The following is by editor Kara Fleck.
Zoom! That was the sound of this past week as it went zipping by me! I certainly hope that the whole Summer doesn’t go by as quickly. (I apologize in advance for not taking any pictures of our reading adventures. I’ll fix that before next week’s Summer Reading post).
We made some time to mindfully slow the week down in spots by spending some time together with books. As I mentioned last week, we’re taking part in the iVillage PBS Kids Summer Reading Community Challenge. The challenge began on June 6th, but it isn’t too late to head over here and sign up to participate.
This week, along with the Summer Survival Guide from Life As Mom, we had a Dinosaur themed week.
In Our Book Basket
A quick trip to the library resulted in the following books being in our book basket this week:
- Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs (some silly fun for my three year old)
- How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?
- How Do Dinosaurs Clean Their Rooms? (my almost five year old loved both of these titles)
- The DK First Dinosaur Encyclopedia
Following the advice from day one’s prompt and advice for reading with a 2 to 5 year old, I focused on reading with my three and almost five year olds, asking them lots of questions to draw them into the books this week. As we were reading, I asked questions and encouraged the kids to share their impressions and thoughts about the characters, creatures, and pictures in our books.
My oldest has been reading some non-dinosaur themed books on her own this week, too. I also asked her to practice reading out loud by having her spend some time reading to her younger brother and sister, too.
Beyond the Page
We took our reading adventures behind the page by checking out some of the activities on the PBS Parents website, such as the Dinosaur Train Activities. I loved being able to tie our dinosaur week into our backyard with this activity: Meeting Modern Dinosaurs – Birds!
The blog Counting Coconuts also has a great dinosaur theme up this month with lots of Montessori based activities for you and your child to explore.
Book Finder
Looking for some books to get you and your kids started on your own Summer Reading Challenge? Check out the PBS Kids Book Finder.
Are you participating in the Summer Reading Challenge? What books have you been enjoying at your house this week?
About Kara
I will be going into eighth grade in the fall. I read at a very advanced level. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for summer reading. I like books that are short, but powerful. I don’t really like fantasy that much. I like books that are easy to relate to and that have important messages about life embedded into them.
Hay Tallin, My kids and I sat and made a list of se7en of the Best Bazillion chapter books we have read a couple of weeks back – Maybe you will find some reading inspiration there: http://www.se7en.org.za/2011/04/15/se7en-of-the-best-bazillion-chapter-books-a-book-bonanza Hope you have a great summer!!!
We are joining in on it too! We’re on a penguin kick these days! I blogged about it!
http://www.ourbrokenroad.blogspot.com
i must see this miricle…. children in 2011 are teached to read as a fun activity! now i am more than sure that the what makes the deference is the community that surounds the kid and what they see as important and fun!
thanks
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im very happy to know about a book that kids love. these days kids don’t like to read books – so if you can make them to read with fun – it’s great! thanks!
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Disculpa que le responda en español, pero mi ingles escrito no es muy bueno. Muchas gracias por esta informacion y por sus magnificos post. Voy a inscribirme al desafio (espero que aun tenga oportunidad). Tengo un pequeño de 2 años y medio al que le encantan los cuentos, asi que seguro nos las pasaremos genial. un abrazo!!
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I signed up too, although I haven’t checked out the whole site yet. I did blog about our summer reading, though.
http://wp.me/p4axp-aZ
lisa´s latest post: Summer Reading