How To Choose The Best Books For Your Pre-reader

This article on BabyCenter.com had good advice about finding the right books for your child:

Children's sections of libraries and bookstores can be overwhelming, especially when your child is just beginning to show an interest in books. How do you decide which books are best for a pre-reader? Here are [some] suggestions from reading specialists, teachers, and experienced parents:Find rhyming and word pattern books.

Preschoolers love to hear books with rhymes and word patterns, especially ones that are easy to memorize. They love to join in when they know how to finish a sentence: "One fish, two fish, red fish, BLUE fish!" Look for books with short, rhyming sentences and predictable structure: nursery rhymes, counting books, alphabet books, and poetry books. Books by authors such as Dr. Seuss, Eric Carle, and the poet Shel Silverstein are good choices.

Pick books that fit your child's interest. Choose books about his favorite subjects: cars, trucks, zoo animals — even television characters such as Barney or the Teletubbies. The idea is to develop a love of reading, not a love of reading a certain kind of book. Take your child along with you to the library or bookstore. Don't restrict your child to one age group or subject. With reading, anything (within reason!) goes.

Seek expert advice. Librarians and preschool teachers know from experience what kinds of books preschoolers love. Ask for their recommendations.

Improving Children's Learning

Children absorb knowledge faster and remember it longer when it is taught with love and respect. They will feel good about themselves and what they are learning when they are in a loving environment.

Use eye contact. Children respond with greater attention when parents use plenty of eye contact.

Teach with touch. It makes what they're learning more real to them. For example, if you're teaching your children about flowers, encourage them to touch the flowers.

Teach with loving hugs of affection. Always look for opportunities to encourage and praise your children with warm smiles and hugs. This will affirm them and create a safe and positive environment.

Reading Made Fun!

BOB Books are simple, effective books to begin teaching your child how to read. It's not intimidating for the parent or the child. These simple books begin with a letter chart in the front of the book that your child can refer to with familiar images to remember the sounds of each letter used in the story. For example, the letter "M" sounds like moon, and there is a picture of a moon next to the letter.

The book is light, little, with very few pages. BOB Books start with simple phrases and progress with your child to BOB Books that are more advanced.
Borders or Barnes & Noble are sure to have them.

Great Authors!

Karen Katz & Sandra Boynton are two of our favorite authors! The colorful pictures and playful writing really make babies and toddlers intrigued (and even make them giggle!) Both authors have written and illustrated many books on various topics... including good manners, potty training, sleep, alphabet, etc. You can typically find their books in any stores that carry children's books.

Melissa & Doug

I am a BIG fan of Melissa & Doug toys. During the past two decades, this company has produced a variety of SAFE, EDUCATIONAL and FUN toys for babies and toddlers! These toys are known to promote hand-eye coordination, fine motor skills, plus early shape matching, color recognition and sequencing skills.. not to mention VOCABULARY!

They are well known for their colorful wooden puzzles such as:

this FARM CHUNKY PUZZLE

and

the CONSTRUCTION CHUNKY PUZZLE
They also have a TON of wooden toys like this STACKING TRAIN:

and

PLAY FOOD


Other fun and creative toys:

BUG CATCHING MAGNETIC PUZZLE GAME



LACE AND TRACE SHAPES

ABBY & EMMA MAGNETIC DRESS-UP

As you can see, they have a HUGE selection.. you are sure to find something that your little one will enjoy! You can find their products at most toy and department stores such as Target, Toys R Us & Nordstrom.

youtube It!

As a fun supplement to reading books with my son, I sometimes accompany the topic we read about with a youtube video. For example, if we're reading about jet planes and helicopters landing and taking off, I look it up on youtube. If there is a great video of a plane taking off into the big, blue sky, then I will show it to him.

Think about fun topics your child is curious about -jumping kangaroos, kids riding bikes with training wheels, astronauts, flower girls walking down the aisle... it could be a fun complement to your storytelling time.

I recommend watching the video first before showing it to your child in order to make sure it's good content. Keep viewings brief & related to the topic your child is learning about.

Explore and enjoy!

Toddler Teaching Tools

You don't have to wait for your child to go to kindergarten before developing your child's reading skills. There are resources in your local bookstore, like Borders or Barnes & Noble to begin teaching your child basic reading and writing skills. Your child can be as young as 2 years old. Here are a few examples:

Kumon is a fantastic workbook that encourages children to write through tracing. "Mastering basic pencil skills builds a firm foundation for writing letters and numbers . . . a fun introduction to using pencils." The following are sample pages:

It's a fun, non-frustrating way to learn and build a foundation for writing letters and numbers. The workbooks also focus on coloring, number games, telling time, drawing, and much more. My son loves his Kumon books because the colorful images of sailboats, trains, candy and swimming make sitting and writing more like storytelling and play!

Another great resource is the Brain Quest series. Brain Quest asks many fun, practical questions that encourage your child to engage in conversation, sharpening language development, communication skills and social interaction. The following are a few sample questions:

What is Max eating for breakfast?
What is he drawing?
What activities do you see the kids doing at school?

"Brain Quest creates an atmosphere where children strive to do well and take pride in demonstrating what they know."

"Questions are intended to start a dialogue, not to test or drill."

This particular set comes with Max the monkey, a fun toy that is used to answer questions by pointing with it, adding to the fun in learning.

Homemade Playdoh

My neighbor gave me a recipe for homemade playdoh from teachnet.com and I made it with my daughter yesterday. Homemade playdoh is GREAT for various reasons:

-it is safe and edible (especially good for little ones that put everything in their mouth)
-it's a fun activity to do with your children... you can even teach math while you're making it!
-you can get really creative with the colors (like using one of these neon food coloring- pic below)
-the texture of homemade playdoh is very amusing and entertaining... even you'll get hooked!
-it's great to give as gifts for other kids and families
-it gets a little messy but it's SO easy to make!

Below are the simple recipe and instructions.. Hope you have fun!!

RECIPE

1 cup flour
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon oil
1/4 cup salt
food coloring

Mix all ingredients, adding food coloring last. Stir over medium heat until smooth. Remove from pan and knead until blended smooth. Place in plastic bag or airtight container when cooled.
Will last for a long time.

Celebrating Independence Day

Happy Birthday America!

I was researching on-line to see how I can introduce my toddler to Independence Day and teach her the history of our country in very simple and fun ways... Below are some websites I found with great activity ideas:

Toddler Homeschool
Explaining Fourth of July to children
Pledge of Allegiance for Preschoolers
Finger Plays
Games
Having a Parade
Make a poster

Clever Toddler Activities
Independence Day Crafts
Patriotic Photo Frame
Independence Day Door Hanging
Independence Day Streamers
Fourth of July Fruit Salad

Emphasize the Fun in Reading Books

There is a subtle gem in sitting still and reading books. Not every child immediately wants to pick up a book and read. Some need a little encouragement.

Read books with fun topics of interest–giraffes, airplanes, bulldozers, ice creams . . .
Read books that encourage your child to participate through tactile experience with flaps and textures or visually associating pictures with words, for example the Learn To Read Series by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.

Read books at a consistent time each day so that you child will expect and look forward to story time.
Mom should read books as well. Be an example to your child. He or she will copy you, just like your other actions -talking on the phone or cooking with pots and pans. You’ll be surprised that over time your child may find a book and join you!

A Love of Learning

"These are lots of things a parent can do to help a child develop a love of learning and searching - things that will carry through as a foundation for a life of joyful and successful learning. Most of these are things a parent does at one time or other anyway. A bonus is that your child will be getting a good foundation for later studies, even picking up some elements of reading, writing, and math!" - Lilian Jones

Here are some activity ideas that Lilian provides:

• Tell stories or read a lot of wonderful books.
• Go to children's book readings at the library.
• Take leisurely walks, observing every wonderful little bit of nature out there.
  
• Look for faces and animals in the clouds.
• Listen for the farthest away sound you can hear.
• Listen to children's audio tapes together. Make your own together as well.
  
• Watch sunsets together.
• Put up a bird feeder outside a window where you can see all the different kinds of birds coming and going.
  
• Go out and observe the night sky together.
• Plant a little garden or grow some plants in pots.
  
• Introduce your child to music, songs, dancing, instruments.
  
• Learn and say rhymes together.
• Encourage them to have fun learning about their bodies.
  
• Provide a sandbox or sand table and sand toys, including figures of people and animals.
• Make and play with bubbles.
• Make playdough and other fun art materials.
• Do finger-painting, and paint simple pictures with watercolors.
• Set up a little play store area with play food.
• Provide large and easy to handle blocks made out of small boxes and shoe boxes.
• Set up some shelves, boxes, or hangers where there are costume elements that your child can easily access for pretend play.
• Allow for plenty of relaxed play and independent activities.

Worth a Try!

I was talking with an older friend of mine about how to get my 2½-year-old son to pick up his toys and to share with his little brother. My friend suggested using charts. I thought, charts? Charts are cute, but do they really work?

I didn’t know how powerful charts could be until my friend told me that her kids are avid readers, were good in school, and are responsible. And she honestly thinks that charts had something to do with it. Charts encourage activities that are repetitive and sustain attention, which in turn, develops the skills of concentration, self-discipline, and self-motivation.

Her kids agree with her that using charts all growing up helped them become better learners. They remember having charts charts charts for everything! And it worked! They loved the thrill of being recognized and rewarded when a task was completed.

Praise your child and give a sticker for every time your child gets closer to the goal written on the chart. She will love placing the sticker on the chart and will look forward to completing future tasks. Make sure the reward is drawn or written on the chart so your child knows what she is working towards. For a reward, you can choose a favorite dessert or a special treat. And as she gets older, she can choose a favorite outing (within reason). If you have more than one child, color coat the chart. For example, your oldest son could be blue, your daughter purple, and your youngest son orange. Children will love this new, fun approach to getting things done.

Communicating with Your Baby

Do wish to know what your child is trying to communicate to you? Does your child get frustrated because you don't understand what he/she is trying to say?

Teaching your baby some basic sign language can help your child (and YOU) to communicate more effectively and get less frustrated (also to avoid breakdowns and tantrums!). There are SO MANY benefits of using Baby Sign Language. First of all, it gives your baby the ability to express his or her important needs and thoughts.

Here are some additional baby signing benefits:

• Promotes the development of language skills
• Increase speed of spatial reasoning development
• Develops understanding of language for communication of emotions
• May increase IQ
• Increases creative thinking
• Teaches a 2nd language that is formally recognized (ASL)
• Reduces unexplainable emotional outbursts
• Increases early literacy skills
• Teaches baby how to start (and participate in) a conversation

Just teaching your child simple words like "more", "all done" and "milk" will make your life SO much easier. It is also fun to teach them good manners early on by teaching words such as "please", "thank you" and "sorry".

Here are some great tools that will help you and your child learn some basic signs:

Baby Sign Language Basic by Monta Z. Briant

Signing Time DVDs

Baby Einstein: My First Signs