Little Learning Highlights – Early 2020

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Bookshelf Highlights

Stegothesaurus (Heos, Bridget)

This book was a little over little gal’s head, but my hubby and got some chuckles out it. I think this would be a great book to read when teaching about thesauruses.

Yes, Yes, Yaul! (Czekaj, Jef)

Little gal picked out this book at the library. The rap references and rap sections made me chuckle. I’m not a natural rapper and would have loved to hear someone with some rap skills really perform this book. I’m not sure little gal got much out of this, but It was an amusing read for her momma!

Hank’s Big Day: The Story of a Bug (Kuhlman, Evan)

My daughter LOVED this book and asked to read it more than once. I’m not sure what captivated her about this book, but I did love the little asides added in to the illustrations.

In the Garden with Dr. Carver (Grigsby, Susan)

This was a beautifully written and illustrated book that taught me quite a bit about what Dr. Carver taught. I expect to revisit this when little gal is older.

The Day My Dogs Became Guys (Markoe, Merrill)

Little gal also loved this book and requested to read it multiple times. I can’t blame her, the imagery of adults acting like dogs is pretty hilarious in this book.

Worksheets 

I have heard how bad worksheets are for learning, but little gal begs to do the workbooks I have in her school supplies. We’ve been doing worksheets a lot this week and she’s been really enjoying them.

Judy Moody read aloud

This book is a good case for pre-reading, which I obviously don’t do right now. I bought Judy Moody Declares Independence at a yard sale because I had heard she was popular for kids and I thought the cover was adorable.

I actually think the historical content is really great and I’ve even learned about the American Revolution from the book. I was especially excited to see Sybil Ludington referred to in the book (Hubby and I just recently listened to her story on Drunk History). However, I have a really hard time with Judy’s attitude, words, and behavior. I probably wouldn’t have read it with her if I had pre-read it.

We are finding a good flow with little gal coloring in a book or doing copy work while I read aloud. I’m going to see how it goes long term, but for the time being this is a good fit. 

Incorporating Books and Literacy for Preschoolers at Home

A love of reading is one of the top things I want to instill in my little Mudpie during our learning at home time. As a long time book lover, I know the power that literacy can have in an education and in life as well. We started early on by surrounding her with books and reading to her regularly. I loved seeing her explore books on her own at such an early age. 

Now that we are doing preschool at home, it’s really starting to sink in that my little gal is getting closer and closer to the point where she will start to read on her own. Throughout this year, I’ve been researching ways that I can incorporate those early skills that will come together as she starts to learn to read and write. I’m not an education major, so pulling together lessons, tools, and games became a self educated, DIY experience. 

That process went well enough, but was a time consuming rabbit hole to navigate. One of the things that I loved the most about Mother Goose Time curriculum is their emphasis on literacy. The people who create this curriculum are pros, so I no longer have to wonder if I’m incorporating the most important skills needed into our lessons. It’s already done for me. 

I love that each month with Mother Goose Time, we receive a full sized themed book that we can add to our library here at home. The books have great illustrations and include activities that Mudpie can interact with in the book. In addition, other activity suggestions with the book are added into the teacher’s guides as well. 

I love seeing my little girl’s love of reading grow and know I’m giving her the skills she needs as she starts her own reading adventure! 

Pinspired: Ikea Bookshelves

I’ve always been a huge reader (thanks Dad and Mom for reading to me so much as kid and supplying my book habit!) and I feel like my love of reading helped me in so many ways throughout my life. It’s important to me that books an essential part of Little One’s upbringing and I want to make sure she always has books at her fingertips (or at Mommy and Daddy’s fingertips until she’s old enough to enjoy them on her own).  Our small rooms don’t accommodate large bookshelves easily, so when I saw this pin, I thought it was a brilliant idea!
 
Project Time: 1 hour or so
Project Cost: approx $5/shelf
Pin it or forget it? Pin it!
 
One of Little One’s aunties (who also purchased the spice racks for us on an Ikea trip) redid my former dresser and chest as her baby shower gift, so we didn’t want to mount the bookshelves directly to the beautiful piece. We decided to make a corner of her room for her books, near the glider where we will likely sit and read to her.
 
We found some great little paint samples at Lowe’s and picked one up in a bright green to compliment her room colors. I can’t take an credit for the implementation of this project, Hubby did it all from painting, putting them together, and mounting them to the wall. We did have issues mounting them to the wall due to the type of hanging areas on the back of the spice rack, but otherwise I’m really happy with how they turned out! The hold her books well and add a nice little pop of color to the corner area. There’s no way we would have had room for a bookcase right now, so this was a wonderful solution.

Book Bites – Minimize the Mess (with Giveaway!)

 

I am so very excited to be a part of the Blog Tour for the book Minimize The Mess! I wish you could see my copy of this book. Nearly every page has a highlight and notes in the margin. There is so much great information tucked away for simplifying your home in this lovely book. 

Since I became a work-at-home mom, my sensitivity to clutter and mess in our home has increased. While I was already on a quest to find the best way to optimize our smallish home and declutter our lives, being at home more is definitely pushing me to work on this more. Reading this book could not have come at a better time! 

While not all of the information in this book is new to me, I found the information that Rachel shared wonderfully packaged to help me think through application for my home. There is prodding to really examine your home and life and the motivation behind the mess, but it is done with the spirit of a trusted and understanding friend.  Not only will you be encouraged to work on the current state of your home, you’ll find ways to change the way you think about what comes into your home in the future – the true key to keeping your home the way you want. 

Want to join me in minimizing the mess in your home? You can get your own copy of Minimize the Mess for only $2.99 (what a deal!) from Rachel’s site or from Amazon. If you’re purchasing from Rachel’s site she is offering a 25% discount with the coupon code launch.

 

I received a copy of Minimize the Mess for free to review for you. My thoughts and opinions are all my own.