If your kids or students are learning about story elements/structure, this create-your-own spooky story from Wee Society would be perfect for this Halloween week! Here’s a spread from Avery’s story.
mini marche
My pal @mini.marche sent us the sweetest and most thoughtful surprise—a set of her handmade clips. I thought they were super cute in photographs, but they are absolutely beautiful in person! Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness, @mini.marche! Avery was over the moon about them and is already planning the days that she’ll wear them. ☺️ Please check out Jeanette's shop on Etsy!
nate the great and the monster mess (and why our children need to read)
Avery’s love for the “World’s Greatest Detective” is still going strong and this is one is a regular in her Nate the Great rotation. In Nate the Great and the Monster Mess, Nate’s mother loses her beloved recipe for monster cookies and Nate must wade through a myriad of clues to retrieve it.
There’s something so magical about finding a book or book series that you click with as a child. It makes reading enjoyable, which is so integral to contributing to a lifelong love of reading and learning. When they can’t wait to find out what happens next in a book, children are motivated to learn how to decode or pronounce words that are new them (even if they’re difficult), and understand their meanings. As adults, we can bring to light the nuanced meanings of those new words, help interpret story structure/plot and really teach children to think beyond the story, and relate it with their own life experiences. This is a huge part of the learning process: connecting new experiences with old. This is what happens when we’re there reading aloud books to our kids or are even just present while they’re reading aloud on their own.
According to so many books (The Read-Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease comes to mind) and education articles, as our kids get older, they lose interest in reading. Compared to other countries, our kids read less and less on their own as they become teenagers. And time devoted to reading decreases with each new generation. Yet, lifelong reading is so essential to a well-rounded education, understanding the world, making learning connections and ultimately, helping our children discover who they’re going to be in life and what their mission will be. So, this is why it is so, so important from a very young age and all throughout childhood to build a library of books that children will enjoy and treasure. Kudos to all parents, teachers and librarians who work tirelessly to do so!
I know all too well how tired we all are at the end of the day and sometimes how hard it is to decide to read a book instead of watch TV and relax or whatever, but reading every day is one of the best things we can do with our kids, to invest in them and their future.
i need a camera to my eye...
Avery and Nate were into making these duplo cameras earlier this year.
farm anatomy
Farm Anatomy, by illustrator Julia Rothman, is truly a sight to behold—an exquisite and thoughtful hand-drawn and written compendium of farm life. It is an amazing introduction and reference to agrarian culture, something we don’t always have access to, especially if we live in the suburbs or are city dwellers. Farm Anatomy’s contents range from types of chicken coops, sheep sheds, canning tomatoes, egg breeds, heritage turkey breeds, making maple syrup, old-fashioned kitchen tools, spinning yarn to natural sources for dyeing yarn. Looking forward to Julia Rothman's next book!