My First Read and Learn Bible

My three year old is very interested in reading his Bible right now!  He comes home from preschool reciting The Lord's Prayer and telling me all about the wonderful things that God has made.

Soon after he started school he found this First Bible on his shelf and asked me to read it.  I am a big fan of Scholastic's My First Read and Learn Bible.  It is perfect for little hands and little readers.  It finds its way into bedtime reading time more often than not lately.

My First Read and Learn Bible is a great introduction to Bible stories from both the Old Testament and the New Testament for little ones.  It includes the Story of Creation, Noah, Moses, and Daniel and the Lions.  The cover and pages are very sturdy and thick.  The pictures are great and the fact that there are only a few sentences per page definitely helps keep my son's interest as we read.  

My First Read and Learn Bible is also great for new readers, like my six year old!

Camping with the Scouts

My first grader is joining Cub Scouts this year.  Yes, one more thing to add to our never ending list of activities, but he was so excited to do it that I couldn't say no.  Thank goodness soccer season ends soon!

Last night was his first Scout outing and it was one to remember!  The family got to go on a night hike with all of the other Cub Scouts and families, and my husband, six year old, and three year old stayed to camp out over night.  My son has been excited all week long!

Marshmallows

Gooey S'mores

Ready for bed!

Curious George Goes Camping is one of MY favorite Curious George books and one that we have read over and over since we received it about 3 years ago as birthday party favor.

Curious George Goes Camping is the hilarious story of George camping with his friend the man with the yellow hat.  George tries to help with putting up the tent, but that doesn't work out.  He tries putting out a small campfire, but it was one that was still being used.  George runs away from the camp, but soon sees and smells smoke.  Luckily, George is able to put out the fire before it gets too big.  George's camping trip ends with a bath filled with tomato juice...I'm sure you can figure out why!

Moon Zoom

My son and I have enjoyed reading the book Moon Zoom by Lesley Sims this week.  I read it last night, my son read it to me tonight, and he wanted me to read it again after he did.  

Moon Zoom is Book 8 of the Usborne Very First Reading Collection!  This reading collection works on getting kids to read on their own.  The first few books give the children a few pages to read while taking turns with the adults.  By book 8, the children are reading on their own, but with assistance when needed.  Moon Zoom practices many different word patterns that my son is learning and sometimes struggles with.  There are many -igh words, -ear words, and the letter combination "er."  

Moon Zoom is about a mouse named Jack who wants to go to the moon.  He builds a rocket, has his friend Ella pack a picnic, and they crash land on the moon!  There are even some mouse "aliens" who come to visit them after their landing!

When we were done reading Moon Zoom, we practiced some more reading by solving the puzzles in the back of the book.  Puzzle 1 has readers match sentences with the correct picture, puzzle 2 has readers find the word that doesn't make sense and fill in the correct word (both have the same spelling pattern), and puzzle 3 has readers find a rhyming word after reading 2 rhyming words with the same spelling pattern.

I have really used this Usborne Very First Reading set a lot in the last year and a half with my son, I know I will also use it when my younger children begin reading.  

Golf

This week I was able to attend the Ryder Cup with my husband.  I was very excited to attend the celebrity pro-am.

Justin Timberlake and Bill Murray at the practice range.

We saw lots of celebs and golfers.  A few of my favorites were Justin Timberlake, Michael Phelps, Phil Mickelson, and Scottie Pippen.  While we were shopping for some souvenirs I found children's books that were all about golf.  The author was even there to sign the book!

I, of course, picked out a book and had the author, Susan Green, sign the copy for all three kids!  The boys were very excited to go through the bag of souvenirs when my husband and I got back from our busy day.  Both boys wanted to read the book before bed.

The ABC's of Golf by Susan Green is an alphabet book all about golf.  This book has some interesting words for each letter.  It was a nice change from the usual O is for Octopus kind of alphabet book.  In this book G is for green (not just the color), P is for putting, N is for nine, and D is for Dogleg.  My boys really enjoyed the illustrations of the golf courses and learned a few new words while we read!

Johnny Appleseed

Today is Johnny Appleseed's birthday.  My six year old had applesauce at school to celebrate and my preschooler has his first cooking day at school tomorrow to make applesauce!

Johnny Appleseed by Jodie Shepherd is our favorite book about Johnny Champman!  Both of my boys love reading this book about a boy that loved nature.  The book tells the story from the time that Johnny Chapman was born to the time he traveled west and planted apple seeds.  The pictures are charming and peaceful.  My boys love that he had so many step brothers and sisters.  We can only imagine what life would be like with that many siblings!

Happy birthday, Johnny Appleseed!

Baby Brains

After reading the book The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease a few years ago, we found many books that we could read over and over from his list of suggested books for kids!  One of our favorites is Baby Brains by Simon James and believe it or not, my son found it at the school library and brought it home for us to read.  We have read Baby Brains and Robo Mom and Baby Brains Superstar.  We love them all, but the original Baby Brains is my all time favorite!

Baby Brains is the story of two parents who do everything they can to make sure their baby is smart!  Before the baby is even born, they play music, read to the baby, and turn the news up so the baby can hear it.  Once the baby is born he is so smart that he grows up way too fast!  Baby Brains is able to read the newspaper, go to school, and graduate from medical school very quickly!  He becomes a doctor and is then invited to travel into space with the astronauts.  It isn't until Baby Brains is floating in space that he actually realizes he is just a kid and says, "I want my mommy!"

This is an adorable story that will make you laugh and remind you to not let your kids grow up too fast!

The Pumpkin Patch

Our day at the pumpkin patch was a beautiful one!

Best Buddies

The Girls

A Giant Slide

A Corn Maze

A Corn Box

Buried Treasure

Playing Cowboy

Hayride

A Growing Pumpkin

The Perfect Day

Happy Little Pumpkin

My Boys

Pumpkin Washing

Unfortunately, our fourth annual trip to the pumpkin patch was cut a little short, but it was still a great day with LOTS of memories!  

We love the book, Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum.  It was the perfect book to pull out of the Fall Book Basket before and after our pumpkin patch trip.  Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie is a non--fiction book all about pumpkins.  Readers follow a pumpkin from the time the seed is planted in the ground to the time it flowers and then grows to a pumpkin.  The book mentions many of the things that pumpkins are used for, but the most fun idea is using giant pumpkins for boats.  My son loves the photograph that shows people floating in giant pumpkins!  I loved that we had read this book before our trip and had a little background knowledge on how pumpkins grow.  Once we were there we were able to see a real pumpkin vine, flower, and nub.  I love connecting books with our experiences!  What a great way to learn!

Illustrated Classics for Boys

We have been reading Usborne's Illustrated Classics for Boys for a little over a week now and have completed two of the six stories.  This book is a fantastic introduction to classic novels.  Each page has great illustrations and each story is simplified so that even the youngest readers can enjoy great literature.  This book reminds me so much of the Great Illustrated Classics books that I read when I was  little.

The six stories that are included in the book are Robin Hood, The Canterville Ghost, Gulliver's Travels, Robinson Crusoe, Moonfleet, and Around the World in 80 Days.

The first story we read was, The Canterville Ghost based on the novel by Oscar Wilde.  My son thought this story was pretty silly and enjoyed the times that the ghost, Sir Simon, was frightened by people!  I was not familiar with this story, but enjoyed reading it with my son (in fact I had to research it online when we were done reading).  I was surprised the idea of ghosts and blood stains didn't scare him, but it is "Halloween season" so it was probably perfect timing!  Plus, once he found out the blood stains were made of paint, he really got a good laugh!

The same week that we were reading The Canterville Ghost, my son painted a pumpkin that he had picked out at the pumpkin farm.  He painted a face on both sides and when he was done we both were surprised by the similarities between my son's pumpkin and the pumpkin that was used to scare Sir Simon in The Canterville Ghost.

Tonight, we finished all of Gulliver's Travels.   My son was so interested in what was going to happen next that we read through five chapters in one night.  It brought back many memories of reading Gulliver's Travels in high school and my "marginalia" that was so necessary for all of my English classes.  We had so much fun reading it, although I was disappointed by the fact that the word "Lilliputians" was left out of the story!  As we were summarizing the story when we were done I made sure to include Lilliputians!

We couldn't decide which story we should start tomorrow night, but either way, I know that we will enjoy it!  These stories are classic, short, and perfect for boys!

Fall Book Basket

Happy First Day of Fall!

We have had our fall book basket put together for over a week, but never decorated it, so last night we made a sign to put on the front of our basket and that was enough to get my six year old very interested in the books inside.

We loved our Back to School Book Basket, so I think we will be continuing the tradition for the changes in seasons and holidays.

Our fall basket needed to include many types of books.  We have apple books, pumpkin books, books about football and Halloween, Science books about leaves, books about spiders, gross books, alphabet books, spooky books, and monster books.  It is all in there!

I will not list all of the books we have in there...it is a much bigger basket than our Back to School Basket, but here are some of the book titles and authors that I included.

Where is Baby's Pumpkin by Karen Katz

NFL Colors by DK Publishing

Nate the Great and The Halloween Hunt by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat

Flat Stanley and the Haunted House by Lori Haskins Houran

Johnny Appleseed by Jodie Shepherd

Seed, Sprout, Pumpkin, Pie by Jill Esbaum

Beware by R.L. Stine 

Clifford's First Autumn by Norman Bridwell

Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch by Alyssa Satin Capucilli

The Backyardigans Monster Halloween Party by Laura Driscoll

NFL Touch & Feel by DK Publishing

Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tad Hills

Colorful Leaves by Maria Fleming

J is for Jack-O'-Lantern by Denise Brennan-Nelson

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

ABCs of Halloween by Patricia Reeder Eubank

The M&M's Halloween Treat Book by Barbara Barbieri McGrath

Five Little Pumpkins pictures by Dan Yaccarino

The Berenstain Bears and The Spooky Old Tree by Stan and Jan Berenstain

Right now our favorite book in the Fall Book Basket is The Berenstain Bears and The Spooky Old Tree by Stan and Jan Berenstain.  We got this book at the library this week and my three year old already reads it to me!  This book takes you on a trip through the spooky old tree with three little bears.  One bear has a light, one has a stick, and one has a rope, but as they continue through the spooky old tree they begin to lose their tools and start to get the shivers.  Each time the bears encounter something scary the book asks, "Will the dare?"  The next page reads, "Yes. They dare."  My son yells "Yes. They dare." at the top of his lungs.

This book has very simple sentences so it is perfect for new readers (or three year olds who love to memorize books).  Each time we read this book we notice something different in the pictures. 

My boys are loving spooky books right now and are anxiously awaiting Halloween.  They have a while to wait, but hopefully our Fall Book Basket will help the wait seem a little shorter.

Here are a few more fantastic lists of fall books to check out.

No Time For Flashcards has a very detailed list of Halloween books and a list of Fall books.

Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas has a great list of apple books for fall.

Be sure to visit the other lists so you have something to look for the next time you visit the library!

ABC Tracing Book

We have been having so much fun with Our ABC Bucket today!  The boys played with it before we walked to the bust stop.  Baby Girl and my three year old played this afternoon and they also played tonight.  We needed to continue the fun with an alphabet book, so I took out the Tiger Tales book, A is for Apple.

Both of my boys loved it and here are some of the reasons.

1.  You can trace each letter along the tracks that are made in the book.  My three year old loved this part!  As my older son tried to show him how to do it, my three year old explained that he already knew how to do it.

2.  Each page has a letter and a corresponding word and picture.  If you lift the flap you find another picture of a word that starts with that letter.

3.  You can trace the uppercase letter, but the lowercase letter is also shown on each page.

4.  The pages in this book are very sturdy.

5.  This is like a tracing app for the iPad without having your child "plugged in."

This is a great book for letter recognition, learning to write letters, and learning words that begin with each letter!  It was the perfect interactive book for the boys as they were having their before bedtime snack!

Our ABC Bucket

My three year old is working on mastering all of the letters in the alphabet.  He, like many three year olds, has a LOT of energy.  I thought that some outdoor play with sports, balls, and letters might be the perfect combination for him.

First, I took a permanent marker and wrote each letter of the alphabet on the balls.  Easy, easy, easy!  This took less than 5 minutes.  Then, I put them all in a bucket (much more appealing to the little ones when they are in a bucket).  The possibilities are endless.

Here are 22 ideas for playing with a bucket of alphabet balls.

1.  Play catch and say the letter each time you throw the ball.  This was the best picture I could get of my son throwing the "Q" ball.

2.  Start with a pile of 4 or 5 balls.  Call a letter.  Have your child find the matching ball and throw it to you. 

3.  Line up a few buckets and tape a letter on each bucket.  Have your child throw the ball into the bucket with the same letter.

4.  Have your child put the letters in the correct order to spell their name.

5.  Play baseball.  Each time you put the ball on the tee have your child look at the letter and say the letter as they swing as hard as they can.  My son loved this, but he didn't just say the letter, he made sure to yell.

6.  Put all of the balls in a basket.  Call out a word and have your child find the beginning letter of that word. 

7.  Play catch with one letter and each time you throw the ball you or your child must think of a word that starts with that letter.

8.  Put the balls in alphabetical order.  Start with just a few balls and work up to more.

9.  Play baseball, but this time the batter must say a word that starts with that letter as they hit the ball.

10.  Put the balls in the correct order to make short sight words such as on, run, saw, the, and.

11.  Roll one ball at a time across the floor, sidewalk, or kitchen table.  When your child catches the ball have them tell you the letter on it.  We did this while we wrapped up dinner and had a lot of fun.

12.  Facebook fan, Cindy, suggested playing hot potato.  I love this idea!  When the music stops the person with the ball must think of a word that starts with that letter.

13.  Good friend AND Facebook fan, Theresa, suggested tossing the balls in a bucket and saying a word that starts with that letter or saying the sound that the letter makes.  Great idea!

14.  Another Facebook fan, Rita, mentioned choosing a ball and starting a sentence with that letter.  This would be perfect for my six year old who has been working on writing a lot lately!

15.  Play golf and have your child say the letter, sound, or word as they hit the ball into the hole.

16.  Hide the balls all around the house.  For example, put the "S" in the sink.  When your child finds the letter have them make the connection between the letter and the place it was hidden.

17.   Let your child find some hiding places on their own!  Maybe they will put the "B" in their bed or the "H" in their hamper!

18.  Another Facebook fan, Amanda, came up with the idea to pick out a ball.  Say, "I went to the shops and bought a ..." something beginning with that letter ball.  The next person says that sentence again and adds another item beginning with the letter that they picked out of the bucket.  Continue until everyone has added something to the list.

19.  Put them in the bathtub!  We play with foam letters all of the time! Why not try the ABC balls?

20.  Play 26 pick up!  Leave the balls all over the floor.  See how fast your child can pick up all of the letters and put them in a bucket or laundry basket.  Make sure they say the letter as they place it in the basket!  My kids always love to be timed!

21.  Go grocery shopping.  Place the balls around the room.  When your child picks up a ball they must think of a food that starts with the letter before putting the ball in their grocery cart or shopping bag.

22.  Let your child just play on their own.  My son wanted to sit in the laundry basket filled with alphabet balls while my daughter tried to take as many away from him as possible.  Earlier in the day he  wanted to bowl with them!

Do you have any more ideas?  I would love for you to leave a comment!

Also, I invite you to check out the Adventures in Reading with Kids Facebook Page to follow along with our 366 day long book journey!

Flat Stanley and the Haunted House

My six year old has done a great job keeping up with his homework of reading to us for 5 minutes each night.  He didn't even complain about it tonight and loves finding two "interesting" words to write down on his homework sheet every night!

This week he read Flat Stanley and the Haunted House.  This is an I Can Read! Level 2 book and was perfect for my first grade son.  There were one or two words per page spread that he needed a little help with, but the rest he was able to read on his own.  He sure surprised me tonight when he read the word "demanded" without even batting an eye.  He tried not to smile as I looked at him in shock, but I could tell he was proud of himself.

Flat Stanley and the Haunted House created by Jeff Brown and written by Lori Haskins Houran features one of my son's favorite characters!  In this story, Flat Stanley attends the Halloween party at his school.  Stanley dresses up as a blueberry pancake and visits the haunted house.  He even finds time to help his friend, Martin, scare away a bully by dressing up as a two headed monster!

We read this book many times last year during the Halloween season, but it is much more fun this year listening to my son read it to me!

A Bumpy Blue Pumpkin

The other day my three year old picked out a pumpkin at the pumpkin farm.  He found an orange and green pumpkin with bumps all over it.  The second he saw it he knew it was the perfect pumpkin.

Yesterday, he decided to paint his pumpkin. He was disappointed that carving it is not an option yet, but once he got started with the painting he was happy.  He decided to paint his bumpy pumpkin blue and wanted it on the fireplace mantle the second that it was dry! 

We also spent the afternoon reading from our Fall Book Basket and one of the books we read was Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin by Tadd Hills.  This is an adorable board book about two friends that decide to look for a pumpkin.  They look everywhere for pumpkins, but don't have any luck.  They look in the apple tree, under the water, inside of a log, but luckily their friend tells them to check the pumpkin patch.

My three year old enjoys reading this book with me.  Each time Duck or Goose asks if the pumpkin is somewhere my son yells "No!"  I keep pointing to the word "no" as he yells it and he is starting to point to the word too!  I just love watching him learn!

I Spy Fly Guy

My six year old just started getting homework this week!  Part of his homework is to read to us for 5 minutes and write down a couple of interesting words that he read.

Last night, he read all of I Spy Fly Guy! by Tedd Arnold.  We absolutely love Fly Guy books in this house!  They have been perfect for my six year old as he has been learning to read.  Last night, we realized that they might be getting too easy for him, but easy is good for building up confidence!  The only word he struggled with was answer and I don't blame him.  Answer is tricky!

I Spy Fly Guy! is one of many books in the Fly Guy series.  These books have short chapters and only one or two sentences per page.  The illustrations are hilarious and bright.  The font size is perfect for new readers.  In this book, a pet fly named Fly Guy, plays hide and seek with his owner, Buzz!  It seems as though Fly Guy has the perfect hiding spot from Buzz when he hides in the garbage can, but then the garbage man comes to empty the garbage can.  Buzz has his dad drive him to the garbage dump to look for Fly Guy.  Although Buzz finds many flies at the garbage dump he doesn't find Fly Guy.  When Buzz has lost all hope he finally finds him on his hat.  

Fly Guy always makes my son laugh!  Since I headed to the library today I borrowed two more Fly Guy books.  It will be interesting to see how well my six year old does with a Fly Guy book that I haven't read out loud to him yet!

Chimp and Zee

We have been reading Chimp and Zee over and over again in the last few weeks!  My three year old absolutely loves it and has many parts memorized so he can read it with me!

Chimp and Zee by Catherine and Laurence Anholt is the story of two adorable little monkeys who find themselves in quite a predicament!  On a trip to Jungletown for more bananas, the twin monkeys cause trouble and hide from their mother behind three large stones.  Unfortunately, the stones end up being elephants who walk away all the way to the deepest darkest parts of Jungletown and take Chimp and Zee with them in a banana basket.  After a long walk the elephants stop for a drink and the basket falls into the river which carries the monkeys back to their home in the coconut tree!

Each time we read this book, my three year old retells the story using the large map in the front and the back of the book (what great practice for a reading skill and I don't even have to encourage it).  I don't think there is anything my son doesn't love about this book...the silly monkeys, bright colors, fun story, and large book size make this book a treat to read every night!

Perfect Pumpkins

We had an early visit to a nearby pumpkin farm this weekend and had so much fun.  The weather was perfect, the boys were getting along, and there were no crowds!  We couldn't have asked for a better day!

Our three year old got to ride the smallest pony,

while our six year old got to ride the largest pony!

Baby Girl said "Boo!"

All three kiddos sat in the pumpkins, although not all were happy about it!

Everyone found the perfect pumpkin.  One was bumpy!

One was clean and smooth!

And the other was just the right size!

And of course, you can't pick out the perfect pumpkin without reading the perfect book!  Perfect Pumpkins by Jeff Bauer is a non-fiction science reader by Scholastic.  It is exactly like the book Amazing Apples, but of course is all about pumpkins instead!  This book teaches readers that pumpkins are fruits, it also follows the growing plant from a sprout to a flower on a vine, and then a baby pumpkin (my son loved this part).  At the end of the book  readers learn about all of the different things you can cook with pumpkins.  Of course, it mentions that you may even want to carve a pumpkin into a jack-o-lantern!

This book has fantastic science vocabulary words and great photographs.  I like the quick to read fun facts that are included on some pages and the captions to go with each picture.  It is never too early to start reading non-fiction!