Summer Life With Autism & Year Round Homeschooling

Posted on September 26, 2018 by earlylearningmom

Summer is officially over. My big kids are back at their respected schools, and Little Z is back to the homeschool grind. Well not that we really stopped learning since we are year round homeschoolers. But we did pull out the new curriculum a few weeks ago.

Life has been very hectic the last few months and I had taken a long unplanned hiatus from blogging and YouTube. I just felt that I was being pulled away from this platform. Instead I needed to put all my energy into my family. Last September my body was getting so run down. I got sick 2 times that month. It made me see I had to slow down.

Now with this fresh start of a new school year, I am hopeful that moving forth with this blog is the right thing to do. I miss sharing about our lives and journey. It is therapeutic to me, and I need that right now.

Attack of the Disappearing Blog

Something that made me realize how important this site is to me was when it went down. A few months ago my credit card number information was stolen. Someone in the UK had a blast buying things off of Google Play, and grocery shopping. So obviously my credit card was canceled, and fraud claims were put in. Thank goodness I didn’t have to pay anything for that. But when I received my new credit card, I forgot to change the number on my host site. For some odd reason I did not receive any emails from the company saying this was going on and my site was taken down. Thankfully I noticed soon enough and was able to do a disaster recovery.

The thought of my site that I have worked on and off on for the last 8 years being *poof* gone made me sick to my stomach. This made me realize I needed to get back here and start sharing our life journey again. Even if what I write about helps only one other mom, it’s all worth it. Plus on a personal level, its a log of how far my family has come during these last 8 years. I explained it to my husband as if all our family pictures burned and I had no way of getting them back. I’m so grateful to have my little piece of the internet back safe.

All About Day-camp

This summer just seemed to go by so fast. In July, Wesley was involved in two day camps.

The first full week off of school he attended a camp for kids ages 10-14 years old. They had 1:1 camp counselors that switched each day. This way the kids would focus on building relationships with their peers, and not as much with the adults. The best part was Zakari’s old ABA tutor, and the respite worker that took Wes to camp last year was a counselor there! They worked on social, life and planning skills. Some of that activities they were involved in were Skyzone Trampoline Park, archery, bowling, Shapes Gym, swimming, and sports. Lunch preparation and cleanup tasks were rotated so campers actively participated. Something else that impressed me was they showed the kids how to do some basic auto maintenance like checking oil, tire pressure and adding oil and other fluids to a car.

Two weeks later Wesley started a second one week day camp. A van came right to the house every morning and picked him up, and dropped him off in the evening. This was so helpful to me as a busy work at home mom. The camp two weeks before had me orchestrating a drop off and pick up schedule with my family and my ex’s family. It was one less thing to worry about. He spent his week learning to cook with camp friends, enhancing independence, trying out adapted sports, and allowing him to develop & grow friendships with the staff and other peers. They visited the Human Rights Museum, a local water park, and spent the day at Camp Manitou.

Summer Reading Challenge

During May, FullTimeWifeLife whom I follow on YouTube announced she was hosting a Summer Reading Challenge. So Zakari and I signed up. He was able to collect $100 in pledges & he read over 1200 mins between June 1st & July 15th.

Zakari earned a total of 25 books and a back pack. Plus his group earned $700 worth of books for less fortunate kids. It was such an awesome program we can’t wait till next summer to participate again!

As his mother I’m most excited about the Hey Jack! books. They look great for a kiddo who grew up on the Doman program. The writing a large and clear. I believe these will be the first chapter books he reads to be aloud this year. Thank you again Abby!

Where Did August Go?

The month of August just flew by. From the 3rd to the 19th, Wes was off with his dad. He spent time at his dad’s place, then a week at a cabin, and then out to Gimli for a car show before he came back home. Between the 12th and the 22nd my stepdaughter was off to Disney with her grandparents. So during the time it overlapped that they were both gone Zakari was an only child. I think it was nice for him to get our undivided attention.

The kids are blessed with an aunt who owns a pool and loves to have them over to swim. Three times during the summer we went over there and lounged in her pool. It is fun to see each year how the kids have developed their swimming skills through all their swimming lessons during the year. Even Little Z was more independent in the pool with his life jacket. I did not have to be standing and holding onto him the whole time. I was able to float or sit on the side of the pool within arms reach and enjoy everyone’s company. Its sad the cooler weather is blowing in and the pool is closed for the summer.

Forget August, Where Has September Gone???

Like I said we have started school. Zakari was the first to start. We were so excited to dive into his new Bookshark Kindergarten curriculum. We started a day early on Tuesday September 4th. This curriculum is just such a perfect fit for my son. Several of the books these last few weeks have sucked us both in. I can’t image what we would have missed if I had just put him in the Grade 1 level.

A week later we introduced Calvert Grade 1. No, I did not purchase the whole Calvert curriculum new. $1500 US dollars is way out of my budget no matter how good the curriculum is. But I was able to get all the textbooks & most of the materials from a mom on an American homeschool Facebook group for $80 US shipped. I had looked at this curriculum years ago when Wesley was homeschooling kindergarten, but the price tag blew my mind.

Next up was Wesley. On September 5th he went off to his first day of grade 8. Guys, he’s in GRADE 8 now! I’m not entirely sure how that happened. This is his last year in middle school, then he is off to high school. He also started back up with piano & his once a week evening group at the local school gym. Two weeks ago we met his new teachers at the school BBQ. I also met one of his buddies that he has lunch with. I hope he’s off to a good start.

Then on the 7th we sent Chloe off to start grade 7. She’s already had one overnight camping trip with her class, and seems to be enjoying school. She’s soaking in book after book. I love that she shares my love of reading.

Portage La Prairie Here We Come!

September means Zakari’s favourite place is open again, the Portage La Prairie Aquatic Centre. We have already taken the 1 hour 20 mins journey out there. He loves that place so much. I look forward to several more visits between now and June when they close up again for the summer.

What Does Year Round Homeschooling Look Like For Us?

So I mentioned that we are year round homeschoolers. Because Zakari is a creature of habit, we have decided that homeschooling year round is in his best interest. This allows us flexibility throughout the year. If either of us is having a bad day, we can put the books away without fear of running out of time.

However year round homeschooling this past year allowed us the time to go through two full curriculums. We started the year with Bookshark PreK, which we finished in April. Between April and August we started and completed Build Your Library Level 0.

Homeschooling Year round allowed us to enjoy all the books in the PreK Level and still hit and complete our kindergarten year. So we not only stick to a routine that worked for him, and allowed flexibility, we also completed more this year then we would have if we stuck to a strict 36 week school year.

Weight Watcher Journey

Something this summer that I did for myself was joining Weight Watchers Online. My weight was climbing past my comfort level, and my body was starting to rebel. I’m happy to say I was able to lose 22 lbs since the ending of May. 18 lbs was thanks to Weight Watchers.

A few weeks ago I joined a meeting group, and I hope to get down to a healthy weight again. I’ve already been able to get past a frustrating plateau, and the scale is going down again. It’s amazing what years of stress and poor self care can do to a body. I feel now is such an important time for me to get back on track. The healthier I am, the more I can do for my family.

Starting Our Family Holidays

This year I took 1 week off of work. Part of it was spent going to doctors and dentist appointments. You know, all that stuff no one wants to really do. I’m happy to say check ups went well, and neither of the boys have any cavities. Although Zakari gave both doctors a run for their money. Thank God for patience doctors.

Waiting at the dentist.

Boys and Their Toys…

But we were sure to add in the fun stuff. Wesley saved $600+ dollars of his own money and wanted to buy himself his dream RC truck. My dad took him over to my uncle’s house to try out his RC truck and learn how to take care of them. Then on the Monday of our holiday we met my parents at the local hobby shop and with my dad’s expertise he picked out a Traxxas Rustler VXL.

Since Wesley has gotten his truck he has enjoyed spending time with my dad in the country, tearing up gravel and dirt, drag racing with my uncle and cousin, and just spending some quality time with his grandpa. Even though my dad’s main hobby now is RC boats, he loves spending time with Wesley racing his truck. He even fixed up his old RC race car he use to race when I was a kid. Since they are from the late 80’s they are not as quick, but even with a few modifications using today’s technology he was able to make them faster than they use to be.

Long Weekend Trip To Grand Forks

On the Thursday of our holidays we drove out to Grand Forks and stayed at the Canad Inns. But that trip deserves its own post, so stay tuned!

What did you do this summer? How has the start of the school year for your family?

Homeschool Collection {Monthly Round UP}

75 Books We Read Aloud : Homeschooling Kindergarten

Posted on September 18, 2018 by earlylearningmom

Homeschooling Kindergarten: 75 Books We Read Aloud

One of the main reasons I love to homeschool is the amount of time Zakari and I can dedicated to Read Aloud Time. Helping my child grow into an avid reader is one of the most amazing feelings ever. Sharing the passion of reading is such a natural high and I feel it is a powerful gift I’m giving my son. Once a child learns to read, all knowledge is at their fingertips. A person who can read well can teach themselves anything they want to learn from books.

I am of the camp that all children should learn how to read from infancy. A child can learn to read the same way that he or she learns to talk. As long as we can make the words big enough, they can learn. I don’t want to hear that they will be bored in school. I don’t want to hear that they are developmentally not ready. That my friends is hogwash. Children who are taught how to read, love to read. Teaching my youngest who has autism to read as a baby opened up so many doors for him. Plus teaching them this skill while they are young and hungry to learn makes it so much easier.

Check out my other articles about teaching your child to read:

How to Teach Your Baby To Read on a Budget

Teach your Baby Math, Reading & Music

One of the programs that we were given when we visited the IAHP in August 2017 was to read with Zakari from books designed for children in grades 2-3. We have taken this program and ran with it. While we did take a break from many of the programs, this was one would could not stop if we tried.

Spencer Doman from Doman International (formally from IAHP) made a video about reading being the one most important thing families can do for their children.

Reading Can Comfort a Child

Reading has become a tool I can use to help comfort Z. We read every night before bed. So when we land up staying away from home, I can often get him to sleep by making sure we read our chapters before bed. I have also helped settle him back to sleep in the middle of the night while away from home when he wakes up startled by reading to him. When he is tired he will often ask me to come with him and “read chapters”. It makes nights where he is struggling to fall asleep more tolerable because it just means we read a little more.

Actually to be honest, Z has a habit of falling asleep just as we reach the last chapter of the book. I’m often sitting on pins and needles till the next day to find out what happens to the characters in our current story. I come out of the room and my husband asks me if Z is sleeping and you should see the odd look I get when I say with a pouty face, “Yes, sadly he is…”

Growing up I loved to read. But living in a rural community in the 90s limited my access to reading materials. Our school libraries had limited materials and in the summer they were closed. My mom was not one to go to a thrift store and being a single income family, books were not often in the budget. However my mom did often buy us the scholastic books on deep discount on the front page of the Scholastic Order forms. We also hit up the local mall book sale from time to time. But it was just not enough to satisfy my deep thirst for reading. I got through the summer borrowing the odd book from friends, saving my allowance and buying a book and rereading the books I did own.

It wasn’t until I was a teenager did I have access to the “Mail Library”. I went online and selected books I wanted to read and then waited. When my father came home from work he would stop at the community mailboxes and bring home the resealable cloth mail bag with my books. This was such a happy day every time these books made it into my hands.

Reliving My Childhood Book Dreams

Now that reading together has become such a special time that Little Z and I spend together, it is an opportunity for me to nurture that inner young bookworm of mine too. Zakari and I have been reading a series I loved as a young child, The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids. This was a series I did own a few of. My favourite one would have been Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots. So I have been slowly collecting the series for us to read together by visiting the thrift stores, garage sales, and the Facebook Buy & Sell Groups. At first it didn’t seem like his favourite series. However as we have gotten to know the characters, he seems to be liking it more and more.

Non Fiction Historical Chapter Books for Kids

However this isn’t the only series we have been reading together. For Christmas Zakari’s Aunt and I bought him many of the Who Was/Is Series, along with the Where Was/Is Series.I really enjoyed being able to sit with him and learn alongside him about these famous people and places. If you have never seen these books before I highly recommend them. We got most of ours for dirt cheap on BookOutlet. But I’m starting to see them pop up in thrift stores.

Reading Challenge 2018

Because of Goodreads, I have been able to record everything we have read together and create this list for you. I know I’m always looking for new booklist to read with my kids, and I hope this will help you. While I was recording what we read together from the beginning of the school year, our reading journey did not explode until January 2018 when I joined the Goodreads 2018 Reading Challenge. I highly recommend joining and coming up with a goal for you and your child to read together. Find me on Goodreads and ADD ME to Goodreads as a way to track our reading sooner, we would have read more than 75 read alouds together.

Our Kindergarten Reading List

Who Was Steve Irwin? If you haven’t check out this series, what are you waiting for. Zakari is being introduced to many different famous people in a fun, kid friendly way. As the parent I am also learning. After reading this book I ordered the biography Teri Irwin wrote because I wanted to learn more.
Dinosaurs Before Dark (Magic Tree House, #1) Honestly I wasn’t sure if I’d like this series. However I picked up the first 42 in the series for the crazy price of $15 on Kijiji, so I decided to take the risk. I was pleasantly surprised once we started reading it, Zakari and I got attached to the characters and their crazy adventures. When given the choice of what book to read as our next read aloud, Zakari often picks the next one in this series.
James and the Giant Peach This was a classic from my childhood. I was one of the longer books we read this year, so it took us a long time. But Zakari seemed to really enjoy it. He often dragged me to read it with him at other times then our regular reading time.
Who Is Wayne Gretzky? A book about a Canadian hero and hockey. Of course we had to read it and it did not disappoint. Even my hubby sat in and listened to this one.
Salty Dog (Adventures of Wishbone, #2) Wishbone was one of my favorite TV shows when I was a kid. I never knew they had Wishbone books. Since I found out I have been on the hunt to collect them all. They are also on the longer side, so I am saving them for now. But when the time comes we can binge read them. (Does anyone else binge read book series? You know how people binge watch Netflix shows? I can’t be the only one, right?)
Who Was Elvis Presley? We enjoyed this book. I also loved how they handled explaining some of Elvis’s shadier parts of his life. Very age appropriate in my opinion.
Because of Winn-Dixie Apparently I live under a rock, because I never heard of this book or movie. I stumbled upon this book at the thrift store and it caught my eye. A few days later our tutor noticed it on my cabinet and told me how she read that in school and loved it. So I decided to read it as our next read aloud and what an awesome story about a girl and her dog. I’m not a dog person and this story really touched me.
Winnie-the-Pooh I’m not going to lie, I didn’t care for this one. I know, its Winnie-the-Pooh, how can you not care for that. Well to be even more honest, I disliked this book. Its not on my list of books to ever reread. I felt there was no point to the story. Zakari didn’t seem too interested either. We only finished it because it was part of our BookShark Curriculum.
Who Was Walt Disney?
PeeWee (This link is for the French version. I found my English copy at a thrift store) I’m so sad I cannot find a link to share this book with everyone. It is an awesome book about a Canadian Pee Wee hockey team. I love how they grew as a team and reading about the team’s journey.
Babe: The Gallant Pig This is another childhood classic for me. I remember my teacher reading this to my class in the 3rd or 4th grade. Plus after you read the book, you can watch the movie with your child.
Who Was Jim Henson? I’ve always loved Jim Henson, but after reading this book I have a new respect for him. He was a household name when I was growing up, and my big kids have no idea who he was. Now they do.
The Knight at Dawn (Magic Tree House, #2)
Little House in the Big Woods (Little House, #1) While I loved the little house on the prairie show growing up I never read any of the books. This was one of the books assigned in our Level 0 Build Your Library Curriculum. I enjoyed it very much, but if I’m honestly I could tell Z didn’t care for it much.
Twenty and Ten I heard about this book from Emily at ARRRGH! Schooling. So I ordered it for myself. Then I was surprised to see that Bookshark use it as a book for Kindergarten. So instead of just reading it to myself, I read it aloud to Z. We very much enjoyed it. Its a story of a selflessness and courage during the time of Hitler. 20 young children and their teacher risk everything to save 10 Jewish children. I have since recommended it to another homeschool mom and her family enjoyed it as well.
Anne Of Green Gables (abridged version) The copy we read was from the Target Dollar Spot,
Mummies in the Morning (Magic Tree House #3)
Pirates Past Noon (Magic Tree House #4)
Who Was Dr. Seuss?
The Trouble with Tuck This was one of those random thrift store finds that caught my eye. Its about a girls search to find a seeing eye dog, for her dog who as gone blind. Tuck had saved her life, now it was her turn to save his. Her perseverance and determination was heart warming. If you can get your hands on this book it worth the read.
Night Of The Ninjas (Magic Tree House #5)
Magic School Bus – Blizzard Another educational but fun series. Especially for kids who are already familiar with the characters on the two Magic School Bus shows on Netflix.
Rise of the Earth Dragon (Dragon Masters #1) This series was such a hit for Zakari. He just loved reading about the children who become Dragon Masters. We stumbled across books 1-6 at Once Upon A Child, and I grabbed them. Books in this series are still being released, and we can’t wait to read more as we get them.
Pirates Do Ride Scooters (The Bailey School Kids Jr. Chapter Book, #4) This is a series of beginner chapter books for kids with the same Characters from the Bailey School Kids Adventures I talked about earlier. While less detailed and simpler then the original series, they are great for kids easing into chapter books.
Snow Monsters Do Drink Hot Chocolate (The Bailey School Kids Junior Chapter Book, #9)
Afternoon on the Amazon (Magic Tree House, #6)
Saving the Sun Dragon (Dragon Masters #2)
Sunset Of The Sabertooth (Magic Tree House #7)
Secret of the Water Dragon (Dragon Masters #3)
Jack and the Beanstalk (Wishbone: The Early Years, #1) For kids that are not quite ready to sit through the longer Wishbone books, this might be a great starting place. They are not as simple as the Bailey School Junior Books, they are quite a bit shorter then the other Wishbone series. This school year we had a blast reading though this short 4 book series.
Where Is the Amazon? This book was not as good as the Who Was/Is series. It was good as a research book for kids learning about the Amazon. But it was not a book that sucked you in. We did learn a lot, but it did feel like learning.
Power of the Fire Dragon: A Branches Book (Dragon Masters #4)
Midnight On the Moon (Magic Tree House #8)
Werewolves Don’t Go to Summer Camp (The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids, #2)
Song of the Poison Dragon: A Branches Book (Dragon Masters #5)
Who Is Stan Lee? After watching a newer Thor movie on Netflix, I nerded out and read Zakari this book that night. He seemed to enjoy it and we got though the whole thing in one sitting. What I like about this series is finding people that your child has been exposed to in one way or another and expanding on it.
Dolphins at Daybreak (Magic Tree House, #9)
The Children of Noisy Village From the author who wrote Pippi Longstocking, we read The Children of Noisy Village. It was part of our Build Your Library Level 0 Curriculum. While I would have never picked it up if it wasn’t a required reading. But it was a nice read. It had a Little House on the Prairie feeling.
The Sorcerer’s Apprentice (Wishbone The Early Years #2)
Flight of the Moon Dragon: A Branches Book (Dragon Masters #6)
Reindeer Do Wear Striped Underwear (The Bailey School Kids Jr. Chapter Book, #2)
Ghost Town at Sundown (Magic Tree House, #10)
Santa Claus Doesn’t Mop Floors (The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids, #3)
Who Is George Lucas?
The Leprechauns Don’t Play Basketball (Adventures of the Bailey School Kids #4)
Lions at Lunchtime (Magic Tree House, #11)
The House of Shadows (Usborne Young Reading: Series 2)
Sleeping Beauty: Usborne Young Reading
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs: (Usborne Young Reading: Series One)
The Hit-Away Kid Another Thrift store find. This one used a lot of baseball terms that Z and I are not familiar with. But if you have an avid baseball fan in your home, I would highly recommend it.
Polar Bears Past Bedtime (Magic Tree House, #12)
The Ghosts Don’t Eat Potato Chips (Adventures of the Bailey School Kids #5)
Goldie (The Puppy Place, #1) Wow! This series is something else. Each book Lizzie and her brother Charles help a new foster dog find the perfect home. I’m not a dog person, but this series has both Z and I sucked in. Thankfully they seem to be still be printing new books in the series. I know this is one series we are always on the hunt for use copies to complete our collection.
Who Is Steven Spielberg?
Vacation Under the Volcano (Magic Tree House, #13)
Hansel and Gretel (Wishbone Early Years, #3)
Who Were the Brothers Grimm? This was another Who Was/Is that as an adult I learned so much. For my son who loves fairy tales, it was interesting for him to hear how they came to be.
Snowball (The Puppy Place, #2)
Day of the Dragon King (Magic Tree House, #14)
Wishbone (The Early Years) The Brave Little Tailor
Viking Ships At Sunrise (Magic Tree House, #15)
Frankenstein Doesn’t Plant Petunias ( The Adventures Of The Bailey School Kids, #6)
Hour of the Olympics (Magic Tree House, #16)
Little Pear Another Build Your Library Level 0 Curriculum required reading. Its about a naughty young boy names Little Pear. Each chapter is another one of his adventures. While I would have likely never picked it up before BYL we enjoyed Little Pears antics. It helped push us out of our comfort zone.
The Adventures of Peter Cottontail I had never read any of these stories but found this book at the local homeschooling conference for only $3. Zakari and I have enjoyed it. Each chapter was like a mini story. Mostly about Peter Cottontail and his archenemy Reddy Fox.
Who Was Milton Bradley? I always thought that Milton Bradley was just the creator of the Milton Bradley company and games. Turns out he was instrumental in bringing kindergarten to the USA.
Tonight on the Titanic (Magic Tree House, #17) So far to date after reading 21 books from the series, this was my personal favorite.
The Mystery on the Great Barrier Reef This was one of our favourite books in Build Your Library Level 0. This is book #6 in the Carole Marsh Mysteries series. Before this I had never heard of this series. Now I want to collect them all. Its all about 10 year old Christina, 7 year old Grant, their grandfather and mystery-writing grandmother Mimi. What I liked most was it was a easy to read, yet rich in vocabulary not usually used in books geared to this age category.
Shadow (The Puppy Place, #3) As a family trying to get our son a autism service dog, this story helped us understand the process a dog goes through to become a guide dog. I’m sure when we are finally accepted to the service dog program, we will be rereading this Puppy Place book.
Mr. Popper’s Penguins Once again I’m going to be honest, I didn’t care for this one. Even Zakari who loves penguins, didn’t get as into it as I thought he would. I know its a classic that has been around as long as I can remember. But if I were to homeschool another child(which no more are planned) I would find a different book to read.
Pirates Don’t Wear Pink Sunglasses (Adventures of the Bailey School Kids, #9)
Buffalo Before Breakfast (Magic Tree House, #18) The timing for this book was just right. We read all the Magic Tree House books in order. So before leaving for our 4 day get away to North Dakota, I just grabbed the next book in the series. I could not have planned it better, seeing as this book is all about the Lakota natives that lived in what is now North Dakota in the 1800’s.
Rascal (The Puppy Place, #4)
Tigers at Twilight (Magic Tree House, #19)
Truth About Bats (The Magic School Bus Chapter Book, #1)

As you can see, some of our favourite books have been random thrift store finds. I can’t stress the importance of getting books used. If your not a library family like we are, its an awesome way to try a series and not invest too much money.

Why don’t we use the library to borrow books?

We don’t often borrow from the library because I’m to irresponsible to get the books back to the library on time. Its terrible but sometimes the late cost me more then buying the book to keep used. At one point, my library late fees were part of my Dave Ramsey Debt Snowball. That being said, I do often hit up the library book sale.

What books did you and your children read aloud this past school year? How do you keep track of what your reading? Does your child have a particular series they can’t get enough of? Stay tune to find out which series we are loving, and how they are fitting into our homeschool lessons.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

What to Learn More About Doman International?
Click HERE to fill out a quick form and a representative from Doman International will contact you to set a FREE 30-minute consultation.

Disclaimer: This page may include affiliate links. I appreciate it when my readers use them as it provides me a little compensation and no extra cost to you.

Picture Books for 4 Year Olds: What We Read in June 2016

Posted on July 5, 2016 by earlylearningmom

Picture Books for 4 Year Olds

Lately I have been spending a lot of time on Pinterest looking for ideas for picture books for 4 year olds read aloud time. When find a good list, I take it and use it to order books from our local library. I have also been reading through the books in our personal library with Little Z as well. I thought that I would start to share what we read each month, in case any of my readers are looking for some book ideas.

Little Z’s attention span towards books is getting longer and longer. This is allowing us to hit up many books that in the past were to long for him. This is super exciting for me, as it allows me to expose him to new vocabulary.

So this is what my 4 year old and I read in June 2016

I Love You Always and Forever
Grandfather Twilight
Light Up the Night
Max and Ruby: Super Max Saves the World
My Grandpa Is Great
This Little Pirate
World of Reading: Jake and the Never Land Pirates Pirate Campout: Level 1
My Ponies (Hello Reader!)
Your Baby Can Read Book 1
Roadwork! (Disney/Pixar Cars) (Step into Reading)
Thomas and the School Trip (I Can Read It All By Myself Beginner Books)
The Berenstain Bears Catch the Bus: A Tell the Time Story (Step into Reading, Step 2)
When We Go Camping
Night Lights
Superman Classic: Superman versus the Silver Banshee (I Can Read Level 2)
Olivia Helps Mother Nature (Ready-to-Read Level One)
Puss in Boots- I Can Read- Level 1
Parts (Picture Puffin Books)
I Can Do It! (Step into Reading)
The Chick That Wouldn’t Hatch
Dinosaur Ed (Reader’s Digest) (All-Star Readers)
Olivia Helps Mother Nature (Ready-to-Read Level One)
Blackout
Curious George Cleans Up (CGTV Reader)
Super Spies (Disney/Pixar Cars 2) (Step into Reading)
Pumpkins (Science Sight Word Readers)
Milk and Cookies
1, 2, 3, Bunny (Focus on Family)
Old Mother Hubbard
Good Night Bear! (Troll First-Start Science)
Down The Drain – Finding Nemo Phonics Set
Beauty and the Beast – Level 1 – I Can Read
First On The Moon
I Have to Go (Sesame Street Toddler Books)
Planet Earth: Baby Penguins
A Very Busy Firehouse (Community Helpers)
Halloween Countdown
Thank You Prayer
Just Like Dad (Little Golden Book)
Grover’s Adventure Under the Sea (Peek-a-Board Books)

Now this might not look like many books, however we also have been reading stories out of the book Random House Book of Easy-to-Read Stories. As well as a story from My Good Night Devotions (Bean Sprouts) each night.

Check out a past What We Read post:

What My 2 Year Old(32 months) And I Read This Month January 2015

What books have you and your little ones read recently?

Afterschooling: 2016 Reading List For The Reluctant Reader (Post #1- 2016)

Posted on January 1, 2016 by earlylearningmom

First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope everyone had a fun but safe New Years. Hubby always works New Year’s Eve, so we went with friends to a local fireworks display. Then we came home and ate chips and drank pop because I want to eliminate or limit them from our lives in 2016.

So after the clock struck midnight and we had welcomed 2016, Wes and I went and picked out his reading list for the year.

I’m pretty sure that most of my regular readers know that reading is not one of Wes’s favourite things to do. He struggles with reading comprehension, so before we started to deal with these issues he was not getting anything from reading. He could decode, but he wasn’t understanding what he was reading.

However with some hard work, he has come a long way. Now he is enjoying our reading sessions. Usually we take turns reading a paragraph. We do this because I find that he ones out if only I read, but I want him to get the benefits of being read to, so this works best for us.

Here is the list we came up with.

1) The Boxcar Children (The Boxcar Children, No. 1) (Boxcar Children Mysteries)

2) Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw (Book 3)

3) Midnight on the Moon (Magic Tree House, No. 8)

4) Horrible Harry and the Christmas Surprise

5) The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

6) Cam Jansen: the Mystery of the Circus Clown #7

7) The Berenstain Bear Scouts and the Coughing Catfish (Berenstain Bear Scouts)

8) MIB Men in Black the Novel

9) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

10) Geronimo Stilton #38: A Fabumouse School Adventure

11) Watch Your Whiskers, Stilton! (Geronimo Stilton, No. 17)

12) Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots (The Adventures Of The Bailey School Kids)

13) The Monsters Next Door (Bailey City Monsters, No. 1)

14) Scooby-Doo! and the Howling Wolfman

15) The Case of the Christmas Snowman (Jigsaw Jones Mystery, No. 2)

16) Blizzard (The Magic School Bus to the Rescue)

17) Who’s in Love with Arthur?: An Arthur Chapter Book (Arthur Chapter Books)

18) The Pizza War (Mercer Mayer’s Lc & the Critter Kids)

19) Kickoff to Danger (Hardy Boys Book 170)

20) Captain Underpants and the Perilous Plot of Professor Poopypants: Color Edition (Captain Underpants #4)

Bonus book because we apparently grabbed one to many books
Secret Agent Jack Stalwart: Book 13: The Hunt for the Yeti Skull: Nepal

Check out my quick video on these books.

Disclaimer: These are affiliate links if you are really interested in getting some of these books. However I would encourage you to check out your local thrift store, because that is where 90% of mine are from.

Raising An Avid Reader… Failure?

Posted on November 13, 2015 by earlylearningmom

Reading some National Geographic fact books we found at the thrift store.

So I love to read. I don’t read as much fiction as I did before I had Z, but I still make time to read non-fiction. I especially love reading to my kids. Its an excuse to read more of the old classic series I use to read as a child. I feel being a parent is the perfect excuse to keep reading all the awesome series designed for children, without anyone batting an eyelash. I’m also the person who left the movie theater in an uproar after each Harry Potter movie.

My 10 year old on the other hand, he’s not an avid reader. He would much rather watch the movie and skip the book. This drives me BONKERS! I just can’t wrap my mind around this one. I refuse to watch the movie, “The Time Traveler’s Wife” because I know it will ruin the warm fuzzy feelings I have about the book. That is what happened when I watch the movie “Where the Heart Is”. How can he not like cuddling up with a book and getting lost in another world.

Where did I go wrong? When I was a kid my personal library was on the thin side. I mean I know that in retrospect, it wasn’t thin in the eyes of a lot of people. But for a little book worm, it was not enough to feed my hunger. We were living on a single income and my mom did buy me the books that were on sale in the scholastic flyers, but a lot of the time they were not to my taste. I did what I could to get my hands on books, I reread books, saved allowance money, borrowed from friends and the library. Now the problem came when summer came around. We lived in a small town, and the only libraries I had access to were in the schools. That meant they were shut down during summer. I’m embarrassed to admit, I even went as far to steal books during the year from the library to have things to read. Sometimes I returned them… sometimes I didn’t blush. (Note to self, make a donation to my old high school library.) I later discovered that I could order books from a mail service library. I’m telling you, back then this BLEW MY MIND. The first thing I did when I moved to the city was get a library card.

So as a mother, who when as far as stealing books to read, how come my child, who has a library I would have KILLED for couldn’t care less to pick up a book.

Well that was until I realized I hadn’t found the right materials yet to bait him. Also his reading comprehension issues affected things too.

Looking back there are a few mistakes I made with Wes which I think may have stunted his love for reading. I’m trying my best to not make the same mistakes with Little Z. (… anyone else feel bad for their first child. I often feel like he was my practice child. I made my mistakes with him and try to avoid them with Z. Especially when my boys are almost 7 years apart. sigh)

I put some books that I needed to sort through in a playpen to keep them away from my daycare babies. Little Z climbed into it to check them out.

I didn’t start reading to him soon enough. I mean I read to him, but I would get discouraged when I didn’t think he was into the books, or really listening. I should have keep on reading. With Z I have made storytime part of our routine, just like brushing our teeth.

I focused on LEARNING to read, instead of learning to LOVE to read with Wes. Now with Z, I’m teaching him how to read, but also constantly reading to him without expecting him to read anything.

So is Wes a lost cause?

I’m happy to say he’s not! Last week Wes and I went to run some errands, on our way to pick up Z from a friends, Wes was in the back reading an Archie comic. I had bought it at a thrift store months before, and it was sitting in the back of the van all this time. When we pulled up infront of my friend’s house, I asked him, “Would you like to come in or keep reading your book?” I assumed I knew the answer, but he shocked me when he replied without lifting his nose out of the book, “I’ll wait here and keep reading.” It’s worth noting he LOVES my friend, and she also has a son his age that he loves too.

When I got back in the car I asked him if he really liked these comics. He told me he did. So I suggested he call Papa(my dad) and ask him if he could borrow some Archie comics from him. I told him I think he has a collection. I knew darn well my whole Archie collection was collecting dust in their basement. He called and Papa said he had “a few” he could have.

Back when I was a little girl, my Memere (French for Grandma) had this sweet old lady named Irene as a neighbour. They lived in the foyer in our home town. One day she stopped in when my brother and I were visiting. She was shocked to see us nicely putting away our colouring books and crayons where they belonged, and the toys my Memere had for us to play with were all in working order. She told my Memere that her grandchildren were awful with toys. She would buy them a doll and the next time she went over, it would be naked and missing limbs on the floor. From then on, whenever she when on vacation, instead of bringing back her grandchildren souvenirs she would drop stuff off at our home for my brother and I. One day she called my mom and asked her if we would like to have her Archie comic collection. My mom knew I would be over the moon. Little did we know her collection consisted of HUNDREDS of comics. The nerd in me was in my glory. I sorted them by series and issue numbers and read them all.

Sadly when I was 10 Irene passed away. Since this post seems to be getting personal, I may as well share. I remember the morning she passed, I woke up and all I could smell was cigarette smoke. No one in my home smoked and my window was closed. As I got out of bed, our home phone rang. It was my Memere, Irene had passed away. Irene was a heavy smoker. In my heart, I feel like she was coming to say good-bye. I still tear up thinking about that day.

But 20 years later she lives on in my heart, and her generous gift is blessing my now 10 year old son.

At the beginning of the year, I made a bucket list. I have to go back and check, but I do know that one of the items was for Wes and I to read 12 chapter books. We kind of snuffed off on that, we are sitting at 6 I believe, might be 7 as I think I forgot to write down a Geronimo Stilton book we read. We have still been reading, but just not chapter books.

But it’s not too late! I think we can make our goal in the next 6-7 weeks. We just finished “My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish” this week. I suggested to him we start “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl, because my 9 year old step daughter is reading it for fun. She is an avid reader, with reading skills I would have killed for at her age. I thought maybe they might land up chatting about it. But he wanted to read “George’s Marvellous Medicine” by the same author. “Then we can read “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mom.” he said. His old teacher read it to the class, and he wanted to read it with me. I haven’t read this Roald Dahl book before so I agreed.

So do I think he will become this avid reader who can’t get enough books to read? Honestly, no. But I think he likes the time we read together, and will remember that when he’s older. I also think he will be a good reader, just not someone who will always have a book with them. And that is ok. I could have done everything right with him in regards to reading and he might still not be an avid reader. But he is an amazing mathematician and builder. These are his strengths and I’m proud of him.

What my 2 year old (32 months) and I Read This Month. January 2015

Posted on February 1, 2015 by earlylearningmom

Z reading one of his big brother’s old piano books

At the beginning of January, I wrote a post called: What My Two Year Old and I Read Today. Mini NACD Update. I really wanted to start keeping a running record of the books Little Z and I have read this year. However I realized my blog would quickly become boring if thats is what I wrote each and every day. However if I do a monthly list, it might actually be more helpful for my readers who want ideas what they could read to their child, as well it will be easier for me to look back at.

1) Mole’s Hill: A Woodland Tale

2) Top Cat

3) Time to Sleep (An Owlet Book)

4) Sheep Take a Hike

5) Whoever You Are (Reading Rainbow Books)

6) Cat and Mouse in the Rain

7) Barnyard Banter Board Book

8) George, the Dragon and the Princess

9) Market Day: A Story Told with Folk Art

10) How to Speak Moo!

11) The Magical Bicycle

12) Sheep in a Shop

13) Slinky Malinki, Open the Door

14) Over in the Meadow

15) Bob’s Busy Saw (Bob the Builder (Simon & Schuster Board Books))

16) Little Critter: We Are Moving

17) Hairy Maclary and Zachary Quack (Picture Puffins)

18) Just Camping Out (Look-Look)

19) Hairy Maclary’s Hat Tricks (Hairy Maclary and Friends)

20) Hairy Maclary Scattercat (Hairy Maclary and Friends)

21) The Snowy Day

22) Where’s My T·R·U·C·K?

23) It’s the Bear! (Eddy & the Bear)

24) Move Over, Rover!

25) Lmnopeas & More Fun With Letters

26) Shoe-la-la!

27) Hairy Maclary’s Bone

28) Doggone Dogs

29) Parts (Picture Puffins)

30) Who Ate All the Cookie Dough?

31) Dirty Gert

32) Doctor Ted

33) Where’s My Teddy?

34) If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (If You Give…)

35) I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More! (Ala Notable Children’s Books. Younger Readers (Awards))

36) Shark vs. Train

37) More Parts (Picture Puffins)

38) Cat’s Colors (Picture Puffins)

39) Hit the Ball Duck

40) Yum Yum!: What Fun!

41) Children Make Terrible Pets (Starring Lucille Beatrice Bear) Super cute story! Even the library couldn’t wait till I returned it so she could read it.

42) Oliver Who Would Not Sleep

43) The Curious Garden

44) How Do You Wokka-Wokka? (I Didn’t like this one. Too many nonsense words)

45) Chicks Run Wild

46) Little Pig Joins the Band

47) Musical Beds

48) Kel Gilligan’s Daredevil Stunt Show

49) Fix-It Duck

50) Hop, Hop, Jump!

51) The Adventures of Taxi Dog

52) No Dogs Allowed!
I wasn’t totally thrilled with this book.Its great if you are looking for a book with no words to create your own story. However we are looking for books to expand Little Z vocabulary, so this wasn’t a fit.

53) Journey
Again another book with no words. Beautifully illustrated however now what we were looking for.

54) Oh No!: Or How My Science Project Destroyed the World
Cute book, but once again not enough words for what we are working on right now.

55) Little Calf

56) Are You a Cow? (Boynton Board Books)

57) Meow Said the Cow

58) Moo Cow Kaboom!

59) Best Cow in Show

60) Cow

61) Cowy Cow (Thingy Things)

62) The Cow Loves Cookies

63) A Particular Cow

64) From Calf to Cow (How Do They Grow?)

65) Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type

66) The Cow That Went OINK

67) Cow Who Wouldn’t Come Down (Orchard Paperbacks)

68) Creepy Carrots!

69) YOU WILL BE MY FRIEND! (Starring Lucille Beatrice Bear)

70) The Maestro Plays

71) Green

72) First the Egg (Caldecott Honor Book and Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book (Awards))

73) One Is a Snail, Ten is a Crab: A Counting by Feet Book Little Z loved this book. Its all about counting and skip counting. This is on my list to buy now.

74) The Dark Knight Rises: Tools of the Trade (I Can Read Book 2)

Full disclosure, these are affiliate links with Amazon. I’m not linking just to make a buck. I’m sure many of you will just take them out from the library like I have. But with the direct link you can take a look and see if it is a book that your child might like. However if you do decide to buy through this affiliate link I thank you very much.

What My Two Year Old and I Read Today. Mini NACD Update.

Posted on January 5, 2015 by earlylearningmom

So its been a few weeks since we had our NACD assessment (The National Association for Child Development). With the holidays and everything we have had a slow start. But I’m already seeing some positive changes in Little Z. So I’m hoping once we get the rest of the supplies needed, we will see even more changes. Right now The Listening Program and Wes’s comprehension books are sitting at the border, waiting for my cousin to pick them up on his way home back to Canada.

One program we are working on right now is what I call the Modified Encyclopedic Knowledge program. We flip through either an Kids Picture Encyclopedia or a Kids Picture Dictionary and read random facts. As soon as we got our programs I ran to the store and bought a copy of Firefly Encyclopedia of Animals.

The point of this program is not to read the dictionary or encyclopedia from cover to cover. But to flip around and read random facts. This will teach Little Z that we can learn from reading. That words have meaning and they are not just there for him to play with.

Before we went to the zoo a few weeks ago, I went through this book with him and we found animals that we might have the chance to see on our visit. Then when we got back, we found some others we had seen but hadn’t read about before leaving.

Thing is, we need to mix things up a bit. After a while going through the same Encyclopedia for a few weeks becomes a bit boring.

So we went to the library and picked out a few more Encyclopedias and picture dictionaries for use to flip through. Today we looked though these two. On the way home I realized I should have looked for an encyclopedia on vehicles. He would have loved that too. Note to self.

I have kids picture dictionary coming in the mail. But I plan on putting that away and continuing to use the assortment of library books. I want to have that one put away ready to go if we have to either a) go away on vacation and I don’t want to worry about losing a library books or b) if we can’t get to the library for some reason.

Another program we are working on is a simple one. We are doing a reading program. We have to sit down and read together 2 times a day. The only catch, it has to be new materials. Which can be a bit of a bother for Little Z. He has his favorite books and wants to keep reading them over and over again. But in his situations we need to keep offering him new materials.

So while at the library on Sunday, I went to the bin of suggested books of the month, and started flipping through.

I was looking for :

– books that had a story line

– books that were not too long or wordy

– books that were not too short or had no words

– books that were non-fiction and not too wordy

– books that were not simple phonics or sight words books, (This is a cat. This is a red apple. Etc)

We started with a book called Whoever You Are (Reading Rainbow Books). by Mem Fox and Illustrated by Leslie Staub.

It is a beautiful, yet simple story about how we are as cultures different in many ways, like:

– Different skin color

– Different homes

– Different Schools.

But then the author goes on to explain that we are also very similar for example:

– We all have hearts

– We all smile

– We all cry

I was quite happy that this book was able to explain to young children common humanity and diversity.

Then we read the story called Cat and Mouse in the Rain by Tomek Bogacki.

This is a cute story about a cat and a mouse who get stuck in the rain. Then they meet their new friend frog, who helps get them out of the comfort zone to try something new… playing in the puddles.

After we were introduced to a little mouse named George in George, the Dragon and the Princess.

This book would be perfect for a young child that feels like they are small and not good at very many things. George learns in this story that everyone is good at something. We just might not have found our special talent yet.

Market Day by Lois Ehlert is a simple story about a family going to down to buy items they need and sell their wares. They tell the story using folk art.

What are you reading with your child today?

Besure to subscribe for email updates from EarlyLearningMom.com. Also be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter.

Your Baby Can Read: How to Select Books for Early Readers

Posted on December 18, 2014 by earlylearningmom

So you taught your little infant, toddler, or preschooler to read a bunch of words, some couplets and you are working on sentences. What should you look for in a book for your little one?

Your Baby Can Read Flipbooks:

I first started by using the Your Baby Can Read books that came with that companies kit. Now I do not own the whole reading kit. I actually bought each DVD on Amazon back in 2007 before YBCR really blew up in the mainstream. But I did find 4 of the 5 books at our local thrift store. Can you say score!!

Preschool Prep Sight Words books

These were passed down to us a year and a half ago by a good early learning friend. Her little ones loved them, and so does Little Z. The words are on one page in bold black font. Perfect for little eyes. The pictures are on the other page. The best part is there are 3 sets of books with 12 books per set. Lots of fresh materials.

Meet the Sight Words – Level 1 – Easy Reader Books (boxed set of 12 books)
Meet the Sight Words – Level 2 – Easy Reader Books (boxed set of 12 books)
Meet the Sight Words – Level 3 – Easy Reader Books (boxed set of 12 books)

LeapFrog Book Sets

These were also passed on to us from the same friend that gave us her children’s Preschool Prep books. While the writing is on the same page as the picture, they separate the two. The picture on top, words on the bottom, but not in the picture.

LeapFrog LeapReader Learn to Read, Volume 1 (works with Tag)
LeapFrog LeapReader Learn to Read, Volume 2 (works with Tag)
LeapFrog LeapReader Learn to Read, Volume 3 (works with Tag)
LeapFrog LeapReader Learn to Read, Volume 4 (works with Tag)

Little Champion Reader

Reading Kit for Baby, Toddler and Kids – Little Champion Reader 3-Level Reading System

Little Champion Reader is a complete learning program for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. There are several books and flashcards that come with the series, that are awesome!. As you can see the words and the pictures are separate, making them ideal for little ones. Also, there are larger words and the sounds are colored differently to help a child sound out the words if they are at that stage in the game.

What if you can’t find books that have a clear print for your child to read?

A good friend of mine passed on this book to us. She covered the words with words she printed out. While they are still in the picture, the white background separates them enough to hold the child’s attention.

This is a great thing to do when you find a well-illustrated book at the library book sale, but the story is too long for your child.

What books do you use with your child? Please share them with me as we are always looking for new books to explore!

Sorry about the lack of updates this week. We had our NACD meeting last week and received our programs on Friday. I have been processing them, and working them into our schedule. I’m hoping to have figured them out enough this week to share what we are doing. (UPDATED NOV2020: in 2016 we switched to Doman International)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

What to Learn More About Doman International?

Click HERE to fill out a quick form and a representative from Doman International will contact you to set a FREE 30-minute consultation.

Disclaimer: This page may include affiliate links. I appreciate it when my readers use them as it provides me a little compensation and no extra cost to you.

FarFaria Review and GIVEAWAY

Posted on November 7, 2014 by earlylearningmom

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

FarFaria is a subscription based library for children 2-9 years old on your tablet or smartphone. It currently includes over 800 titles, with more being added weekly. It is subscription

If you have little bookworm at home, and don’t want to keep making daily trips to the library, this is the app for you. For just $4.99 a month, or $39.99 for the year.

I also found this app has intrigued my reluctant reader . My oldest is more of a math guy then a reader. However he is required to do home reading every night. Now that we have been using FarFaria, its just a matter of me asking him once to do his home reading. Before it would take me a while to get him to sit down and read.

I also find it has brought us together as a family to read together. I’ll sit down with Little Z, and we start reading, then the next thing you know the big kids are sitting with us. If we happen to be reading about something non-fiction, dad will even come a sit down too.

Your child starts off by choosing a island to visit.

Once you are on that island, a bookshelf of books appears based on what you selected. Each have a letter on the lower right corner indicating the reading level that book falls into.

What if your child is interested in a book, but the level indicates it is too difficult for them? Simple! Just select the Auto Play or Read to Me button and the book becomes an book and an audio book in one. Some of the books even highlight the words as they are read. I wish every book did this as it would be an awesome thing for little ones learning to read using the Glenn Doman inspired method.

Now for the best part! The wonderful people at FarFaria have given me two 3 month subscriptions to giveaway to some lucky readers!!

DISCLAIMER: I was given a subscription to try with my family in exchange for an honest review.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What My Child is Reading. Books by Stuart J. Murphy

Posted on November 14, 2010 by earlylearningmom

I’m always looking for good, fun and educational books for my son. Recently I have had the chance to review a few books written by Stuart J. Murphy. His MathStart series has 63 books and has sold over 4 million book. I can see why!

“Math is about far more than numbers. Math is about being able to make comparisons (estimation, percentage, measurement), understand spatial relationships (directions, opposites, symmetry, geometric shapes, mapping) and calculate time (sequencing, time lines, calendars).

Many of the MathStart stories involve Science and Social Studies subjects. Earth Day — Hooray! (Place Value), for example, teaches about the Environment, while Dave’s Down-to-Earth Rock Shop (Classifying) is filled with information on Geology. The Grizzly Gazette (Percentages) is a lesson on democracy. Seaweed Soup (Matching Sets) is a tale about sharing and kindness. And Lemonade for Sale (Graphing) and Sluggers’ Car Wash (Making Change) are both stories on entrepreneurship and economics.
Math skills are Life skills. We use them every day in every way.”

I had the chance to review the follow MathStart books. I was so lucky because both of them presented Math concepts to my son that we were working on, making them more fun to learn.

Leaping Lizards (MathStart 1)–

To put on “The Fifty Leaping Lizards Show!,” you need fifty star-struck leaping lizards. Where will they all come from? The first five are found lounging in bunk beds, but the next five arrive in theatrical style, riding unicycles and juggling. The next five are speed-demons in race-cars, followed by five more in a hot-air balloon. Colorful graphics keeps track of the count, first by showing how counting by 5s works, and then showing how counting by 10s is related: Kids can easily see how each group of 10 lizards divides into two groups of 5. Will there be enough lizards by show time? Counting by 5s and 10s is an important skill that helps children master multiplication facts, tell time, and count money.

My son and I were able to practice his skip counting by fives. He loved it. They also work on counting by tens, and even though his has this skill mastered he did not mind the review at all,

Give Me Half! (MathStart 2)
I’m really excited to get a few more of these books for my son.

When a little boy tries to eat a whole pizza without sharing half with his sister, it’s not pretty. Of course, she isn’t too keen on sharing her juice or cupcakes. With a little adult prodding, however, they soon learn the benefits of sharing and split everything in half, including clean-up chores. Recognizing that half means one of two equal parts leads to understanding fractions.

This book got my son’s attention. I found recently that he loves to read about children being naughty. I mean what kid doesn’t. This book was a great early introduction to fractions.
Another thing worth mentioning is that at the end of each book there are a few activities that an adult and child can do together to help reinforce what was taught in the book.
Stuart J. Murphy also has a new series “I See I Learn”.

I had the chance to read “Percy Plays It Safe” with my son.
Percy Plays It Safe (Stuart J. Murphy’s I See I Learn) (Stuart J. Murphy’s I See I Learn Series)
Once again this book was a hit for my son because the main character was acting very naughty. However Stuart J. Murphy was able to show his readers through natural conquences why it is important to play it safe and follow the rules at the park. At the end of this book there is a page called “A Closer Look”. Here you can ask your child these questions and have a conversation that will help your child understand how this could relate the their own life.