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]

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In a continued effort to honor my commitment to simplicity (see last week) I am not going to stress myself out by composing a post in an already too full week. I am also honoring my commitment to spend more time visiting and promoting those who are committed to my link up, so if you didn't link last week, I'm adding a week to the linky. Go HERE and link to your book review - then go make some new friends!

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Feed Me Books Friday: The Book I Needed to Read

Giving, Gratitude, and Moderation

Ever have the feeling that a particular book has made its way to your nightstand, shelf, shopping cart, or library tote for a reason? I NEEDED to read Just Enough and Not Too Much this week, and I should renew it from the library up to my renewal limit and reread it several times. I would probably purchase it, but that would undermine the lesson of the book. During the holiday season, we endeavor to focus on gratitude, appreciation, and selflessness, but the temptation to get wrapped (literally) up in consumerism, bargain-hunting, and over-indulgence is hard to avoid.

My Shop-aholic, Pack-rat Tendancies

I do not consider myself truly addicted to shopping, nor do I believe I collect things to the point of hoarding. However, I am well-aware that I get a rush from finding a bargain and I save and pack away more than is necessary and sometimes reasonable. What do these confessions have to do with children’s books, you’re wondering? Kaethe Zemach’s Just Enough andNot Too Much found its way into my library stack purely by chance as I browsed the shelves without intention. It was just before Thanksgiving and the title piqued my interest. I hoped for a “count your blessings” kind of moral to guide my discussions of gratitude with B and counter some of the “gimme” behaviors ramping up with the holiday store displays and toy catalogs arriving daily. Little did I know it would speak to me as well.

Do You Need It?

Just Enough and Not Too Much is the story of Simon the Fiddler, who lives a contented life until he decides that the things he has make him so happy that he should get even more so he can be happier. So he gets more stuffed animals, more chairs, more of everything that makes him happy, only to find that his crowded house no longer makes him happy, it makes him uncomfortable. He invites all his friends over for a fun party, and then literally shares his happiness when he sends them home with all his extra items. He finds that sharing makes him happier than all the things he had filled his home with, and he goes back to his contented, simple life. There are so many lessons in this book for both children and adults: being content with what we have, the joy of sharing, the value of simplicity, which could all  be adjusted to fit the needs of your own family situation. I’m focusing less on surrounding my Christmas tree with gifts and more on sharing the experiences of the season with my children and my family. I am prone to over-do the joy of sharing with my kids to the point of fearing we spoil them sometimes, so I’m also focusing on simplicity for both me and them.

Appropriate for: toddlers, preschoolers, primary grades, everyone!

How do you stay focused on "Just Enough?"

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Feed Me Books Friday: Changing the Bedtime Routine, Again

Make room!

My husband and I were marveling the other night at the 180 degree shift T has made in his attitude toward books. Where we once couldn’t pin him down long enough to get through a wordless board book, we now have to set a limit on stories before he pulls every title off the bookshelf (and not just for the fun of the mess). It gives me great joy to say T has become a book lover. I even had to have J bring half a dozen books from home for T’s recentstay at the hospital. We read them so many times I think I’ll have to hide them for the next couple of months just to give myself a break! With T’s growing interest in books, we’ve made an adjustment to the bedtime routine, namely, making room in B’s bed for T to listen to books, too. Now, each boy gets to choose a book for Daddy to read. T usually insists on positioning himself in the middle rather than letting J hold the book between the boys – which is odd – I guess he likes the cuddle factor as much as he enjoys the stories. 

Sibling Sweetness

The combination of my existing fondness for warm andfuzzy bedtime books and the glow I’m basking in thanks to T’s newfound love of reading led to a special affinity for Goodnight Me, Goodnight You, by TonyMitton. I stumbled upon this gem at the library, but I’ve already put it on my Amazon wishlist because I found the soothing text and vibrant but still mellow illustrations so pleasant that I’m sure we’ll need (and enjoy) repeated readings. The story, written in rhyming couplets, follows the bedtime routine of a sister and brother as they bid goodnight to their day, their surroundings, and the world. It concludes with the siblings telling one another goodnight and settling into bed. While T and B are certainly not going to put each other to bed, it is a treasured feeling to see them cuddling up together to foster literacy as well as emotional bonds.

Appropriate for toddlers, preschoolers, primary grades.

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Feed Me Books Friday: The Cupboard Was Bare

Sunday morning, T woke up with a congested nose and a cough. This afternoon his pediatrician said his cough will probably linger and I should use a saline rinse in his nose, but he's otherwise just fine. In the three-and-a-half days in between, we had two trips to urgent care, an ambulance ride to the ER, diagnoses of respiratory distress and pneumonia, two nights in the hospital, seemingly countless nebulizer treatments, and some major disruptions to our household. We are grateful to be on the recovering end of this little curve-ball life threw at us, but I can't say we are quite back to normal. 
I am behind on visiting the friendly and talented folks who link their posts and leave comments here. I have no review prepared for this week, and while I could stay up tonight and write something, I'm going to trust that my readers will afford me the luxury of catching up on sleep now, and catching up on blogging later. I do have a request of you though: B has been coming home from kindergarten reciting nursery rhymes (Three Little Kittens, Jack and Jill, etc) and I'd love to encourage his interest. There are any number of collections and anthologies of nursery rhymes, but I'm wondering if anyone has a favorite? Best collection? Best illustrations? Some other intriguing reason? 
For those who loyally visit and link up every week, I am including a link tool in this post, and I hope you'll visit one another until I can get caught up and make the rounds. 
Counting my blessings and soon some zzzz's.

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