Tuesday
Tuesday is a book by David Wiesner that has very little in it, to be read out. So it is up to the parents to improvise, as they wade through the pages. The book is bit strange and some children can be creeped out by it. The material would seem to be authors take on how it rains frog in a small American town. The drawing is very detailed and is able to the add to the mood of mystery.
Moonshot
![FlocaMoonshotLiftoff-thumb-640xauto-3166[1]](https://watchemgrow.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/flocamoonshotliftoff-thumb-640xauto-31661.jpg)
This is a book about human endeavor to reach for the stars, in this case a place somewhat closer but nonetheless daring and pioneering. This book illustrates the Apollo 11 mission that got three astronauts to the moon. An engaging book for 10 years old with much to endear for younger ones as well. However for the younger kids you will have to skip some of the technical details about rocket construction. Even for adults who are new to the story of Apollo missions will be fascinated by the complexity of the mission that has come out really well in this story.
The art work does a good job in capturing the buzz surrounding the mission, the details of the magnificent machines E.g. Saturn , Columbia and Eagle , the darkness and loneliness of space and the poignancy of being back in the warm womb of mother earth.
The creators of this book ought to be saluted.
Rosie Revere Engineer
![7084851[1]](https://watchemgrow.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/708485111.jpg)
This is a clever book that tells a short story of innovative little girl who invents many things from everyday junk. She is bright but lonely in her endeavors and is usually mocked at for her quirky inventions. The central theme is of courage to try things differently.
This book can be a good inspiration for kids especially girls to develop a tinkering mindset , to see value in everyday things. To see beyond what they are , to what they can be.
Goodnight Goodnight Construction site
This is a great bed time book that can soothe kids to sleep. The essential theme here is about putting in a hard days work and then dozing off to a well deserved cosy sleep or that a comfortable rest follows those who find satisfaction in their hard work. The art work helps in contrasting the gradual move from the hot work day to the cool bluish night time. The pastel colours help in contrasting the anthropomorphised characters against the blurry landscape of the city.
Learning from pattern recognition
Today we are going to attempt to learn to read from now on by a method of pattern recognition.
The goal is to have a series of related short words as flash cards pasted onto the walls. For example
Cat, Fat , Boo, Book, Boat , Moat , Cow , Wow. The expectation is the kid learns the words by rote . Seeing a pattern on how the word looks and how it is heard when spoken. At some point a link between the pattern of how the word looks and how it sounds in formed in the mind. This is then used to deconstruct other words. At some of critical mass of sounds will and their association with letters will have formed for them to start recognizing words on their own and making a judgement on how they will sound.
Creative Shelf
Things to get for creative shelf
- Sprayer
- Child safe colours
- Straws
- Magnifying glass
- Bug jar
- Sticks
- Milk cartons
- Glue
Books for 2015
Ramayana: Divine Loophole
The Little Book of Hindu Deities: From the Goddess of Wealth to the Sacred Cow
Amma, Tell Me About Ramayana
Press Here
Tinkerlab: A Hands-On Guide for Little Inventors
Moonshot
Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site
The Paper Bag Princess
If I Built a Car
Rosie Revere, Engineer
Your Fantastic Elastic Brain
Watch the kids grow 