Choosing Books for kids

A dear friend of mine reminded me of the time when Saanvi was a baby and I would try to read a book to her and she would be interested in chewing it. I was left wondering whether I am choosing the right books for her or not? Or what should I do to get her interested in books? For that matter even toys. But that's a different discussion for a later time maybe.

She would be interested in pictures in the books but not for more than few seconds. Soft books were a good substitute for teether I believe. Hard cover books also got chewed on. But there were some books that caught her attention more than others.

• Pop-Up books... With clear and really big pop-up images.. Eye-Catching is the imp. word.

The Very Lazy Lion



The Very Silly Shark

(Please click on the link above to see the inside of the book)

• Noise making books... Not too noisy or distracting, but Interactive books with clear visual and sound associations.  

                                                           Little Cricket's Song



                                                                    Noisy Peekaboo

• Books that questions the readers...  Simple questions that kids can relate too and being extremely colorful helps..  for example Eric Carl's Books (can't tell you how much Saanvi loves these books, more on them later)..

  

  Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?
  
  
  
  
  

There could be tons of more recommendations but these are some my daughter liked.
I do believe that every age has a different requirement and every kid has a different sensibility, so some book might or might not work for your kid. However these are some simple points that most kids respond well too (I am not making these up, I did research and surveyed teachers and parents)..


One of the things we all worry about is How we should get our kid excited about books, and what are right kinds of books for what age. Here a few links to help us understand that from Parents.com


How to get Kids excited about books:

• For Newborns
• For 1-2 years
• For 3-4 years
• For 5-6 years

Recommendations for Best Books age by age:

• For Toddlers
• For Preschoolers
• For Big Kids

 A few great articles on Raising Readers:

• Reading with Babies (what babies are learning and how to make story time worthwhile)
• Reading with Toddlers (Worried Moms question is answered)
• Foster a love of reading from very start (Love this article)
• Reading Timeline: When should my child learn to Read?

My suggestions:

• Make it fun.
• Be dramatic, act out while reading books.
• Make crazy sounds appropriate to the character or animal in the book.
• If kid gets bored move on, do not push him/her.
• Maintain a routine, familiarity to a routine helps kids interested and excited about reading or activities.
• Enjoy spending time with you kid, don't fret if he/she doesn't wanna read.

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If Yes, then Thanks you and if you can think of anyway to add more to it please leave a link or a useful comment.

If No, then please help me make it more useful and infromative, be leaving a useful comment or sharing links of appropriate articles.

Teaching ABC's

Stuffed Felt Alphabets

First twelve months after giving birth to my daughter my focus was largely on taking care of her, we did do the reading aloud, listening to rhymes etc. But immunizations, starting solids, motor skill development like turning over and crawling etc were the biggest concerns. Apart from the physical developments I was always concerned about the mental development of my daughter. Research show that the first five years of life a child develops 90% of their adult-size brain. And children may fall behind in both academic and social skills if they are not exposed to the right kinds of intellectual, emotional, and physical stimulation. (Talk about pressure eh!!)

So I started looking for various creative and out-of-the box teaching methods along with the tradition methods of teaching.

Alphabet wall 

We all know that first step towards reading and writing is Letter Recognition. I wanted to surround Saanvi with a variety of activities and books based on alphabets to make her familiar with them. We had books, foam letters and numbers, alphabet silly bands, magnetic letters, puzzles, blocks etc.

Bath time Foam letters were the biggest success in teaching her letter recognition. Using Foam alphabets and numbers, bath time was fun and educative. We played with those foam shapes everyday for months. And every time she remembered some new letters and numbers and colors. Hunting for letters in the bath-tub and then pasting it on the tiles was fun for her. We also practised sorting out colors in the process.

I used to think she will be bored of doing the same activity everyday. But to my surprise she loved the predictability of knowing what activity we will do during bath time. She would jump into the bath-tub and pour out all the letters in the tub indicating me to start playing. Later I read a research that showed that kids react differently to Repetition than adults. For them repetition isn't boring because each time they do a familiar activity they experience it in a completely different way. First she learned the names of the letters, then she learned to associate the name of letter with its appearance, then the sequence of letters (reinforced by ABC song and books).

Alphabet Bookrack

Another toy that helped Saanvi to associate letter with their name is Leapfrog Fridge Phonics Magnetic Alphabet Set

This toy is very multisensory -  auditory, visual (color/letter), and tactile.

We pointed out letters in rooms, outside, in books, catalogs, shop fronts, signs, anywhere and everywhere. We stamped letters on paper reciting their names, questioning her and asking her to help us figuring out what alphabet it is. 'Super Why' is one of our favourite shows which helped her pick up on alphabets as well.

Some of her favourite books for ABC's are

• Dr. Seuss's ABC
• Chicka Chicka ABC
• Baby's First Library-ABC
• Baby Einstein: The ABC's of Art

Some informative articles and website:

• http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/raising-readers-writers-and-spellers/201101/teach-your-preschooler-read
• http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/62126/10_ways_to_make_teaching_the_abcs_as.html?cat=25
• http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/general_content/free_resources/teachers_corner/lesson_plans/alphabetNameGame.jsp 

 Things I have learned from the process and articles:

1. Keep it simple, keep it fun.

2. If a child gets bored, move on to another activity.

3. Surround kids with activity-rich environment.

4. Read aloud regularly, kids like a routine.

5. Let them lead the activity.

6. Most importantly have FUN.

What is the favourite toy or activity your kid prefers for learning ABC's?

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Hello World



Few years ago (actually 4 yrs ago) I learned I am pregnant. Along with the joy of the news came a sinking realization of being Clueless when it comes to kids. I had no idea what to do, how to take care of newborns or kids in general, what to buy, where to buy it from etc. (u get the picture rite.. now multiple it by 100, that's how clueless I was).


I had never ever taken care of a kid, leave alone a newborn. Closest I came to playing with a child was in Boston (where we lived before coming to Atlanta). A friend of mine there was open enough to let me TRY and play with her 2 yr old son. I remember learning a nursery rhyme from her that she used to sing to him all the time (my 1st nursery rhyme). I used to be surprised on how she remembered so many of these rhymes from when she was a kid and admired her for the ease with which she handled her toddler.


When I learned about my pregnancy I was scared and confused and lost to say the least. I turned toward Internet and numerous books on What to expect etc. Quite informative I would say they were (You can find links to the websites and books at the end of the article).
But I learned most from a friend here in Atlanta who had a 6 month old when we met, and she shared everything she knew with me. She even let me feed her 6 month old (at that time it was a very big deal, trust me). By the time I gave birth to our daughter I was much more at ease.




1 week old Saanvi


I sometimes wonder what I would have done if she didn't share her knowledge, or people who write all the informative articles won't be so open about teaching others through their experiences. I would say all the experienced moms (and some dads) out there were my source of information. Now I am fairly confident in my abilities as a Mom. And I believe it is my turn to share my experiences, successes and failures as a gratitude to all who have helped me and are helping me still to learn and improve.


In this blog I will share any kind of creative way to teach kids. Be it academics, manners, sports, day-to-day activities or chores. I know so many creative friends who invent new ways to teach their kids and I hope they will share their stories here as well. I believe fun is the best way to motivate kids in doing activities and learning. So I hope this blog become an encyclopedia to fun and creative methods of teaching.


I would love for anyone and everyone out there to share their experiences/stories of their methods. I will share them on this blog.


Informative books for new moms (or to be moms).

• What to expect the first year
• The pregnancy book month-by-month
• Your one year old

 Some great websites for new moms (or to be moms).

• http://www.whattoexpect.com/what-to-expect/landing-page.aspx
• http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/
• http://www.babycenter.com/

Some great books for moms with kids 2 and above.

• How to talk so kids will listen
• Parenting with love and logic
• What your preschooler needs to know
• What your Kindergartner needs to know

Hope these links are helpful. Keep reading and sharing.