5 a Day Books: Week 3

Here are our book choices for week 3.  We’re having so much fun with this!

1.  Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr—I wish I had the Brown Bear, Brown Bear… book, but in all my huge collection of children’s books, I’m missing that one.  I buy most of my books used, and it just hasn’t turned up.  When I saw Panda Bear, Panda Bear at a library book sale, I snatched it up quickly!  It features endangered animals, and I always enjoy Eric Carle illustrations.  After a few days, Gabriela was taking turns reading with me.  For example, if I read, “I see a macaroni penguin strutting by me,” then I turned the page, and she quoted, “Macaroni penguin, macaroni penguin, what do you see?”

 

2.  Catch Me, Catch Me!—This Thomas the Tank Engine story was another one of Isaac’s favorites when he was Gabriela’s age.  I chose it partly because Gabriela also loves Thomas, and also because it’s a rhyming book with lots of repetition.  She really enjoyed “reading” this book with me.

3.  Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss—I don’t know if you’ve ever read this book aloud, but it makes me tired.  I almost decided against this one because just the thought of having to read it aloud for 5 days in a row (plus extra times she begged me to read it again) did not appeal to me.  However, it is a great 5 a Day book, and I knew Gabriela would like it.  After the first few days of reading it, I realized that I didn’t mind reading it so many times once Gabriela got actively involved with it.  Her delight in the story made it more fun to read aloud.

4.  Buzz Said the Bee by Wendy Cheyette Lewison—This is a simple and humorous book with a lot of rhyming words and repetitive phrases.  Gabriela loved this one.  The illustrations are really cute.

5.  Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen—This cute story has rhyming and repetition, and asks the question, “Do you know who sank the boat?” every few pages.  Gabriela loved this book, but after I read it to her the first time, she then knew the answer to the question.  Therefore, she chose to interrupt me throughout all the subsequent readings to inform me who sank the boat.  A few times, she almost sounded annoyed because I insisted on reading each line, and she already KNEW the answer!  However, she still begged for the book each day.

I'm linking this post to "5 a Day Books" at The Imagination Tree.

5-a-Day Books: Week 2

Gabriela is loving this 5 a Day Book thing!  She actually goes around the house quoting from these books.  Today (which is now week 3 with new books), she was quoting from Mr. Gumpy’s Motor Car, which I read last week.  It was so cute!  Here’s what we read last week:

1.  Each Peach Pear Plum by Janet and Allan Ahlberg—This is a popular rhyming book here in England.  What makes it fun, aside from the rhyming, is the “I Spy” feature and also the fact that it includes traditional storybook characters such as Cinderella, Tom Thumb, Jack and Jill,  the Three Bears, and more. 

2.  Biscuit by Alyssa Satin Capucilli—We have 3 copies of this book, so each of our children has his/her own.  This was not intentional—all 3 books were gifts at different times.  Anyway, this was one of Isaac’s top favorites when he was a tot—I read it to him a LOT.  Gabriela enjoyed it this week, and she also read along with me.  She could quote most of the story by the end of the week.  It’s a sweet bedtime story, and Gabriela happens to be a lot like Biscuit when it comes to bedtime!   

3.  The Three Little Kittens illustrated by —This well-known nursery rhyme has lots of repetition and is perfect for the 5 a Day Books.  I like the pictures in this version.   

4.  Mr. Gumpy’s Motor Car by John Burningham—This is another popular British book.  This one is about a boy and a girl and several farm animals who all want to take a ride with Mr. Gumpy.  When it starts raining and they get stuck in mud, they all give reasons why they can’t get out and push.  In the end, they all have to help get the car unstuck, and then the sun comes out.  Typical English weather… 

5.  If You Go Walking in Tiger Wood by Alan Durant—I got this book here in England.  I like the cut-outs in the pages showing hiding animals.  It’s also a nice rhyming book and very interactive—very fun to read with tots. 

I’m linking this post to 5 a Day Books at The Imagination Tree.  Doing this challenge has been so rewarding.  Won’t you join us?  Click HERE for details.

5-a-Day Books: Week 1

I recently read about 5-a-Day books, first from Delivering Grace and then from Our Worldwide Classroom, and I love the idea!  I have a passion for children’s books, and I have a very large collection (both American and British favorites) here in England.  I am planning to do some Five in a Row style stuff with Gabriela next year.  I don’t have the manual, and I don’t have several of the books, so I’ll probably come up with my own stuff.  But anyway, this is similar, so I thought I’d give it a try.  A thorough explanation of 5-a-Day books and the link-up can be found at The Imagination Tree.

Basically what you do is choose 5 short picture books to read throughout one week, with at least a few of them having rhyming text or repeated refrain.  They should be simple and appealing.  You read all 5 books aloud to your child everyday during that week.  You choose 5 new books each week.  Reading the same set of books every day helps the child to memorize, retell, and join in the storytelling, among other benefits.  I should mention that this is an early childhood idea, so the focus is on smaller children.

This is my first week participating in 5-a-Day reading.   In this post, I’ll describe the books we read this past week, and then I’ll tell you how it worked for us.  If you follow the link to The Imagination Tree, you can look at all the other linked-up posts to read about the different books people are choosing to read with their younger children.  Some participants are already on week 3 or 4, so be sure to check out the links each week.  The Imagination Tree’s week 2 is HERE and week 3 HERE.  Some mothers keep their 5 books in a nice basket…I need to find something like that.  In my photo, the books are on the rug!

Our choices for Week 1:

1.  Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (Eileen Christelow)—I love this version of the popular children’s rhyme.  The illustrations are soft but humorous and very appealing.  This is actually Gabriela’s favorite of the 5 I chose.  I was sure she’d like the kitten or train book best, but I was wrong!  Five Little Monkeys, if you’re not familiar with it, is a count-down rhyme with lots of repetition.  Every time I read, “The mama called the doctor.  The doctor said…,” Gabriela shouts out, “No more monkeys jumping on the bed!”  She really is starting to memorize the story, and she never gets tired of it.  This is why I’m loving the 5-a-day idea.  Even my older kids like this book, especially the twist at the end where the mama…well, I won’t spoil it for you!

2.  The Foot Book (Dr. Seuss)—I think Dr. Seuss books are perfect for the 5-a-day reading.  The Foot Book is another great example of a rhyming book, and it contains several examples of opposites as well.  Gabriela likes the illustrations, and this is one she picked up yesterday and tried to read to herself.  I was amazed at how much of it she remembered (after only 2 days), and the lines she didn’t remember she just made up, based on the pictures.

3.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Eric Carle)—This was always a favorite in our house…and I mean my house when I was a child!  In fact, this is the copy I had when I was little…it’s very old, ha!  What I love about Eric Carle books is that they’re often interactive or sensory.  In this one, the caterpillar eats through several kinds of fruit (always eating one more than the day before) during a week, but on Saturday, he eats through junk food and gets a tummy ache.  There’s a real hole in every food he eats through.  At the end, he turns into a butterfly (of course).  This book would be perfect for a unit on insects, fruit, nutrition, life cycles, or counting.

4.  Kitten’s Adventure (Michele Coxon)—This is a book I bought here in England.  In fact, I have 3 other cat books written by this author.  My favorite thing about her books is the beautiful illustrations!  This particular books is a very simple “Where are…?” book.  Gabriela enjoys pointing out things on each page.

5.  Freight Train (Donald Crews)—I have this book memorized.  Seriously, I can read it with my eyes shut!  It was Isaac’s favorite when he was 2-3, so it got a lot of use with him!  I chose it partly because Gabriela loves trains and partly because of the simple rhythm of the words and the bright illustrations.  Gabriela enjoys counting all the cars as we read through it.

Gabriela and I both have really enjoyed reading these books each day this week.  Not only is it enjoyable, but I can see the results already.  She’s learning the stories and observing the illustrations more.  I also believe doing this is increasing her love of books.  Maybe that sounds funny to say when this is the first week we’ve done it, but it really seems likes she’s getting more interested in books than before we tried this.

What books do you like reading with your smaller children?  If you’re not reading aloud as much as you’d like to, I challenge you to try the 5-a-Day book idea!

I’m linking this post to "5 a Day Books" at The Imagination Tree.

Tot School: Weeks 24-25 Easter!

I know I’m very late with this post, but I have to take a break sometimes from trying to keep up with my blog.  We had Easter break following this week of school, and we spent that painting and visiting friends.  I didn’t get to do everything I planned because my tot stuff is very unorganized at the minute, and I’ve lost some things!  I’m sure they’ll turn up, and I can use them next year.  Technically, week 25 was after Easter since we had a break, but I just let her play that week.

Easter Sensory Tub—She still likes this one.  Mostly she likes opening the eggs in hopes of chocolate, but she also likes to play with the rabbits.  Read more about this tub HERE.  Opening the eggs was good practice for her, as she improved over time.  She lined the rabbits up on her own, so it was nice to watch her explore the tub!  

Tweezering (is that a word?) and transferring fuzzy chicks and mini egg ornaments—She wasn’t really into this one, but she tried it a few times.    

It worked better when I found some tweezers that were easier for her to manage!

Sewing Easter puppets—I found these at Pound Stretcher (like a dollar store) here in England.  As a result of buying them (I got 2 puppets for 1 pound), I now have plastic sewing needles for future sewing activities!  She enjoyed this, although each puppet took 2 days to sew.  She grew tired of it easily, and I had to keep a constant check that she didn’t tangle the yarn.  The kit included foam stickers to decorate the puppets with. 

Tomy Hide N Squeak Eggs—This is a matching game.

Eggs and Holders—There was no real point to this activity.  I just wanted to give her the eggs, egg cups, and egg cartons to play with however she wanted!

Transferring Chocolate Eggs—I love my rabbit dish!  I can’t remember exactly where I got it, but I did bring it back from America.  Gabriela used a baby spoon to transfer eggs from one side to the other.  Because I let her eat a few of the eggs after completing the transfer, she was willing to try it and did quite well.  

Tissue Paper Rabbit and Egg Shapes—I wasn’t really sure what to do with these.  Finally I just had her match each rabbit to an egg, and we talked about colors.

Coloring a Foam Egg—I let her use markers for this one.  Not only did she have to color on a different surface (foam, egg-shaped solid instead of flat paper), but she had good practice taking marker lids on and off. 

Sound Matching Eggs—I made these last year, and I don’t remember what I put in them.  I think coins and rice were two things I used.  The idea is to use things that will make a sound when the egg is shaken, and have them match the eggs that make the same sound.  Last year, I had more than just 2 sounds to match, but I must have taken those apart.  I did this activity on the spur of the moment and never did put more together.  I have a whole set of 12 sound eggs I made back in the US (when Isaac was this age), but they’re in storage there.

Sewing Puppet #2—This one is the ducky…or is it a chick?  I’m not sure.  Anyway, she did much better this time…I think she’s getting the hang of it now.

One-to-one matching—I have a bunch of small foam eggs and a lot of tiny plastic rabbits and ducks that I wasn’t sure what to do with, so I simply had her put a duck or rabbit on each egg.  I got her to do it by telling her the eggs were like boats, and she had to put one animal on each boat.  She's really into transportation, so that worked.  I guess it’s also fine motor skills, because she had to pick up these tiny animals and try to stand them up on the eggs.  I found the rabbit tin at a yard sale last year. 

Stamping with Paint—I found these Easter stampers at the Pound Stretcher store (the same store I got the puppet kits at).  The set included a rabbit, a chick, a lamb, and an egg.  I don’t let her paint as often as I should, and she really loves working with paint.  

Easter Holiday trip—We visited some friends in Suffolk and got to go to Bury St. Edmunds, which has a cathedral, abbey ruins, an aviary, and gardens.  We also went to Ely and went through the beautiful cathedral there.  Later that evening, we walked to a local park where they had ducks, geese, and swans.

Easter Egg Hunt—To keep things fair for my little tot, we let her hunt eggs first.  Isaac and Moriah enjoyed hiding the eggs for her (I supervised so they wouldn’t make it too easy or too hard).

I’m linking this to “Tot School” at 1+1+1=1.