Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again {A Review}

A cute board book that teach an important lesson.

Look Left, Look Right, Look Left Again by Ginger Pate

The Essentials - What you need to know

• Published by Greene Bark Press
• Product: Look Left, Left Right, Look Left Again by Ginger Pate
• Age 3 - 8
• Wally Waddlewater learns to cross the street safely in this well written, cutely drawn board book.
• $8.50

The Review

We walk everywhere, to the park, to the post office, even to preschool.  Streets are everywhere and my son needs to learn how to safely cross them.  I was delighted when this lovely book came in the mail to review. What a perfect way to explain to him how and why street crossing safety is important.

My four year old son and I sat down and read the book together.  It is a super cute story.  Wally Waddlewater, a little duck,  wants to mail a card to his Grandmother, but he needs to cross several streets to get to the mailbox.  Mama Waddlewater teaches him how to cross safely at a crosswalk, a stop sign and a railroad track to get to the mailbox.  After lots and lots of practice Wally asks for permission to cross the street by himself, which he does successfully.

The Little Dude liked the book a lot.  We read it several times.  Like many children, he liked the sound effects drawn into the pictures, like the honk, honk of the cars and the clang clang of the firetruck.  These fun details are what drew the Little Dude back to the book again and again.

While the the fun is what made him want open the book it also has an important lesson to learn, how to cross the street safely.  He is learning the lesson well.  Recently we went to the playground.  I used to take him in the stroller, but recently he wants to walk everywhere.  So we walked to the playground.  We have to cross the street five times.  Granted these are just quiet neighborhood streets, but what a perfect way to practice what he learned in this book, look left, look right, look left again.  He remembered how because we read this fun book together.

Before we read this book when we crossed the street I focused on hold my hand because there are cars.  While I am still a stickler for holding a hand, he now has a way to look for the cars.  In the story Wally learns not only about watching out for cars but also for a school bus, a fire truck and a train.  I love that this story goes beyond just looking out for cars. We live close to a train track.  We have to cross when we walk to our local farmer's market.  Because the Little Dude saw in the book Wally crossing with his mother at a train track he knows the right thing to do now.  I also love that the story does not just cover crossing the street but also crossing at the cross walk, train track, the traffic light and the stop sign.  All of which we encounter on a regular basis.

I think this is a well written book because it explains an important lesson is a fun way that will keep kids coming back again and again.

The Homegrown Preschooler {A Review}

A beautiful book that makes teaching your preschooler in the place that they live seem very doable.

The Homegrown Preschooler 

The Essentials - What you need to know
• Published by: Gryphon House
• The Homegrown Preschooler, Teaching Your Kids in the Places They Live by Kathy H. Lee and Lesli M Richards
• Age Range: For moms of preschoolers
• Large, paperback book with 224 pages, color photos and text.
• $29.95

The Review

Before I get into the meat of the book I want to talk about the book.  This book is pretty.  It is a large size comparable to a magazine.  It is soft bound with a glossy cover, semi glossy pages  and has lots and lots of full color photos.  It is beautiful.  If I had a coffee table, I would have no trouble putting this book on it. It is just that pretty.  

Here is the really beautiful part about this book, it is not just a pretty face.  This book is full of wisdom, guidance, resources, touching stories, tips and recipes.  I would call it a manual for the homeschooling pre-school mom.  It is not, however, a curriculum.  It does not give a day by day, activity by activity schedule.  It provides a little more of a bigger picture while still paying attention to the details.  

 The book is written by two veteran homeschool moms Kathy and Lesli.  At the beginning of the book each tell their own story. I love that we get to know these two gifted moms straight away.  There was something in each of their stories that resonated with me  in my decision to send or not to send my son to preschool this year.  

The book is broken into two parts, with an appendix at the end.  The first part of the book is the chapters, nine in all.  They lay out the big picture "how-to", from setting up the home to taking time to teach.  They address how children learn and the stages of development.  They also address special situations and seasons in life, such as adoption, illness and special needs. The introduction of the books says "The first half [of the book] will help you evaluate your priorities and goals for your child and family." 

I was impressed by the quality of information on how children learn.  It addresses learning in many different aspects.  This made me feel like I could tackle preschool at home and it would be ok.  In the chapter "Setting the Stage" the authors take us on a virtual tour of a preschool classroom, explaining the purpose of each station or activity, translating it into something that can happen at home.  

Another point that I found especially informative was in the chapter "Who Has Time for This?".  Three preschool families describe a perfect day.  One family has one child, the second family has three children, the last family has six children. It really gives a good window on life, in a homeschooling family.  This book is directed at parents of homeschooling preschool children.  The authors make a point of saying homeschooling preschool can prepare the child for any kind of later school experience.  

Sprinkled throughout the chapters are some special touches.  There are beautiful quotes, notes from each of the authors relating stories from their own lives, and there are recipes, really yummy recipes.  I will be making the chicken enchiladas this week. 

The second half of the book has about a gazillion developmentally appropriate activities.  Ok, maybe not a gazillion, but there are a lot.  They are divided into "target areas of growth that are necessary for healthy and happy preschoolers to be ready for kindergarten in any setting".  Those areas include home life, science, gross motor, fine motor, math, language and emergent literacy, art and social-emotional.  

This was my reaction as I read through the second half of this book:  "Oooooh I want to do that, and that, and that.  Ah, that is such a great idea, Oooo, I never thought about doing that...."  Seriously, tons, and tons of fabulous ideas. There are recipes in this section as well, recipes for play dough, puffy paint and sidewalk chalk.   Field trip ideas and tips are sprinkled throughout this section as well.  

Lastly there is an appendix.  The appendix contains an activity checklist, a getting started checklist, two pages of resources (books, websites, DVDs, blogs and apps), and plans/instructions for building a plexiglas easel and a sensory/light/water/sand table.    

This is an amazing book.  I will be recommending it to all my friends with preschooler.  It is absolutely worth the price. 

25 Truths by Ed Douglas {A Review}

A book of 25 Truths, Life Principles of the Happiest and Most Successful Among Us 

The Essentials - What you need to know

• Published by:  Ed Douglas Publications
• Product: 25 Truths, Life Principles of the Happiest and Most Successful Among Us
• Age Range:  Grade 6-12
• Paperback book with 150 pages, short chapters, one chapter per truth plus a bonus truth.
• Price: $12.50

The Review

25 Truths is the third book for author and speaker Ed Douglas.  He is a retired bank CEO with an expertise in finance and is a financial planner.  His first two books are Making a Million with $2000 and The Money Marathon.  Although there is some financial information in the 25 Truths, it has more breath and greater life application.

This 150 page book started as just a list of wisdom that Ed wanted to share with the young people in his life. Some of those truths include:

• Don't Talk Negatively About Others
• Be Quick to Apologize
• Take it One Step at a Time

According to the website, these truths "if followed can lead to a happy and fulfilling life".  This book is written from a Christian point of view.  Many chapters begin with a bit of scripture.  We must always remember to keep in mind that while books of this sort can offer insight, they are not to supersede the Bible.

25 Truths has 26 chapters.  Each chapter covers one truth plus one bonus truth.  Each quote is summarized in a brief statement.  Beginning with a bit of wisdom from the Bible or a quote. Then the author expounds on each sharing stories from his own life and history.  At the end of each short chapter there are a few discussion questions.

I chose to read the book for myself.  It fit nicely in my purse so I took it out when the kids were playing on the playground and when I had a wait, like at the doctors office. The chapters were short so it was easy just take it out when I had a few minutes.  It was an easy read but definitely gave food for thought. The questions opened some nice dinnertime conversation.

Joyce Herzog {A Book Review}

A wonderful collection of teaching tips and wisdom for people who work with children with learning diabilities.

Joyce Herzog

The essentials - what you need to know:

• Company: Joyce Herzog
• Learning in Spite of Labels
• A soft bound book. 
• Cost $15 
• The book is written for adults who work with children of all ages.

The Review

Joyce Herzog is a highly educated author.  She holds a masters degree, PhD and was listed in the Who's Who in American Education. She has served in the trenches as a teacher of learning disabled children in private and public schools for twenty five years.  Joyce is an authority on the subject of learning disabled students.  I wanted to read this book because I am the mother and teacher of one of those students. 

 Zippy was diagnosed with ADHD right after a very, very difficult kindergarten year.  She was always an active child and had difficulty focusing.  Despite the suggestion of every single teacher she has ever had we choose not to medicate her.  Eventually she fell behind, even in a small, Christian School.  I was always grateful that she was not labeled, but rather accepted as a quirky part of her small class.  We chose to remove her from school after a year and a half because of a teacher who did not know how to deal with her.  She had fallen too far behind academically for me not to take action.  

Over those difficult years I always thought, boy Zippy is not learning anything this year.  But as Joyce points out in the preface of this book: 

Everyone learns something every day.  They may learn to expect failure.  They may learn to stop trying.  They may learn to find success in getting into trouble.  One thing is sure.  They are learning!

Not even to page one and my mind was blown.  This book is littered with gems and jewels like that. Things that made me sit back and think.  Things that made me re-evaluate why I thought some things were important to teach. The book is a loose collection of all kinds of different information about teaching learning disabled children. The information is grouped into four sections: What Do I Need to Know, What Do I Need to Do, Where Do I Start and And Furthermore.  As the sections state, this book is less about the child and more about the teacher.

Joyce is a Christian.  This book is a God centered book.  I am a trained teacher.  I received my teaching certification from a secular college. While some of my experience as an educator was in a Christian school environment, none of my teacher training was at all.  How refreshing to read a book that speaks of teaching within the grace of God.  The number one teaching tip in the chapter Twenty-Five Teaching Tips that Work is "I will thank God for this situation and pray for His guidance and blessing".  Wow.

There is so. much. information, wonderful information, helpful lists, pardigm shifting ideas, and just great tips on how to deal. There were some highlights for me.  These are the things that stuck with me even several weeks after I finished reading the book.

Chapter four deals with all sorts of issue in educating the learning disabled child.  Here are some of the headings: Is there such a thing as learning disabilites?, Education verses School, and What is really important (I'll give you a hint: reading, writing, and arithmetic did not make the top three).  Joyce also has, for me, convicting truths about discipline. There is a concise description of several different kinds of learning styles.  Joyce also covers the law and how it pertains to the learning disabled child.  One of my favorite sections is where she highlights people, successful, famous people throughout history who had to deal with a learning disability. After surveying so much great information, in the back of the book there is a fabulous annotated bibliography with books on many of the topics Joyce touches.

I want to take a minute to camp out in chapter 16, Attention Deficit Disorder, ADD, ADHD.  I do not really do a lot of reading on this subject.  Mostly because nearly everything I have found starts with medicating the child.  Joyce does not.  She gives compassionate, applicable, practical tip and ideas of teaching a child with ADD/ADHD.  She also has some interesting ideas why this issue is so prevalent in our society.  I came away from this chapter feeling invigorated and excited to teach my child again.  It gave me understanding of behaviors and ideas of how to deal with them.  Most of all it really help me to see beyond the ADHD to my beautiful child and all of the wonderful potential that she has.  For this one small chapter alone, I would pay ten times the price of this book, because truly, for me, this chapter was priceless.

The beauty of this book is that it has something for everyone.  For me it was the chapter on ADHD, for someone else it may be the placement of a child in the correct educational environment, another person may find the teaching tips invaluable.  I would certainly, without hesitation  recommend this book to anyone who is a parent, teacher, tutor or deals with teaching children in any way.

Science Naturally {A Review}

A fun way to fit in science, one minute at a time.

Science Naturally

The Essentials - What you need to know 

• Company: Science Naturally
• One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve with Science
• Ages 8-12
• Soft bound book.
• Cost: $9.95

The Review 

One Minute Mysteries: 65 More Short Mysteries You Solve with Science is such a fun book.  It reminds me, in every good way, of the Encyclopedia Brown mysteries I loved as a kid.

This book is a great way to wake up the mind, foster curiosity and promote discussion.  All of the mysteries are a page or less in length with the solution and a photo illustration on the back of the page.  There are a wide variety of science topics including , life, earth, space, general, physical and chemical.  In addition there are five bonus mysteries and five bonus math mysteries.  Each mystery is a mystery first.  What I mean is there is not anything that says "We are going to learn about geysers" but rather the book tells a quick, fun tale of hot hikers and the answers tell why walking in a geyser's mist would not cool them down.  The smaller sized paperback is nice to throw into a bag to take along, whether to the grocery, the beach or on a road trip across the country.

We used this as a warm up to Science, and on a couple of occasions to our day. It was a nice way to limber up the brain.   Zippy would read aloud the mystery then we would take a couple of minutes to discuss how the problem might be solved. The book relies exclusively on prior knowledge. This is fun because all the mysteries are believable real life scenarios. Sometimes Zippy knew the answer straight away because she had the scientific knowledge. One mystery in particular, dealt with whales, a subject she studied in depth earlier in the year. Sometimes she could puzzle out the answer. She would know the how but not the why. Sometimes she did not know the answer at all. There were lots and lots of "I wonder" and "ah ha" moments.

The thing that I personally liked was the good writing and the names. There are so many fabulous and culturally diverse names. One mystery  was about Amir and Hakim. When I was a substitute teacher in the public school I had lots of Amirs in the classroom. This mystery came alive for me because I could picture the boys puzzling through their problem. Zippy even found her brother's name, which was fun.

I would recommend this book to homeschool families of all ages. Not only does this make a nice science time book, but it also is a great jumping off point for some stimulating dinner conversation. I would also recommend this to regular classroom teachers. A minute mystery would be an appropriate jump start for the beginning of class or a time filler at the end of class. I would most especially recommend this for substitute teachers. When I did sub regularly I was always looking for quick, interesting things to with the kids. This book definitely fits that bill.

Papa's Pearls {A Review}

A jewel of a book that shares some of life's lessons

Papa's Pearls by Diane Flynn Keith

The Essentials - What you need to know

•  Papa's Pearls, A Father's Gift of Love and Wisdom to His Children and Grandchildren. 
• A thin, softbound book that is easy to read with ample story and wisdom.
• $14.97

I've decided to write my review as a letter to the author. It just seemed right after reading this fantastic book.

The Review

Dear Mrs. Flynn Keith,

I've just finished your book, Papa's Pearls.  I am delighted.  It was easy to read and pulled me in at the first chapter.  I am so glad that you included a picture of your Papa on the dedication page.  When I first picked up the book it was just a picture.  By the time I finished the book he was a person and I am glad to know his face as well as his character.  The book is as much biography as it is how to live because, I think, your Papa showed how to live by living and you tell his story beautifully.

I was drawn in the first chapter by the story of a depression era kid and the lessons he learned.  Some of the description in the story reminded me vividly my husband's Grandpa who is still telling stories of his youth at age 96.  I love that you do not camp on the pearls of wisdom that are at the top of each chapter, rather you draw them out, telling the story of the saying, how he used it and how it was a force in your Papa's life. 

As a business woman myself, I am always on the lookout for shrewd advice from successful people on how to run mine.  I poured over the sections where you dealt with your Papa's business practices and advice.  It made me turn inward to examine my own attitudes and practices.  So many of the pearls were ones to think about.  I like that they were not cliche, but rather truly nuggets of wisdom that prompted thought and reflection.

The best thing about this book is how you put your Papa's positive attitude and love front and center.  My favorite pearl of the book is "I love you. You know that, right?" It reminded me that I need to verbalize my love for my own children.  All of the wonderful references in the book are ones to plant and let grow.  I was especially impressed how positive thinking, prevalent in so many of the pearls of wisdom, had an impact on your father's life.  Importantly he did not spend his life wishing and dream, but worked really hard.  

This books has so many possible applications for homeschool and I appreciate that you are a homeschool mom.  Each chapter contains life lessons that prompt writing and discussion.  I am always on the lookout for short, interesting, quality stories that my daughter can use for reading comprehension.  Your book is simply brimming with short vignettes of your Papa's life.  It can also be a jumping off point to remember and write our own stories.  Your Papa, the plumber, reminds me of my own Grandpa, now passed, who was a butcher.  I cannot smell raw meat and cheese without thinking of my Grandpa's butcher shop.  I don't know that I've shared his stories with my own children.  This prompted me to do so.

Thank you so much for sharing the life of your Papa.  As Father's Day is on the horizon, I am recommending this book to my family, friends and readers.