Fall is the time when a lot of people think of apples. I live in the Northeast where apples are everywhere this time of year. Many preschool and kindergarten teachers open the new school year with a unit on apples. You can graph them, cook them, and even go pick them. However, if you aren’t able to enjoy all of these activities with your own child, use Marjorie Priceman’s book “How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World” to teach about cooking and geography all at the same time.
The book begins with a little girl who wants to make an apple pie, but the store is closed when she goes to buy the ingredients. Instead she travels the world gathering the items as she goes. Although many of the items could certainly be purchased from other places, the story does stick to countries known for each of the foods on the list.
As you read the story with your child, use the map in the book to show her where all of the places are that the little girl visits. Talk about how long it would really take to go “shopping” the way the little girl did. She may be a little more grateful for global trade the next time she eats a piece of apple pie!
*Note: Although I haven’t read the story, Marjorie Priceman also has a book titled, “How to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A” which I would guess is similar in nature and just as educational.
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Written by Laura on September 8, 2010
My older son completed a preschool curriculum provided through one of the many cyber schools in Pennsylvania. Although I provided all of the instruction, the school was there as support and to provide feedback at several points throughout the year. One of the assignments that my son was to submit was an original short story. It only had to be a few sentences in length, and, as a preschooler, th
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Written by Laura on June 23, 2010
There are some stories that children will listen to one time and, although it may be a decent enough story, one time is enough. Children may also go through a story jag where they want to here the same story numerous times each day for a week. Then there are the stories that children will listen to intently no matter how many times you read it for months, even years, at a time. This is how R
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Written by Laura on May 21, 2010
Most people are familiar with Robert Munsch’s book Love You Forever. However, he is also the author of a long list of other books, many of which will make you chuckle at the least. One such book is Alligator Baby.
A few weeks ago, I downloaded a free mp3 of the author reading this book. (Go to http://www.robertmunsch.com/ ) Yesterday, I loaded it onto my iPod Shuffle, loaded my kids in t
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Written by Laura on March 26, 2010
To you and I, fingerplays may get boring and repetitive after the second time hearing one. But to your child, fingerplays offer a wonderful way in which he can expressively tell a short story from start to finish. The ability to complete a fingerplay on his own builds his confidence, and gives him practice with memorization as well as storytelling. They can also offer practice with motor skills
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Written by Laura on January 15, 2010
Although there are certainly many wonderful children’s stories which have been written in recent years, there is just something different about classic children’s stories that were written years ago. The most notable feature that stands out in these older stories is the vocabulary.
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Written by BRWI Staff on December 18, 2009
As children listen to stories, they tend to remember only the really significant characters and events. This is a great starting point, but we must help them learn how to identify other parts of a story as well.
In the beginning of the story, for example, the author usually introduces us to most of the characters along with the setting. The middle of the story generally contains the problem or c
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Written by BRWI Staff on November 23, 2009
As the parent of a preschooler, you have probably experienced the repetitive nature young children love to encompass when choosing a book to read. In my home, we are currently reading From Head to Toe by Eric Carle at least five or six times each week. Around Christmas time, I have come to dread displaying a copy of The Polar Express because my oldest child, although he pretty much has it memori
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Written by Laura on August 28, 2009
“The perro hid the hueso in a agujero in the jardin.” This sentence is pretty confusing if you don’t speak Spanish. However, this gives you an idea of how a beginning reader can feel if they don’t understand the words they are reading or listening to. If possible, you should skim through a book you are going to read to your child to search for words of which they may not
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Written by BRWI Staff on June 3, 2009
Take a moment to read the following words: “eating zookeeper cage the when lion by the its was walked”. Reading these words one at a time seems pretty pointless because there is little meaning to be found. But when the words are put in another order, the reader can understand what the author is trying to say. “The lion was eating when the zookeeper walked by
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Written by BRWI Staff on May 27, 2009
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