to use it on their own.  I'll try to remember to put up a post with some of the step-by-step processes we used to teach CD player independence!

Also, I strongly recommend THIS list of nature audiobooks that appeal to older toddlers and preschoolers from another of my past posts.

Also, I add to this list as we come across new titles, so it is growing all the time!

And now, our favorite audiobooks for real little ones:

Brown Bear And Friends  by Bill Martin Jr and Eric Carle

Curious George series by H.A. Rey

The Frances Audio Collection by Russell Hoban

It's a Tiger! by David LaRochelle

Brand-new Pencils, Brand-new Books by Diane deGroat

Bad Rats by Eric Drachman

Green Eggs and Ham and Other Servings of Dr. Seuss

Too Many Toys    and   A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

George and Martha series by James Marshall

Cowgirl Kate and Cocoa Series by Erica Silverman (these are longer, so best for older preschoolers)

Diary of A Fly by Doreen Cronin (or any of her books)

Petite Rouge Riding Hood by Mike Artell

Skippyjon Jones books by Judy Schachner

Fairy Tales by Paul Galdone (Rumpelstiltskin, etc)

Maynard Moose Series by Willy Claflin

The Little Moose Who Couldn't Go to Sleep by Willy Claflin

Little Bear Series by Else Homelund Minarik

Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller

Brave Irene by William Steig (a longer one)

Alice the Fairy by David Shannon

Bat Loves the Night by Nicola Davies

One Tiny Turtle by Nicola Davies

Surprising Sharks by Nicola Davies

Mole Music by David McPhail

The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone

Apples to Oregon by Deborah Hopkinson & Nancy Carpenter

Happy Birthday, Sam by Pat Hutchins

Houndsley and Catina Series by James Howe

Lulubelle and Her Bones by Vashti Farrer

Geronimo Stilton Series by Geronimo Stilton (for older preschoolers)

Horton and the Kwuggerbug and More Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss

The Cat in the Hat and Other Dr. Seuss Favorites by Dr. Seuss

The Boy Who Cried Bigfoot! by Scott Magoon

Leroy Ninker Saddles up by Kate Dicamillo

LMNO Peas by Keith Baker

One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo

Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein

This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen

Young Amelia Bedelia Series by Herman Parish

A Sick Day for Amos McGee
Bear Has a Story to Tell (both by )  by Phillip C. Stead

And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano

Murmel, Murmel, Munsch by Robert Munsch

Olivia Series by Ian Falconer

We're Going On A Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller

The Gigantic Turnip by Aleksei Tolstoy

Mouse and Mole Series by Wong Herbert Yee

Pete the Cat series by Eric Litwin

The Story Tree by Hugh Lupton

Mr. Putter and Tabby series by Cynthia Rylant

Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina

Young Amelia Bedelia Audio Collection by Hermann Parish

Arthur series by Lillian Hoban

Fancy Nancy Series by Jane O' Connor

The Dog Who Had Kittens by Polly Robertus

Amelia Bedelia Series by Peggy & Herman Parish

Bailey Goes Camping; Chester's Way or any/all Kevin Henkes books

Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino

Animals Should Definitely Not Wear Clothing by Judi Barrett

The Biggest Snowman Ever by Steven Kroll

Arthur Series by Marc Brown

Bear's Toothache by David McPhail

Anna Banana and Me by Lenore Blegvad

Biscuit Series by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

Annie and Snowball Series by Cynthia Rylant

Mr. Putter and Tabby Series by Cynthia Rylant

Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack

A Bad Case of Stripes by David Shannon

Bad Kitty by Nick Bruel

Bear Books by Karma Wilson

Frog and Toad Series   and    The Arnold Lobel Audio Collection by Arnold Lobel
(any of his stuff is great!!)

The Bear's Bicycle by Emilie McLeod

Grin and Bear It by Leo Landry

Berenstain Bear Stories by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Zelda and Ivy series by Laura Kvasnosky

Little Blue Truck by Alice Schertle

Wolf Pie by Brenda Seabrooke

The Teacher From The Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler (my kids loved this and weren't scared...but if your kids get scared easily, you might want to thumb through it with them first and let them see the ending....) 

Three things three-year-olds love!

TAPE!

*introduce them with a solid dispenser and good quality tape.  The cheaper stuff is difficult to tear.

*teach them to take a piece about the length of their thumb.

*show them to pull out then down to cut, and to be careful of the cutting edge.

*Initially I just let my little tapers tear and place tape on construction paper, then move up to taping two items together.  

*show them how to tape small pieces of paper onto a bigger piece--the tape has to touch both pieces--a difficult concept for them to learn.  

*I have a rule that tape only goes on paper.  I don't want tape on my walls, furniture, etc.  We keep a blue roll of painter's tape for taking pictures and signs up on walls.  That way our walls remain undamaged.  

***Taping is great fine motor practice and also a practical life and art skill!***

 CHALK!
*supply small pieces of colored chalk--the small pieces encourage a pincer grasp and not a fist grasp.
*a small eraser or piece of fabric
*get a small chalkboard---often craft stores have these in the unfinished wood items section
*threes love covering the whole board with chalk, erasing, and then using a moist rag to clean the board at the end of the session!
***fine motor, art, preliteracy***

PENCIL SHARPENING!
*I put out a tray with the sharpener and a jar of pencils.  My kiddos know all shreds of pencil need to land on the tray.
*remember to teach safety because the sharpener can cut you
***fine motor, practical life***

We have a designated art table in the living room where I keep all of these activities/materials out for free use at any time and often in the mornings my kids naturally gravitate there to use them.

Communion Focus

Sunday during communion I gave Quinn the following copywork to focus on.  Now it's important to note that she is in a developmental stage where she LOVES copying....if she didn't, this type of work would have been tedious and pointless, but because she is internalizing and processing concepts of print through copying it right now, she loved this and it was perfect for her.  

I started by whispering briefly in her ear a reminder of the different elements of communion and what they meant.  We quickly flipped to I Cor 11 and read about Jesus providing the meaning of the cup and the bread.  (All of this was happening very quietly while the elements were being passed out during worship).  Then she went to work!   

Adding "God" and "Jesus" at the end were her idea.  She was so proud of her writing work, and she re-read it several times during the rest of the communion service.  This was a simple activity that allowed her to work with the concept of communion at her own level.  Obviously I wouldn't do this same activity with her every week, but might offer it as one of two choices for the next few weeks until she gets tired of it.  I might change out the verse or even have her copy from her own Bible.

You should really do this....the magical power of audiobooks!

If you read my blog at all you've read my praises of Jim Trelease's READ ALOUD HANDBOOK....he spends a large section of his book discussing the importance of reading aloud to your children--even the ones that can already read themselves.  Largely this is because listening comprehension develops more quickly and at a higher rate than reading comprehension.  That means that children can listen and understand a book more difficult than they can read on their own.  Reading aloud to kids exposes them to richer vocabulary, more complex plot elements, more diverse settings, and more developed characterization.

So we read aloud to our kids several times a day at our house--at least at nap time and bedtime, but often first thing in the morning and maybe in-between if there's a good time for books.

One tool that we also love around here are audiobooks.  Audiobooks provide a way for my children to be read to where they're in control of the situation.  They choose the cd, they turn it off or on, and they can choose when they want to listen.

My daughter stopped napping at 18 months and also has a difficult time falling asleep at night.  For her, audiobooks are a great sleep aide.  She listens to stories during her rest time in a dark room to relax.  At bedtime she prefers falling asleep to a story rather than music.  My son still prefers music--so you can see the choice thing coming into play.  Remember that it's great to provide opportunities for control and power to young children.  Having a cd player and some cds in their room is a great tool for this!

Quinn also uses her audiobooks as a tool for times she needs to cool down or chill out--we call this "composing herself."  She can typically go to her room and listen to a cd for a few minutes and calm/refocus herself enough to come out ready to rejoin the ongoing activities.  I love that, often, a few minutes of a story gives her pleasure and calm and provides a medium through which she can regain control over her emotions.

We use audiobooks on roadtrips.  I am not a tv person--we don't have our television on when the kids are around at home.  While we do loosen up on this and typically let Quinn watch one movie on long road trips, I don't like to spend the whole drive with her watching a movie.  We check out a stack of audiobooks and listen away!  The advantage of audiobooks/reading aloud over movies and tvs is that they require the listener to use their own imagination to picture the scenes in the story.  Movies are more passive--they do all the work for you and there isn't much left to the imagination.  We live in a large city where sometimes even driving to places like church can take over 30 minutes.  Often this is a great time to pop in an audiobook!

Quinn is 5 years old.  At this point she has listened to the entire Magic Treehouse Collection several times over--which is more than 40 books.  She has also enjoyed the Clementine series (Sara Pennypacker), Junie B Jones collection, My Father's Dragon series, Animal Rescue Team series (Stauffacher) and countless other picture books.

We also use audiobooks for calming tools.  When we're having a crazy day and trouble getting along, often we'll pull up to the kitchen table with some markers or paints or colored pencils and draw, listening to our favorite Sparkle Stories.  Sometimes when one of my kids doesn't feel to great they'll cuddle onto the couch with their blanket and a Sparkle Story playing.

Have you heard of Sparkle Stories?  (www.sparklestories.com)  It is a company that provides the most beautiful, simple, innocent stories that you can purchase from their website.  The stories are based around child development and the rhythm and seasons of the year.  In each story the characters work through a particular problem or issue in a lovely way.  You can listen to some free stories on their blog or also on their podcast.  We often have "Sparkle Lunch," which means we eat our lunch quietly while listening to a Sparkle Story. This is such a gem on those days we've been running like crazy all morning and just need some slow-down time to recharge.

I can definitely see the results of my two little ones listening to audiobooks often.  Quinn is always amazing me with some vocabulary word she uses correctly in a sentence or a historical fact she throws in to our convo that I didn't even know she knew.  

I really have to say, the Magic Tree House books are top notch.  If you have preschoolers or younger elementary kiddos, you HAVE to share these with them!  They are written in a way that appeal to boys and girls....and are wonderful exposures to historical fiction.  I read Quinn the first one aloud, and then we checked out all the rest from the library on cd.

Here are some tips to help get started with audiobooks in your home:
1) Get a cd player--simple and low tech is best.  We always get the cheapest one target or walmart has.

2) Teach cd and cd player handling.  Practice with them several times.  Supervise them doing it on their own for a while, and this will gradually lead to independence, even with children as young as 2 or 3.  Be sure they know how to replace the cd in its case and have a special spot for storing cd's.  If your child misuses a cd or the cd player, begin your lessons and practice again.

3) Like anything, listening comprehension takes practice.  Your kids may not make it through a whole story and stay focused the first time.  Start small--check out shorter picture books.  Listen to the story on cd while looking at the book.  Build up to longer sessions.  I always like to take advantage of "captive audience" times like car rides to play audiobooks for my kids.  As they are able to listen to stories through, you can expose them to longer and longer books.  Quinn listens to chapter books, so she pauses her cd player between listening sessions.

4) Try some of the free Sparkle Stories.  Remember that you might have to play the same story a few times for your kids to help them grow comfortable with something new and familiar with the characters.

5) The library is the best tool ever!  Check out their audiobooks.  We can put items on request from other libraries around our area--so I always have a list of what we want to listen to next.  I am sure there are also websites such as audible that you can get kids audiobooks from, but for us we haven't exhausted the free ones at the library in the past several years, so we'll keep getting ours from there!

Quinn begs me several times a week to take her to the library for more audiobooks!  She devours them.  Beck is beginning to fall in love with them too, and often he's the one that asks for stories at lunchtime.

Important to note, I still think (and Trelease agrees with me!) that Matt and I reading aloud to the kiddos is the most important read alouds they get during their days.  Using audiobooks hasn't become a substitute for this--we still read to them several times a day.  The audiobooks are more of a supplement that they use at other times across their day.

So.....are you inspired?  Or maybe you already listen to books on cd--if you haven't listened to Magic Tree House--please do!!!

Listening Comprehension

We are reading the "Bed and Biscuit" series and on a whim I searched to see if the books were available on cd.  It always surprises me how many great books are out there on cd--and available at the library!  We take full advantage of the books on cd around here.  Since Q was about 2.5 books on cd have been a great rest time tool for us.  We started out with fairy tales and picture books (shorter with simpler plots) on cd for her to listen to during rest time.  Eventually we started checking out the chapter books we'd read AFTER we'd read the book--she loves re-listening to her favorite stories.  And wow, does this reinforce the vocabulary, character development, plot development and overall comprehension of our girl.  Though that's not the real reason we love the books on cd--more than anything they are just plain enjoyable and a good tool to help her slow down and relax--she will lay on her bed and listen and her body gets a chance to slow down and rest. 

Some we've enjoyed--
James and the Giant Peach
Charlotte's Web
Laura Paton's Fairy Tales
Brave Irene
Skippyjohn Jones books
Kevin Henkes books
Junie B Jones Series (yes, ALL of them are read aloud on cd!!)
Clementine series
My Father's Dragon series
Discover Nature series (Nicola Davies and others)
Curious George Series (once again--all read on cd!)

They are also great to put on for road trips in the car and I also like to put them in her discman on long roadtrips so she can listen with headphones. 

Best of all, books on cd are a tool that grows with the child (or adult!)  You can get books at any level.  When I was in grad school and commuted to school I listened to some classics on cd that were too intimidating for me to read--much easier to listen to something than read it. 

I encourage you to find some ways to enjoy books on cd in your home this week!! 

Word Rack

 I have mentioned that Quinn has started writing on her own and is constantly asking me how to spell things.  In an effort to encourage her independence I set her up with a little writing rack.  I found this board with grooves in it somewhere on a walk near a construction site.  You could also glue another piece of wood onto a board to make a ledge and get the same effect. 

I used some watercolored papers and chalk (crayon melts when laminated) and wrote the names of our family members and her favorite dolls/animals.  Now she can write their names without needing my help PLUS it encourages her prereading skills as she identifies each name in print before writing it.  She is doing great with it!

Pretend Play Birthday Party

 

Last year's Birthday Party play area was such a great success that I decided to set it up again this year.  I opted to use our playroom instead of our breakfast nook this time, as my parents are coming into town and we'll need the extra space in the eating area.  I used many of the same ideas from last year, but we also added on a few more things.  The above banner--Quinn and I chose the fabrics from my scrap basket.  I used letter stamps and brown stamp pad to put the letters for HAPPY BIRTHDAY.  I know Q will probably want to be writing this phrase, so now she can look at the banner to see how to spell it. 

 We changed the tablecloth on the little table.  I also put out some new flowers and we found a couple wooden birthday magnets in our playroom closet, so we put those on the metal tub holding flowers. 

 I raided my party decoration tub and Q fell in love with these pink lanterns, so up they went!  We also took the curtains off the play kitchen so that all the items could be seen.  You can see our party hats hanging from the side of the little kitchen.

 We've used this chalkboard a ton....I changed it from Taco Stand to say whose birthday party it is.  I wrote the words with a chalk pen and then Q can erase the name (written in regular chalk) and write each new celebrant's name.  It's already been changed several times in the last day.  :)

 Plates and party napkins:

 Our Melissa and Doug cake--we have the candles in a little wooden container and also the decorations--displayed nicely!

 I also set up our regular work shelf with more birthday party items. 

 Bags, wrapping paper and bows for gifts: (I cut the wrapping paper into smaller, manageable pieces)

 Tissue paper and gift boxes:

 Cardboard numbers covered in scrapbook paper--Q loves displaying the age of each "person" at the party

 Our Birthday Plate from Mimi, a cupcake candle, HOW DO DINOSAURS SAY HAPPY BDAY book, and a chalkboard sign for decoration:

 Cups for drinks and some large cupcake wrappers--for whatever!  Just fun to play with. 

 This metal stand holds faux strawberries in little mini muffin cups, felt cupcakes, and a piece of cardboard cake (cardstock cake template HERE--so fun!):

 This pan holds items to "bake" a cake so we can pretend to make it first--I will add a few more items as the containers become available in the kitchen (it: empty flour bag, empty baking soda box).  Right now it holds eggs, empty vanilla container, empty baking powder, sprinkles (with lid glued on).  I could also add a few measuring cups/spoons.  And our vintage eggbeater.

 I rounded up all our felt crowns for party guests to wear.

 Pieces of streamer for decorating:

 

Birthday cards:

We've already had tons of birthday parties just in the last couple of days!  We'll add more items as we think of them--actual birthday cards received, etc.  Such a fun pretend play activity!  I love that both of my kids can participate at their own levels even though they are 3 years apart.  Beck enjoyed the area last year at barely a year old, too!  So this is a very adaptable learning tool!