Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

Book Basket (10/11/09-10/18-09)

Sunday, October 11th, 2009

Here is what we have in our book basket to read for this week:

New Additions

  • Prayer for a Child written by Rachel Field and illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones (ITP)***—Caldecott Medal Book
  • Ten Tiny Tickles written and illustrated by Karen Katz (ITP)
  • Ten, Nine, Eight written and illustrated by Molly Bang (ITP)—Caldecott Honor Book
  • The ABC Bunny written and illustrated by Wanda Ga’g (ITP)—Newberry Honor Book
  • The Runaway Bunny written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd (ITP)

Remaining Books

  • David Gets In Trouble written and illustrated by David Shannon (TPE)
  • No David! written and illustrated by David Shannon (TPE)—Caldecott Honor Book
  • There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly written and illustrated by Simms Taback (TPE)—Caldecott Honor Book
  • We’re Going On a Bear Hunt written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (TP)
  • Yo! Yes! written and illustrated by Chris Raschaka (TPE)—Caldecott Honor Book
  • Jamberry written and illustrated by Bruce Degan (IT)***
  • Maisy at the Fair written and illustrated by Lucy Cousins (IT)
  • Deep in the Forest written and illustrated by Brinton Turkle (ITP)
  • Green Eggs and Ham written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss (ITP)
  • Just Me written and illustrated by Marie Hall Ets (ITP)—Caldecott Honor Book
  • Corduroy’s Best Halloween Ever based on the character created by Don Freeman and illustrated by Lisa McCue (TP)***
  • Katy No Pocket written by Emmy Payne and illustrated by H.A. Rey (ITP)
  • My Very First Mother Goose edited by Iona Opie and illustrated by Rosemary Wells (ITP)
  • My World written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd (ITP)
  • One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss (ITP)

***In parentheses I have listed the appropriate age range for each book. I=Infant, T=Toddler, P=Preschooler, E=Elementary, M=Middle School, YA=Young Adult.

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“Stop that this instant!”

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

One of the boys favorite books right now is No, David! written and illustrated by David Shannon. The book chronicles the reprimands a little boy named David get’s from his mom.

David writes on the wall,  tries to get cookies out of the cookie jar, tracks mud through the house, splashes bath water all over the bathroom, runs out of the house naked, and many more naughty things, but at the end of the book, David’s mom gives him a big hug and tells him that she loves him.

I have to wonder if my boys like this book so much because they can identify with David.

There is one page in the book where David has his finger up his nose and his mom says, “Stop that this instant!” This is by far my boys favorite page of the book to act out. They will stick there little fingers up their noses, wait for me to say the line from the book and then die laughing.

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Book Basket (9/27/09 to 10/3/09)

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

Here is what we have in our book basket to read for this week:

New Additions

  • Jamberry written and illustrated by Bruce Degan (IT)***
  • Maisy at the Fair written and illustrated by Lucy Cousins (IT)
  • Deep in the Forest written and illustrated by Brinton Turkle (ITP)
  • Green Eggs and Ham written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss (ITP)
  • Just Me written and illustrated by Marie Hall Ets (ITP)—Caldecott Honor Book

Remaining Books

  • David Gets In Trouble written and illustrated by David Shannon (TPE)
  • Goodnight Gorilla written and illustrated by Peggy Rathmann (TP)
  • I Like Bugs written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by G. Brian Karas (TP)
  • No David! written and illustrated by David Shannon (TPE)—Caldecott Honor Book
  • Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? written by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle (TP)
  • Sheep In a Jeep written by Nancy Shaw and illustrated by Margot Apple (TP)
  • The Carrot Seed written by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Crockett Johnson (TP)
  • The Eye Book written by Dr. Seuss and illustrated by Joe Mathieu (TP)
  • The Foot Book written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss (TP)
  • The Shape of Me and Other Stuff written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss (TP)
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar written and illustrated by Eric Carle (TP)
  • There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly written and illustrated by Simms Taback (TPE)—Caldecott Honor Book
  • Watch Your Step Mr. Rabbit! written and illustrated by Richard Scarry (TP)
  • We’re Going On a Bear Hunt written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (TP)
  • Yo! Yes! written and illustrated by Chris Raschaka (TPE)—Caldecott Honor Book

***In parentheses I have listed the appropriate age range for each book. I=Infant, T=Toddler, P=Preschooler, E=Elementary, M=Middle School, YA=Young Adult.

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Books Galore!

Sunday, September 20th, 2009

We have a ton of children’s books, too many actually. I hate shopping, but the one thing I can manage to shop for with great enthusiasm is children’s books.

For many months, I have immersed myself in trying to organize our books and come up with a system for making our book collection accessible to the boys without being overwhelming.

To help in this quest, I purchased The New York Times Parent’s Guide To The Best Books For Children by Eden Ross Lipson. The book hosts over 1,700 titles and several indexes listing the books by title, author, illustrator, age appropriateness, subject, and more.

Using this book, I have weeded out our book collection and organized it based on the age appropriateness. The books are divided into Infant+, Toddler+, Preschool+, Elementary+, Middle School+, and Young Adult.

I have packed away our Elementary+, Middle School+ and Young Adult books until the boys are older. I am storing the Preschool+ books in file crates until the boys are ready for them. We will be reading through the Infant+ and Toddler+ books in our collection.

To organize the Infant+ and Toddler+ books so they will be read and I can keep track of when they are read, I have entered the titles and age level into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. We have about 150 books for these age groups. I then added a filter so I can easily sort the books by age level. As I go along, I may add themes to the spreadsheet, but my number one goal right now is making the books usable and easily accessible to the boys.

After entering the books into the spreadsheet, I went through the list and pulled out the boys favorite books. There were 20 titles that they seem to love having read to them. I then placed them in a book basket that I will keep out for them so they can read the books anytime they want. On a weekly basis, I will swap out a quarter of the books, in our case 5, with other titles from our collection. I am hoping by doing this, the boys will keep some familiar well loved titles at their fingertips for their reading enjoyment, but I will also be able to rotate in other titles that will hopefully become favorites.

Here is what we have in our book basket for this week:

  • Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? written by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle (ITP)***
  • Chicka Chicka Boom Boom written by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault and illustrated by: Lois Ehlert (TP)
  • David Gets In Trouble written and illustrated by David Shannon (TPE)
  • Freight Train written and illustrated by Donald Crews (TP)—Caldecott Honor Book
  • Goodnight Gorilla written and illustrated by Peggy Rathmann (TP)
  • Goodnight Moon written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Clement Hurd (ITP)
  • I Like Bugs written by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by G. Brian Karas (TP)
  • More More More Said the Baby written and illustrated by Vera B. Williams (ITP)—Caldecott Honor Book
  • No David! written and illustrated by David Shannon (TPE)—Caldecott Honor Book
  • Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear? written by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle (TP)
  • Sheep In a Jeep written by Nancy Shaw and illustrated by Margot Apple (TP)
  • The Carrot Seed written by Ruth Krauss and illustrated by Crockett Johnson (TP)
  • The Eye Book written by Dr. Seuss and illustrated by Joe Mathieu (TP)
  • The Foot Book written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss (TP)
  • The Shape of Me and Other Stuff written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss (TP)
  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar written and illustrated by Eric Carle (TP)
  • There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly written and illustrated by Simms Taback (TPE)—Caldecott Honor Book
  • Watch Your Step Mr. Rabbit! written and illustrated by Richard Scarry (TP)
  • We’re Going On a Bear Hunt written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (TP)
  • Yo! Yes! written and illustrated by Chris Raschaka (TPE)—Caldecott Honor Book

***In parentheses I have listed the appropriate age range for each book. I=Infant, T=Toddler, P=Preschooler, E=Elementary, M=Middle School, YA=Young Adult.

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Preschool for 2009-2010

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

It is hard to believe that the summer is nearly over and school time is upon us. Time truly does fly when you are busy and having fun.

Over the past several weeks, I have been thinking about our preschool plans for Ethan. He is three, and it is time for a more structured approach to learning.

With that being said, let me preface my comments with this: My goal for Ethan and Hayden during their preschool year is not learning content (although content will be taught). Overall, I would like for them to have fun learning, to spend time exploring, to develop a love for knowledge and the skills to seek that knowledge out as they continue in their education.

I have explored several different preschool education philosophies, and I think I have come to like some of the ideas associated with Montessori. I know that the free choice aspect of the Montessori philosophy will not work for Ethan. However, the hands on sensory approach to learning seems a perfect match for Ethan.

I will aim to have one and a half hours of structured school time per day. I have loosely divided our school time into several courses that will be explored several times throughout the week.

Within the loose framework I have established a structured flexibility. I have created activity lists to provide a sequence for presentation. However, the amount of time spent on an activity and the number of times an activity is completed are at Ethan’s discretion. Once an activity is presented, he will be able to choose to do that activity within our allotted school day. Within each activity list, I have also given myself flexibility to add other activities and ideas to our lists.

I do not have a preschool plan for Hayden for this school year. In my opinion he is a bit young to have a scheduled school time. However, I am sure he will want to participate with Ethan in school. I will provide him with some learning activities that are similar, but age appropriate, to what Ethan is doing.

We will officially begin school on August 25. There is nothing special about the day, that is just when schools here start. I am looking forward to our learning journey.

Below, I have listed the learning goals I have for Ethan over the course of the next school year and some of the resources (books and websites) that I will be using to construct our daily curriculum.

Learning Goals

Bible (Monday-Friday)

  • Develop daily Bible reading and prayer habits
  • Become familiar with several well known Bible stories

Language (Monday-Friday)

  • Continued vocabulary development
  • Categorizing
  • Rhyming
  • Begin basic writing
  • Identify letters of the alphabet and sounds each letter makes
  • Sequence letters
  • Identify beginning sounds of words

Math (Monday-Friday)

  • Count objects to 10
  • Recognize numerals to 10
  • Sequence numbers to 10

History (Monday-Friday)

  • Develop a sense of time
  • Monitor weather and seasons
  • Explore familial connections
  • Learn stories of famous people

Story Time (Monday-Friday)

  • Continued appreciation for literature
  • Explore various literary genres
  • Develop attention span
  • Engage in questioning
  • Develop comprehension skills

Practical Life Skills (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)

  • Continue developing fine motor control
  • Continue developing sorting, matching, and patterning skills

Sensory Development (Tuesday, Thursday)

  • Develop all five senses and sensory discrimination

Geography (Monday)

  • Identify the three elements of the earth (land, air, and water)
  • Become familiar with globes and maps and their purpose
  • Develop a sense of place and where he lives

Visual Art (Tuesday)

  • Explore art and craft projects that require cutting, gluing, drawing, and painting
  • Follow verbal and visual directions
  • Continue to develop appreciation for Art

Natural Sciences (Wednesday)

  • Explore biological science concepts including living and nonliving, animals, the human body, five senses, and plants.
  • Explore physical science concepts including water, optics, air, magnetism, gravity, and sound

Music and Movement (Thursday)

  • Continue to develop an appreciation for music
  • Explore rhythm

Computer Time (Friday)

  • Learn to use the mouse (computer) and remote controller (V-Smile and V-Motion)
  • Continue to develop listening skills
  • Follow directions
  • Develop attention span

Books

Basic Montessori by David Gettman

Montessori on a Shoestring by Jody Erickson

Climbing Art Obstacles in Autism by Karen Loden Talmage

The Eentsy, Weentsy Spider Fingerplays and Action Rhymes by Joanna Cole and Stephanie Calmenson

The Rhyme Bible Storybook for Toddlers by L.J. Sattgast

What Your Preschooler Needs to Know by E.D. Hirsch, Jr. and Linda Bevilacqua

Online Resources

Montessori Teacher’s Collective—I will be using several activities from their online culture album.

Shu-Chen Jenny Yen’s On-line Montessori Albums—I will be using several activities from her math, language, sensorial, and practical life albums.

Homeschool SkedTrack—I will be using this online web application to plan, organize, and schedule our days.

Montessori Materials—I will be using some of the printables for our learning experiences.

Montessori for Everyone—I will be using some of the printables for our learning experience.

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