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Reading

How to fit in more time to read aloud to kids, even when you’re busy

Life gets crazy sometimes, and it can be hard to carve out time to read aloud to kids, but these simple ideas will help you fit in the reading time that you know is so important!

Life gets crazy sometimes, and it can be hard to carve out time to read aloud to kids, but these simple ideas will help you fit in the reading time that you know is so important!

Note: This post contains affiliate links. When you buy something through a link on my site, I may earn a commission, at no cost to you. See my disclosure to learn more.

I grew up on a steady diet of books. My childhood was filled with days spent carrying armfuls of books out of our local library, being mesmerized by the strange ocean creatures I encountered as I flipped through our National Geographic books, and listening to my mom read The Chronicles of Narnia as I snuggled in bed at night. Books were everywhere in my home.

I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but I realize now what a wonderful gift my parents gave me by filling my life with books.

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My absolute favorite children’s picture books of all time

If you love kid lit, these 16 favorite children’s picture books are absolute must-haves. They are the ones I could (and have) read hundreds of times and never get tired of them. If you love kid lit, these 16 favorite children's picture books are absolute must-haves. They are the ones I could (and have) read hundreds of times and never get tired of them. 

NOTE: THIS POST INCLUDES AFFILIATE LINKS. AS ALWAYS FEEL FREE TO SHOP AROUND FOR THE BEST DEALS. SEE MY DISCLOSURE TO LEARN MORE.

I’m pretty sure I came out of the womb reading a book…which worked out well because I was born into a family where bookcases decorated every room of the house. As a child, I spent countless hours poring over the pages of gorgeous books. So many worlds waited to be discovered every time I opened the cover of a new book. My version of heaven.

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“Roll and Graph” Sight Word Game

Looking for a way to make reading practice fun? This printable “roll and graph” sight word game is a great way to get beginning readers to practice reading and writing skills in a play-based setting.   Looking for a way to make reading practice fun? This printable "roll and graph" sight word game is a great way to get beginning readers to practice reading and writing skills in a play-based setting. My son is starting first grade this week. I can hardly believe that our lazy (or crazy, depending on the moment) summer days are behind us. We’ve got new shoes, backpacks, and freshly sharpened pencils ready to go.

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9 tips for reading to a busy toddler

Reading to kids is critical, but with toddlers it’s not always as easy as snuggling up on the couch to read a mountain of books. Here are some practical ideas to encourage wiggly toddlers to love books and develop essential literacy skills.Reading to kids is SO important, but sometimes it's not as easy as snuggling up on the couch with your toddler to read a mountain of books. Here are some practical ideas to encourage wiggly toddlers to love books and develop essential literacy skills.We are a book-loving family. For our first date, my husband and I took books to read in front of the fireplace in the lobby of a fancy hotel (of course, that night we talked for three hours and never got as far as opening our books). Now that we have three kids, we all love to read together. My boys will bring me book after book to snuggle on the couch and get lost in our imaginations together. We go to the library weekly, and come home with a full-to-bursting bag of books every time…but it wasn’t always this way.

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Fun ways to practice sight words with beginning readers

Do you have a little book lover who is ready to learn to read? Here are seven simple and fun ways to to teach and practice sight words (one of the keys to reading) with beginning readers.

Do you have a little book lover who is ready to learn to read? Here are seven simple and fun ways to to teach and practice sight words (one of the keys to reading) with beginning readers.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. When you buy something through a link on my site, I may earn a commission, at no cost to you. See my disclosure to learn more.

I’ve really been struggling with our home preschool lately. It’s not that I don’t enjoy it. It’s just that Little Man has now mastered shapes, colors, letter identification, letter sounds, and counting from 1-30. I’m so proud of his progress and how much he enjoys learning, but for awhile I was kind of at a loss as to what to teach him next (and I got a little burned out during the holidays and had no desire to plan anything). However, he’s starting to show interest in reading now, so I decided to start working on beginning reading skills.

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12 Awesome Alphabet Books to Start the School Year Right

Learning the ABCs is essential for preschoolers. Here are 12 of my favorite alphabet books for kids that will keep you laughing and playing while learning.  

Learning the ABCs is essential for preschoolers. Here are 12 of my favorite alphabet books for kids that will keep you laughing and playing while learning.

Note: This post contains affiliate links. When you buy something through a link on my site, I may earn a commission, at no cost to you. See my disclosure to learn more.

My boys LOVE the alphabet! Little Man is starting to get interested in the idea of reading and while he can’t do it on his own yet, he loves to talk about the letters of the alphabet and what words he know that start with each letter. It’s become a fun game, and we’ve been gathering alphabet books from the library to give us some variety.

One of the fun things about alphabet books (aside from all the alliteration, which my English teacher heart LOVES) is that all the different books use different words that start with the various letters, so it’s fun to compare and contrast.

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10 Laugh-out-loud Funny Children’s Books

If laughter is the best medicine, then these 10 books will cure whatever ails you. I’m always looking for good book recommendations, so today I’m sharing my own recommendations of the best funny children’s books to read with your preschooler. Happy reading!

If laughter is the best medicine, then these 10 books will cure whatever ails you. Here are some of my very favorite children's books to read with kids. Both you and the kids will be giggling in no time!

Note: This post includes affiliate links. See my disclosure to learn more.

I love books. When I taught middle school, I spent most of the money I received each year for classroom supplies on books for my classroom library. I used this library to help my students find books they liked, and I would allow them to check them out from me to take home and read.

I would tell my students, “There are more than 16 million books in the Library of Congress. You can’t hate ALL of them. If you think you don’t like to read, you’ve just been reading the wrong books.”…

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Perfect Square: An Artistic Literacy Lesson for Preschoolers

Bring your child’s imagination to life and develop preschool art and literacy skills by using Michael Hall’s simple, fun book Perfect Square to inspire your own creations. Bring your child's imagination to life and develop essential preschool skills by reading this simple, fun book and inviting your child to create their own artwork inspired by Perfect Square.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, but all opinions are my own. See my disclosure for more information.

I found a new book to love: Perfect Square by Michael Hall. Do you know it? It came out in 2001, so it’s not exactly new, but I’d never heard of it until my brother mentioned it to me a few months ago. Fast forward to this week when I finally got around to checking it out from the library, and I’m in LOVE.

The simple story has more depth than your four-year-old will see, but that’s what makes it beautiful. It’s one of those rare books that really speaks to both adults and children….

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Practical Guide: How to do preschool at home with your child (with free printable planner!)

Teaching your child preschool can be simple if you stick to what matters most. This practical guide will give you all the basics you need to know to get started, including a FREE weekly brainstorming and planning sheet.

I love being a mom, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. But I have to admit, there are days that I miss my career as a teacher in the public school system. So I was really excited when Little Man got old enough to be interested in doing more structured learning activities with me in a home preschool setting….

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How to Raise Kids who Love to Learn: Create a Culture of Learning at Home

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One of the best gifts my mother gave me, and I hope to pass on, is a love for learning. I grew up in a house with bookshelves in every room and was raised by a mother who dedicated a lot of time and energy to my learning. She created in our home something I call a culture of learning. And, I think it rubbed off. All of her children graduated from college, and we all went into some form of education.

Not that everyone in the world needs to be a teacher, but I admire the atmosphere my mother was able to create in our home growing up. Now that I have kiddos of my own to teach, I’m trying to create a culture of learning in my own home. I hope that by encouraging their curiosity at a young age, they’ll hang onto it when they’re older and not get swallowed whole by video games and texting.

So, how do you create a culture of learning?

  1. Read to your children daily, whether it’s picture books or novels. I remember snuggling up to my mom, listening to her read the final chapters of The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis and mourning the end of my time in Narnia. She read to me, she let me read to her, and as I got older we discussed (and we still do) books we were reading. Now I love reading to my boys. If I’m busy and they want attention, they know a sure-fire way to get Mom to take a break is to bring me a book to read with them. I can’t resist. We go to the library at least weekly, and we check out all sorts of books.
  2. Make knowledge accessible. Hang maps, leave books out to be explored, have a dictionary, etc. We have a giant map of the world on the wall of our home library. I decorate with books. I tape up the letters of the alphabet we’re practicing. My goal is to have knowledge secretly attack my children everywhere they look.
  3. Learn together. Little Man is in the “WHY” stage. As much as it drives me nuts when he asks why we are driving to the store, and then why we need milk, and then why milk is good for us, and why, why, WHY all the time, I love that he wants so badly to understand the world around him. I really try to answer his questions (at least the first three levels of why on any one topic), and if I don’t know, we look it up together! I think it’s really good for him to see what Mom does when she has a question, too.
  4. Take field trips. The brain learns new information by attaching it to prior knowledge. So, when my kids see a real live elephant at the zoo, it helps them understand elephants they’ll read about in a book. We love going to the library, zoo, plays, museums, hiking, factory tours, dad’s work, botanical gardens, farms, etc. Anything that can expand their real-world experience helps book learning make sense.
  5. Let kids see you excited about learning. Talk about the things you are learning on your own (and make sure you are taking time to learn). Whether it’s researching photography online, reading a novel, calling someone with a question about taxes, or just looking up a recipe for dinner, it’s important for kids to know that learning exists outside of school.

I wonder so often if all my efforts are really getting results. And then, I turn around and see Little Man sitting in the laundry basket looking at a book. And my heart is happy.056

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