Where do I  find great books to read to my child? The library is a great place to look and librarians can help a lot!  Book stores are also great if you want to spend money for a book.  If you want to get inexpensive books, garage sales are another option.  I found many books for my classroom at garage and rummage sales.

However, what are some great books? Book Dads is a great website where you can find reviews of many children’s books.     What Should I Read Aloud by Nancy Anderson is another great resource to find a book that you might want to borrow from a library or read aloud.

I would invite  readers to add their comments about  places to find books or the names of books that you would recommend.

Happy reading!

This is one of the books that we used when our children were little.

My previous post was on reading to your preschooler, but because it is such an important topic, I want to add some more.  I want to write about the importance or reading books that rhyme.

Reading books that rhyme are not only fun, but teach phonemic awareness.  Phonemic awareness is being able to hear and distinguish sounds.  When a child can hear sounds and distinguish the different sounds from each other, they are on their way to learning to read down the road.  My experience in teaching has been that the students who understood rhyming words and were able to hear that  mat and hat rhyme ,but that mat and met do not, were better readers and spellers.

The best time to start to teach rhyming words is before they even go to school and before formal reading instruction begins.  The best time to start is right on mom and dad’ s lap reading books that rhyme.

Many Dr. Seuss books and Mother Goose nursery rhymes are excellent books with which to start.

If you are interested in learning more about phonemic awareness and why it is important to your child, here is a good link:   http://www.begintoread.com/articles/phonemic-awareness.html

I highly recommend this book for parents, teachers.

In the next few posts I will continue to discuss the importance to reading to your child.  Each post will be aimed at a different age group from infants to teenagers.  I will attempt to answer to the following questions:

• What are the benefits of reading to my child at this age?
• When and where do I read to my child?
• How often should I be reading to my child?
• What if my child seems uninterested?
• What books are appropriate for my child at this age?

If you have any additional questions that you would like me to answer, please leave a comment.

Next post: reading to infants.

Kids' books can be a real treasure.

Have you ever run out of good books to read to your children?  Looking for some different books that come highly recommended?  I have a great website for you.

Many adults know the importance of reading to children.

• For babies it helps them hear words and the connection of words to the objects in the pictures.
• When adults read with expression, it helps children to do the same when they read.
• Children learn listening comprehension which precedes reading comprehension.
• When done one on one,  it can strengthen the bond between adult and child as they sit together on the couch  or on a chair.
• Reading aloud can spark curiosity in the child about the many things in the world for them to learn.

I remember sitting on my Grandma Frank’s lap as she read nursery rhymes to me.  My husband and I both read to our children and now our grandson is being read to by his parents.  It is cycle that I hope keeps going.

I came across this website this morning in which Anita Silvey picks  children’s book to review for the day.  It is a great site because she not only recommends a book, but she also gives you information about the author and some background behind the book.  Check out the link and maybe you will see some old favorites and some new books that you have not heard of.

Book-A-Day Almanac.

I treasure any comments that you may have about this topic.

It has been a while since I wrote a post for my blog.   Almost three years since I retired from teaching third

Visiting with my grandson with the webcam.

grade, but I still have been involved in education as a tutor  and  a supervisor of student teachers.  Add to that, I am now a grandma.

So my interest in education is still strong.  It has moved away from solely third grade stuff to the  education of refugee students, student teachers and of course how babies learn.  There are some threads that tie all these together and I will try to show those in my future posts.

As always, I would love to hear your thoughts.

I ran across this wonderful blog.  I love teaching and learning about nature and  if you like to do the same, check this blog out.

Mixing kids with their natural curiosity and nature is only going to result in lots of learning.

Let me know what you think.

Wonder of Creation � Wonder Kids.

Maybe you have been thinking about teaching your child about the importance of the census. Well, the government has put out a web site with lots of great ways to help your child learn about why this is important.

From preschool to high school, there are ideas that you can use.  You can integrate into math, history, geography and language arts.  Check it out, I think that you will like it.

Census in Schools.

Practicing spelling words can be boring or fun.

Have you ever considered using shaving cream?  Paint?  Dice?  To find out more about these ideas and lots more, follow this link.

Gazette » 60 Ways to Practice Spelling.

Dads, how can you help your child do better in school?  In this post I will give some ways that you can do just that.

Recently, a former co-worker of mine spent part of his day off reading stories at his child’s preschool class.  His child, as well as the other children loved it.  That is one way dads can be involved.  Here are some more:

• Play board games or sports with your child.
• Read to your child every night before you tuck them in.
• Tell your child stories about your childhood, what you liked to do, how you did in school etc.
• Take your child with you when you do errands (even if this slows you down).
• Eat meals with your child, while you are eating talk.  Talk about everything and anything that interests your child.
• Take  your child to the park, the zoo, the library, for a ride in the car.
• Explain how things work.
• Learn something new together.
• Do household jobs together.
• Most important:  Tell your child everyday that he is a winner and that you love him/her unconditionally.

How will the above suggestions help your child in school?

Simply stated:  Your child will treat others the way you treat him,  your child will be curious and want to learn if he/she sees you do the same,  your child will achieve because someone believes in him.  A child who feels love and security will have the self confidence to take risks and those risks might just lead him to discover what he/she wants to accomplish in life.

In many third grade classrooms all over the United States children are learning their multiplication tables. It has become a rite of passage for third graders!

Parents want to help but do not always know how.  Here is a link that might help.

Memorizing Multiplication Tables Essential for Math – SchoolFamily.com.