Valentine's Books and Crafts for Kids

Hi Y'all!

I am finally getting posts up in advance. They aren't as frequent as I would like, but it's progress. 

We have had such a great week with homeschooling. My girl is finally getting it! She is actually asking to read independently and doing it! Not just skimming over or re-reading the same book she's had memorized since last year!

This is huge for her! Of course, it makes my heart smile too! I may get another reader in the house. (high hopes)

Being mom and teacher gives me another reason to scope out books for her. I go through a series of variables. 

Are they the right reading level?

Can we use it as a lesson or tie it into what we're working on?(she loves non-fiction)

Does it look like she would be interested in it?

I love that most children's books have a lesson or moral to the story type of theme, but they also make it light, funny, or wacky to get kids to really think and analyze the story. 

Reading books to or with a child is a great opportunity to ask some awesome questions!

You'd be amazed at the insight you can get from your child's responses.

How did that make you feel?

How could you have helped xyz?

Would you like to go there someday?

Could you be friends with someone like that?

These are just some example questions. I know you can come up with a ton more.

Love is an amazing topic to learn about! Is it a noun or a verb?

I love this question. For myself, it is a verb. An act of doing or showing.

What do you think? Both? Could be.

Books can help you learn all different types of love!

I started looking up on Pinterest, Valentine's ideas for kids

I actually was shocked that most of the pins were for books about Valentine's Day!

Also, we actually own a bunch of them!

Here goes my mom brain!

I started searching around on Thriftbooks and made up my own list.

I found over 300 children's books listed! Over 300! Just on Valentine's Day. 

There absolutely is a book for every child to get interested in!

Here is a list of the ones we are going to read this year.

Our Top 7 Choices

Pete the Cat: Valentine's Day is Cool

A Crankenstein Valentine

Nate the Great and The Mushy Valentine

Mr. Goat's Valentine

Rhyme Time Valentine

God Gave Us Love

Love Monster

I hope you'll check out our list and let me know which books you chose!

I'm working on an idea of a book swap for kids. Keep that in mind for the future if you'd be interested!

I also found some fun craft ideas to share.

Take a look, Pinterest: Valentine Kid Crafts

Happy Reading and have a blessed weekend!

Big List of Valentine's Day Books

10 Books Titled "Never Let You Go" : The List I made

 10 Books Titled, 

Never Let You Go

by a variety of authors

Hey y'all.

Have you ever been looking for a certain book, but you can't exactly remember the Title? You just kind of have a vague idea of what it was called or what the main theme was.

I honestly do that a lot. I am constantly seeing #bookcoverporn, some great review posted, ads for new books coming out, or someone sends me recs.

I love it! I love it all! I know on my last day, my TBR list will still be in the hundreds. I read 2 or 3, and add 5 more before the week is done.

That is exactly how this post came about. I remembered this book that I wanted to post over on my Facebook page, but I could not think of the title!

Never Go Away?

Never Let Her Go?

You'll Never Go?

You get the idea. So I'm scrolling through my Goodreads app(I get distracted looking through all the books I want to read.), and then I just decided to go look over on Thriftbooks.

I just typed in Never Go titles and a whole page of books titled...

Never Let You Go or I'll Never Let You Go pops up. 

The very first one is the one I had been searching for! Yes!

Then, I couldn't just ignore 9 other books RIGHT THERE baring the same title! All different authors. A slew of genres. From suspense to children's books.

Hence, my list of 10 books titled:

Never Let you Go

1.Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens

2. I'll Never Let You Go by Mary Burton

3. Never Let You Go by Monica Murphy

4. I'll Never Let You Go by Smriti Prasadam-Halls

5. I'll Never Let You Go by Marianne Richmond

6. Never Let You Go by Emma Carlson Berne

7. Never Let You Go by Erin Healy

8. Never Let You Go by Andrew Grey

9. Never Let You Go by Katy Regnery

10. Never Let You Go by Patricia Storms

There actually were more than 10, but I was trying to keep the list fun and manageable.

I hope you enjoy this list!

Happy Reading!

Save a tree, save a buck.

Buy Used Books!

Manners Matter! A list of Children's books to read.

Mind Your Manners, Please!

Teaching children a few basic manners goes a long way.

    I am always trying to find a great lesson to teach my daughter. She is homeschooled, so it is my job to be mom and teacher. One thing we have always taught our daughters, is manners.

Yes, I am the mom who says things like, "That's not ladylike." You can call it old fashion or sexist, or whatever you want. I use it, it works, and we believe in it.

Manners are so important in everyday life. It should be a habit that is universal, but it has to be taught. Manners aren't something children are born with or something they just know.

"Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it."

Proverbs 22:6

Teaching manners could be as simple as reminding a child to say please and thank you.

It can also be more difficult, as in teaching them not to interrupt someone when they are in a conversation.

There are a ton of manners that are fairly common and universal.

1. Say please and thank you

2. No hitting/biting

3. No screaming

4. Respect yourself and others.

5. Try to share

6. Table manners. Sit still, don't play with your food, etc

7. No burping or slurping

8. Use kind words

9. Help others

10. Do not stick out your tongue or roll your eyes

I'm fairly certain we all want children to understand and follow these, but we need to teach them.

As you all know, I am a total Book Nerd! Books are my go to for so much.

Teaching is one of the ways I use books daily.

Here is a fun list of a few books we either own, have read, or will be getting here soon!

I think my favorite one is the Dude, That's Rude!

You'll definitely have to check some of these out.

Whoopi's Big Book of Manners by Whoopi Goldberg

Emily's Everyday Manners by Cindy Post Senning and Peggy Post

Dude, That's Rude by Pamela Espeland and Elizabeth Verdick

Manners Can Be Fun by Munro Leaf

My Mouth is a Volcano! by Julia Cook

The Bernstein Bears Forgot Their Manners by Stan and Jan Bernstein

A Child's Book of Manners by Ruth Shannon Odor

The Thingumajig Book of Manners by Irene Keller

Manners Are Important For You and Me by Todd Snow

The Golden Rule by Ilene Cooper

These are just a few of the many books available.

I almost always buy my books from Thriftbooks.com

I just love old books!

Buy used!

Save a tree. Save your money!

I hope you find the perfect book for you to teach a child about manners.

Do you already have a favorite? I'd love for you to share.

National "Get Out of the Doghouse" Day!

 National Get Out of the Doghouse Day!

Why do we use this phrase, and where did it even start?

I'm so glad you asked. I'm going to fill you in soon. I have always been one of those people that like to know the how's and why's before I share any information. I have to at least try to dig into the history or facts about what ever it is. 

 E.g. Why do people say someone is "piss poor" or that it is "raining cats and dogs"?

Those are a couple of fun ones I looked up. You'll have to do your own digging on those and maybe some others.

Now, back to today's fun saying.

"Get Out of the Doghouse"

It is celebrated every year on the third Monday of July.

The phrase is known to be used when someone(spouse, friend, other), is in trouble or out of favor with the other. It is used as a punishment for their transgression. A shaming tactic.

I'm sure we all know what it means or how it is used, but do you know why we say it or where it started?

Would you believe it began in a classic children's book we all know, fairly well, I'd say?

It all started in 1911 in the story of Peter Pan, written by J.M Barrie.

That's right!

In chapter 16, Mr. darling is feeling guilty that the children flew away, and he consigns himself to the "doghouse" or kennel, as is the case in the book.

Quote:

"When the children flew away, Mr. Darling felt in his bones that all the blame was his for having chained Nana up, and that from first to last she had been wiser than he. Of course, as we have seen, he was quite a simple man; indeed he might have passed for a boy again if he had been able to take his baldness off; but he had also a noble sense of justice and a lion's courage to do what seemed right to him; and having thought the matter out with anxious care after the flight of the children, he went down on all fours and crawled into the kennel. To all Mrs. Darling's dear invitations to him to come out, he replied sadly but firmly:

"No, my own one, this is the place for me.""

This may be why we associate the phrase more toward men. Who knows?

This is where the phrase or the idea originated, but the first actual printed "in the doghouse" verses Mr. Darling consigning himself to the kennel; actually can be found in James. J. Finerty's 1926 glossary of the language of criminals, Criminalese, in which being "in the doghouse" is described as being "in disfavor"

Not a big gap between Children's class literature and Criminal language.

Funny how that happens. 

The next confirmed print of the term is found in 1933 in an Iowa newspaper, Waterloo Daily, in which the "poor French ambassador" is being described as "still in the doghouse."

Books used for references:

Peter Pan: With original 1911 illustrations

How to Stay Out of the Doghouse by Josh Rubin

Scholastic Dictionary of Idioms

I think the phrase has definitely become more popular, and widely used, over time.

We've probably all said it once or twice, whether we put someone there, or were there ourselves.

I hope you've enjoyed today's post and our fun facts about our National Fun Holiday.

Halloween Craft For Kids-Funky Pumpkins/Jack-O-Lanterns

Funky Halloween Pumpkin Craft

As many of my fellow blogging mommas know, in order to actually have an awesome seasonal or holiday post out and floating around the internet in time for people to find it, view it, and make it useful; we have to get a head start and be planning WAY early!

Well, that is the plan...

I had been jumping around Pinterest, the web, and other blogs, trying to find a few great craft ideas for Halloween.

I have found several, but finding the time and getting my little actually interested in wanting to do them is another story.

We did manage to find one that she was pretty excited to get started on.

It was the using scissors part!

 I'm not sure if I should be proud that she does so well and wants to practice, or terrified that my new five year old has a scissor obsession?!?!

Anyway, the craft is a simple cut, decorate, and glue project aimed for toddlers and younger kids.

You can find the original post and give a shout out here to:

@LorieK~ ReadingConfetti

Funky Pumpkins

materials

• construction paper
• stick or bottle glue
• scissors
• old magazines or newspapers

optional decorations

• googly eyes
• beads
• pipe cleaners

You will need to take your construction paper and cut out "pumpkin"(orange) shapes and the stems(green), then glue stems to back of pumpkins

I worked on this part while she cut out eyes, noses, and mouths from magazines.

This seemed to keep her busy and also reduce her glue use. LOL

Once everything is cut out, we decided to see how silly we could make them. The point was to not "match" eyes, nose, and mouth that typically looked normal. The funkier the better...and cuter.

After you allow them to dry, you can glue to a solid sheet of construction paper or use them individually however you like.

A fun idea is to use them as cards for friends. Write a spooky message on the back and give them out.

Here are a few we made. They turned out so silly and the little really had fun deciding which eyes or nose to add to which pumpkin.

You can always use different colors or make your pumpkins into different shapes.

I hope you enjoyed our quick craft. Be sure to check out our other craft ideas

Fun Crafts

If you are looking for some spooky books for your littles, be sure to check out my post here

Halloween and Fall Books for Kids!

Enjoy and Happy Halloween! Be sure to share your ideas or post pics if you try our craft!

Halloween and Fall Books For Kids

*post contains affiliate links

Update:

I've also added a fun Halloween packet to print out.

Halloween Fun Activities Packet

Who has kids busting at their little seams getting excited about Halloween?

I can't believe how early and how fast it seems to come every year!
I keep thinking the fourth of July was like...last month! Oh no, it's already September. Wow!
Too fast!

I have had this list of books sitting around. Taking my time getting cover photos and editing them, trying to pick a few of our favorites and seeing which ones others seem to favor.
Then, I realized today that everyone is posting, pinning, and sharing all of their Halloween and Fall stuff already! (Walmart already has real pumpkins for sale!!!)
Well, I can't be falling behind any more than I apparently already am!

We have read several of these books. I have also added some we have not read, but I am certainly going to shop for them.

Used Children's Books at Awesome Prices

Without further ado...

Great Halloween and Fall Books

Room on The Broom
This is one of our absolute favorites! It is a fast paced, rhyming story about a witch who has a few visitors on her broom.

The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin
This book is about a pumpkin that doesn't look like all the others in the patch, but soon he shows them how different can be a good thing.

Pinkalicious and the Pink Pumpkin
Pinkalicious is all things pink! Even her pumpkin! If she can find one...

The Berenstain Bears and the Spooky Old Tree
Do they dare go there? Do they dare go in to the Spooky Old Tree?

Boo Who? A Lift and Flap story
Cute little book to show different Halloween things.

Peter Rabbit and the Pumpkin Patch
Peter and Benjamin are on another adventure into Mr. McGregor's garden.

The Berenstain Bears go on a Ghost Walk

Click, Clack, Boo by Doreen Cronin
The Tiniest Pumpkin by Janet Craig
We're Off to Find the Witch's House by Richard Krieb
Arthur's Halloween by Marc Brown
Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson
Franklin's Pumpkin by Sharon Jennings
Bernstain Bears Harvest Festival by Stan Bernstain
There was an Old Lady who swallowed Some Leaves by Lucille Colandro
We're Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger
Even more Awesome books @ Scholastic Kids

I know there are so many more I could list. I'm sure I will come back and add as I find more great books!
I hope you enjoy these. Please comment and share any that you've read and love!
What is your kid's favorite spooky book?

Amazing LIST of Books about SCHOOL for PreK and Kindergartners

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents"~ 

Emilie Buchwald

I am an admitted book hoarder and hopefully will pass on this wonderful love of reading to all my children.

I strive to read every day!

My children see me reading, book shopping, logging in or researching books, doing a book review or recommending books on the DAILY!

They can't get away from me and my addiction..err, habit.

Tidbits of my hobby here: A Novel Experience

My youngest just turned 4 years old, and she has already become the boss of..."Read one more, Momma!"

This I hear 3 to 4 times a day. 

Usually, when "Mr. Sun" is sleeping and my coffee has worn off for the day!

It has become a nighttime ritual.

And while...honestly, there are times, I just want to read my OWN book or try to let her "read" independently...I usually end up reading to her, the same book...again!

And again!

I love that this is "our time".

 I could sit and read to her for hours, if we had all that free time. I love that she would allow me to, and she enjoys it.

I see her remembering what happens next and asking questions when she doesn't understand something in the story. She has even begun reading along or "spoiling" the next page by reading ahead because she is remembering the story!

It is so amazing watching her go through this process of learning. I can sit in awe of this accomplishment!

These important times are the beginning steps in her learning to read,...and enjoy reading!

I have learned it is so much easier to get her interested if I let her choose the book and also let her pick out what she likes at the library or bookstore.

It doesn't always have to be "kiddy books".

Non-fiction, science, nature, animals, transportation, even cookbooks with pictures....all these subjects have a book that will intrigue a child if they are interested.

I wanted to try to make some lists and also help organize her books to be ready for homeschool/preschool.

Organizing by author didn't really seem too practical for our needs, so I am trying to separate them by theme or "characters"(Arthur, Berenstain Bears, Disney, etc)

So, My first list is of books about school.

Do you need #books to help your #child get ready for #backtoschool or starting school.
Here are a few we lovehttps://t.co/VKvUMEhgRi

— Trema Renae (@CoffeeWastedMom) August 1, 2018

We seem to be moving backwards in working on "Back to School" in week #2, but that is okay. It's still September and she is enjoying the books. Well, and that seemed to be a subject we found a lot of books about.

Some we have read, some I had read years ago to my older girls, and some I found online or on other great lists.

So here they are:

My List of Amazing Books about School!

**UPDATED LIST**

1. Olivia and the School Carnival~ Tina Gallo

2. Tom's First Day of School~ Beth Robbins

3. Strawberry Shortcake Goes to School~ Grosset & Dunlap

4. Wonder Pets: Off to School~ Sascha Paladino

5. Little Pirate Goes to School~ Lawrence Schimel

6. Kindergarten, Here We Come~ Quinlan B. Lee

7. The Berenstain Bears Go Back to School~ Stan and Jan Berenstain

8. A Place Called Kindergarten~ Jessica Harper

9. First Day, Hooray!~ Nancy Paydor

10. If You Take A Mouse To School~ Laura Numeroff

11. Preschool To The Rescue~ Judy Sierra

12.Llama Llama Misses Mama~ Anna Dewdney

13. Mouse's First Day of School~ Lauren Thompson

14. The Night Before Preschool~ Natasha Wing

15. Back To School? Cool!~ Suzy Spafford

Here is a great "box set" of beginner activity books:

My First Activities Book series

I hope you will find these books to read and enjoy with your littles!

Please comment on any you have found or any you would like added to the list!

I know there are SO many more wonderful books out there!

What are your favorites?

Happy Reading and Happy Learning!