Well, we completed our first week of the 5-A-Day book challenge. Overall it went quite well, though I admit there were a couple of days when we didn't get around to reading all 5 books. Sweet Pea, of course, doesn't have much of an attention span at 13 months, so she often crawls away mid-story to find something else to do, but she really enjoys and pays close attention when she wants to. I find that reading one or two stories over breakfast seems to really catch their attention, and makes for a happier start to the day.
So did it work? Well, without a doubt, Princess Pea can definitely 'read along' and retell the stories. She got quite annoyed if I read the bits she wanted to 'read'! On Sunday morning (the last day of our 5-A-Day week) she spontaneously brought out the book basket and sat down and 'read' all 5 stories to me all by herself! She's also really enthusiastic about the whole 5-A-Day Books idea, and is very careful (for once!) to always put those 5 books back in the 5-A-Day Books basket that we set aside for them. And she's already talking about remembering to pack our 5-A-Day Books when we go on holidays soon. Sweet Pea obviously can't retell stories yet, but she did enjoy them and got excited about them - pointing and making lots of noises, using the few words she knows and signs to tell us what was in the pictures. So, I'd say overall it was a successful first week!
One other thing I did was participate in a '5-A-Day Book Exchange' with a couple of friends. Since we all want to participate in this challenge, we thought it might be fun to get together to exchange books, chat about children's books and literacy, and just have a general get-together anyway. It was a great way to learn about different books, and we each left with a selection of new books to try for this coming week.
So, our books for Week 2 are:
The Itsy Bitsy Spider, as told and illustrated by Iza Trapani - the traditional finger rhyme, but with additional verses
One Hungry Monster: A Counting Book in Rhyme, by Susan Heyboer O'Keefe and illustrated by Lynn Munsinger
(both from my friend Deidre and completely new to my kids)
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, by Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault and illustrated by Lois Ehlert - an ever-popular alphabet story)
In a People House, by Dr. Seuss and illustrated by Roy McKie - a mouse and a bird find out what kinds of things people have in their houses; a great vocabulary builder
Each Peach Pear Plum, by Janet and Allan Ahlberg - the classic rhyming 'I spy' story featuring an array of traditional fairytale characters
(those last two are favourites from my own childhood!)
By the way, if you're wondering whose little baby that is up there in the picture, it's my Sweet Pea! I didn't happen to take any pictures of them reading this week, so I found an old picture on my computer to post instead. She sure looked much pudgier back then!
Check out the links in the sidebar to find more ideas of things to do with your little peas!
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