World Read-Aloud Day: Tips on Reading Aloud to Young Children

Posted on March 6, 2013 by viviankirkfield

When children love books and reading, they do better in school and live happier lives.

One of the best ways to accomplish this goal is to read aloud to infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

Parents can read anything aloud to their little ones…but some books are better than others.

Author and educator Susan Marx wrote a practical guide for reading aloud to young children.

Help Me Get Ready To Read is chockfull of great picture book suggestions and parenting tips.

Susan wrote a poem that uses the titles of the stories that are recommended in her book…just in time for World Read Aloud Day.

The name of the poem is Bedtime Rhyme and the titles of favorite read-aloud books for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers are shown in italics.

Information about the books as well as parenting strategies and reading strategies to read aloud effectively are provided in “Help Me Get Ready To Read: The Practical Guide For Reading Aloud To Children During Their First Five Years” by Susan Marx and Barbara Kasok. (www.readaloudguide.com)

Bedtime Rhyme

by Susan Marx

Let’s read a book Together to settle you down,

Time for Bed in your cozy jammies or nightgown.

Sleep time for you and Dino-Pets that watch you grow,

Count along with me Ten, Nine, Eight and Off We Go!

Little one you might ask Where to Sleep?

For sure not with those Sheep in a Jeep.

Duck! Rabbit! Here’s a Kiss Kiss from Little Mo,

Stop your Dancing Feet, be still From Head To Toe.

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed go Bumpety Bump on the floor,

OH! The Runaway Bunny calls for help from Sammy and the Dinosaur.

Chicken Bedtime is Really Early honks Blue Goose,

Mommies Say Shhh! to the Mother Goose on the Loose.

Here Comes the Night so quietly listen as Bear Snores On,

No more coloring for Harold and the Purple Crayon.

Good night to the dog in Whistle for Willie,

And good neigh to the horse in Silly Tilly.

Time To Say Goodnight to Corduroy, Miss Mary Mack, and Maisy,

Goodnight Moon, Noisy Nora, Olivia, and Titch and Daisy.

Good-night Owl and Good Night Gorilla in the Firehouse,

Sweet dreams to the teeny weeny Busy, Busy Mouse.

Hush Little Baby soon the sun will say Hello Day,

That’s the time when your book buddy Millie Wants to Play!

Soon Milton the Early Riser will head Down By the Bay,

Carrying his Umbrella on a Soggy Saturday.

Look up and down Brown Bear, Bear Brown, What Do You See?

Close Your Eyes to find A Rainbow All Around Me.

It’s Time To go to sleep as I sing a Lucky Song,

All the World will wait patiently for you all night long.

Thanks so much, Susan, for sharing this with us.

To find out more about Susan Marx and her wonderful read-aloud programs, you can visit her here:

Website: http://www.readaloudguide.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com

BEDTIME IS A WONDERFUL TIME TO READ ALOUD TO CHILDREN…BUT IT’S NOT THE ONLY TIME.

1. ON CAR RIDES

2. AT THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE

3. WAITING ON LINE AT THE GROCERY STORE

4. AT THE LIBRARY

5. ON A PICNIC

WHEN DO YOU READ ALOUD TO YOUR KIDS?

Need more picture book read aloud suggestions Please check out my book on Amazon

Best Bedtime Books to Read Aloud (pragmaticmom.com)
Pam Allyn: World Read Aloud Day: Building a Worldwide Literacy Community (huffingtonpost.com)
8 Great Reasons to Read Aloud (faithfulprovisions.com)
How Dogs Can Boost Children’s Reading Skills (everydayhealth.com)
Sighs and settees: recovering the lost history of reading aloud in the eighteenth century (ihrprojects.wordpress.com)
In praise of reading aloud (and some tips for the fearful) (weeklyblogclub.wordpress.com)
http://www.readalouddad.com/2011/03/reading-aloud-wont-make-you-thinner-but.html

Sunday Post: Captivating…Reading Builds Vocabulary

Posted on March 3, 2013 by viviankirkfield

Sunday Post: Captivating

Jake at Time after Time has a Sunday Post Challenge…today’s theme is CAPTIVATING.

The dictionary definition of captivating: attracting, influencing and holding by excellence or charm.

The excellence of a book is captivating.

The charm of a child is captivating.

What captivates you?

Captivate your child by reading excellent picture books. Studies show that children who are read to every day have greater success in school. They enter kindergarten understanding 20,000 words or more of vocabulary as opposed to 5000 words or less. And the children who are behind almost NEVER make up the gap.

“In 1950 the average spoken vocabulary of a child entering first grade was 4000 words. By 1990 this figure had dropped to 1000 words. Why? Because children are not read to and do not have very much quality interaction with their parents. Plus they do not pick up new words at play with their peers. And it is hard for two tired, working parents or a single parent to do much with their children at the end of the day. Many kids are simply placed in front of the TV while mom and/or dad get supper ready.” – Yale-New Haven Teacher’s Institute

Show Me How! Build Your Child’s Self-Esteem Through Reading, Crafting and Cooking can help! Click this link if you would like a copy! The book makes it easy to pinpoint the best books to read. It gives parents arts and crafts activities that are quick and easy. And it provides simple healthful recipes that you can make with your child. Captivate your kid, encourage creative expression and, most of all, have fun together!

Join in the fun with Jake’s Sunday Post.

http://jakesprinters.wordpress.com/

SUNDAY POST: Captivat(ed) | Lost in Translation →

Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post : Captivating | restlessjo

Sunday Post Theme ‘Captivating’ | Campanulla Della Anna

SUNDAY POST : Captivating | rfljenksy – Practicing Simplicity →

Captivating | Figments of a DuTchess

Captivating birds for Jake’s theme | Anotherdayinparadise2’s Blog →

http://mywordwall.wordpress.com/2013/03/03/sunday-post-captivating/

The Sunday Post: Captivating | Thirdeyemom

Sunday Post: Captivating | بيسان →

Sunday Post: Captivating | patriciaddrury →

Sunday Post 2013 – Captivating | Thoze Were the Daze →

http://bodhisattvaintraining.wordpress.com/2013/03/04/sunday-post-captivating/

http://truthaboveallreligions.wordpress.com/2013/03/03/sunday-post-captivating/

Jakesprinter’s Sunday Post : Captivating (restlessjo.wordpress.com)
SUNDAY POST : Captivating (jakesprinters.wordpress.com)
Sunday Post: Captivating (smileyface80.wordpress.com)
The Sunday Post: Captivating (thirdeyemom.com)
Sunday Post: Simplicity…Children Need Less Stuff (viviankirkfield.wordpress.com)

Celebrating World Read-Aloud Day with Eric Carle

Posted on February 28, 2013 by viviankirkfield

Eric Carle Alert: A new Eric Carle book is in the works. You can visit his website for more info. http://www.ericcarleblog.blogspot.com.au/

Why do I mention this? Because Wednesday is World Read Aloud Day and Eric Carle picture books are perfect for reading aloud. With that in mind, and because today is Perfect Picture Book Friday (over at Susanna Leonard Hill), my perfect picture book choice today is an older Eric Carle story.

“Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth

Written and illustrated by Eric Carle

Foreward by Jane Goodall

Publisher: Scholastic, Inc. (2002)

Ages: 3 and up

Themes:

Be yourself, diversity, animals of the jungle, getting along, self-esteem, enjoy life (stop and smell the roses)

Opening Lines:

“Slowly, slowly, slowly, a sloth crawled along a branch of a tree. Slowly, slowly, slowly, the sloth fell asleep. Slowly, slowly, slowly, the sloth woke up.”

Synopsis:

In a jungle in South America, the other animals question the way of the sloth. The anteater says he is boring. The jaguar says he is lazy. The howler monkey says he is slow. Finally, the sloth answers them, giving them a dozen synonyms for slow and quiet and boring. He admits that he is lackadaisical, mellow, placid, lethargic, laid-back and tranquil because he likes to live in peace. “That’s just how I am.”

Why I like this book:

In the style of The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth celebrates our right to be who we are. Without making excuses, the sloth accepts his personna and embraces it. What a wonderful story for both parent and child to read together…what a wonderful opportunity to talk about how we are each different and how that very diversity contributes to the beauty of the world.

The illustrations are bold, a kaliediscope of color collages…exactly what we would expect from an Eric Carle book. The text is simple and effective…and the section where the sloth gives over a dozen synonyms for slow, quiet and boring is fantastic…kids will LOVE those big words: lackadaisical, lethargic, sluggish, languid…oh my, what fun…and learning all the time!

How a parent can use this book:

The story addresses friendship, diversity, pride in oneself, awareness of one’s own values and strengths. The foreward, by the famous Jane Goodall, relates some of her experiences with sloths in the jungles and rainforests of South America I did not know that sloths sleep nineteen hours out of twenty-four…and that they are basically silent creatures who occasionally comment on life with a small sigh, ‘ah-ee’. Sleeping nineteen hours out of twenty-four…that sounds like a spa vacation to me.

Related Activities:

Eric Carle is famous for his collage illustrations. Why not do a collage with your child?

Photo courtesy Melissa Iwai, author/illustrator of Soup Day and illustrator of Hush Little Monster: http://thehungryartist.wordpress.com/2010/03/24/collage-crafts-for-kids/

You will need:

One piece of construction paper, several pieces of other paper/fabric/tissue paper/giftwrap/newspaper/magazine/wallpaper swatches, glue, scissors, markers or crayons.

Let your child decide what the picture will be…a person, a landscape, a jungle filled with animals. Or, perhaps your child prefers to just cut or tear and paste his own design.
If your child wishes to make a specific picture, he might want to draw the picture on the construction paper first, before cutting or tearing the collage pieces.
Cut or tear the paper/fabric/newspaper/etc and glue on the construction paper.

More about Eric Carle here: http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/book/slowly-slowly-slowly-said-sloth

And here: http://www.ericcarleblog.blogspot.com.au/

More collage activities here: http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/collagesartscraftsideasprojectskids.html

And more here: http://www.artsandcraftsforkids.co.uk/collage-crafts-for-kids.html

They say good things come in threes.. .I just noticed that my blog has 300 followers. THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO READS MY POSTS…AND TO THOSE WHO COMMENT…I REALLY DO APPRECIATE IT. Also, Tuesday, March 5, I am joining author/educator Susan Case for a #SpringintoEducation Google Hangout…we are going to be chatting about how educators can positively influence their students. And Monday, March 4, will be Michelle Obama’s first #letsmove #firesidechat Google+ Hangout. Individuals were invited to submit a video question for possible inclusion…here’s mine: http://youtu.be/7u1X8dOnpzc

Mrs. Obama’s goal is to create awareness and find answers to help our children live a healthier lifestyle. My book provides many of those answers…please check out it out…you’ll find quick and easy healthful recipes that your kids will enjoy preparing with you as well as lots of other simple activities and great picture book suggestions. Click this link to purchase a copy