In The Blue House Dog by Deborah Blumenthal, Cody, a boy who is probably 8 to 10 years old, notices a stray dog in his neighborhood. As he watches the dog day after day, Cody starts to notice everything: where the dog sleeps and how it might feel, how the dog is scared of dog catchers and the police, how thin he is, his unusual eye coloring, and how no one else thinks this dog is special. Perfect for children who have lost their beloved pet. Advanced picture book, ages 6-10.
I remember how much I enjoyed a counting book with a twist. I do completely believe in the power of picture books to teach math concepts but I do need a little something extra as I am reading the book for the tenth time. My own counting picture book library was not too robust so I trolled through a 4 foot stack of counting books to find these treasures. I hope that you and your child enjoy them. What are your favorite counting books? Please leave a comment and I’ll keep adding to this list.
My husband grew up in a military family so manners was a really big deal and he has beautiful manners. He’s not from the South, but he’s even got the Sir/Ma’am thing down. Manner are so important to him, or rather, bad manners are so offensive to him, that I refer to him as the Manners Nazi.
This sweet board book, Mealtime, teaches good table manners including washing hands, saying “thank you” and “please,” trying one bite of everything on your plate, and clearing your plate. It’s a nice way to reinforce what you are saying. I will be giving this book away. Please leave a comment with a manners tip that you do with your child to win.
I’m part of a Yahoo homeschooling group that focuses on education and someone recommended this visual dictionary so I checked it out and it IS amazing for science or anything in which you need a visual explanation.
My kids are obsessed with Klutz books. I pow wow’d with Capability:Mom whose two daughters are a little older and this is our all time Top 10 list. They make great gifts and also will keep your kids occupied for hours.
My fifth grader just finished A Wrinkle in Time** which is a dominant theme in Steads’ book. I had been at the library and found it on the librarians recommended shelf and thought if my daughter loves Maximum Ride so much she just might like a childhood favorite of mine. She did love it but she found Stead’s book to be too scary.
My Kindergartener gets these words sent home and we are supposed to make an educational game around it by using these words during our conversations. I’m afraid we not that together. Instead, I cut out the words and we ask him during dinner what he thinks each words means. If he gets it right, we move to the next one. If he gets it wrong, we read the sentence, ask him again, and then explain if he’s off. Then I throw the paper away — of course, this blog is my electronic filing system so it’s immortalized here. But we are not good at making it a game. Ideas for how you use these words as a fun game are much appreciated! The only thing that makes this a game is trying to get his older sisters NOT to chime in with the meaning. That’s very hard for them!