Grumble Boats

 

What do you do when all you want to do is grumble. You make a grumble boat and set it adrift. This fun and inventive book by Susannah McFarlane can help even the most grumpy people think positively about a situation. Her parents are taking her brother to a pirate party while Emma stays with her grandmother. Emma is not pleased. She wants to go to the party as well. Hmph! Emma's grandmother knows exactly how to help her get rid of her grumbles. The grandmother gathers some materials and they set off for the beach. Taking out paper and pens, grandmother sits on the beach and writes. Earlier that day, grandmother broke her favorite tea cup, so she started drawing out her grumble. The idea of coloring wasn't too appealing to Emma. Emma's grandmother explained that sometimes it is good to write our grumbles down when things do not go our way. It's not long before Emma sits on the beach drawing out her grumble. Emma is quite impressed when her grandmother folds the paper into a boat. When both papers have been transformed into boats, grandmother holds Emma's hand while they throw their boats into the sea. Goodbye grumbles! Both of them watch their grumble boats sail further and further out into the ocean. That's how you handle grumbles.

The act of creating grumble boats and setting them adrift is a therapeutic way to release negative emotions. It allows individuals to externalize their frustrations, giving them a tangible form so they can be acknowledged and let go. This simple yet meaningful ritual can bring a sense of relief and closure, helping people to move forward with a more positive outlook.

The World Needs The Wonder You See

A beautifully written book about the wonders all around us that we often overlook, The Wonder You See offers a captivating view of the world around us. By slowing down and looking closely, Gaines reveals all of the enchanting secrets to discover. The book explores the theme of appreciation for the natural world, encouraging children to find joy in the small details of everyday life. It highlights the importance of being present and aware, as well as fostering a deeper connection with our surroundings. Through vivid descriptions and thoughtful reflections, Gaines invites readers to rediscover the magic in the ordinary. 

 

"Celebrate the wonder of the world through a child’s eyes in this imaginative book about all the beauty, hope, and surprise hiding in plain sight. Look up. Lean in. Bend low. Reach for new heights. Every day, from every place, there’s more to see in this great big world of possibility."

Psalms

 

Crossway's ESV Psalms, Photography Edition far exceeded my expectations. There are either single or double column page combinations with easy-to-read print. Verse numbers are intentionally left out of the typeset. By removing verse numbers, readers are encouraged to approach the Psalms as cohesive narratives rather than fragmented lines, fostering a more fluid and personal engagement with the text. This design choice invites readers to reflect deeply on the themes and emotions of each Psalm, without the distraction of numerical divisions. As a result, individuals may find themselves connecting with the scripture on a more intuitive and emotional level, allowing for a more profound spiritual experience.

A thick cardboard slipcover protects the book. In addition to the hardback cover, the book is bound in a beautiful light blue material. A perfect match exists between each photo and the Psalm it illustrates. The book features stunning photography throughout. All photos were taken by Tim Kellner, a New York-based photographer and filmmaker. Kellner took all the pictures in the book during various trips to Ireland. Meanwhile, the captivating photography provides a visual context that deepens the emotional resonance of the scripture. There is no doubt this is a book that should be displayed openly for guests to see.

The book is divided into 5 sections.

1. Book One covers Psalms 1-41

2. Book Two covers Psalms 42-72

3. Book Three covers Psalms 73-89

4. Book Four covers Psalms 90-106

5. Book Five covers Psalm 107-150

Thus, the Book of Psalms provides a comprehensive overview of the entire Psalms. Consider starting each day by reading a Psalm and reflecting on the accompanying photograph to set a peaceful and contemplative tone for your morning. You could also incorporate it into your evening routine, using the book as a tool for meditation or prayer before bed. Additionally, sharing a Psalm and its visual representation with family or friends during gatherings can spark meaningful discussions and connections.

Here are a few examples of what you'll find in Crossway's ESV Psalms, Photography Edition.

Visit Crossway.com to learn more about this book.

Disclaimer - I received this book in exchange for my honest thoughts. 

Play Smart Animal Picture Puzzlers

Play Smart Animal Picture Puzzlers is an activity workbook for children ages 2+. The activities in this workbook include tracing, drawing, sorting, and matching. Focus, reasoning, and fine motor skills are all enhanced by these fun-first activities. There is a wipe-clean game board at the back of the book that can be used with water-based markers. Play Smart is part of Timberdoodle's 2024 Preschool Kit. 

There is a section for parents on each activity page. This section explains what your child needs to do on each page. Picture tools can be found in the blue boxes on the top of each activity page. The Let's Draw Straight Lines page for example shows one picture tool. You will have your child draw with a crayon.

Let's Draw the Bee's Path requires your child to follow the arrows from beginning to end using a crayon. After completing the maze, they place a sticker of a bee! Over 100 stickers are included in this workbook for the activity pages and as rewards for completing them.

Your child will learn the numbers 1-3 in this workbook.

Let's count!

This wipe-clean game board is included in the back of the workbook. 

 

When children have fun, they are more likely to learn. As a result of the engaging activities included in Play Smart Animal Picture Puzzlers, children are more likely to pay attention, retain concepts better, and gain a greater understanding of them. Preparing your toddler for preschool readiness is the goal of this book. "The proven Play Smart system, developed by educators and child development experts, has one guiding principle: Learning should be fun."

Play Smart Alphabet

Play Smart Alphabet is a first activity book for toddlers ages 2+. With this workbook, toddlers will learn their upper case letters through tracing, coloring, pasting, and matching. At the beginning of the book are 70+ colorful stickers that will be used in activities and as rewards. There is a wipe-clean alphabet board at the back of the book that can be used with water-based markers. There is also a set of alphabet flashcards that parents can easily cut and assemble. Play Smart is part of Timberdoodle's Preschool Kit. 

There is a section for parents on each activity page. This section explains what your child needs to do on each page. Picture tools can be found in the blue boxes on the top of each activity page. The Trace the Letter A page, for example, shows three picture tools. You will have your child trace with their finger, say out loud, and color. 

This Wipe-Clean Alphabet Board is included in the back of the book.

This is a picture of the alphabet flashcards, which have been cut out and placed inside the pocket envelope.

When children have fun, they are more likely to learn. As a result of the engaging activities included in Play Smart Alphabet, children are more likely to pay attention, retain concepts better, and gain a greater understanding of them. Preparing your toddler for preschool readiness is the goal of this book. "The proven Play Smart system, developed by educators and child development experts, has one guiding principle: Learning should be fun."

CursiveLogic Speeches

I had the opportunity to review CursiveLogic Speeches and Writings in American History by CursiveLogic. It is a cursive review curriculum for upper grades. CursiveLogic Speeches is part of Timberdoodles 2024 5th Grade Curriculum Kit. What is the point of practicing cursive by copying speeches and writings from American history? Your student may ask. The answer can be found in the explanation below.

A bit of background on CursiveLogic. 

CursiveLogic was developed from the desire of an educator to make cursive learning easier than the current tedious rote memorization method. What made learning cursive fast so important? The founder of CursiveLogic, Linda Shrewsbury, realized that the adults she worked with didn't have a lot of time to learn the skills they needed to catch up as a result of volunteering at a local literacy program. After studying the alphabet at home for quite a while, Linda Shrewsbury recognized a pattern. Four distinct categories or patterns were apparent for each letter of the alphabet. In response to Linda's newfound method, her students were clearly delighted. A student was able to form the entire alphabet in cursive, upper and lower case, in one lesson. The full story can be read here. 

Currently, the big debate is whether children should learn cursive. The CursiveLogic site, Why Cursive?, addresses this question.

Linda's discovery was truly amazing! All lowercase letters are based on four foundational shapes. Students learn to connect letters from the start with CursiveLogic's letter strings, allowing them to flow immediately before learning all of the letters.

CursiveLogic Utilizes Two Key Features To Teach Cursive:

1. Letters grouped by shape ~ utilizes FOUR groupings
2. Letter strings ~ letters in each individual shape group are taught as a connected string in a specific order

Theme Colors ~ Each shape string has a color ~ Orange Ovals, Lime Loops, Silver Swings, and Mauve Mounds. 

By learning the letters by their shapes instead of alphabetically, cursive was learned much faster than the traditional way. By practicing the letters based on similar patterns, the writing strokes became fluid and natural. There is a "catch phrase" for each of the four letter patterns to reinforce how the letters are formed. 

There is a 14-page cursive review of the four letter groupings with practice on letter formation in CursiveLogic Speeches and Writings in American History. It is ideal for students who have never used CursiveLogic before.

The weekly schedule is divided into a 3-day schedule. Read the Profile and Excert. Complete the warm-up and vocabulary exercises. 

Day 1 - Copy the first writing section.

Day 2 - Copy the second writing section.

Day 3 - Write the third writing section.

The following is a list of Great Americans that will be covered in this workbook:

1. Patrick Henry
2. Paul Revere
3. Benjamin Franklin
4. Thomas Jefferson
5. George Washington
6. Frederick Douglass
7. Sojourner Truth
8. Abraham Lincoln
9. Geronimo
10. Susan B. Anthony
11. Helen Keller
12. Eleanor Roosevelt
13. Marian Anderson
14. Rosa Parks
15. Martin Luther King
16. Cesar Chavez
17. John F. Kennedy
18. Ronald Reagan

When my daughter was in fourth grade, she worked through the CursiveLogic handwriting program. She is now older, and I decided that one can never be too old to copy great speeches and writing from history. My daughter asked me why I was making her do a cursive workbook, and I explained to her the reasoning in the same manner as described in "Why am I copying speeches and writings from American history?". Although we learn much of what is written in this workbook, we seldom memorize it or truly take the time to think and ponder what each speech and writing has to say. A wonderful way to learn is by copying.

A signature appears next to the name of each great American in this workbook. When I saw Sojourner Truth's signature next to her name, my heart skipped a beat.

At the end of the workbook is a page of vocabulary. Many of the words listed on the page are words that may or may not be unfamiliar to students. A couple examples of words that are listed include:

• 'Twixt or Betwixt
• Chattel
• Devilish
• Edifice
• Hallow
• Kilter
• Ploughed
• Score
• Unalienable
• Witticisms

The workbook contains a section entitled Flourishes and Signatures where your child can practice their initials and signatures. 

Your students will be able to practice cursive while reviewing historical writings and speeches by some of the greatest Americans in American history. This is done with CursiveLogic Speeches and Writings in American History. 

 

Play Smart & I Can Do That!

You can introduce your toddler to fine motor skills, spatial reasoning, and observational skills with Play Smart - My First Sticker Activity Book for ages 2+. Through the three levels of difficulty built into the book, your child will advance as they progress. Along the way, your toddler will be engaged in age-appropriate activities. It is the perfect size for toddlers to hold on their own because it measures 5 3/4" by 8 1/4". As a result of the small size, younger children can scan each page without moving their eyes. Play Smart is part of Timberdoodles Preschool Kit.  

There are more than 200 colorful stickers that toddlers can grasp and place on their own. As little hands are still getting the hang of hand-eye coordination it is very easy for an adult to simply peel the sticker from the page for the child to try again if they are not satisfied with where they have placed it.  

As part of the Level 1 activities, toddlers are encouraged to freely place stickers on the page. This activity entitled Dog Park encourages your toddler to place the dog sticker anywhere on the field. My 27-month-old grandson and I used this book together. His placement of the dog in the field was excellent. 

Toddlers are asked to complete a more specific request in this level 2 activity, Happy Hamster. They are instructed to place the hamster in the palms of the child. In order to provide your child with plenty of space for the hamster to fit in the child's palms, his hands are big and open. 

Toddlers place a sheep, a horse, and a farmer in this Farmyard Fun activity. My grandson was very particular about where he wanted to place each sticker. At 27 months old, I don't think he quite had the logical reasoning to put the horse with the other horses and the sheep and farmer with the other sheep and farmer. This is a step-by-step method book that starts with easy levels that gradually increase according to a child's growth and development. 

In this Level 2 activity, toddlers place jars on shelves. There is no doubt that this is a more complex task. Getting the jars directly on the shelves is not an easy task, especially for a young two-year-old. The book is suitable for young and older children, so I love the challenge. 

There are interactive pages opposite the sticker pages for you to do with your child. After we completed these pages, I forgot to add the reward stickers. As you progress through the book, the level of difficulty increases. 

Additional activities include using pencils or crayons, depending on your preference. Activities include vocabulary enhancement, tracing, finding hidden pictures, spot the differences, reasoning, numbers, mazes, drawing, and matching.

My daughter and grandson are working on Play Smart - My First Sticker Activity Book. When he visits Gammy, my grandson absolutely loves working in this book. There's no doubt the stickers encourage him to continue working on "more pages Gammy."  

In addition to Play Smart - My First Sticker Activity Book I also received I Can Do That! Sticker Superstar. Toddlers ages 2+ can enjoy this activity book. Stickers in this book are much smaller than those in Play Smart. Although my grandson can follow the directions in the book, some of the stickers are too small for his little fingers. When my grandson is a bit older, I plan to bring this book back out.

In this book your child will practice:

• decision making and thinking ahead
• sort and match objects by size, shape, and color
• develop observational skills
• strengthen counting skills
• build confidence
• increase vocabulary
• exercise creativity 

Here are a few examples from this book. Sweet Pals has your children place doughnuts, forks, and cups on each friend's plate. These stickers are quite small. He had no problem placing the donuts on the plates, but the cups and forks were a bit small for his little fingers.

It was easier for my grandson to do Slip and Fall because the stickers were a good size. He was worried that the rabbit had so many boo-boos and needed so many bandaids.

In order to allow parents to see the size of the stickers, I added a sticker page.

You can get your little ones excited about learning with Play Smart - My First Sticker Activity Book and I Can Do That! Sticker Superstar. With vividly colored and recognizable pictures, your child will enjoy working through the almost 100 activities and 50 activities respectively. The majority of activities can be done by the children independently, but it is more than appropriate to assist them along the way. The most important thing is to have fun and support your child in his or her learning process.