Getting Lost
Oct 18, 2007
Within the past month my daughter lost track of me in the store and nearly flipped out. Since then I’ve been trying to re-affirm that she obey mommy and stay where I tell her to so that she doesn’t get lost. Around the same time I happened upon two new children’s books in the library that helped to support this idea.
“Grady the Goose” by Denise Brennan-Nelson; Illustrated by Michael Glenn Monroe
In this story a young gosling keeps wandering off from the family and eventually loses them altogether when the family flies south for the winter. Everything works out in the end and she learns to stay close. I’m especially fond of this book as it is published by Sleeping Bear Press. They feature local Michigan writers and artists and offer many other fabulous books that I hope to talk more about in the future.
“Little Otter’s Big Journey” by David Bedford; Illustrated by Susan Winter
I love the little animals in this story. The baby otter just tugs at your heart! Like the other book, this story shows children why wandering off can lead to trouble. The final phrase in the book is something I want my daughter to remember throughout life, “No matter where you are, my baby, I’ll always find you.”
Posted In: Parenting | Book Reviews • Comments (0)
Vegetables Come to Life!
Sep 27, 2007
I recently stumbled upon a marvelous collection of books by Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers that you absolutely must check out! We found several of them at our local library. Almost magically the authors turn ordinary food into characters with such expression and life! My daughter has enjoyed finding the various vegetables that we get from the farm transformed into a car or an animal or even a city. What a great way to encourage our children to eat their vegetables! Here are the ones we have read and enjoyed. I recommend them all!
“Fast Food”
Just about any form of transportation you can imagine, all made with vegetables and fruits.
“Dog Food”
A humorous use of dog-phrases. The dog watching a mushroom TV while sitting in an avocado chair is my favorite!
“Food Play”
This is an excellent book for helping to develop the imagination. There are pages and pages of food characters with no text. You make up your own captions!
“How Are You Peeling: Foods with Moods”
In 1999 this book won a “Best Illustrated Children’s Book” award by the New York Times. A great resource for explaining and exploring various feelings.
“Gus and Button”
This story of a boy and his dog uses landscape and characters made entirely of food. He leaves the mushroom land he knows and discovers a whole new world of adventure.
Other ones that I know of include, Dr. Pompo’s Nose, One Lonely Seahorse, Food for Thought and Baby Food.
Reading these books reminded me of how as a child I used to play with my food. My family would occasionally go out to eat at the local family-style buffet. The highlight of the visit was the dessert bar where we could get all sorts of bulk candy. My little brothers and I would make little creatures out of the candy by sticking various kinds together and by carving mouths in them. The gumdrop orange-wedges were the best for this! I still find it tempting to play with my food. Mash potatoes make great mountains. And of course there’s always the broccoli trees. Hmm, maybe I should try a volcano with the gravy!
Posted In: Parenting • Comments (0)
Shopping with Kids
Sep 17, 2007
For a good laugh you’ve got to check out this ebay auction. It’s not your typical listing! It’s downright hilarious!
Lot of Pokemon Cards That My Kids Tried to Sneak By Me
Many thanks to my sister-in-law Vickie for sending it to me!
Posted In: Parenting • Comments (0)
Gardening Together
Aug 24, 2007
Not only do I love to garden but I love to garden with Emma! Everything seems new through her observant and curious eyes. Gardening together is a great way for us to both get out in the fresh air and sunshine. One of her favorite garden activities is harvesting the chamomile flowers to be dried for tea. In this picture taken last summer she’s holding bunches of chamomile and parsley.
It’s nice that she can also help out with drying herbs. Here she’s placing clippings of oregano into the dehydrator to dry. Some herbs I dry the old-fashioned way upside down. But for herbs like Chamomile the dehydrator seems to work best.
Posted In: Gardening | Parenting • Comments (0)
Preschool For Emma
Aug 24, 2007
With my daughter Emma turning 4 this Fall I realized I should start thinking about Preschool. It’s always been my goal to homeschool if possible so this will be a nice practice run to see how it will go. I’m not wanting to do anything formal (like with textbooks) but just wanted some regular activities that we could do together. While researching I found an excellent article entitled ”Much Too Early” by David Elkind Ph.D. In the article he warns against teaching children to read or perform mathematical calculations at too young an age. Elkind notes that until age 6 or 7 children aren’t ready intellectually to understand such concepts. In fact, introducing these things too early may stress the child or negatively affect their view of school. Meanwhile there is more important groundwork to be laid in play and creativity. He says, “early education must start with the child, not with the subject matter to be taught.”
So here are a few areas I’ve decided to concentrate on with my daughter:
Dramatic play
Exploring and observing our surroundings
Learning about various professions (Farmer, doctor, mother etc)
Exposure to various types of music and rhythm
Lowercase letters (she knows the uppercase already)
Sounds the letters make
Creative play (blocks, playdough etc)
Memorizing nursery rhymes
Drawing, cutting & tracing
Possibly writing letters
Helping around the house
This website lists various skills to work on with your preschool child. Some of them are rather ambitious but I just use it for ideas and not as a strict guideline.
Posted In: Parenting • Comments (0)
