You can teach your child a tremendous amount of academics, especially with some guidance.
My name is Jennifer Bardsley. Find out more about me here or here.
Where to Start will give you ideas for toddlers and preschoolers, and Afterschooling is for Kindergarten on up. Every child deserves one-on-one instruction, and that experience can begin in your home.
This is a hard post to write without sounding like a Tiger Mom. My daughter “Jenna” is 5-and-a-half years-old and reads at Guided Reading level D, which is roughly 1st grade. She is witty, articulate, cheerful and loves to draw. Jenna has been immersed in language since she was a baby and learned her letters and … Continue reading
Chalk this down as one of the most unusual YA books I’ve read this year. “You Have a Brain: A Teen’s Guide to T.H.I.N.K. B.I.G.
What particularly interested me about this book was Ben Carson’s mother’s approach to “Afterschooling,” which is nearly identical to my own. For starters, Sonya Carson required her sons to read two books a week of their own choosing, and then write book reports that they read aloud. This push to read more, write more and think more, directly led to Ben and Curtis’ success.
I’m not sure what teen readers will think of “You Have a Brain: A Teen’s Guide to T.H.I.N.K. B.I.G.
I gave aspirations too, primarily to spark a national conversation about how massive parental involvement is the key to high quality education. That’s the mission of my blog, “Teaching My Baby to Read.” For me the take home message of Ben Carson’s book was that without his mother Sonya overseeing her boys’ Afterschooling, their story might have been very different.
P.S. I received a free copy of this book from BookLook in exchange for my honest opinions and review.
A month ago I purchased Reading Focus Cards to help support my daughter’s ability to track words. In the past, I’ve made homemade versions of the same idea for free (see how here), but I felt we were ready for an upgrade. The benefit of reading focus cards is that they come with different colored … Continue reading
Here are the benchmark sight words my daughter’s Kindergarten class is expected to master by first grade: is a the has and of with see for no cannot have are said I you me come here to my look he go put want this she saw now like do home they went good was be … Continue reading
Here’s a great idea from my daughter’s Kindergarten teacher: a lesson on informational writing. First she read the kids several “how-to” books and discussed the difference between fiction and nonfiction. Then she launched writer’s workshop. Directions: Give the kids three choices to write about. How to brush your teeth. How to plant a seed. How to make … Continue reading
How Many Days Until Tomorrow?
Simon is able to find escape in books, but Josh has dyslexia, and finds solace in nature instead. Luckily, Seal Island offers a myriad of creatures to examine. There’s everything from bald eagles, to a dead Minke whale that must be destroyed.
I really enjoyed reading How Many Days Until Tomorrow?
Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip
The hook is that fourteen-year-old Peter is reinventing himself after a devastating baseball injury. His freshman year seems to hold promise after he teams up with a pretty girl named Angelika in photography. But at home, Peter watches his grandpa lose his memory bit by bit, and feels powerless to help.
I don’t know anything about photography so I can’t tell if those parts of the book were accurate or not, but the way the author portrayed Alzheimer’s Disease was spot on. It was perfect, absolutely perfect.
Thank you, Jordan, for writing this book, and thank you to Scholastic for publishing it.
“Dickens meets Tolkien for Kids.” That’s how I’d describe The Three Thorns (The Brotherhood and the Shield)
It’s hard to talk about the plot of The Three Thorns without giving away major spoilers, but remember what I said earlier about Tokien? If you love trolls, goblins, magical creatures and battles, this book is for you! As soon as my nine-year-old read it he begged me to purchase the sequel, which will be published next year.
What I especially appreciated about The Three Thorns was the richness of location. I really felt like I was in 1912 London, or out in the countryside on a rabbit hunter’s estate. That made the contrast to the otherworldly scenes all the more sharp.
For more information about this series, check out http://www.thebrotherhoodandtheshield.com/.
“Still Life“
I had high hopes for “Still Life“
You know how in “Charlotte’s Web” the reader falls in love with Fern in the very first ten pages because of the “save the pig moment” when she rescues Wilbur? There was never a moment like that for me in “Still Life.” Why root for these people? In real life I’d have compassion for them because they were actual human beings, but as fictional characters they were simply annoying.
I still think Christa Parrish is an incredibly talented author based on “The Air We Breathe.” But “Still Life” did not do it for me at all.
P.S. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinions and review.
Last night my husband and I watched The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia a documentary that digs deep into dyslexia. What is dyslexia? Does it go away? Are there advantages to having a dyslexic brain? How can teachers and parents help? Unfortunately, like many teachers, I received very little training in how to help dyslexic children as … Continue reading
Muchacho by Louanne Johnson tells the story of self-proclaimed juvenile delinquent Eddie, who decides to change his ways after falling for Lupe, a college-bound beauty.
Johnson is also the author of the memoir My Posse Don’t Do Homework
This is a big deal to me personally, because I taught third grade in the Ravenswood School District in East Palo Alto–former murder capitol of America–which was the district that fed into the high school classrooms that Johnson based My Posse Don’t Do Homework on. I still don’t understand how Hollywood thinks Los Angeles is “scarier” than East Palo Alto. I had eight year olds drawing pictures of hiding from gangsters with guns.
In Muchacho, Johnson makes fun of white Stanford students (like me) who come to districts like Ravenswood. Although to be fair, it’s hard to tell if Johnson is making fun Stanford teachers or Eddie is. The Mr. McElroy character starts out a bit rough but ends up becoming a pretty good teacher (in my opinion at least).
Muchacho is not your typical YA book, but I enjoyed it a lot. It is a quick read, probably an under 50k word count, an is something that teenage boys would like too.
Faking Faith
Faking Faith never mentions the Advanced Training Institute by name, but ATI is written all over Abigail’s life. At seventeen and a half, her formal education is complete and she prepares for life as a professional “stay-at-home-daughter”, or else must submit to whatever husband her father chooses for her, whether that be the boy next door, or a creepy twenty-eight year old molester.
In addition to showing all the negatives, Bloss does an awesome job depicting the seductive nature of the ATI lifestyle. To Dylan as the outsider, she’s a bit jealous of Abigail’s family dinners, well-behaved siblings, and the fact that Abigail’s parents are concerned about guarding Abigail’s heart and making sure she doesn’t fall in love with the wrong person.
I loved Faking Faith so much that I read it start to finish in one day. Half way through my mind started churning with all the people who should know about this book: R.L. Stollar at Overturning Tables, Jerry at Hersey in the Heartland–the entire Recovering Grace community. If I was Josie Bloss’s publicist I would mail out a case of copies to Homeschoolers Anonymous and let them distribute at will.
Every time I turn on my computer it seems I see another news article about how “cute” and wonderful the Duggars are. Nobody mentions the dark side. A while back I wrote an article on my blog called: “What ordinary moms should know about the Bill Gothard Scandal.” Josie Bloss has shared that same information in novel form. Faking Faith is brilliant.
Looking for a book that fits somewhere between Level 2 Book Books and Level 3? Check out Early Bird
A fun aspect about Early Bird
Got a teen in your home? Got a child capable of reading at a high school level? It’s darn near impossible to keep up with what your kids read.
Over on my other site, The YA Gal, I review books as fast as I can get them. And yet…I’m still behind. Here are three books I’ve read recently that parents might want know about–even if you don’t have time to read them:
All last year I felt guilty for not having read The Fault in Our Stars
At its heart, The Fault in Our Stars
If you enjoy tear-jerkers, this is a great book for you. If you’d rather not put yourself through an emotional wringer, stay away. The only thing that bothered me was Augustus and his unlit cigarette. Hopefully that doesn’t spawn a fad of cigarettes becoming cool again even if they aren’t smoked.
The Maze Runner
Thomas, along with the rest of the cast, are stuck in the middle of the Glade. Right next to them is the mysterious Maze with ever changing walls. Somewhere, deep in the Maze are evil Grievers which are half slug, half robots ready to attack.
Will Thomas be able to solve the Maze and lead the other kids to freedom or is he actually their worst enemy?
My nine-year-old son loves, loves, loves The Maze Runner. He read it start to finish in one day. To me as an adult it seemed predictable but fun. I wish there were more female characters but I appreciate Dasher’s brilliance in crafting a book that makes adolescent boys want to read.
The Soulkeepers by G.P. Ching might be on your teen’s e-reader right now because it’s free. Usually free books are hit or miss, but this book is amazing.
The last place fifteen-year-old Jacob Lau wants to be is living with his Uncle John in the middle of nowhere. But in the wake of his mother’s disappearance, Jacob has no place else to go. The kids at Jacob’s school act like they’ve never met an Asian American before, and make mixed-race Jacob feel like a freak. His only source of comfort is Malini, a bright and beautiful transplant from India.
Meanwhile, Jacob is seriously spooked by Dr. Silvia, the ghostly pale women who lives in the Gothic Victorian next door. When Jacob breaks one of her stained glass windows he’s forced into her servitude, scooping compost and working in the garden. Jacob can’t figure out if Dr. Silvia is a witch or a trusted mentor–which is too bad because some strange things have been happening to Jacob recently, and he needs all the help he can get to figure out what the heck is going on.
The pacing of this book is perfect. The characters suck you in right away and make you care about them. The suspense makes you want to turn pages as fast as possible. But under all of it, is a deep heart. The Soulkeepers is a book that makes you think.
I was unfamiliar with G.P. Ching until I read The Soulkeepers and since then I’ve cyber stalked her in the most friendly way. I’ve also signed up for her newsletter. I’m pretty darned convinced that Genevieve is a brilliant writer and marketer. I can see why traditionally published authors would be jealous. But this woman is also a class act. G.P. Ching is full of grace and friendly advice for writers and teens alike.
