Monday, February 27, 2012

Art Project: Press and Stick Collage

The artist at work

This is our second project-of-the-week from MaryAnn Kohl's First Art book, and it was a hit with both of us. This is our first experience with collage (one of the five types of art we'll be exploring along with painting, printing, making marks and sculpture) using the sticky side of Contact paper as a base!

I taped down the paper using painter's tape, and then gave him an assortment of doodads to add: hoarded tissue paper from a gift bag of the past, puzzle pieces that are a lost cause as a puzzle and have been hanging out on our living room floor for a week, the bingo markers that came with the dollar-store loteria set and a bunch of punched-out holes from various documents.

The Contact paper worked much better as an adhesive base than I would have expected--most of the stuff actually stuck!--but it wasn't so sticky that it was going to stick to a wall, never to be separated again.

We'll do this one again someday, especially since I have many many feet left on that roll of Contact paper!

P.S. I would be remiss if I didn't use this space to mention that MaryAnn Kohl is alive, kicking and pinning up a storm on Pinterest!

Final product


Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Well I'll Be Darned


I discovered today that Jackson can "read" many letters of the alphabet in ASL. We were riding the bus and for some reason I ended up signing a letter and to my surprise, he told me what letter it was! I ended up signing almost the entire alphabet (out of sequence) and he knew at least 20 of the letters.

He couldn't tell the diff between M and N, and S and T, and G and H, but  heck, I'm not sure I would get those right either since those sets look very much alike! Other than those pairs, he was remarkably good at telling me what letter I was signing, which amazed me. I call him baby-ham-hands in my head sometimes (because he's still adorably clumsy in that early toddler way, and his fine motor is pretty slow in developing), so I've never even thought to work with him on signing the alphabet, but we have watched Signing Time, Volume 5: ABC Signs hundreds of times (that and Curious George Learns the Alphabet are how he learned to identify letters) and by golly, he learned to read the signs as well as the written letters!

Go baby Jackson!

New Montessori Toddler Trays


New work, aka new things for him to scatter around the house (hee):

  • Blue toothpicks to drop through the holes in a sugar container for a pincer-grasp/fine motor/pre-writing activity
  • Cut-up pool noodle and a stray weed-whacker string for a stringing activity
  • Open/close tray with old makeup compacts, a tea strainer, a spice container and a ring that once connected some measuring spoons

Monday, February 20, 2012

The Bugaboo of Boredom

Conventional parent-teacher wisdom says you're supposed to rotate the toys and books every four to six weeks, but I feel like I need to be doing that every four to six days! I have lots of toys and activities and books and videos available for the kiddo, but it's so hard to find something that he'll keep coming back to. There's that "zone of proximal development" and man is it hard to stay on target right in that zone. Simple lumps of play-dough aren't interesting to him, but he's not quite able to manipulate more advanced toys like the play-dough fun factory! I'm not complaining--I have lots of fun coming up with diversions--but it's recently occurred to me that seeing as how J isn't even two yet, I might have a long road ahead of me when it comes to keeping the little guy's brain busy!

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Classic Books to Read-Aloud

CLASSIC BOOKS TO READ-ALOUD

Adventures of Pinocchio, by C. Collodi, illustrated by Attilo Mussino. Macmillan.
The adventures of this little mischievous puppet are as popular in this country as in Italy, where they all began late in the nineteenth century.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by John Tenniel. Macmillan.
Nobody, child or adult, has ever regretted Alice's curiosity when she spied a rabbit taking a watch out of his waistcoat pocket, and so followed him into a series of very famous adventures.

A treasury of fairy tales, including selections from the Arabian Nights, and Washington Irving's story of Rip Van Winkle, all given new life by Rackham's great illustrations.

The classic story of the Christmas spirit, which is read aloud in many, many homes on Christmas Eve.

English Fairy Tales, by Joseph Jacobs, illustrated by John D. Batten. Putnam.
A famous folklorist collected these ageless English fairy tales. The sequels, with fairy tales from other countries, are:
And other “colored” fairy books...

The Favorite Uncle Remus, by Joel Chandler Harris, illustrated by A.B. Frost. Houghton.
A splendid collection of the ever-popular Uncle Remus stories.

Hans Brinker, or the Silver States, by Mary Mapes Dodge, illustrated by G.W. Edwards. Scribner.
A classic story about Holland and the adventures of Hans and his sister.

Heidi, by Johanna Spyri, illustrated by Agnes Tait. Lippincott.
The tender story of a little girl and her friends in the Swiss Alps.

It's Perfectly True, and Other Stories, by Hans Christian Andersen, translated by Paul Leyssac, illustrated by Richard Bennett. Harcourt.
A fine translation of great Andersen's tales, especially recommended for reading aloud.

Just So Stories, by Rudyard Kipling, illustrated by J.M. Gleeson. Doubleday.
Beloved tales of how the whale got his throat, the came his hump, the leopard his spots, and how other animals came by their names.

The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle, illustrated by the author. Scribner.
There have been many versions of the stories about Robin Hood the outlaw, but the ones by Howard Pyle are the best.

Peter Pan, by James M. Barrie, illustrated by Nora S. Unwin. Scribner.
The story that will never grow old of the little boy from Never, Never Land who never grows up.

Here, among other stories, is the classic “Rip Van Winkle.”

The Swiss Family Robinson, by Johann Wyss, illustrated by Harry Rountree. Macmillan.
The classic story of a shipwrecked family.

Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson, illustrated by N.C. Wyeth. Scribner.
The greatest pirate story of all time, and a must for every home library.

Books of Poems

BOOKS OF POEMS



Recommended Books from Young Years Library: Mother's Guide to Children's Reading by Rachele Thomas, Parents' Magazine's Press, 1963. {LOC 63-15865}

Young Years Library was a five or 10-volume anthology of reading material for children. The product evolved over the years, but generally it was sold direct to parents who wanted to provide an educational or literary advantage to their children. Many of the great children's librarians of the day were involved, including the pioneering Augusta Braxton Baxter. My copy, published in 1963, includes a 72-page list of recommended books for various ages and stages. To my eye, many of these books have long since been forgotten, not least because of the revolution in children's literature that took place following the publication that year of Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. I'll be transcribing the sections of the Mother's Guide to Children's Reading reading list, one by one, in hopes of providing a starting point for modern mamas looking to explore more unusual, likely out-of-print book suggestions, beyond those usually included in generally available contemporary reading prescriptions. Copyright, of course, remains with Home Library Press.


All Together: A Child's Treasury of Verse, by Dorothy Aldis, illustrated by Marjorie Flack, Margaret Freeman, and Helen D. Jameson. Putnam.
The writer's selection of her best poems, totalling 144, all brief. For five-to-eight-year-olds.

America, America, America, compiled by Kenneth S. Giniger, illustrated by Leonard Fisher.
Selection of poetry and prose about our country and our pepole. For children twelve and up.

A splendid collection of poems about the land of the Eskimos and its people. For children twelve and up.
The famous poems of childhood by the great writer. For all ages.

Favorite Poems Old and New, compiled by Helen Ferris, illustrated by Leonard Weisgard. Doubleday.
More than 700 verses, including lyrics, rhymes, doggerel and songs. For all ages.

The First Book of Poetry, compiled by Isabel J. Peterson. Watts.
A selection of more than 80 cherished poems. For children nine to twelve.

A variety of poems in a large-book format. For children nine and under.

I Met a Man, by John Ciardi, illustrated by Robert Osborn. Houghton.
Thirty delightful, easy-to-understand poems. For eight- and nine-year-olds.

Peacock Pie, by Walter de la Mare, illustrated by Barbara Cooney. Knopf.
A collection of the author's poems about fairies and witches and such. For nine- to twelve-year-olds. Another fine collection of de la Mare's poems:
Come Hither

A Pocketful of Rhymes, by Katherine I. Love. Crowell.
A splendid collection of fun and fantasy verse, selected by a children's professional librarian.

The Penny Fiddle: Poems for Children, by Robert Graves, illustrated by Edward Ardizzone. Doubleday.
Many beautiful poems by a well-known contemporary writer.

Poems for Seasons and Celebrations, compiled by William Cole, illustrated by Johannes Troyer. World.
More than 140 appropriate poems for special days, arranged according to the calendar.

This Way, Delight, compiled by Herbert Read, illustrated by Juliet Kepes. Pantheon.
A highly recommended selection of familiar and modern verse. For children nine and up.

Time for Poetry, compiled by May H. Arbuthnot. Whitman.
Almost 700 poems by classic and modern writers. For children ten and under.

Tirra Lirra, by Laura E. Richards, illustrated by Marguerite Davis. Little Brown.
A beautiful collection of the author's hilariously funny rhymes and verses. For children ten and under.

When We Were Very Young, by A.A. Milne, illustrated by E.H. Shepard. Dutton.
Light verse, full of delightful whimsy, written for and about a now-famous boy named Christopher Robin. For children five to eight. Companion volume:
      Now We Are Six

Wind Song, by Carl Sandburg, illustrated by William A. Smith. Harcourt.
The illustrious American poet has selected his own poems, adding some new ones, especially suited to young people. For children ten and up.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Art Project: Busy Printing

We've started doing an art project a week (for one whole week so far!) from MaryAnn Kohl's First Art: Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos and we launched this week with Busy Printing. Jackson thought this was great (there's thumping involved) and I loved that it put my hoarding tendencies to good use (lots of junk in the garage can be used to make weird shapes). Jackson says he wants to do this again so we might try again in a couple days with a different paint color and different implements.





Wednesday, February 15, 2012

New Toddler Montessori Trays


Now that we're properly back in the swing of things and I have a plan, it's time for new choking hazards trays. (I joined a mailing list that hints that despite persistent Montessori protestations about their benefits, all of these activities cause child-care inspectors to fly off the handle. In some places, objects like the smallest box of the pink tower have been known inspire reprimands. I see both sides of the debate, but in this case I'm lucky that I can decide for myself about my son's likelihood of choking. For the record, he likes to tease me because he knows I'm neurotic about choking hazards, but none of this stuff is something I'd worry about with him at this age.) 

Anyway, for the current trays, I put together the following arrangements of junk from the garage:
  • Baby-food jars and three colors of wall anchors for a sorting activity.
  • A water bottle and a bundle of coffee stirrers for a modified "clothespin drop"
  • Inspired by the success of the coffee pouring, dried kidney beans from the bulk bins at Sprouts, plus two Japanese teacups and a sugar spoon, for a scooping activity. The kiddo loves this one.

I love watching him work studiously at all these tasks--he takes it all seriously and it's adorable!

What's Working, What's Not Working

What's Working
* We're moving on to Talking Words Factory, or as Jackson puts it, "New frogs! New frogs!"
* More Starfall is a huge favorite. Whenever J catches me on the computer, he asks for Starfall by name and we do Starfall numbers, colors and "learn to read." We actually have only explored a fraction of what they have to offer, but right now the CVC Word Machines are a fave, in part because they link so well with Talking Words Factory.
* Faced with a keyboard or a row of ordered number blocks, Jackson can correctly name/recite/something the numbers 1 to 9.

What's Not Working
* I've tried Reading Bear a few times, and Jackson watches some of it, but the segments just don't keep his attention for very long.
* Jackson loves scissors (and all office supplies) so I pulled out a Kumon First Steps Workbook I've been hoarding, but I quickly discovered it's not yet time for Let's Cut Paper! J has no clue how to hold the scissors, and he couldn't even quite figure out how to hold both handles and push them together with two hands. So that's going back on the shelf!
* Without the numbers right in front of him, Jackson can only sometimes identify numbers, and his counting involves a lot of "one two one two four five...twenty." He clearly has lots of numbers jumbled around in his head, but we need to sort them out a little more clearly.

So, more numbers and counting to come, and some beginning CVC stuff is underway.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Nature and Science Books


Recommended Books from Young Years Library: Mother's Guide to Children's Reading by Rachele Thomas, Parents' Magazine's Press, 1963. {LOC 63-15865}

Young Years Library was a five or 10-volume anthology of reading material for children. The product evolved over the years, but generally it was sold direct to parents who wanted to provide an educational or literary advantage to their children. Many of the great children's librarians of the day were involved, including the pioneering Augusta Braxton Baxter. My copy, published in 1963, includes a 72-page list of recommended books for various ages and stages. To my eye, many of these books have long since been forgotten, not least because of the revolution in children's literature that took place following the publication that year of Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. I'll be transcribing the sections of the Mother's Guide to Children's Reading reading list, one by one, in hopes of providing a starting point for modern mamas looking to explore more unusual, likely out-of-print book suggestions, beyond those usually included in generally available contemporary reading prescriptions. Copyright, of course, remains with Home Library Press.


NATURE AND SCIENCE BOOKS

Plants and Animals

A wealth of information about dinosaurs and how modern scientists learn about these reptiles that have been extinct.

All about Eggs and How They Change into Animals, illustrated by Helen Ludwig. W.R. Scott.
Good introduction to the facts about how life begins.

All Around You, by Jeanne Bendick, illustrated by the author. Whittlesley.
A good how-and-why nature book for the very young.
The difference between alligators and crocodiles, where they live and how they get their food.

Bits That Grow Big: Where Plants Come From, by Irma E. Webber, illustrated by the author. W.R. Scott.
The facts—simply stated—about seeds, their growth, and how animals and people depend on plants for food.

Cottontail Rabbit, by Elizabeth and Charles Schwartz, illustrated by Charles Schwartz. Holiday.
Interesting story of the role a cottontail rabbit plays in nature's food-supplying life cycle.

Egg to Chick, by Millicent E. Selsam. International Publishers.
What happens to the egg from the time it is laid to the breaking of the shell and the emergence of the chick.

Frogs and Polliwogs, by Dorothy Childs Hogner, illustrated by Nils Hogner. Crowell.
What a frog is and how it develops from a polliwog, including information on toads and salamanders.

Gives an understanding of these two important insects and thereby provides basic knowledge of life processes.

The Insect World, by John Pallister, illustrated by Sylvia Slayton. Home Library.
A fine introduction to entomology. Among the many full-color drawings of insects, there is a section showing insects in various phases of activities—feeding, fighting, mating, etc.

Let's Go Outdoors, by Harriet E. Huntington, illustrated by Prentiss Duncan. Doubleday.
A fine introduction to the tiny creatures that live outdoors. Other titles in this series are:
     Let's Go to the Brook
     Let's Go to the Seashore

Nature Detective, by Millicent E. Selsam, illustrated by Theresa Sherman. Scott.
Stories of animals, the tracks they make in snow and wet sand, and what the nature detective can find out from animal tracks.

Intriguing experiments with plants which lead to a good understanding of natural phenomena.

See for Yourself, by Nancy Larrick, illustrated by Frank Jupo. Dutton.
Explains how to do many simple experiments with air and water.

A fine portrayal of the structure and life of many kinds of spiders.

Describes the many animals a child may find in the vicinity of his own home.

Tiger, by Roger McClung, illustrated by the author. Morrow.
The fascinating process of a caterpillar emerging from his egg, growing becoming a chrysalid, and finally appearing as a beautiful full-grown swallowtail butterfly. A companion volume:
     Luna: The Story of a Moth

The fascinating methods plants use to scatter their seeds far and wide.

A practical guide to collecting fresh-and-salt-water animals.

White Wilderness, by Robert Louvain and the Staff of the Walt Disney Studio. Golden.
Animals of the Arctic presented in words and photographs.

A simple guide book to the world of nature.

The World of Dinosaurs, by Edwin H. Colbert, illustrated by George Geygan. Home Library.
An introduction to prehistoric animals, beautifully illustrated with paintings that recreate the environment and animals of that age.


Archeology

A simple, concise introduction to the science of archeology.


Oceanography

The True Book of Oceans, by Katherine Carter. Childrens.
An explanation of simple terms of many of the ocean's phenomena.

Wonders of the Living Sea, by Carlton Rey, illustrated by Oscar Liebman and full-color underwater photographs by the author and other specialists. Home Library.
An introduction to marine biology and oceanography.


Meteorology

Hurricanes and Twisters, by Robert Irving, illustrated by Ruth Adler, and with photographs. Knopf.
Where the most destructive storms come from, how they arise, and what they are capable of doing.

Weather and Climate, by Julius London, illustrated by George Geygan.
An excellent introduction to meteorology, with very practical information on weather and weather forecasting.


Science Experiments, Electricity, Chemistry, the Atom

How to use magnets for fun and magnetism, with many magnet tricks, and a simple, clear discussion of electricity and magnetism.

Experiments with Electricity, by Nelson F. Beeler and Franklyn M. Branley, illustrated by A.W. Revell. Crowell.
Describes intriguing experiments and gives their scientific explanations.

Answers the question: “What is electricity?” and discusses its uses.

Fun With Chemistry, by Mae and Ira Freedman. Random.
Interesting experiments—all safe—that illustrate the basic principles of chemistry.

A fascinating study in relative size.

How science crops up everywhere, with illustrative experiments that children can perform.

Presents a clear understanding of a basic principle of physics.

What are atoms? How do they form compounds? How is atomic energy used to generate electricity and run engines? These questions are answered simply and directly.

A fine introduction to what goes on in the skies and what lives on the earth, with simple experiments that children can carry out.
Easy-to-perform experiments dealing with magnetism, gravity, sound and other physical phenomena.


Astronomy, Space Travel

A Book of Moon Rockets for You, by Franklyn M. Branley, illustrated by L. Kessler. Crowell.
An exciting description of how men will explore the moon.

An accurate explanation of satellites, how messages are sent from them back to earth, and what we hope to learn from these far-reaching messages.

How man will travel in space, the clothes he will wear, how we will build a space station and explore other planets.

With this excellent star-gazing guide, the whole sky is transformed into one mighty picture book.

The Golden Book of Astronomy, by Rose Wyler and Gerald Ames, illustrated by John Polgreen. Golden.
The facts about the moon, stars, and planets in a big-book format.

Guide to Outer Space, by Franklyn M. Branley, illustrated by George Geygan. Home Library.
A beautiful book that can be a real help to a child's understanding of the new science frontier.

A clear, informative handbook on astronomy.



Learning Through Play, As They Say

We've been at Home Depot a lot lately because of the Great Patio Door Project and I picked up these carpet samples for free in the decor department. J has a great time matching the pieces to their partners. There's actually a bit of nuance to it because they're all kinda brownish and carpety!

Thanks to Lia for this idea. Jackson now gets to help scoop my coffee into the French press  every morning. His scoops aren't terribly full (it takes about four or five to get the right amount where it's usually just two), but by gosh, he's mastered the twist of the wrist to get the grounds in the pitcher! This is a classic pre-writing fine motor activity and he loves it!

What DID we do all day?: Miniatures Collection: Storage, Acquisition, and A...

What DID we do all day?: Miniatures Collection: Storage, Acquisition, and Advice: Love this post about how to organize "alphabet boxes" (aka phonics boxes). I've been meaning to do something like this for colors and shapes as well as phonics sounds (phonemes?) like "ch" and "sh."

Monday, February 13, 2012

I'm Feeling Lucky

Credit: Wolfgang Sauber, Wikimedia
There are a lot of downsides living in crowded, expensive west Los Angeles, but there are so so many benefits as well. Right now I'm feeling so grateful to be a part of this big busy city.

Among other things, we are the beneficiaries of not one but two great library systems. We are able to use both the City of Los Angeles and the County of Los Angeles library systems, which means that I can borrow from a total of 14 million books between the two of them. For that matter, the nearby Santa Monica and Beverly Hills Library systems aren't so shabby, either!

I also count myself lucky to have two great parks in walking distance, not to mention the blessings of the Pacific Ocean within biking distance.

Without even considering the cultural resources of this city, those things alone--convenient parks and content-rich libraries--are a huge gift that contributes significantly to my baby-education project!

Thursday, February 9, 2012

My First Ever Curriculum Plan

I hang out on this message board full of high-powered homeschoolers and they all say, over and over again, that the key is get organized, have a plan and stick to it.

So...I have a mostly finished plan!

I sat down and worked out lists of week-by-week to-dos from now until June:
This is basically all the fun stuff, of course. Note there are no categories for "math!" and "language!" partly because I'm a mushier teacher than I usually admit, and partly because that's the hard stuff to really "plan" and I didn't get there yet.

General Information Books


General Information Books

Recommended Books from Young Years Library: Mother's Guide to Children's Reading by Rachele Thomas, Parents' Magazine's Press, 1963. {LOC 63-15865}

Young Years Library was a five or 10-volume anthology of reading material for children. The product evolved over the years, but generally it was sold direct to parents who wanted to provide an educational or literary advantage to their children. Many of the great children's librarians of the day were involved, including the pioneering Augusta Braxton Baxter. My copy, published in 1963, includes a 72-page list of recommended books for various ages and stages. To my eye, many of these books have long since been forgotten, not least because of the revolution in children's literature that took place following the publication that year of Sendak's Where the Wild Things Are. I'll be transcribing the sections of the Mother's Guide to Children's Reading reading list, one by one, in hopes of providing a starting point for modern mamas looking to explore more unusual, likely out-of-print book suggestions, beyond those usually included in generally available contemporary reading prescriptions. Copyright, of course, remains with Home Library Press.



An excellent explanation of the facts of birth.

An explanation of flight reveals that birds and airplanes are kept in the air by exactly the same principles.

How the fascinating concept of numbers developed, and its role in modern life.

The Cave of the Great Hunters, by Hans Baumann, illustrated with photographs of prehistoric art. Pantheon.
The true story of how four boys and their dog discovered an Ice Age cave.

Good historical account of how men have communicated with each other through the ages.

Engineers Did It!, by Duane Bradley, illustrated by Anne Marie Jauss. Lippincott.
The problems and scientific principles—simply stated—underlying some of the world's most spectacular engineering feats, such as the construction of the Pyramids and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

A vivid first-hand story of the voyage of the atomic-powered submarine.

Fun with Magic, by Alexander Van Renssalaer, illustrated by John Barron. Garden City.
A good how-to book of tricks and slight-of-hand fun.

A sympathetic account of the humanitarian work of the great world organization. Companion volumes are:

A must for children interested in American Indians. Demonstrates in text and pictures the positions and movements of hands to form over 500 words, including tribal names.

A good introduction to the history of music.

Let's Look Under the City, by Herman and Nina Schneider, illustrated by Bill Ballantine. W.R. Scott.
A fascinating look at the complex network of electric cables, water, gas, and sewer pipes that lie beneath the city streets.

This Is New York, by M. Sasek, illustrated by the author. Macmillan.
Beautiful picture-book panorama of a great city. Others in this series are:
     This Is Paris

This book—endorsed by Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish organizations—describes our country's three great religions. Other titles on religious subjects by the same author:

The story of words, where they came from, and how they are used.

An interesting history of the calendar—why it was made, how it is used and other facts.

Exciting episodes in man's struggle to combat disease and to prolong life.

Words from the Myths, by Isaac Asimov, illustrated by William Barss. Houghton.
A book of myths for the scientific-minded child, showing how many modern scientific words originated from classic mythology.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Rereading and Reviewing The Read-Aloud Handbook - Chapter 6: In Their Own Words

The "In Their Own Words" chapter is one of my favorite chapters of The Read-Aloud Handbook. It's full of touching testimonial letters from Read-Aloud fans, testifying about how the book changed their lives. My favorite letter is from a rich guy in Minnesota who wanted to do something for the schools. The guy created NERF (Nisswa Enhanced Reading Foundation) and he raises money as well donating out of his pocket to do the following for his local schools:

* Beautiful Books: Fancy, expensive books are sent home for reading aloud by families
* Classroom Libraries: Every teacher gets $250-$300 a year to build their class book collections. New teachers get even bigger grants because they're starting from zero.
* Incentive Reading Room: A room of paperback books where kids can go "shopping" for reward books.
* March Madness: A contest for "most out-of-school reading minutes" that results in more book prizes for the winners.
* Rainy Day Bookstore: NERF has an account at the local bookstore and if one of the teachers needs a certain book on short notice, they can just go get it.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if every school in the country had these kind of literacy programs in place? There was recently a tragic situation at a local public school. It's been discussed in detail on a mom list I subscribe to and a  public teacher piped in to explain that in that area of the district, things are in such chaos so much of the time that it would be easy for kids to fall through the cracks. Her email made me so sad. No matter how much teachers and parents work to improve schools, isn't there just a massive budget crunch that's holding our schools back? I don't have the solution, but I hope that collective action of some kind--if not higher property taxes, perhaps just more of the initiatives described above?--can make a difference for all our kids!

Life Is Too Short for BOB Books

BOB Books are the current be-all, end-all of at-home reading instruction, but we've just made a family (parental) decision not to use them around here. I recently found sets 1 & 3 at (separate) used bookstores and snapped them up, excited to get such a discount. But then I took a second look at them, and at the "pre-reading" set I already had in storage, and I was mildly disgruntled. I shared them with my husband and my dad and none of us were impressed.

For us, the BOB books are just too tiresome and silly to be worth the effort. Both  my husband and I cherish our read-aloud time with our kid, but so much of that joy comes from reading what Charlotte Mason called "living books." BOB books strike us as brain-dead books. I know that the BOB books have a lot to offer other families, and I understand the overall appeal, I just can't stand to read it myself or inflict it on my little kid. So no BOB books for us, even if it means we're missing out on a possibly valuable tool for enriching the kid's skill set.