Books make special gifts for children of all ages! Don’t forget to buy books for those you love. Books become treasured gifts! Add your own inscription to make it even more meaningful. Buying a book, reading a book with your child and having your child read to you make lasting memories!

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! Now that the holiday is over, try sequencing! Talk with your child about what happened during Thanksgiving in the order that it happened. For example, First, we got dressed. Then we went to Jami’s house. Next, we ate dinner. Then we sang songs. Finally, we went home. For older children, add details. First we got dressed. I wore my favorite blue sweater. Then, we went to Jami’s house. It was a long ride, but we love seeing her. Next, we ate dinner. We had juicy turkey, yummy stuffing, cranberry sauce with fruit, delicious sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, and savory spinach. Then we sang songs and danced. Our family loves to sing and dance. Brianna was a great dancer, and Jami was a great singer! Finally, we went home. We all had a great time!

Sequencing helps comprehension. It helps children put activities together in a specific order. Sequencing events helps children’s reading comprehension with stories and events, but it also aids students in breaking large amounts of information into smaller, more manageable parts.

Books that you can read to you child and books you child can read to you are wonderful holiday presents. If you would like help on your selection, send me your child’s age or grade level. I will be happy to send you a list of book titles to help your gift buying.

Thanksgiving is a time when cooking becomes part of the holiday.  It’s a perfect time to cook with your child and shop for food together.  A good idea is to cut the label off of something you want to buy.  Your child can hold the label  and try to find the item.  This is a good idea for children even before they become beginning readers. “Reading” the label and helping to find the product helps your child know that pictures, letters or logos have a message.

Thanksgiving is a wonderful time to tell your child stories about your parents and grandparents or about others who are special to you and your family. You might put these stories in a book using family photos. Your child will love to “read” this special book about his family with you!  You can make it a picture book or add sentences that go with the pictures.  If you have questions about the type of sentences that will work best for your child, send me your child’s age and I will help you create your book.

Take children’s books with you when you visit family or friends for Thanksgiving. This gives your children fun activities to entertain and occupy them while traveling. Bringing familiar books that your child can read will also give your child something to share with others.

If you child is just beginning to read, one of the important things that your child needs to do is to look at the pictures.  Early reading books are designed to have the picture help the child understand the words on the page.  The picture helps children understand the meaning of the story.

Does your child have a favorite book?  Many children have a favorite book or two that they want to hear again and again.  The book has become a familiar friend.  Teachers call this a “familiar book. “  Don’t worry if  your child has heard the story before.  Rereading the book will help you to teach your child new things that they may need to know.  So, as you are reading the book talk about the pictures again.  Explain how the pictures can help  your child understand the story.  Talk about the vocabulary.  Are there words that rhyme?  Are there words that your child may not know? If so, explain the word.  Discuss the characters, and the setting.  Where does the story take place?  What are the characters doing?  How do the characters feel?  What may happen next in the story?

Rereading a familiar book that your child loves lets you use it as a wonderful learning tool!

Halloween is a good time to find books that children can relate to.   Is your child dressing up for Halloween?  Find a book that you can read to you child that relates to Halloween.  I like the book Dressing for Work. This is also a good book to introduce sequencing to your child. What is sequencing?  Sequencing helps your child understand the events that happened in the story.

What else can you do for Halloween?  You can carve a pumpkin and talk about the steps you took to carve the pumpkin. So, if you carved a pumpkin what steps did you take?  First you bought the pumpkin, then you washed it, next you cut the top, after that you scooped out the seeds.  Continue with this discussion so your child will learn how sequencing works. 

Happy Halloween!

Children learn words during conversation.  Talk to your child using new and interesting words.  The more you talk to your child the more opportunity your child has to learn new words which will help when reading.