Reading chapter books to toddlers, preschoolers, and beyond
I was shopping recently and bumped into a friend in the peanut butter aisle. As we chatted she mentioned how much she loves taking her kids to the grocery store.
I nodded as she spoke, but inside I was thinking, “She likes to go to the grocery store? She finds it a bonding time with her kids? What?!? I don’t feel that way at all….what is wrong with me?” [Read more…] about 3 Myths About Reading Aloud that You Need to Stop Believing
Do y’all have any idea what time it is as I write this? It’s super early…or super late, I suppose, depending on if you’re a night person or a morning person. I’ve been asleep for a while but I just woke up because my brain thought now would be a good time to worry about stuff.
I worry that the families that I take meals to at church after they have a baby won’t like what I make. I worry that my kids will learn bad words from the kids we have stay with us. I worry that the ladybugs who have decided to make our light fixtures their home this spring will never leave. I worry that the world will soon plunge into WW3.
You know, little stuff like that.
However, one thing I am not worrying about is the fact that I did not read aloud to my kids today. [Read more…] about You Don’t Need to Read to Your Kids Everyday
Please don’t shoot the messenger. I’m going to try to provide a picky review of the Magic Tree House series. It feels impossible to provide an accurate Magic Tree House critique because the books are almost universally loved, but I’m going to try.
[Read more…] about The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly about Magic Tree HouseIt can be confusing to know what chapter book reading level is right for your child.
When I started reviewing books I said to myself, “Oh, I’ll have to include reading levels! Because everyone will want to know that. And I’m a good reviewer…or I will be a good reviewer, once I stop using my kids’ quiet time to scroll through Instagram and start using it to actually type up book reviews. Reading level is a must.”
Then I realized that most of the books I was reading to my kids it would not be that easy. The ones that had reading levels printed on the cover had different ways they reported the reading level. Some said the age, some the grade, some just a letter or a number. Most didn’t have a reading level assigned on the book at all.
A few quick Google searches later and I discovered 16 distinct reading level scales.
16! Are you kidding me?
And that was only for academics or librarians who would be rating the levels of books themselves. Some individual publishers have their own reading level distinctions that they assign more arbitrarily. [Read more…] about 3 Things to Look at While You Ignore Reading Levels
You know those graphic tees that have retro band logos, or hip animals wearing sunglasses, or something else like that on them? I saw someone at the grocery store wearing one the other day, and she looked great.
I was a little jealous because I don’t really wear them – with my baby face and lack of makeup skills, I end up looking like a high school student. But that’s not the point.
The point was the saying on the t-shirt. It said, “There’s no such thing as too many books.”
The font was that perfect mix of alternating between block text and calligraphy. It was so cute. She looked great.
Unfortunately, that statement, that “there’s no such thing as too many books,” is completely wrong. [Read more…] about There is Such a Thing as Too Many Books