by admin | Oct 16, 2014 | Categories
My little guy loves books. We read every day, and always before bed. He’s learning to turn the pages and will sit with his books by himself for a long while. They’re also great to take along in the car and to restaurants. Here are some of our favorite board books:
Joyce Wan Books
Beautiful, bright illustrations, sweet text. My son loves these. This is just a few of her books.
Interactive Books
Books with actions you can do together or pages for the toddler to lift flaps, push buttons or pull tabs.
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Colors All Around by Disney Junior
Pop-up Peekaboo: Things that Go
Pop-up Peekaboo: Woof! Woof!
Pop-up Peekaboo: Farm
Pop-up Peekaboo: Colors
Bedtime Books
The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton
Pajama Time by Sandra Boynton
Little Owl’s Night by Divya Srinivasam
Down in the Woods at Sleepytime by Carole Lexa Schaefer
Kiss Good Night by Amy Hest
Good Night America by Adam Gamble
It’s Time to Sleep My Love by Nancy Tillman
Reading every day–even at this age is vital–but how many babies sit still for an entire board book? On those high energy days we choose books with the fewest words. They are still learning book skills, such as holding the book up-right, turning pages and word boundaries. These are bright, colorful books with illustrations little ones love.
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Books with one word per page: quick to read and
great for asking questions and pointing to things. |
BabyLit Books
Love, love, love these. What a great way to introduce your little ones to your favorite classics. Each book teaches an age-appropriate skill such as colors and numbers.
Cozy Classics
My son loves the photos in these books. The doll characters are charming.
Les Petits Fairytales
One to two words per page, but you can easily expand them by retelling the stories in your own words and discussing the illustrations.
More Beautiful Favorites:
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| Silly Boynton books are always a favorite. |
Always check Dollar Stores and Dollar sections at places like Jo-Ann’s and Target. We’ve gotten many wonderful board books there.
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| Some of the fun books we’ve found at Target’s Dollar Spot. |
by admin | Sep 19, 2014 | Categories
We’ve taken dozens of road trips with our little guy the past few months. Dozens. Some went great, some went horribly, horribly wrong. Some were with both of us, and–the horrible, horrible one–were just me driving. One 6.5 hour road trip turned into almost 10 hours.
I was prepared to stretch out the trips: take lots of breaks, let our new walker get out and walk, drink lots of coffee. But I didn’t expect him to be so miserable for so many hours.
Road Trips are incredibly boring for little ones. They can’t really
see out the window, they’re not into listening to books on CD, they’re stuck in his carseat for hours. It’s very hard to keep them entertained when you’re focused on the road.
Over the course of these road trips I’ve gathered tips and tricks that makes it easier on D. Which makes it easier on me, and safer for all of us.
Tip #1
Go To The Park First. This is a MUST before going anywhere long distance. This has made all the difference in our long car rides. I took him to the closest playground for 15-20 minutes before we set out. This has become such an important step we’ve automatically added it into our travel routine. A little fun, a little exercise ensures he will sleep for up to two hours in the car. This is a huge stress reliever for mom.
Tip #2
Find Parks Along The Way. This has also been permanently added into our travel time. We’ll do this around lunch time, or halfway through an 8 or 6 hour trip. I pull up the map on my smartphone, look for a green splotch near our route and hope for hope best. You can also search for nearby Elementary schools. These are public grounds anyone is allowed to use. Still, i
t’s probably best to go after school hours or on a weekend out of respect for the kids and teachers. We’ve found amazing playgrounds this way. Even if it’s not a great playground, the kids don’t care. Just being a new place where they run, stretch their legs and climb makes is a wonderful treat.
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I used the map app on my smartphone
to locate parks just off our route. It’s hit or miss,
but we have found several lovely parks. |
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| We found this little park somewhere in NC. |
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Even in the light rain, we had fun climbing,
exploring and stretching our legs. |
Tip #3
Go To The Park Even In The Rain. Seriously. It’s worth it. Take jackets, towels, a change of clothes. Whatever. It works, I swear.
*What Didn’t Work: The playground at Chik-Fil-A. Ugh, that was awful. That was the first park my son asked to leave. The toddler area consisted of games on a wall that were either broken or too high for him to reach. There was nothing fun or energy-releasing about that playground. I don’t eat chicken so I really don’t know if all the playgrounds are this bad. Or the ones at McDonalds either for that matter. I imagine they are more fun for older kids. And they’re hard to find when you’re on the road. Local parks are noted on the map app on my smartphone, so it’s an easier and safer choice.
Tip #4
Keep A Basket of Toys Within Reach. I got this idea from my friend when we were sitting there one day brainstorming ways to make the road trip easier for D. In fact, Tip #4.5 should be Brainstorm With Your Friends. I grabbed an empty storage basket from our pantry and tied it securely to the armrest next to D’s carseat. (Later I bought a car storage organizer like this Diono Travel Pal.) I filled it with things he loved, like his Super Grover Remote Control, a few dollar store board books, a Mickey, a Donald, a Goofy, etc. I also put in new toys, or toys I’d hidden and he’d forgotten about. This worked so well the basket has become a permanent fixture in our car. Toys and books are easily switched out and he puts his bottle in it when he’s finished, which is much better than throwing it around the car.
*Safety Tip: Use soft toys and cloth books when possible. Just a fast break can send thing flying around.
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The basket is tied with a simple ribbon to
the arm rest. |
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| Toys and books are easily within reach. |
Tip #5
Keep A Basket of Toys Within Your Reach. When he got bored with what he had, I reached back and handed him something new. I kept this basket on the seat next to me. It wasn’t toys though. It was filled with real life objects–every baby’s favorite. Stuff that was safe for him obviously, stuff he’d never seen before, and stuff–when possible– with buttons to push on it.
A sampling of what I handed him:
Sunglasses. He’s obsessed with sunglasses right now.
Dad’s hat.
Gloves.
A stud finder with a button on the side that beeps.
A kitchen…what is that? A baster brush or something. It’s rubbery and fun.
A USB converter plug. The plug legs pop in and out. A reusable K-Cup.
A notepad because he doesn’t eat paper anymore. He can tear out every page for all I care. (No crayons though. He does still eat those. Plus I wouldn’t want to lose one in the car and have it melt.)
A small roll of twine. He had fun unwinding it and making a mess. Did I care if he unwound the entire thing? Nope. I did keep my eye on him while he had this, but he’s never wrapped anything around his neck. |
A few things I handed back to D during the trip.
Just be sure you’re able to keep a close eye on them. |
Tip #6
Video. I used to be a little weirded out by all the kids I’d see watching TV in the car. Surely they’re addicted. Surely there are better ways they could spend their time in the car. But I was wrong. I am totally on board with kids watching TV in car. Anything that makes driving safer is perfectly ok with me. We don’t have a DVD player for the car, so I got an iPad holder that hangs on the headrest in front of him and downloaded a couple Disney movies from iTunes. Extra Tip when using an iPad: Keep their shoes on. Otherwise they’ll keep turning it of with their feet.
*What Didn’t Work: Videos. He’s one. He just didn’t care. However, by the time he was 14 months he would watch up to 20 minutes of Finding Nemo. When you’re driving alone it’s not easy to turn the iPad on and off, so this isn’t a great tip. But I love the iPad hanger I got. I’m sure it’ll be great in the future.
Tip #7
Snacks. We had his snack cup with the rubber lid within reach, filled with goldfish, yogurt melts or cheez-its. We also put his bottle (way safer spillage-wise for the car) in his toy basket.
*What Didn’t Work: Snacks. Not a big eater. I’m sure this will change in the future, but unless it’s cheez-its he just doesn’t care.
Tip #8
Make a Playlist: D loves this. It’s amazing how the screaming and whining stop when he hears his favorite songs. We listen to a lot of music at home and in his classes, so I know what songs he likes. His playlist starts out with Hot Dog! from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. About 10 songs in, I added the songs from his bedtime playlist–songs that make him fall asleep every time. Some of D’s favorites: The Muppet Show Theme Song, Be Our Guest from Beauty and the Beast, In Summer by Josh Gad from Frozen, Mickey Mouse Club March by The Mouseketeers, Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star by Jewel, Hallelujah by k.d. lang, Beautiful Boy by John Lennon, Animal Crackers in My Soup by Shirley Temple.
by admin | Aug 4, 2014 | Categories
YouTube Videos for Early Readers
*Always preview YouTube links before showing them to your kids. Check the video for words changed into inappropriate words as well as foul language in the comments. I don’t know what’s wrong with people. *Also beware of ads placed on some of these videos as they can also be inappropriate. **ALWAYS PREVIEW!
Songs with visible lyrics are great for getting kids reading. Print out the lyrics for them to read while they sing too! You can find some of my printable lyrics under the Learning to Read Through Songs tab.
Disney Sing Along Songs Channel These are great. And FREE! There are about 15, here are two:
- Muffin Songs Channel Some have lyrics, some don’t. Some phonics songs, some classic songs.
- Schoolhouse Rock Channel Some of these will definitely be over the heads of the little ones, but my first graders LOVED the Noun and Adjective songs
- KidsTV123 So many cute learning songs for kids 2 to 7. Everything from alphabet and shapes to Brushing your Teeth and Countries of the World.
- HooplaKidz Lots of really cute songs here, some with lyrics, some without. (Although I really hate it when something specifically for children is purposely spelled wrong. Pet peeve.)
by admin | Aug 4, 2014 | Categories
Songs are a great to way to boost learning. They help with memorization, vocabulary and kids love them.
Print out lyrics to your kids favorite songs for word-to-word correspondence. In my class each child has a binder with song lyrics and poems. We play a few songs everyday, use song time as a reward, a brain break, a transition. And on Fridays, instead of Silent Reading during Reading Groups we have “Loud Reading” where they get to read (or sing) from their Lyric binders. It amazes me the words they pick up from these songs–then carry over to books.
Music on CD
Hap Palmer–Website –His calming songs teach specific skills and have whole group activities that go with them.
Learning Basic Skills Vol. I
Learning Basic Skills Vol. II I love “Paper Clocks”, “Parade of Colors” and “Let’s Dance”
Getting To Know Myself
Greg and Steve–Website Interactive Learning Songs for kids 3 to 9, many of them fast and upbeat.
Vol. 2 We All Live Together
Kids in Motion
Fun & Games
Sesame Street Music
Platinum All-Time Favorites
Sing the Alphabet
Kids Favorite Songs
Dr. Jean Feldman–Website Songs that teach colors, phonics, manners, presidents, everything you can imagine. Her website has lyrics, activities and lost of teacher tips.
Dr. Jean and Friends
Sing To Learn
All Day Long
Kiss Your Brain
Some Dr. Jean lyrics: Alphardy, Color Farm, Rhyme Time, My Mother is a Baker
Ella Jenkins–Website Beautiful children’s songs from all over the world.
You’ll Sing a Song and I’ll Sing a Song –follow the links to hear samples
Songs Children Love to Sing
Multicultural Children’s Songs
Growing Up with Ella Jenkins
*Do your kids have favorite songs or CDs? Send me your suggestions! WildRumpusSchoolHouse@gmail.com
YouTube
*Always preview YouTube links before showing them to your kids. Check the video for words changed into inappropriate words as well as foul language in the comments. I don’t know what’s wrong with people. *Also beware of ads placed on some of these videos as they can also be inappropriate. **ALWAYS PREVIEW!
Schoolhouse Rock Channel Some of these will definitely be over the heads of the little ones, but my 1st graders LOVED the Noun and Adjective songs, Electricity and Mother Necessity.
Kids123 Channel Adorable, sweet, calm songs from alphabet to shapes to counting
by admin | Aug 3, 2014 | Categories
An inexpensive and easy way to make Easy Readers is to use
your child’s favorite coloring books and re-write the text.
Write sentences on post-it notes, masking tape or white cover-up tape you can find in office supply or teacher stores. I like Post-It Labeling and Cover Up Tape.
Using this technique you can incorporate words your child is struggling with or word lists from their teacher. Check out grade level word lists at dolchsightwords.org.
The example below teaches the sight words THIS and IS. Anna and Prince Hans will become sight words the more the child reads them.
Kids love seeing their favorite characters and learning to read their names. I’ve also done this in the classroom by making copies and small packets for the entire class.
*You can also print the Sight Word books I created for my classes
here.
by admin | Aug 3, 2014 | Categories
Confused about what books to buy your young readers?
The predictable, repetitive readers your child reads in school aren’t readily available to parents.
Libraries are filled with wonderful, beautiful storybooks,
but 4, 5 and 6 year olds can become frustrated trying to read them.
Here is a list of some book series and authors that cater to beginning readers:
Dr. Seuss Beginning Readers
Elephant and Piggie Books By Mo Willems
David books by David Shannon
Dog and Cat by Paul Fehlner
One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root
Have You Seen My Cat? by Eric Carle
Bears in the Night by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Bob Books by Bobby Lynn Maslen and John R. Maslen
Starfall
A free website with games, stories and videos created for early, emergent readers ages 3 to 7.
Kids love the website (starfall.com) and now you can buy the accompanying books.
First Little Readers Parent Packs: Guided Reading Books
Published by Scholastic, these are leveled readers that coordinate perfectly with most school reading levels, from late PreK to 1st grade. Each box contains 15 to 25 books, a parent guide, colorful illustrations and just one to two lines of text.
Level A (preK)
Level B (kinder)
Level C (kinder)
Sight Word Readers (kinder to 1st, includes activities and practices pages)
Folk & Fairy Tales (kinder to 1st)
*AND you can make your own easy readers by adding sentences to coloring books.
Write sentences on white masking tape you can find in office supply or teacher stores.
*Tips to Remember:
Look for repetitive books, rhyming books and books they can easily memorize. Memorizing text–and learning to recognize the words they’re reading–is a great early reading step. This is how they develop a sight word vocabulary.
Once kids have a decent sight word vocabulary, try these My First I Can Read books
and I Can Read, Level 1 books:
