A Jump Start…

…And Back Behind the Wheel

I’m back! When I realized I the other day that it was early December last time I posted, I was shocked! And then again, I wasn’t. Just before the holidays, I shared my desire to release the overwhelmedfeelings that result from trying to do EVERYTHING and instead focus on doing SOME THINGS to satisfaction. I gave myself permission to not feel guilty about not sticking to a posting schedule. I successfully let go of the guilt, but I missed the creative outlet, the feeling of accomplishment every time I posted something I was proud of, and especially the interaction and inspiration of the blog community I’ve become a part of. I also discovered that while I didn’t want to commit to unrewarding activities just because I “should,” the commitment of a schedule is good for me, blogging or otherwise. I knew I wanted to get back to my blog, but without a schedule it kept becoming another thing “I’ll do tomorrow.”

Inspiration by Mail

In a serendipitous session of late night blog-browsing, I came across Amanda’s idea at The Educator’s Spin on It for an exchange of book and activity packs. Besides being a fabulous and fun idea, it was just the thing to put me back on a schedule and get me back in the bloggy-pool. So if you’ve read this far, thanks for the personal indulgence and now on to the good stuff:

What We Got

Our package came from Robyn at Pen Pals and PictureBooks. She sent us a copy of Lois Ehlert’s Fish Eyes. It’s an eye-catching counting book that lends itself to artistic expression as well as a variety of language and math skills. 

The package also included glue, paintbrushes, tubes of glitter, and construction paper fish. Her note pointed us to a recent post that featured her own experience with Fish Eyes. Like all Ehlert books, the colors and patterns are vivid, and while they don’t sparkle, glitter seems only appropriate in an attempt to capture the bright illustrations. The boys went to town with their glue “paint.” B experimented with patterns and stripes, while T favored abstract dots. I couldn’t help but decorate one myself… glitter is hard to resist! 

Fish Eyes provides a visually stimulating counting practice, but it doesn’t stop there. Each fish in the counted group has a cut-out circle for an eye, through which the color of the next page is visible. Because each number group is featured on a two-page spread, some of the cut-outs are on each side. We used counted the holes on each side and then practiced addition facts to determine the number of the total group (ie. 3 holes on the right plus 4 holes on the left equals 7 fish eyes). Ehlert also makes use of many vivid verbs to describe the number groups, offering opportunities for vocabulary development. The rhyming text calls upon the reader to consider what he might wish for. (Would he be a fish?) B decided it would be fun to be a fish as long as he knew he could turn back into a person. We very much enjoyed both the story and the art, and we are grateful to both Robyn for sending it and Amanda for the organization and jump-start!

**Don’t know if it was coincidence or careful planning on Amanda’s part, but our package went to the other half of Pen Pals, Whitney. We sent her a copy of The Alphabet Tree (the same one B gifted to his kindergartenteacher) along with some letter stamps and bug building supplies. Check out theadorable trees she created!

Appropriate for toddlers, preschoolers, primary grades.

[steering wheel photo credit kenski1970 on flickr]

Read more...

Feed Me Books Friday: Unless You Enjoy Counting to 600

You Need Another Reference

The other day, B announced that he could keep a balloon in the air by swatting at it for 10 minutes without letting it hit the ground. I suggested that was a pretty long time and he might want to start a little easier. He asked the question that so many parents have tried to explain accurately: “How long is it?” I’ve tried things like, “As long as it takes to drive to the library,” “Long enough to sing 4 or 5 Wiggles songs,” and even, “About as long as it takes to make macaroni and cheese.” But on this particular day, my response was, “Long enough to count to 600.” So of course, he wants ME to count to 600 while he swats at the balloon. No, thanks. It’s moments like these that we realize just how hard it is for our toddlers and preschoolers to develop an accurate concept of time. They certainly won’t have it down before kindergarten; in fact they’ll likely continue to hone this cognitive skill well into elementary school. Gains in mathematical understanding help with the short term measurements, but concepts of months and years and generations are still challenging. (By the way, I set the kitchen timer rather than counting, and he tired out before the 10 minute mark but definitely got a work-out!)

Establishing a Context

When trying to explain a time period to a child, the best we can usually do is to help give them a frame of reference that they can relate to. As evidenced by my many attempts above, it doesn’t always work. Sometimes because the child has never really considered the time involved in the chosen reference. Other times, the question of time arises out of anticipation, which skews even adult notions of the passage of time. Our recent library find, How Long, by Elizabeth Dale both addresses the elusive understanding of time and captures a sentimental expression of the timelessness of a mother’s love. The story begins when Caroline (a young mouse) tries to figure out how long she has to wait when her mother says “in a minute.” She uses activities like painting, lining up toys, and digging to measure the increments of time her mother attaches to various activities in her day. At the end, Caroline asks how long she will be loved, and her mother changes her response from minutes to the abstract, as a mother’s love is immeasurable. She assures Caroline that she will love her for “as long as it took to make all the stars in the sky, and everything else there is.” This kind of explanation defies mathematics and hearkens more to the kind of estimations found in Guess How Much I Love You. The combination of both a teaching tool and a heartwarming bedtime story prompted me to add this title to our wish list, but not before we meet our renewal quota at the library! How long is 3 weeks, anyway?

Appropriate for toddlers, preschoolers, primary grades. For some additional time-themed books and activities, check out Scholastic’s Ages and Stages article.

How was your Mother’s Day? Anybody come across an awesome book about moms or family relationships? Always on the lookout! (I got a lesson in my son's perspective as I spent last night wondering, How long until Blogger is back up?" If you came looking for a link up earlier, I apologize!)

Hourglass photo credit: fotopedia

Read more...

Hanging on Your Every Word

All Three of Them…

T’s verbal skills are taking their time to manifest themselves. I know the age range of “normal” development is a wide one, and I know that he demonstrates his cleverness in a variety of other ways, and I know that each child develops in his or her own unique way. However, I am a read-aholic, book-collecting, literature-degree-holding, language-arts-teaching mother of an outrageously verbal first child. Can you understand my preoccupation with words? Usually after much cajoling but occasionally in a direct address, T will refer to my husband as “Da-da.” (Why do dads always get to be first?) T’s second word is really just a vowel sound with meaning, but leave him in his shoes or jacket much more than 30 seconds through the door and you’ll hear “aahh!, aahh?” (His version of off.) And finally the most recent development was last weekend, when he began parroting the phrase “Hop, hop, hop!” while reading a book at Grandma’s. While it warms my heart that any book would be the impetus to express some more language, I can’t help wishing we had a little bit more 2-way communication going on.


Inviting a Response

Perhaps T’s lack of appreciation for most books, coupled with my eagerness for some verbal interaction, makes me enjoy barking my way through Doggies, by Sandra Boynton, over and over again. It’s a counting book, but it’s so much more. The bulk of the text is variations on a bark: woof, arf, ruff, grr, yip, etc. What a unique way to conceptualize numbers! Children are exposed to both a visual and auditory representation of each number. The five dogs shown on the page correspond to my “bow wow wow wow wow!” A Boynton book is not complete without humor, and I’m sure you can guess how a cat fits in a book of 10 dogs. Doggies has been in our library since B’s babyhood, and Mommy’s silly barking was a big hit with him back then as well. Like T, he enjoyed participating in the story by mimicking some of the sounds I made. Back then, I was already aware of the literacy foundation being laid by his involvement in reading and his association of pleasure with books. What I have only come to realize with T’s experience is that this unassuming counting book can also play a role in social development skills of conversation and turn-taking. I’ll never get tired of barking, as long as one of my little guys is barking back.
Appropriate for babies, toddlers, anyone who loves to bark!
Do your children have a book that seems simple on the surface but has come to mean something more? Hope you’ll share about it by linking up and/or leaving a comment!

Read more...

What Makes a Book Good?

Do You and Your Child Agree?

I’ve been reveling in T’s newfound interest in listening to books and it got me wondering – Do the qualities that make a book interesting and engaging to a one-year-old also have value for a toddler or preschooler? Or does a really good book have a whole slew of different qualities that appeal to various age ranges? I think the latter is most often true. The books we have come to love as “classics” are appealing on many levels, which is what makes them cross not only age ranges, but generations. As T begins to pay more attention to the selection of board books in our house, B has found a renewed interest in some of them. Perhaps what draws them to these books is as unique as each of them, but the fact remains that some books continue to be attractive at any age.


The Current Favorite


The book T not only brings to me, but will listen to repeatedly (though often in reverse order or skipping pages) is This Little Piggy, by Teresa Imperato. I’m quite sure he is most attracted by the squishy little pigs embedded in the pages and the little oval holes they peek through as they count down. He also loves to interact with the book and mimic my actions. After I read a page, I’ll count the piggies and point to each one. He now imitates the counting every time we open the book by pointing and tapping each of the pigs. Is he really counting? Of course not, but he is developing the cognitive concept of one-to-one correspondence and the fine-motor skills to single out each piggy. The text is rhythmic and written in rhyme which is a treat for even the littlest ears. What I realized when B sat down to read with us and do some fill-in-the-blank rhyming is that each page places the pigs into a different fairy tale or nursery rhyme which proves very useful for a preschooler!

The Developmental Value of Fairy Tales


While some fairy tales include an underlying moral, many are questionable (Goldilocks) and most nursery rhymes are just nonsense (Song of Sixpence). However, education and cultural norms are dependent on the assumption that children have some familiarity with the most classic fairy tales and nursery rhymes. Children will find references in literature and media right on through the college years. A lack of familiarity might mean missing an allusion or misunderstanding a metaphor. I’m not trying to say preschoolers need remedial classes in nursery rhymes, but with scripted curriculums, TV and computer use, and a host of commercial characters competing for attention, it isn’t surprising that some children begin school never having heard of The Pied Piper or Old King Cole. So when we read This Little Piggy, we also talk about the fairy tales and nursery rhymes the text hints at, and we substantiate our guesses with examination of the illustrations. So what B benefits from and enjoys is different from that which T benefits from and enjoys. But the fact that it is valuable and enjoyable to both of them makes me call it a good book!Appropriate for babies, toddlers, preschoolers.


Ageless Quality


What all kids need (and this is me getting on my soap-box) is an adult to read AND talk with them. If hearing stories read aloud was enough, audio books and digital book readers would suffice. But hearing isn’t enough. When an adult reads to a child, when they discuss and interact with each other and the story, they learn more than what’s on the page.


What makes a book a “classic” in your eyes? Would your child agree? Can you share any books that appeal to different age groups in different ways?

Read more...

(Purple Socks!)

Why We Love Boynton

If you’re a Little Sprout facebook fan you may have noticed that earlier this week I got excited that T wanted to be a part of B’s bedtime story. (If you’re not a facebook fan yet, go click that “like” button in the right sidebar!) This excites me for two reasons: First, as much as T likes to look at pictures, carry books around, and pet the touchy-feely ones, he hasn’t shown a whole lot of interest in stories up till now. Second, if they’ll both snuggle in and listen to a story, bedtime will be soooo much more pleasant and easier to handle. So yesterday, T brought me a book and willingly sat in my lap and listened to THE WHOLE THING! Which book did he find so intriguing, you ask? One of Mommy’s favorites too: Moo, Baa, La La La, by Sandra Boynton.

Irresistible! (And Good For You, Too!)


We have a wide selection of Boynton board books, because they are super fun to read AND have super developmental and literacy-building qualities. All (or at least all I’ve encountered) are rhyming and rhythmic, which help pre-readers memorize, predict, and become involved in the story. Just a few of our favorites (in no particular order):


Moo, Baa, La La La: T’s recent pick. As you can guess, the focus in this one is animal sounds, but some humor is infused by the 3 singing pigs. This contradiction adds both comedy and a cognitive challenge as babies and toddlers begin to process categorization and generalization.


Barnyard Dance: This one was actually B’s early favorite. Could have had to do with the fact that I usually read it with him on my lap and bounced along with the cadence of text and performed along with the motions of the dance with his little arms and legs. It is a great vocabulary development opportunity as well as a chance to work on fine motor skills. You can also read my full review and game suggestion.


But Not the Hippopotamus: This one is a series of couplets, each of which is punctuated by the line: “But not the hippopotamus.” Plenty of laughs in the actions and illustrations, and pre-readers will be chiming right in. Extra twist at the end for a giggle!


The Going to Bed Book: One of the best-loved books in our house. Was a nightly part of bedtime for B for a long time. Daddy actually memorized it after reading it so many times, so he was able to “read” it to B over the phone while away for work. Nice for rehearsal of bedtime routines, like bathing, tooth-brushing, and pajamas. After some mid-book silliness, the conclusion is peaceful and relaxing – just what a bedtime book should be.


Snoozers: Speaking of bedtime books – this one is a tabbed collection of bedtime selections. We often read the whole thing (it is after all, just a board book) but sometimes add just one of the little poems or mini-stories after finishing another book when B is asking for, “just ONE more???”


Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs: A fun romp with rhymes, opposites, and vocabulary, with great illustrations to go with the language!






Hippos Go Berserk: A count-up and count-down story for numbers and number-correspondence practice. Who could help but love a berserk hippo party in the middle?






Doggies: Also an early favorite of B’s. It’s a simple counting book, but as the dogs increase, so does the silliness of making all the different barking noises!

 
What’s Wrong Little Pookie: Little Pookie is a recurring character for Boynton, but this one is a favorite of mine because it is great for bringing out the giggles when we’re experiencing an unexplained funk. Pookie’s mommy tries a long list of suggestions to figure out his bad mood before he reveals he forgot what he was upset about to begin with – sound familiar?


Blue Hat, Green Hat: Anybody notice my post title is my favorite line from this book? B found it hilarious in toddlerhood. The animal characters put on items of clothing in various colors, but each time, the turkey puts his item on incorrectly, resulting in an “Oops!” I would read the text for the appropriately dressed animals, and B would respond with the “oops!” (which was sometimes difficult between belly laughs). At the end of the book, the turkey finally gets his clothes on correctly, and the purple socks appear, (which are not mentioned elsewhere) but he stands poised to dive into a pool fully clothed! Oops! More belly laughs. What is great about this one is that the pictures match the simple text exactly, so B has “read” it to me many times, and has tried to read it to T (despite T’s inattention). Now that T is showing a little more interest, I’ll have to encourage B again!

Are you a Boynton lover too? Do you have a favorite? Or is there another author that you just can’t get enough of? I’d love to hear about it!


Link up any book recommendations of your own and stop by and visit a few others!

Read more...