Toys and Games Books

I began this in May to "try" homeschooling, and it has been so successful that I will be homeschooling my three-year-old this fall. It could be used any time of the year. Each unit (15-20 days long; 50 days total in program) begins with a motivational calendar (which has worked very well) and recommended activities (fun and mostly free or inexpensive such as "make labels for household objects.") The book begins with tracing lines and shapes and moves on to letter recognition, writing and phonics. Each day has a short verse or quote, but we use a separate devotional during breakfast so I usually skip over that. There is also a bonus section that contains tear-out alphabet cards and other coloring and writing activities. Included is a recommended reading list, and I was surprised that I already had many of the books listed. Besides the daily scripture and some of the illustrations, it is not Bible-heavy so it would be fine for those who do not practice Christianity. We will be using something a little more Bible-based this fall, but all in all this has been a great, CHEAP (about $12) starter program. My 3-year-old has learned the alphabet and how to write and pronounce the letters from doing this book.

It is a temptation just to enjoy the delightful poems. Be sure to study the Introduction, How to Use This Book, and Teaching Strategies.
Parents, teachers, and children enjoy the poetry activities and poems for each sound letter relationship. Here are two more books which don't come with instructions but they are enjoyable opportunities to apply the concepts especially for children who like horses and cats.
10,000 White Horses and
Pat, the Cat

As the grandmother of four granddaughters, ages 7 through 13, it was hard to find one book, to give as a holiday present, that all would enjoy. Well, I found it in The Tale of Two Teddies. Each of the girls read the book (the youngest with a bit of Gramma's help), and adored it. They love the illustrations, and the gentle personalities of the two different Teddy Bears -- one American, one German. They enjoyed learning the history of the bears, and found renewed interest in their own beloved Teddy bears. Lovely book for anyone who loves a Teddy Bear.

This book contains transparencies to aid in teaching guided redaing. There are a variety of different strategies, so it could go with any type of genre. They are not only easy to use, but they are colorful (so my students love them).

The ideas in this book are simply wonderful to make kids read and respond to literature in a fun way. The book is divided into four main sections, each one devoted to one of the four literary elements: character, plot, setting, and theme. For each section, it provides several ideas to have students elaborate on the given literary element. Although each project is exemplified with a specific chapter book, the ideas can be adapted to other books as well. In fact, it provides titles of other chapter books that can be worked with the same projects. In my case, with second graders, I have even used some of the activities with picture books.

This book contains clear instructions, diagrams and templates to make the projects. Some of the activities included are: making a comic strip, a 3D plant-shaped graphic organizer, accordion books, a "character's personality pizza", a "time travel machine" (kids love that!), a board game, a tourist brochure, a treasure chest and many more.

If you want to make your kids read and develop love for reading, you must try this book.

As a long-time teacher, I was quite impressed with Ms. Scharton's thorough description of each engaging lesson. Even though each lesson is presented in a step-by-step manner, Scharton avoids "teacher proofing" this curriculum. Instead, each lesson is offered in a user-friendly style, with helpful scenarios of how each has played out in actual classrooms, that will serve to assist teachers using these lessons for the first time to implement them completely, effectively, and confidently. This is an excellent resource that should be on your must-have list!

As an early childhood educator, I found many useful activities to use in my classroom. So many children today are unfamiliar with classic nursery rhymes and this book provides many extension activities to use with the rhymes presented.

If you've never heard of Dr. Jean get to her website ASAP because you're missing out big time!! I am a Pre-K teacher and I first heard of Dr. Jean in 2000. I can honestly say she has changed the way I teach forever, her ideas and music are so inspiring your students can't help but learn. If you've never been to one of her workshops it's a MUST!
I have found the Teaching Tunes mini-books to be invaluable in my Pre-K classroom. We study a nursery rhyme for two weeks at a time (ESL students) and the mini-books have really helped my children learn these rhymes. By giving them a mini-book that goes with each song they get independent practive at home and school and at the same time they are learning to track print, return sweep and all sorts of other concepts of print. My students can't wait to get their new mini-book every two weeks! Many parents have told me that their children continue to read the mini-books long after they have graduated from my class :)

Mem Fox is very popular in our school and this resource book was very welcomed by the teachers.

A lot of outdoor fun along with sharing with brother. Fun to watch. It really looks like the real thing.