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Showing posts sorted by relevance for query opposites. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query opposites. Sort by date Show all posts

Fun Books for Toddlers and Preschoolers


Disclosure: Penguin Random House Books gave me copies of these books free of charge for this review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Yesterday we shared some great religious books for babies. Today we sharing a couple of books for toddlers and preschoolers. The first book is by Oliver Jeffers and it is The Hueys in What's the Opposite? This fun book teaches about opposites. It is a fun introduction to the concept. 

Picture Books that Teach

Disclosure: I was sent these books free of charge in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Today I am sharing some books for the younger kids. They are all picture books and each have a bit of a lesson or concept in them. The first book is Double Take! A New Look at Opposites by Susan Hood and illustrated by Jay Fleck.

Remembering Black History

Disclosure: Macmillan Publishers sent me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

It is hard to believe today is the last day of February. Today end this year's black history month. Have you ever wondered why black history month is important? It is important for people to know their own history and relate to the people they are learning about. It is also important for us to study history so we learn from the mistakes and don't repeat them. Unfortunately, I think our society is struggling with this. As I read The Silence of Our Friends by Mark Long and Jim Demonakos and illustrated by Nate Powell, I thought about how our society seems to be repeating itself with the current news  and this semi-autobiographical story from the 1967. 

The Nonsense Book by Eric Carle -- Book Review

Disclosure: Penguin Kids sent me an advance copy of this book free of charge for this review in return for an honest review. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation.  As in all my reviews I am providing links for your ease, but receive no compensation.

Now everyone knows Eric Carle and probably loves The Very Hungry Caterpillar along with many others of his popular books. We have posted ideas for a birthday party and a story time to kick of a food drive to go with the theme of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Well Eric Carle is coming out with a new book and it is being released on October 13, 2015. It is called The Nonsense Show. You can pre-order it now.

http://www.penguin.com/book/the-nonsense-show-by-eric-carle-illustrated-by-eric-carle/9780399176876

The Nonsense Show is full of a lot of nonsense!! It is fun and silly and it is a great way to introduce young children to surrealism.  Carle's last two books, The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse and Friends, introduced expressionism and abstract art. This sort of trilogy is perfect for introducing young children to the different areas of art. 

Books for the Young

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. 

Today I am going to share books for your youngest kids. The ages of these books range from baby to kindergarten. They are a variety of board books and picture books. The topics range from travel, family, transportation and more!! I hope you will check them out for your little ones!!

What is important? What do we value?

They say opposites attract. I guess Steve and I are in some ways opposite. He is very conservative and I'm rather liberal. However, on things that are important to us we agree (or the other one doesn't really care). We both have been thinking back to our childhoods and what we liked and didn't like about them. We also look around at today's society and worry about bringing up Hazel with our morals and values in today's society. I think this is why we both really like the idea of a Waldorf education for her.

Since making that decision I have noticed my life going back to older times. Making more crafts (not that I wasn't before but now focusing on what they are made of, etc.), slowing down, looking for more family time and wishing the blues laws were not voted out way back when. I miss having the Sabbath day where the stores for the most part were closed and certainly miss the holidays where the stores remain closed. Now it seems like the various holidays equal sales and craziness at the stores. Our society seems to rush around so much I wonder when do people rest and connect with one another.

Now stating this I should say that Steve and I do not text on our phones--in fact I have it blocked to receive texts (after getting spam on it). We do not have fancy phones and don't want them. Our cell phones are for phone calls when we are away from home and need to get in touch with someone. We do not plan on getting a cell phone for Hazel until she goes to high school at the earliest. We are also not the type to go out and buy the latest technology and keep up with it. Steve uses my laptop that I bought in 2001 or so and I have a computer we bought right after Hazel was born (when we realized all of the pictures from our digital camera was taking too much memory on the laptop). Now stating this, I should also say I know we live very comfortably. We have a beautiful (too large) house that we have professionally cleaned twice a month (because I'm not very good at keeping up with the cleaning and playing with Hazel) even though I'm a stay-at-home mom. So it isn't that we cannot afford these things, but we decide not to do them. Most of our vacations nowadays involve visiting family--usually my parents on Cape Cod.

I guess things I have been thinking about are what we value. My car is five years old and I still think of it as brand new. (My last car was ten years old when we got rid of it.) It is a Subaru Forrester nothing fancy. Steve's car is a Ford Escape and is four years old. So we are not driving fancy cars. I see many neighbors who do, but could care less. Even though I'm in my car a lot to me as long as it is dependable nothing else matters. I know it will start when I need it to and we always maintain them well. Steve is rather meticulous about it.

So many of our decisions come from how we want to live our lives. We do not want to be the family that people need to keep up with or try to keep up with any other family. We want to have time together and teach Hazel our values. We feel strongly that religion is important and want Hazel to be active in a church. We have decided on my church (I'm protestant and Steve's catholic), but we take Hazel to mass every once in awhile as well. I watch how the families with young children stop coming to church and hear about all the sporting events that take place on Sundays. I understand why, but can't imagine letting Hazel belong to a team that plays most of their games during church time. I remember being young and going to my grandparents house for Sunday dinner after church--it was always a steak dinner. Are our children going to have these connections and breaks in life? Steve and I have decided that we want to consciously put this break in Hazel's life (and our own). After church we are planning on having family time after Hazel stops napping. She usually comes home and has lunch and takes her nap right now after church. But when she no longer naps, we want to have a family meal and then a family activity--a walk in the state park nearby, play a game, something fun and together.

I guess this is why I like the Waldorf philosophy. We have struggled as a family with some of it--especially the no television. When Hazel is sick or one of us isn't feeling well, we do give in and let her watch it, but usually only one of three shows (Sesame Street--she loves Elmo, Caillou, and Curious George). Steve's mother often lets her watch it as well when she is taking care of her for us. But I have noticed that when we don't let her watch it, she doesn't ask too much to watch it. It is only when we have recently let her that she will ask. She also has learned that Mommy doesn't allow it as much as Daddy or Nonni. She doesn't seem to ask for it at my parents but the few times she has, they have said no so she knows it won't work there. I have also noticed she does play with her toys more and she does mimic life but also mimics the shows. Her imaginary friend at my parents was Rosie, Caillou's little sister (and her favorite character). She has told me she has the flu or her dolls have the flu because Caillou gets the flu in an episode. I know from the reading I have done that this is one of the issues with television since she is not imitating real experiences of her own, but her favorite thing to do is put her babies to bed or to serve a meal or make a phone call. All of which are real life experiences or things she watches me do every day, so I'm not that concerned. We are also not putting her in front of the television as a babysitter and we are picky about what she watches.  (I should also add that she learned all of her letters and numbers--what they look like--from Sesame Street and how to count.) We did allow her to watch some television (Sprout and PBS only) before making the Waldorf decision.

My other area of concern is food. We do our best to serve her organic food whenever possible. I truly believe it is all the processing of our food that has caused the allergies and various illness, learning disabilities, etc. I know our pediatrician told me to make sure I always gave her dairy products that do not have extra hormones given to the cows. I figure I cannot control everything she will eat, but when we are home I can do my best to give her what is best for her.

I watched as a high school teacher for years the teenagers who were becoming adults way too young. (I taught in pretty wealthy towns, so it wasn't the teen pregnancies, etc., but how the kids carried themselves and acted.) I was shocked when a girl in one of my freshman geometry classes was excited about Victoria's Secret's semi-annual sale (and this was before Victoria's Secret really marketed to the teenagers). I know as a freshman in high school, I wouldn't have dreamed of going into a store like Victoria's Secret. So I am hoping by making some of these decisions we can help Hazel have a childhood that will be happy and not rushed. I know she is advanced for her age--I'm told it all the time. Between her height and her language people are shocked to hear she isn't three yet, but I don't see a reason to push her now. Let her enjoy learning and growing while she can. There is enough stress to fill her life when she becomes an adult.

Do you agree? What are some ideas you have come up with to slow down life in your family and allow your kids to be kids?

Summer Animal Fun -- Summertime Fun Reviews

Disclosure: I was sent these products free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

 Summertime brings thoughts of many things--beach, heat, sunshine and animals. For me there are always new and fun things to see in nature and I like to share that with Hazel. What animals do you think about in the summer? We have so many different birds, bugs and frogs that come into our lives, so today's products are going to share those things with you. This year the town cleaned out some of the creek in our back yard and we discovered frogs around. So we will begin with Fabulous Frogs by Martin Jenkins and illustrated by Tim Hopgood. 
http://candlewick.com/cat.asp?browse=Title&mode=book&isbn=0763681008&pix=y

Chapter Book Extravaganza -- Beginning Reader through Young Adult! Part 1

Disclosure: I was sent these books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own or Hazel's own. 

Ok, I have had this group of books growing on my shelves for awhile. It is time for me to clean house and get ready for the new year. I will admit I have not read all of these books (I have started most of them). Hazel has read some of them so I plan to let her share her opinion on the ones she has read. I hope you will check these out.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg -- Learn how she touched all of our lives

 



Today instead of doing a Black Lives Matter post I thought I would share a bit about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her death Friday night really affected me even though I have never met the woman. Her death brings about all sorts of unknowns for our country and how we go forward will make a difference. However worrying about things I cannot control like how the politicians will respond to her death so close to the election will not help me and I want to show my respect to this amazing American hero. Do you know much about Ruth Bader Ginsburg? 

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish


Another favorite Dr. Seuss book at our house is One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish. Since Dr. Seuss is the February author (and his birthday is this Saturday), it seems only fitting to do something with this book.



In church the church school has just finished studying the story of Jesus Feeds 5000. Part of the three to five-year-old classroom was passing bread at prayer time. The Christian Ed Director had bought a package of Goldfish bread which of course seemed perfect since it was both a loaf and a fish. Since they did not use them all and Hazel loved them, the Christian Ed Director had me bring them home for her. We used them for our activity with this.


We used food coloring and milk to make the red and blue. Then to make the black I added green to the red dyed milk. Hazel loved this activity. She did not try the painted bread, but loved painting them with eye droppers.

We also did a few of the sheets from Seussville. We did a matching opposites. I had to help Hazel of course since she could not read them, but she liked connecting them. And we did a color page.

Last week we shared our activity and sheets on Bartholomew and the Oobleck. And of course this is a blog hop, so please add your Dr. Seuss posts to our list!

Can't Get Enough Space Stuff Review with Craft & Activity Round-Up

 

Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This week for our Back to School with National Geographic Kids we are sharing a fun new book about space. To go with our book review, we are sharing a round-up of crafts, activities, lessons and more all about space for different ages. Our book is Can't Get Enough Space Stuff by Stephanie Drimmer and Julie Beer. It is recommended for ages 7 to 10.