What My Child is Reading

No Sleep for the Sheep! by Karen Beaumont is a lyrical bedtime ode to those having trouble sleeping. All the farm animals wake the sheep in the barn. They want to sleep in the barn, too. No Sleep is a great book to share at bedtime.

New Christmas books come out each year, so it's a challenge to find ones appropriate for preschoolers. A Child Was Born: A First Nativity Book by Grace Maccarone is a simple story with detailed illustrations about the birth of Jesus. We enjoyed the rhyming text and the familiar beginning, middle and end.

Our favorite book this week by far was a parody of Madeline, Frankenstein: A Monstrous Parady by Ludworst Bemonster. The rhymes and events are spot on for fans of Madeline. Bobo enjoyed the monster aspect for it. His favorite parts were about the little monsters wetting their beds and losing their heads. I'm adding it to my "must-reads" list for parents.

Tot School: Winter

We've spent several weeks decorating the house for the holidays. Here are our winter trays.

Holiday activity book purchased at the Dollar Tree with lots of preschool fun inside. The gingerbread cookie carrier is filled with foam Christmas shapes, great for sorting and creating artwork.

Bobo chose four sheets of window clings and four sheets of wall decals for the house. We are down to these two sheets for the windows. He's been very busy! He also cleans the windows before putting them up, hence the spray bottle (white vinegar and water).

Snowball fight with poms and tongs and adorable snowmen baskets (a gift).

Lacing with Christmas shapes and chenille sticks. Bobo likes to make bracelets.

Polar Express play dough activity, read and explore.

Polar bear fridge decorator. Bobo assembled it using the fridge as a canvas.

Sharing with Tot School and the Children's Bookshelf and Montessori Monday

WMCIR: MARVELous, Simply MARVELous

All our favorite superheroes come together in one action-packed book. We've been reading this for the past month, one story per night. I waited until we finished all of them to share, though. Captain America is Bobo's favorite story. I enjoyed the illustrations and compact story with lots of variety. We were both disappointed there was no Black Widow story. "No, see she's right there," Bobo insisted after we finished the book and kept pointing emphatically at the cover. Nope, sorry.

And it's about time for Christmas books, yay! I've been reading lots of new Christmas books as they are delivered to the library. It's like Christmas everyday! Santa Knows by Cynthia Smith is about a little boy who doesn't believe in Santa. This is one of those books I didn't read before taking home and I was a little worried about where this story was going. Bobo believes in Santa wholeheartedly. I don't think I've ever told him Santa was real or not, but we've read lots of books on the topic. My little guy's fantasy was not crushed by this book, but it did spark lots of conversation. Very funny, light read.

Oh, Minerva Louise, you make me LOL every time! I recommend these books for older children, maybe five to six and up. The humor comes from the illustrations, not the words. You have to look for clues and figure out what Minerva Louise has gotten wrong. Bobo is beginning to understand these books as I walk him through the observations.

Me: "Now is that really a farmer?"

Bobo: "No, mom. It's Santa."

Me: "Oh, Minerva Louise!"

Bobo laughs maniacally... turn page and repeat.

Sharing with Read Aloud Thursday

Tot School: Christmas

Month: December
Theme: Christmas
Dates: 12/4 to 12/10

Oriental Trading finally had a free shipping bonus, so we bought some new school supplies! I've had the penguin nesting dolls in my cart for ages, but didn't want to pay the shipping, which would cost as much as the item. I scored by waiting and got some other fun supplies in the process.

The Lessons

Bobo stamped the letter "S" sounds, like snake and shark. We practiced numbers by rolling our new foam dice and counting the dots to make a chain out of links. After it snowed, we went outside and sprayed red, yellow and blue on the snow in the backyard. He really wanted to eat the snow, but I couldn't do it. We have all kinds of animals running around back there. Maybe when the snow is thicker and we go in the front. Better yet, we'll make snow cones inside with ice from the fridge!

The Activities

The penguin nesting doll is Bobo's favorite activity for the month. He loves to pretend with them. We played hide-and-seek several times. One of us would close or eyes and the other would hide the baby inside one of the four left. This worked on color recognition and size.

We both made gingerbread men using the scented Play Dough we made a couple of weeks ago. We used beads to make eyes, mouth, nose and buttons. He enjoyed this activity and made lots of men.


I tried to introduce the concept of weaving by setting out Christmas ribbon and a cooling wrack. He did it perfectly but wasn't interested in continuing the activity. We haven't used it since the first day.

When I think of Christmas, I think of trains. With that in mind, Bobo assembled and played with his train puzzle. We bought this at Kohl's when he was obsessed with trains last year.


Crafts

I keep adding more craft supplies as I find good deals. Our craft area has grown and now has taken over a whole wall. Bobo explored his new craft area and said, "I need my scissors." He found lots of new things to cut, like yarn. He has mastered holding scissors correctly.

As you may already know, Bobo loves sidewalk chalk. We played with it everyday in the summer, most of the fall. Instead of putting it away for the winter, I set it out with the craft supplies. He asked if he could use it outside. I suggested using it on paper. He had no idea you could use chalk on paper! He's also been fascinated with drawing on black paper, so we explored what colors would work.


Sensory Bin

I made the winter sensory bin with Epsom Salt as the base. I added snowman cups (yes, they are ceramic and fragile, and YES, he did fine with them), a stretchy reindeer, santa ornament, santa smurfette, plush snowman and scoops. Bobo buried, scooped and poured with glee.


He had to get into the box, of course. No matter what is in the box, Bobo ends up in there as well eventually. He's making his "Don't take a picture," face, which consists of sticking out his tonge. The jokes on him, because I'm still going to use them. Ha-ha!


Field Trip

The boys and Grandma went to Indianapolis for the day. I stayed home and decorated the tree. I know they went to a mall and played in a children's area for a long time. Bobo made several friends and played with lots of children. What happened when he came home and saw the beautiful tree? Was he enchanted and amazed? "You hung up ALL the green ornaments?" said with a protruding bottom lip. Luckily, I had run out of hooks and still had some ornaments left to hang. We decorated the tree even more and hung up our special ornaments for the year. Bobo and Daddy put up the star as is tradition.

We also visited the Santa Train downtown and the Early Learning Center this week as I had a few days off work.

V-Tech

I don't remember what spurred it, but we got the V-tech V-Smile back out. Bobo received this system as a gift last year, but didn't have the skills to use it properly. He ended up throwing it, and we thought it was broken. Fortunately, it just needed new batteries and a new introduction. Now, Bobo is playing with it on a daily basis. He knows how to turn it on, off and reset as well as how to change games. He plays Kung-Fu Panda and Thomas the Train most often. It teaches letters, colors and logical thinking. We love it!