Layers of the Earth for Kids
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Top Five Favourite Books (April)
Monday, April 27, 2015
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I asked Mavi for his top 5 favourite books for this month (he keeps on brining these books in school for show and tell) and tell me why.
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"Winter's story begins with a peg-leg sailor who aids slaves on their escape on the Underground Railroad. While working for plantation owners, Peg Leg Joe teaches the slaves a song about the drinking gourd (the Big Dipper). A couple, their son, and two others make their escape by following the song's directions. Rich paintings interpret the strong story in a clean, primitive style enhanced by bold colours. The rhythmic compositions have an energetic presence that's compelling. A fine rendering of history in picture book format."--(starred) Booklist.
"I like it because Peg Leg Joe became a hero by saving the slaves and bringing them to Canada for freedom". - Mavi
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Lyrical, breathtaking, splendid—words used to describe Allen Say’s Grandfather’s Journey when it was first published. At once deeply personal yet expressing universally held emotions, this tale of one man’s love for two countries and his constant desire to be in both places captured readers’ attention and hearts. Winner of the 1994 Caldecott Medal, it remains as historically relevant and emotionally engaging as ever. - Goodreads
"I love it because the he and his grandfather loves to travel, just like me." - Mavi
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A true classic with a timeless message, The Story of Ferdinand has enchanted readers since it was first published in 1936. All the other bulls would run and jump and butt their heads together. But Ferdinand would rather sit and smell the flowers. And he does just that, until the day a bumblebee and some men from the Madrid bullfights give gentle Ferdinand a chance to be the most ferocious star of the corrida—and the most unexpected comic hero. This cherished hardcover is perfect for those who love Ferdinand, and those who have yet to meet him. - Goodreads
"The part where he sat on a bee makes me laugh, and because everyone thinks he's super strong but actually not. All he ever do is smell the flower and he's really funny." - Mavi
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Life stories of Spiderman, Thor and Ironman.
"Spiderman is in it and he is my favourite superhero." - Mavi
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"This book...recounts the persistence of a Frenchman, Louis Bleriot, to build a flying machine to cross the English Channel.... The text is succinct, caption-like in its directness and brevity....The paintings...add the necessary testure and tone to this marriage. This is vintage Provensen" – School Library Journal
"Because it is the story of the first airplane to fly in France and England. The pictures are so funny too" - Mavi
You can also get these books from Book Depository. They ship anywhere for free!
Toddler Beginnings 07
Saturday, March 28, 2015
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I can barely take photos of Vito doing activities these days as my hands are also too busy being involved with it. So one technique that most blogger Moms do is to take photos ahead of their materials for presentation. I’d like to borrow this technique, but I will try to do my best to take snap shots of Vito doing these activities in action since I still find it cute to post some photos of him LOL.
UPPER PHOTOS
- Montessori Letter Work book and Bible Stories (for Lent)
- Yellow Colour Basket
- Hape Counting stackers (a favourite!)
MIDDLE PHOTOS
- Mini unit block toys (he is enjoying stacking this blocks!)
- Melissa and Doug Jumbo Zoo Puzzle
BOTTOM PHOTOS
We’ve been using the Montessori Letter work for weeks now and Vito loves tracing the letters. We’re also reading the Bible Stories (this was Mavi’s) for Lent. The rest of our reading/language materials can be found here.
Because Easter is just around the corner, we’re doing a few Easter themed activities. This one is a colour matching activity. I got the pail from a local book store and the yellow mini baskets from Dunnes. I am sure that there’s plenty of these at Amazon.
Another activity is the 1:1 correspondence. Vito loves transferring objects and I am sure he’s going to enjoy this one!
New activity this week is the building of blocks! This is an old toy and I got it out for Vito to use. Vito is starting to enjoy stacking the blocks. I torn between getting the pink tower and brown stairs or Melissa and Doug Unit Blocks.
We love our Giotto Bebe finger paints! It has NO SMELL AT ALL and SO EASY TO WASH! I came across this brand when we were staying in Belgrade and I fell in love with it instantly. Their finger paints are so creamy and Vito loves its vivid colours! And it is sooo easy to remove (and non toxic too!).
And I let him use our Do-a-Dot markers! This is colouring a cross for Lent. We’re taking a break from crayons and pens so I’m letting him use this stamp markers for variation. This he has to practice stamping, not writing as he used to. I have to demonstrate first what to do with it. We’ll be using this a little bit more for practice.
It has been sunny for the past weeks and we’re always outdoors!
Pin this!
Book Review: Grandfather’s Journey
Thursday, March 19, 2015
**Contains affiliate links**
From Amazon: “Lyrical, breathtaking, splendid—words used to describe Allen Say’s Grandfather’s Journey when it was first published. At once deeply personal yet expressing universally held emotions, this tale of one man’s love for two countries and his constant desire to be in both places captured readers’ attention and hearts. Winner of the 1994 Caldecott Medal, it remains as historically relevant and emotionally engaging as ever.”
I was forced to read this book because this is the first book in the FIAR list that’s in our possession. Forced in a sense that, it doesn’t look interesting at all. The cover is lousy, with dull colours and doesn’t look like a children’s book at all.
But oh boy, I was wrong. It is true indeed that you should not judge the book by its cover. Once Mavi opened the book and started reading, we were glued! The story is so simple, yet it touched our hearts. Mavi and I immediately fell in love with story as we see ourselves in the character. We are expats, and we both love two countries. There’s depth and emotions in the story. After reading this book, we were so overwhelmed with emotions that we began missing the Philippines.
A very good book for kids. The book has large pictures with easy to read texts. I love the simplicity of it and how easily a child can read this. Now I understand why it received a Caldecott Medal :)
This book can also be purchased at Book Depository (free shipping!). Seen in the picture: Japan flag using LEGO, transport counters from Learning Resources and a bird origami.
Now listen to my 6 years old son, narrating the story:
Language Learning Materials for Toddlers (with FREE Alphabet Reading Booklet)
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
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This post is part of the 12 Months of Montessori Learning which is hosted by Natural Beach Living and The Natural Homeschool.
Dinosaur Books!
Friday, September 12, 2014
These are ALL the books we used as reference for Dinosaur Study. This post contains affiliated links.
I highly recommend this book for preschoolers who love dinosaurs and letters at the same time. Mavi has been obsessed with the alphabet for years and he always always relates the alphabet to any object he sees.
These are specific books that describes dinosaurs according to characteristics. My son borrowed ALL of these books from the library.
I personally prefer this book, unfortunately it is only limited to giant dinosaurs. It missed out some of my son’s favourite dinos.
Hope this post is helpful in giving you ideas on what books to use when studying dinosaurs.
Have a nice day!
The Human Skeleton Book References
Friday, September 5, 2014
I’ve got lots of inquiries regarding the books we used in our human body and skeleton unit. These books were from the library and they are amazing resources! You can get them in Book Depository [aff.link] and they have FREE DELIVERY worldwide.
Books used were[aff.links]:
Try checking them out now :)
Learning From Books Using Narration Style Method
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Books for Toddlers: Baby Picture Books
Thursday, July 31, 2014
NOTE: The post contains affiliate links.
My books from Book Depository finally arrived! So happy to have these picture books again :)
I looove these baby books, I have them when Mavi was 8 months old and I knew I just have to have them again for Vito. I couldn't find this in our local bookstore so I needed to purchase them from Book Depository as I no longer have Mavi's. In the picture below is Mavi. At that time the book is a year older already and the pages are torn due to excessive use :) There are 12 books in the series but I bought have 5 due to a limited budget LOL.
Now here are the reasons why I love and recommend this book series:
1. These board books are sturdy. I like its cover the most. It's wrapped with plasticky material, padded and soft, reason why my son loves to bite them :D If its wet with saliva the cover doesn't come off and tear.
2. The board pages are highly durable. They don't bend and my little boy can flip it easily.
3. It has large real pictures thus it holds my son’s interest. He can easily discern on it because of the pictures' size and simplicity. We love looking at them everyday.
4. The book uses bright colors as backgrounds. Vito is drawn to it especially those with red, yellow and blue backgrounds. There are 12 books in the series and I bought 5. These are tried and tested. I recommend them to babies as young as 4 months :)
These books would also be perfect as presents!
Books for Artists Study
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
I miss our Artist Study. Mavi enjoyed our Artist Study sessions. This was when there was no Vito yet and when my hands are not full :) Mavi is very much intrigued on the lives of some greatest artists, he loves to listen to their life stories and the paintings that they made. I have attempted this a million times, to reboot this lessons but the baby is a big factor. We’ll just have to set this aside and revisit this once Vito can join us.
Now I made this post to introduce two sets of books that Mavi and I really really love and enjoyed reading. I found these in our library… but of course they don’t have the complete set which I dream of owning someday. They are for keeps :)
The first set of the books are from James Mayhew. The books are all about Katie, who loves to visit museums with her grandma and when no one is watching, the paintings come alive. My son loves this idea of Katie going inside the painting and meeting the characters on it. We’ve read some of it and here are our favourites arranged according to how much we like them.
The second set of books that we also love are from Laurence Anholt. This time the stories are all about children meeting great artists. The books are more focused on the artist’s life rather than the paintings they’re made. Now these books are pretty popular in the library so they are seldom available. I plan to purchase them as gifts later on. As I said, these books are worth-it.
Books we’ve read from the series:
And there you go, my picks for studying great artists. Hope you checkout the books using my affiliates. Don’t worry, you won’t be charge or there’s no additional cost. I will just earn a teeny weeny commission if you order through my links (affiliates). And don’t hesitate to get your books from Book Depository because it is FREE DELIVERY NATIONWIDE.
Thank you and hope that this post helps.