Tip FIVE - Read Aloud Together Every Day

Today is the final post for this weeks Tips for Homeschool Parents blog Hop. The first four tips for the week so far are:

1. Become Equipped: Know What You Think and Why.
2. Finding Your Rhythm  and keeping to it.
3. Buy some Ice Cream - Dealing with difficult days.
4.  Tip FOUR - One Step at a Time

Today I would like to encourage you to read together every day. There are many many benefits to both the student and the one reading out loud.

Some of the Benefits of reading out loud to your family

• Vocabulary development
• Improves focus and concentration skills
• It's a good way to grapple with difficult issues
• Books allow you to develop an awareness of people and situations outside of your personal experience
• They help us develop a sense of empathy to our fellow man.
• It develops a sense of closeness and bonding.
• Improves speech fluency
• Develops comprehension
• Grows phonological awareness
• Reduces stress
• Expands knowledge
• Develops analytical thinking skills
• Promotes creativity
• Improves grammar
• Creates a family tradition

 Did you know a child’s reading level doesn’t catch up to his listening level until eighth grade?

For more information on the benefits of reading out loud to your family Jim Release has authored a book called The Read-aloud Handbook.

Here are some interesting articles on reading out loud to your family

• The hidden benefits of reading aloud — even for older kids
• Reading aloud has huge benefits to children but many parents stop too early 
• 10 Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day
•  Why Reading Aloud to Older Children Is Valuable

I love this story.  This father read out loud to his daughter every day until she started collage. That's a total of 3,218 nights in a row! They have over 700 favorite books.  You can read about their journey here:  A Father-Daughter Bond, Page by Page 

Sarah over at Amongst Lovely Things hosts the Read-Aloud Revival.  You can find out more here: About The Read Aloud Revival.

With all the amazing books out there it can be overwhelming.  Here are a few lists to get you started reading together as a family:

• the Read-Aloud Revival Booklist
• Honey for a Child's Heart
• Book List Resources In this post I've linked to a large list of recommended literature resources.
• Each week on a Tuesday I share my latest book find.  You can find these posts under Tuesday's Treasures

This post is part of the Schoolhouse Review Crew 5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents Blog Hop.  Blog posts from these bloggers will be going live between 8 am EST and Midday.

I invite you to grab a cup of tea and head on over to these bloggers to see their word of encouragement to you today.

• Jeniffer @ Thou Shall Not Whine
• Jennifer @ A Peace of Mind
• Jennifer @ Faithful Homestead
• Joelle @ homeschooling for His Glory
• Joesette @ Learning Curve
• Kari @ Random Acts of Boyhood
• Katie @ Katie's Daily Life
• Kemi @ Homemaking Organized
• Kim @ Homestead Acres
• Kylie @ Our Worldwide Classroom

Blessings
Chareen



If you're on Pinterest I encourage you to follow the board 5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents for some wonderful NEW content for your Homeschool Boards.

Follow Every Bed of Roses's board 5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents. on Pinterest.

The Gingerbread Man {Poppins Book Nook}

This months theme for the Poppins Book Nook is To The Kitchen. It's such a lovely time of the year to get to the kitchen with your children and build some holiday festive family traditions.  One of the things we've done is make Gingerbread Houses.

Did you know

• The world's largest Gingerbread Man was made on 2nd December 2006 ? 
• Gingerbread dates back to the 15th century

This year we explored some variations of the Gingerbread Man Story before hand. 

Books

• The Gingerbread Man
• The Gingerbread Man - Read it Yourself with Ladybird: Level 2
• The Gingerbread Man
• Ladybird Tales: The Gingerbread Man

On YouTube

• The Gingerbread Man
• English Talking Book - Gingerbread Man
• The Tale of the Gingerbread Man | Sing-a-long Reading!
• Fairytale: The Gingerbread Man read by John Krasinski by Speakaboos
• Richard Scarry - The Gingerbread Man [1/2]
• Richard Scarry - The Gingerbread Man [2/2]
• Ginger Bread Man - Fairy Tales In English - Animated / Cartoon Stories For Kids

On the WWW

• Gingerbread man
• FREE Gingerbread Man Literacy: Letters, Word Families, Digraphs & Blends
• The Gingerbread Man over at Top Marks
• FREE Gingerbread Man Mini Unit for Grades PreK-3
• Gingerbread Man Cushion Felt Sewing Kits for Children to Make (Pack of 2)
• Learning to count with The Gingerbread Man Game
• Teaching Heart's Gingerbread Man  
• Gingerbread Teaching Theme 

On Pinterest

• Gingerbread Man Theme Unit Study Homeschool
• The Gingerbread Man

On This Blog

•  The Gingerbread Village 2013 
•  Ginger Bread House Tutorial (PT 1) recipe and tutorial
•  Gingerbread House Tutorial - Royal Icing.
• Gingerbread House - Part III Construction 

Jill from over at Enchanted Homeschooling Mom has made this FREE Poppins Book Nook pack for you with To The Kitchen Theme.

• An official interactive Poppins Book Nook bookmark for this month’s theme
• This month’s Passport pages to add to your lapbook
• Several lapbook elements centered around To The Kitchen
• Reading response writing prompt

We have enjoyed the company of the Gingerbread Man this month.  You are invited to blog and share one of your book adventures on the To the Kitchen and join in our link up below.

Looking forward to reading your adventures
Blessings
Chareen

Your Poppins Book Nook Co-hosts

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ 3 Dinosaurs ~ To the Moon and Back ~ Planet Smarty Pants ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ Growing in God's Grace ~ Chestnut Grove Academy ~ Learning and Growing the Piwi Way ~ The Usual Mayhem~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Monsters Ed Homeschool Academy ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Teach Beside Me ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ Kathy's Cluttered Mind ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Our Crafts N Things ~ Hopkins Homeschool ~ ABC Creative Learning ~ Joy Focused Learning ~ P is for Preschooler ~ Laugh and Learn ~ A Mommy's Adventures ~ Inspiring 2 New Hampshire Children ~ World for Learning ~ Ever After in the Woods ~ Golden Grasses ~ Our Simple Kinda Life ~ A glimpse of our life ~ Journey to Excellence ~ Happy Little Homemaker ~ Little Homeschool Blessings ~ Simplicity Breeds Happiness ~ Raventhreads ~ Water on the Floor ~ Learning Fundamentals ~ Tots and Me ~ As We Walk Along The Road ~ Stir the Wonder ~ For This Season ~ Where Imagination Grows ~ Lextin Academy ~ The Canadian Homeschooler ~ School Time Snippets ~ Peakle Pie ~ Mom's Heart ~ A Moment in our World ~ Finchnwren ~ At Home Where Life Happens ~ Suncoast Momma ~ The Library Adventure ~ Embracing Destiny ~ Day by Day in our World ~ Our Homeschool Studio ~ A "Peace" of Mind ~ Thou Shall Not Whine ~ SAHM I am ~ eLeMeNo-P Kids ~ Simple Living Mama

Poppins Book Nook Clip Art by Melon Headz

Connect with the Poppins Book Nook at

1. Enchanted Homeschooling
2. Facebook
3. Pinterest

Connect with me

 

An InLinkz Link-up

Messy Beautiful Love

This month I am joining Courtney over at Women Living Well for the November Book Club.

Book: Messy Beautiful LOVE by Darlene Schacht

When: Each Monday and Tuesday via the comment section over at Women Living Well

Schedule:

I will be sharing my thoughts here each Friday.

Blessings

Chareen

20, 000 Leagues Under the Sea {Unit Study}

"On the NAUTILUS men's hearts never fail them. No defects to be afraid of, for the double shell is as firm as iron, no rigging to attend to, no sails for the wind to carry away; no boilers to burst, no fire to fear, for the vessel is made of iron, not of wood; no cove to run short, for electricity is the only power; no collision to fear, for it alone swims in deep water; no tempest to brave, for when it dives below the water, it reaches absolute tranquility. That is the perfection of vessels."  - JULES VERNE

Welcome to my first post for the 2014/15 Poppins Book Nook blog hop.  Each month this year we will share resources for a book we have read for the month according to a theme.

This months theme is: Where in the World. We have spent a delightful month exploring the wonders of ocean living, submarines, animals of the oceans and discovered the delights of YouTube schooling.

Paul read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne to Sir N.  Our version was published by Readers Digest, with illustrations by Joseph Ciardiello and an afterword by Clifton Fadiman. This version was printed in 1990 and was translated by Philip Schuyler Allen from the original work by Jules Verne which was publishe in 1870 under the title Vingt Mille Liues Sous les Mers.

Lap Book

• We used the Literature Lap-book by Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler.  She has a walk through on YouTube. Contains all the mini books and a full teachers manual along with the answer key, Report keys, Timeline - storyboard of the story, Mapping, Fact Sheet, Book Report Sheet, Book vs Movie analysis Report, 
• Shipwrecks Unit Study  
• Life Learning with Living Books.  

We then enriched our experience with a few documentaries on YouTube as well as some DVD renditions of the book.

YouTube

• History of the Submarine - Military Documentary  
• Submarine History: The Turtle  
• Submarine History: "No Deck to Strut Upon"
• Submarine Structure & Systems: "The Submarine: Construction" 
• THE SUBMARINERS - 1967 United States Navy Educational 
• TOP TEN - Submarines by Discovery Channel
• Cold War Spy Secrets Under the Sea (Full Documentary)  
• An Inside look at a 21st Centuary Stealth Submarine (full Documentary) 
• The Largest Submarine in The U.S. Navy  
• World War II Submarine Warfare - rare footage  
• U Boat War : Documentary on the Submarine Battle of World War 2  

Narwhal

• National Geographic
• National Geographic Video {Nat Geo Wild} 
• Enchanted Learning
• Animal Fact Guide: Narwhal {Monodon monoceros}
• Defenders of Wildlife Basic Facts About Narwhals
• Narwhal on YouTube
• 3 Neat Facts About Narwhals (Including: They're Real!)
• Tracking Elusive Narwhals in the Arctic
• Narwhal Fact Sheet: Diving with the Narwhal in Newfoundland
• Narwhale hunting - A Boy Among Polar Bears - BBC **Contains images of whale hunting some may find offensive** 
• Narwhal Tooth  

Nautilus

• Ancient sea creature emerges from the depths Great information
  
• Nautilus
• Nautilus Breeding Program
• Living prehistoric animals

Giant Squid

• The Giant Squid Full Documentary Loved this documentary loads of information 
• MonsterQuest ▶Giant Squid Found HD
• The Giant Squids off Sea of Cortez (Documentary) This one is interesting as you see how they attach camera's to smaller squid in order to video larger squid.
• Edith Widder: How we found the Giant Squid

Giant Clams

• Monsters of the Deep
• Giant Clam (Tridacna gigas) - Reef Reality Episode 8 
• Jonathan Bird's Blue World: Giant Clams  
• Waikiki Aquarium Giant Clam 1982-2012

Scuba Diving

• The Secret History of Scuba Diving
• Florida Keys Museum Traces History of Diving
• Diving History
• A Brief History of Diving
• James Cameron to Dive to Ocean's Deepest Point (Playlist of 10 short clips)

20 000 Leagues Under the Sea

•  20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1:34:19)
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Disney Version. This is a preview.  You can rent this to watch via YouTube.  This version is one we really enjoyed. The full video is 2:07:03
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 1972 animated (46:06)
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1916) This one has no sound.  So funny to see.  We watched a couple of minutes.

On the www

• Deep Sea Challenge exploring the Marina Trench off the coast of Guam.  
• Navy - Submarine Warfare
• Submarine Science for Kids
• Nautilus entire Blueprints
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.com
• 20,000 Leagues under the sea Quotes
• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea
• 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea FREE book download
• Submarine Art
• Book Study Guide
• Jules Verne Lesson plans for 20,000 Leagues under the Sea
• Some great pictures of the Nautilus. 
• Jules Verne biography

We really enjoyed our first month with the Poppins Book Nook and are looking forward to seeing the treasures shared by the ladies over the next 24 hours.  Be sure to come back next month to see our next adventure.  If you have any great resources for me to add to this list please post it below in the comments.

Blessings

Chareen

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ 3 Dinosaurs ~ To the Moon and Back ~ Planet Smarty Pants ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ Growing in God's Grace ~ Chestnut Grove Academy ~ Learning and Growing the Piwi Way ~ The Usual Mayhem~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Monsters Ed Homeschool Academy ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Teach Beside Me ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ Kathy's Cluttered Mind ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Our Crafts N Things ~ Hopkins Homeschool ~ ABC Creative Learning ~ Joy Focused Learning ~ P is for Preschooler ~ Laugh and Learn ~ A Mommy's Adventures ~ Inspiring 2 New Hampshire Children ~ World for Learning ~ Ever After in the Woods ~ Golden Grasses ~ Our Simple Kinda Life ~ A glimpse of our life ~ Journey to Excellence ~ Happy Little Homemaker ~ Little Homeschool Blessings ~ Simplicity Breeds Happiness ~ Raventhreads ~ Water on the Floor ~ Learning Fundamentals ~ Tots and Me ~ As We Walk Along The Road ~ Stir the Wonder ~ For This Season ~ Where Imagination Grows ~ Lextin Academy ~ The Canadian Homeschooler ~ School Time Snippets ~ Peakle Pie ~ Mom's Heart ~ A Moment in our World ~ Finchnwren ~ At Home Where Life Happens ~ Suncoast Momma ~ The Library Adventure ~ Embracing Destiny ~ Day by Day in our World ~ Our Homeschool Studio ~ A "Peace" of Mind ~ Thou Shall Not Whine ~ SAHM I am ~ eLeMeNo-P Kids ~ Simple Living Mama

Poppins Book Nook Clip Art by Melon Headz

Connect with the Poppins Book Nook at

1. Enchanted Homeschooling
2. Facebook
3. Pinterest

This month on the Poppins Book Nook

Our Top 6 Favorite Chapter Read-Alouds

I have so many read aloud chapter books that are my favourite that it was very hard to narrow down the list to 6!  This list is in no way our only favourites but they are some we have enjoyed recently and some are ones that spring to mind when thinking of read alouds I read to my oldest two years ago. I would love to know what are your favourite read alouds.

Little Britches Series 
Author Ralph Moody. 
The Ralph Moody Collection has been one of the most amazing journey's we have undertaken as a family.  My older two roses would sit waiting at the window for daddy to come home and when he arrived would race out to the car begging "Daddy PLEASE read to us!"

 Carry on, Mr. Bowditch
Author Jean Lee Latham
This is one of those sit on the edge of your seat historical novels.  It is excellently written.  Interestingly enough when we looked up Nathaniel Bowditch in our encyclopedia set it recommend this book as the number one resource on his life. It was also awarded the John Newberry Medal.

Handel: At the Court of Kings
Series Great Musician Series Book Collection

This is the first chapter book on great musicians that we've ever read and we really enjoyed every minute of our music study.  There are a total of 16 musicians covered in this series.




Follow My Leader
Author James B. Garfield
It's a story revealing the consequences of our actions at the same time giving us a hope for the future. We walk with Jimmy as he learns to forgive and go with him on a journey as to what it would be like to be blind.

The Phantom Tollbooth
Author Norton Juster

This book is amazing !  If you love reading then this is a must for your shelf.  It is so much fun.  I enjoyed the play on words and the literal use of words.  It is so very cleverly written. Every page is a play on words and the linguistic talent of the author is so very enjoyable. 

Little Lord Fauntleroy
Author Frances Hodgson Burnett

For beautiful language and character rich books I highly recommend the books by Frances Hodgson Burnett.  When I asked him which book was his favorite read aloud so far he named this book.  The story of a young man destined for great things. Born into poverty yet a prince.  An excellent read aloud for the whole family.

Chareen

This post is part of the Homeschool Help series brought to you by a group of homeschool Mom's from around the globe.  Do not forget to visit and read their inspirational insight.

This week

• Bernadette   6 Favorite Read Aloud Chapter Books
• Julie  Best Chapter Books
• Savannah 
• Lucinda  6 Read-Aloud Chapter Books We Love 
• Nicole  Our Top 6 Read Alouds

 ---ooOoo---

From Pillars of Pine: The End of an Era

Blog Post from Pillars of Pine: The End of an Era: Feeling a little saddened today. Over the past few days, I've been researching and comparing pricing with the overseas 'super-stores'. The issues we've had is to factor in the high cost of shipping from the US to our store, plus then the shipping to our customers, and of course, we also need to add on the dreaded GST. All this means we're completely at a loss - to list the same products on our site, at a competitive rate, means we'd need to sell products at a loss of around 30%.

When we first began Adnil Press 11 years ago, we were easily able to price our overseas products at the same or less than one could order it direct from overseas. But times have changed. And homeschooling has changed, too. It's just as easy now for a homeschool Mum to order from overseas as it is to order from a local supplier.

So, it's sell-out time! We're keeping a few items, as we have a printing contract with IEW, we're able now to focus on those products, as well as our own. We are also organising to become affiliates of the larger stores, so as each title sells out, we shall put up a link to these other sites, from where you can find the products needed for your homeschool.
And, as I stated, some items are here to stay. All products from 'The Institute of Excellence in Writing' will STAY. This includes associated products such as All About Spelling and Teaching the Classics. Of course, we'll also continue to stock our own resources (including 'Australia, the Wide Brown Land for Me!'), our other Australian resources, and there will no doubt be a few smaller suppliers as well - such as Times Tales, Life of Fred, etc.
For the rest, as of this moment, everything else is on 'sell-out' status. This includes God's Design, Story of the World, Memoria Press and even Apologia Science. We are very saddened to have to take these steps, but unfortunately, we are simply unable to compete in the pricing wars, and we understand the need to purchase products at the best pricing possible. We hope you will support us by using the affiliate links that will be appearing on our site as our stocks run out.
We thank you for your support, and hope that somehow, the reduction of our business and our stock will open doors elsewhere and in all, work towards the greater good.
God bless,
Linda.

Tuesday's Treasure - 13

Whatever happened to Penny Candy ?
Author: Richard Maybury
Format: Paperback
Number of Pages: 159
Vendor: Bluestocking Press
Publication Date: 2010
ISBN: 0942617622
ISBN-13: 9780942617627
Series: Uncle Eric Books


We were introduced to this book when doing Eastern Hemisphere Explorer (Core F) with Sonlight.  This is the best economics book I have ever read! It is written in an easy conversational style.  I read this book out loud to my eldest two when they were 11 and 13 and they can still remember it.  They have retained a fairly accurate summary of economics from this book.  If you have teens in your home this is definitely a must read.

 Quoted from Bluestocking Press: In "Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?" Richard Maybury uses historical events from Ancient Rome to explain economic principles. This clearly written book about economics is a remarkably easy and fun explanation of investment cycles, velocity, business cycles, recessions, inflation, the demand for money and more. Essential for every student, businessperson and investor. Recommended by former U.S. Treasury Secretary William Simon. It is also on many recommended reading lists."

Blessings