HomeSchool Parents are Incredible!

I'm weary having just returned home from the MidWest Great HomeSchool Conference in Cincinnati. What an incredible time. I am in awe of the parents I met this weekend and the passion and fervor they have for providing their children with a quality education. I appreciate those who took the time to attend our workshop, their attention, great questions, and compliments. Your kindness is much appreciated. There is nothing I enjoy more than support a parent in teaching their child to read. I'm looking forward to hearing from several people who are interested in having Read Me Home present workshops to their HomeSchool Coops. Looks like we are going to be busy in the next couple of months!

Over the next few days, I am going to address several common questions that parents had about reading at the conference. Perhaps the answers to those questions can help a number of people in the instruction of their children. I'm home and tired, but I am already looking forward to next year's conference!

Debi

Snapshots of Little Readers

I had to share these. They are my (Katie's) two boys caught reading. The first is of my almost five year old during nap time. He is surrounded by books and loving it. The second I caught on camera as I happened to walk by and discover my fifteen month old enjoying the pictures of a library book. Adorable!

13 Words by Lemony Snicket book trailer

A Book Trailer: 13 Words

Our interest is peeked! And, I for one can not wait to get my hands on a copy of Lemony Snicket's and Maira Kalman's new book. There is so much that we can do with this book in terms of vocabulary, creative writing, and art. What fun!
Introducing~  13 WORDS 

The trailer is above!

Great HomeSchool Conference in Cincinnati

Read Me Home will be an exhibitor and also presenters of a workshop entitled, Reading, Understanding the Pieces to the Process at the Great HomeSchool Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio March 31-April 1. Please come see us if you are attending the conference!

Reading Revelry

After school at our house can be described with a variety of adjectives and adverbs added to any noun or verb that describes chaos. It is probably not unlike many other after school home environments. A few years ago, a pop group released a song entitled, “Who Let the Dogs Out?” That aptly describes this timeframe in our home. On a recent, March afternoon, however, something was quite different.

It was one of those days when Mother Nature becomes a vixen and lures us with her charm of unseasonably warm weather. The sun was full and radiant, and the breeze smelled like, well, warm. I was putzing around the kitchen which is attached in a greatroom style to our living area. I had that sudden realization that something was wrong. What was wrong was silence. It’s never silent in our home at that time of day! I stopped in my tracks and looked into the living area. I was stunned to see both of my children and three of their friends all nestled into different pieces of furniture with their noses in books! Sunbeams were enveloping each of them with that wonderful, bone-warming heat, and they were gone somewhere other than the living area, each of them to the place he/she was reading about.

I turned off the oven, grabbed my Jan Karon book and found the last piece of vacant furniture. For the better part of an hour, we all lounged in this manner delighting in our chosen author’s conversation in print. No one even cared that we had toasted PBJ’s for supper!

FieldTrip: The Fire Station

For me, teaching preschool and kindergarten is an incredibly experiential few years. There are very few things that we formally learn about that we do not also find a way to touch or interact with on some level. Reading books can peek a child's interest in a topic and a first hand look at that topic can seal the deal~ a readers becomes a doer! It is much more difficult to forget that which we actually do with our own hands. Even if young children do not remember the specific event they will still integrate the experience into their continuously growing minds.

A field trip is the perfect opportunity to take a subject matter and turn it into hands on fun!

Using the book, Tito the Firefighter, which has both English and Spanish text I created a unit study that touched on fire safety, introduction of Spanish words, people in the community (firemen) and my son's favorite~ the big red LOUD  firetruck!

The unit study ended with a trip to the local fire house that really put the power (water power that is!) behind the story.

Tips for making a field trip to your local firehouse:

It is easy! Simply call your local fire department and express interest in visiting the fire station. Tell the ages of the children attending. Many fire stations will simply let you come for a visit and as long as no emergency is taking place they will give a tour, talk fire safety, and even let you sit in the truck! For an added bonus, check and see if your fire department puts on a special program for Fire Safety and Prevention Week October 9-15, 2011. And, make sure to make a special visit in May for International Firefighters Day and express appreciation for the work these men and women do each and every day!

Some more resources:
Crayola Fire Station Field Trip 
Apples for the Teacher Fire Safety Resources 
Sprout Online Fire Safety Activities

Many blessings raising readers!

Katie