Children's Book Recommendations For When You're Cooped-Up

We've had a huge snow storm again!  It makes me want to curl up and read some good books to some little ones!  Do you know the best way to make your child a great Reader?  By reading aloud to them!  Here are 6 fun Children's Books for little children and beginning readers!

Books To Read

Snowballs, by Lois Ehlert

This author is a fairly recent discovery of mine who's become a fast favorite!  Ehlert, who lives next door to my state, in Wisconsin, writes the most creative books!  This one starts out, "Do you think birds know when it's going to snow?"  The pictures are a visual feast!  Her books, always colorful, seem 3-dimensional, using lots of ordinary objects to provide "texture" on the pages--you'll reach out to touch them!

In "Snowballs," ideas abound for using common household objects and foods to "decorate" snowmen, such as popcorn (kernels and popped), colorful shoelaces to make hair on "snow mom," and, a knitted bag on a string filled with peanuts in the shell to put around her neck!  A seashell for a nose and coffee beans for eyes! 

There's a whole family of snow people! The "snow boy" has nuts (as in nuts and bolts) for eyes and two big wheels that are off of a toy truck for ears. All of these snow people are shown as indoor projects, with the bodies made out of large circles of white paper, which of course is a great idea when you can't go outdoors (and you don't have this book to read yet)!


Everything used to decorate the snow people is pictured and labeled in the back of the book. Some of the creative ideas are:  a foil candy wrapper wadded up, a colorful plastic fork, a luggage tag, a coffee bean, a ribbon, sunflower seeds, a cinnamon stick, a pinecone, and kernels of corn. They'll inspire you to create your own very special snow person! This is such a fun book to read--your kids will love it, and you will, too! Included in the back is an explanation of what makes it snow, and photos of real snowmen that are very cute.

Eloise Wilkin's poems to read to the very young, selected by Josette Frank

You'll be able to find this in the GRRLibrary system, if you're in my area (www.griver.org) or check your library.  This is a sweet book that your children will be memorizing poems from without trying!

Examples of the poems you'll find inside this book:

"Thaw," by Eunice Tietjens:

"The snow is soft, and how it squashes!

'Galumph, galumph!' go my galoshes."

"Jump or Jiggle," by Evelyn Beyer:

(This has no commas or periods, but I will put them in so you can read it!)

"Frogs jump, Caterpillars hump.

Worms wiggle, Bugs jiggle.

Rabbits hop, Horses clop.

Snakes slide, Sea gulls glide.

Mice creep, Deer leap.

Puppies bounce, Kittens pounce.

Lions stalk--But--I walk!"

"High-Heeled Shoes," by Kate Cox Goddard:

"I like to wear my Mommie's shoes.

I mean the pairs she doesn't use.

I pick the ones with highest heels,

You can't imagine how it feels

To walk around, go out the door,

Clump-clumping all across the floor."  

We own this book illustrated by Dagmar Wilson, whose illustrations are cute, but Eloise Wilkin's illustrations are very, very favorites of mine--darling--and you can get this version from the library!

We Help Daddy,
A Golden Book, by Eloise Wilkin

We own this book, but I couldn't find it in our library system, though there are other Wilkin favorites, such as the "Goodnight Book" and "Baby's Christmas," but maybe you'll be able to find it in yours, or at a thrift store.  This is a fabulous book, not only to read to small children, but because it also teaches Mom and Dad the many ways that little ones can learn to work, and be helpful!

Benjy and Sue, who appear to be around 5 and 3, help Daddy all day as he does yardwork and fixes things around the house.  
The story is told from the perspective of 3-year-old Sue. This is such a charming book, with sweet illustrations--find it if you can.

A Bag Full of Pups, by Dick Gackenbach
This is a cute story about a man whose dog has 12 puppies and what happens when he goes to the city and yells, "Free Puppies!"   This story isn't in our library system, (we own this book), but many other titles by this author are there, as well as other stories illustrated by him.

"What Is That?" Said the Cat, by Grace Maccarone

This is a Level 1 Reader, so has lots of rhyming and white space on the pages, and is good for a beginning reader.  A book about a box that has something inside which animals, one by one, try to open, and when they do, they are Very Surprised by what's inside!  In my library system, (check it out in yours) you can find a whole list of Level 1 Readers (go to www.griver.org, the Great River Regional Library System, and search for "Hello Reader! Level 1." I haven't read this book yet, but it sounded cute, from the reviews.  There were many other Level 1 books to choose from.


A Bug, A Bear, and a Boy Paint a Picture

by David McPhail
I love the Bug, A Bear and a Boy books.  You can sometimes find them at Goodwill, and other thrift stores.  In my library system, you can find one or two.  Our Scholastic copy of this one is a small, thin paperback.  The illustrations are very precious.  With 8 pages and a sentence or 2 on each, it's a quick read, but the illustrations are wonderful, and the sentiments sweet.  A cuddle-up and read kind of book.
I hope you'll take time to read some great books to your children today!

Favorite Children's Books: Guest Post by Kelsey

Personal All-Time Favorites:

Dogger, by Shirley Hughes

This was my very favorite book when I was growing up, possibly because I had my own stuffed dog, named Fraidy, who I took everywhere, just like Dave in the story.  

Guess How Much I Love You, by 
Sam McBratney and 
Anita Jeram

An instant, endearing classic.

Felix Feels Better, by Rosemary Wells This book made me laugh in the library, the illustrations are so droll and true to life, and the dialogue is hilarious.  I have been known to quote this book at random occasions.

Flora's Blanket, Flora's Surprise,               
by Debi Gliori

Debi Gliori's illustrations are so precious.  Flora is the baby of a large family of bunnies, and as such experiences the frustrations and benefits that come with that.

Thank You Bear, Don't Worry Bear,

by Greg Foley

These books are very simple, but adorably illustrated, and little children (adults too) can easily relate to Bear, who is a very sincere and sweet little bear.  Gems of children's literature for sure.

Bear...Feels Scared, Feels Sick, Wants More and Snores On, by Karma Wilson  These books are hilarious and about topics that small children know all about--being hungry, sick, scared, and missing out on something fun because they're sleeping.

Favorites of the 5 and 3-year-old boys that I nanny:

Not A Box, and Not A Stick, by Antoinette Portis (Not a Box is the hands-down favorite...a Goodwill find!  Great books about imagination and pretending games.)

Whistle For Willie, by Ezra Jack Keats (this is especially effective, I have found, if you actually whistle loudly at the appropriate times.)

The Great Alphabet Fight, by Joni Eareckson Tada and Steve Jensen

The Very Kind Rich Lady And Her One Hundred Dogs, by Chinlun Lee (you must, of course, always read ALL one hundred names of the very kind rich lady's one hundred dogs.)

How Do Dinosaurs...Say Goodnight, Get Well Soon, Eat Their Food, by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague  (if your children are easily suggestible, I recommend caution with these:)


The Pencil, by Allan Ahlberg
Policeman Small, The Little Farm, Cowboy Small, (any of the series) by Lois Lenski


Books Better Enjoyed by Adults than the Children they were Intended for:
Any books by Bill Peet, especially The Gnats of Knotty Pine, and Eli 
(My mom and I find them extremely funny, but it seems like Mr. Peet always had an agenda in his stories, like, Save the Forest Creatures Kill the Hunters, so I usually don't read them to the kids.


The Day is Waiting, by Don Freeman is beautifully illustrated.
Sunshine, by Ludwig Bemelmans, author of the Madeline stories, and found in Madeline in America and other Holiday Tales. 
This story is Hilarious, but would totally go over most children's heads.  Read it aloud to someone--my friend (who is also 21) and I enjoyed it immensely.


All the World, by Elizabeth Garton Scanlon 
I just got this book out of the library, and the pictures are just incredible.  The text however seems to be quite humanistic, so if I were to read it to the kids I might tweak it or talk afterward with them about how all the world only exists because of God, etc.


Wait! No Paint! by Bruce Whatley
I did read this to the boys and they did like it, but some of the funniest parts went over their heads.  This one made me laugh out loud in the library.

Well, there you go...a few of the best kids books I've found in my lifelong fascination with them.  I keep finding new treasures in the Library (click to read "Going to the Library") and Goodwill all the time--they're there, but sometimes you have to dig through the politically correct, silly, or badly illustrated books to find them.
Now, I know none of these books really talk about the Lord, but honestly I've had a hard time finding really excellent books that do.  If you know of any, please let me know!  I do like some of Max Lucado's children's books, but the analogies are a bit hard to grasp for the small children I read to.
Haha, ok...now that I'm thinking about it, I can think of a couple Christian stories I like...maybe they will have to have their own post. :)

New Homeschoolers: How To Begin

Are you thinking about Homeschooling, or have you just started out and you're feeling lost? Wondering where to begin?

Start here:

• Go to HSLDA's website (www.hslda.org) where you will find the current laws by state.
• Click on, and read, the section there on You Can Homeschool--Start Here (How To Do It for New Homeschoolers). 
• Go to the  Teach Institute website, which contains encouraging and helpful videos specifically for new Homeschoolers; also peruse and read some of the articles in the archive of Newsletters, which are a wealth of wisdom and edifying encouragement.
• For curriculum choices:  Let me comfort you and quiet your fears:  You are not going to ruin your child by choosing the wrong curriculum.  I don't recommend any one curriculum. I encourage you to pray, do research, and try something, starting with the basics of Reading, Writing and 'Rithmatic (therefore, don't spend a lot of money on anything). If your children are in K-2 that's all you'll need for now, plus library books.  Discerningly use the library extensively for reading.  Get a good Math curriculum for your child.  ABeka and Bob Jones are known classics and have strong programs.  ABeka is about 6 months ahead of grade level, meaning if your child is able to keep up he'll be doing very well, and no need to worry on standardized tests.  It is excellent, but known for repetition, so once the child has the concept, go on, and don't do all the problems.  Bob Jones is really good for learning to do story problems.  You don't need a teacher's guide for anything.  Don't buy products out of your insecurity.  Pray and ask the Lord and your husband. These are your children.  No one knows them like you do. God will lead you. I believe that your family's and your child's needs will change somewhat from year to year.  You'll see a gap or weak area, and you'll need something to address that need.  At that time, look for the best and most appropriate resource, for the cheapest price.
• Think and pray very long and hard before having others teach them anything.  That teacher is teaching them a worldview, not only a subject. Will you have to unteach, deprogram and deal with the results of that teacher's teaching and influence for the rest of your life? It's not worth it.  You don't need co-ops.  The disadvantages outweigh the benefits.  When people ask you, "What about socialization?" answer them, "Yes, that's one of the reasons why I'm Homeschooling."  You don't want the negative socialization.  Make your children each other's best friends.  Learn with your children.  They're going to have strong subjects and weak subjects, just like you did.  That's ok.  They're not going to remember everything they're taught, just like you don't. Make your foundation the principles of God's Word.  Major on character.  Teach the basics, and make sure they're strong in those: the 3 R's.  Then add in other subjects, skills, etc. 
• I believe that you will use and need different resources and teaching materials than any other Homeschooling family, because you are not them.  Each individual child in your home will need their Homeschooling tweaked for their individual learning style and strengths and weaknesses.  Designing your child's education to his individual needs, one-on-one interaction and family interaction, and flexibility are the wonderful blessings of Homeschooling!
• Warning: Don't try to bring school home.  I don't recommend having a "schoolroom" because I don't ever want to communicate that learning only takes place there.  Did we start out having a schoolroom? Yes.  Some things you have to learn yourself.
• I do recommend reading "living books" (a "living book"--the term coined by Charlotte Mason--is one in which, when you stop reading, the child begs you to read "just one more"! One more page, one more chapter...); and, for Unit Studies, KONOS can't be beat!  (Read my post on KONOS to get an idea of what kinds of activities you might do with your children in a Unit Study on the character quality of Attentiveness and the study of the Ear.) You will have to supplement some subjects later, such as Math, and Art, and lessons in music.
• As a Homeschooler, you will gain knowledge of your craft as you go along. One valuable resource is The Old Schoolhouse magazine, a favorite of moms. (Clicking the magazine's link will take you to the review of KONOS curriculum that was published in their magazine).
• The Three R's, by Ruth Beechick (K-3) is a must have for beginning Homeschoolers.   Ruth Beechick is a gem.  She's like the grandmother who understands what you're going through, and the professional who knows what to do about it, in one.  The Three R's contains ideas you can put into practice while you're making dinner!  You may find these sold as three separate little books, but now they have been published together in one.  What I love the most about these three little books:  She gives easy examples of teaching in the everyday moments of family life at home, like her example of teaching "math" by counting the number of forks and knives as you set the table, asking questions using "math terminology" such as "how many more" do you need.  The book is very affordable.  You can get it at the link to Amazon.com, or you can find it also on SonLight's website above.

The 3 Most Important Things To Do When Starting To Homeschool Kindergarten:

1. Know that you can do this, and you're not going to ruin your child(ren).
2. Pray and ask God for help. And listen to God and your husband.
3. Read, read, and read to your children ("living books" and the Bible)!

Mom:  Top 3 Things To Do For Success in Homeschooling:

1. Love and Respect Your Husband.
2. Fear God and Obey The Bible.
3. Discipline appropriately and Train Your Children Up in the Nurture and Admonition of the Lord.

5 Wonderful Ways To Enjoy Being a Wife and Mom and Homeschooler in one:

1. Train your children to pay attention to you, and to obey.
2. Spend lots of time together as a family:  laughing, working, and serving the Lord together.
3. Read the Bible together, and memorize it. (For young children, memorization is done without effort, by simple repetition!  It's we parents who have to work at it!)
4. Be, and teach how to be, "A Lover of Learning".  Ask questions about what is going on around you, and find out more about what interests you and them.
5. Make the most of "teachable moments" when they're asking questions and want to know more!

An additional note regarding curriculum:  I don't recommend a comprehensive packaged curriculum for K-1st grade, especially. (Some "veteran Homeschoolers" recommend buying a packaged all-in-one curriculum when you're starting out, just to get you going when you're lacking in confidence and don't know what to do.)  It's not wrong, but the drawback to this is you may get locked in to that mode, and I feel you miss some of the blessings and benefits of Homeschooling when you do that, such as spending time together with your children, seeing the excitement of hands-on learning in their eyes, the freedom to participate in everyday-life-learning, and flexibility. Whether you use a pre-packaged curriculum or not, you needn't spend a wad of dough on Homeschooling, and especially in the early grades.


Teach your child the skills needed to read:  Recognizing the letters, and knowing the sounds the letters make, and then connecting those sounds together.  That's reading.
Teach your child to love learning.


The most important thing you can do with your children is READ excellent books--living books--to them, and teach them to love learning. If you are excited about learning new things, they will be, too.


Click on the Homeschooling and Child-Training topics on my linkbar at the top of my blog, for additional information and encouragement.  I hope this helps any of you who are new to Homeschooling, or who are thinking of starting next year.
Please feel free to ask me any questions you have, either in the comments, or you can contact me by email at faithsfirmfoundation@embarqmail.com.  If I don't know the answer, I will try to get it for you!

Love and Marriage: Resources for Your Children to Have and to Hold

In my interview last week with David and Carolyn and their married daughter, Michelle, in the Love and Marriage series (entitled Premarital Counseling for Preschoolers), Carolyn referred to books that she had read to her children from an early age to help them have right thinking about the subject of love and marriage.  David and Carolyn are the parents of 7 children.  Michelle, the oldest, is 26, and married, expecting their fourth child.  David and Carolyn also have a new grandbaby boy through their son and his wife, born just this last week!  Their children still at home, include their son, Michael, who is 19.  Then they have a reversal "baby", Daniel, who is 9, and they adopted 3 girls (sisters) from Liberia 2 years ago.  The girls, as far as one can tell in these cases, are about 10, 7 and 5.

We were talking about courtship, and why in the world it should be something that parents of young children need to think about!  They became very animated at that question. Go back to the link above to read the interview.  The rest of the story will be written, but had to be delayed, due to unforeseen circumstances.  So, I asked Carolyn if she would write out a list of some of her favorite books which, she believes, help to give children a right and righteous outlook on love and marriage.  At any age, but especially if you have young children, reading books which depict a loving marriage, and the kind of family interactions which you want them to aspire to, is very important.  Even in some books which are our personal favorites, sometimes children pick up on things which completely escape our notice:  Carolyn's daughter asked as they were reading a beloved favorite one day, "Where's the Daddy?"  Sure enough, come to think of it, he is never depicted.  The children go everywhere either alone or with their mother.  They eat and the mother puts them to bed at night, without ever a mention or sight of the dad.  Many other situations may establish their beliefs and desires, and cement those, in the stories they read or that we read to them. (Parents must beware, also, of the images their children see through the media of film, TV, computer, etc.)

Here is the list of resources that Carolyn recommends as excellent for young, and older, children:
(certainly at least as young as 4 years old)

• Keepers of the Faith (for boys and young men)
• Keepers at Home (for girls and young ladies)  both by Keepers of the Faith.
• Lamplighter Books:  Teddy's Button, Hedge of Thorns, The True Princess, The Three Weavers 
• The Squire and The Scroll by Jennie Bishop
• The Princess and The Kiss by Jennie Bishop
• Door Posts:  Polished Cornerstones, Plants Grown Up, For Instruction in Righteousness, all by Pam Forster
• Wilderness Wife by Etta De Gring, story of Rebecca Bryan Boone
• Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends by Sarah, Stephen and Grace Mally (Go to the link, and visit Tomorrow's Forefathers, to check out the Mally Family's ministry and then go to their blog, to be inspired in your own family relationships of love.  Also check out Loving the Lord Ministries (ministry of the Vest Family) and the Loving the Lord blog.  As your girls get older, participating in Girls' Groups and attending a Purity Conference, ministries of Amy Vest and her family, can be very important in a girl's life, as to staying on the right track that God would have her travel. 

 Carolyn emphasized that the "best book" your children will ever read that pertains to marriage, is you and your spouse daily living out a Christ-centered marriage!  A challenge for all of us!

About David and Carolyn:
David,47, and Carolyn, 48, are the parents of 7 children, aged 3 to 26.  They have walked the path of courtship twice with their children. They have 3 grandchildren through these two marriages and are expecting their fourth any day their fourth, a boy, was born about a week ago!  But they can also easily identify with parents of small children, because they have 4 younger ones, as well, and their three grandkiddos, all under 5 years old, spend much time at their house.  They wouldn't have it any other way!

Children's Work is Only Begun: Learning to Play, Playing to Learn

Bonnie Anderson is a dear friend of mine and extremely qualified to talk about what to do with little children! (see her credentials below) I invited her to be our guest at "A Mom Thing" last night and to share activities and teaching ideas for little children, especially what they can do while you are needing one-on-one teaching time with an older child.  She shared with us so many wonderful ideas.  Here is Part 1 from the notes I took on:
Ideas For Activities That Teach Little Ones Important Concepts
Have an overstuffed chair to curl up in and get cozy to read to your children.  Reading to your children is very important!  Pick books with lots of pictures for your little ones. They love the visuals--you can talk through the book with them as you look at the pictures and they can tell you what's going to happen next; an important skill to be able to think ahead to what will happen.

Bonnie's "Two Most Important Things to Have":

• Their own Bible: She recommends The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes, by Kenneth Taylor ISBN 0-8024-0595-9
• A Large Magnifying Glass (sturdy, easy to hold for little hands, sturdy plastic)

Activities for Teaching Skills needed for Reading and Math: 2 to 4-years-old

• Playdoh
• Round wood pieces you put into holes, colored ones even better

"Contracts": A Paper with the agreed-upon "work" they are to do in the time allotted

• A Written list (with pictures) of "their work" for their schoolday
• Have Special things which they use only during this time (when you're working with older children)
• Put an Animal shape on the page: they can look for that shape in the "school area" to find the next thing they're to do.
• Tape your voice reading a story or talking
• Put a sticker or picture of a puzzle:  Do 3 puzzles: Let them make the decision of which ones; teaches decision-making
• Hang clothes on a "clothesline": String a light rope up where they can clip real clothes or construction paper clothes (clip a large green dot on the left of the rope and a large red dot on the right)
• Always have them go from left to right in everything they do, reinforces left to right in reading and writing

Resources: (Older resources are probably out of print, so you may have to hunt for them)

• Montessori:  teaches how to fold a napkin and make a pile of them, and put away.  Scrubbing, cleaning a Conch shell, getting in the crevises. Teaches how to work--to do things.  Once taught, they can do that as their "work" in their schoolday.
• Book:  Homemade Toys That Teach II, by Rhoda Redleaf, Toys'n Things Press, illustrated by Ellen Krans
• Book:  Mathematics Their Way, Things you can make to teach, by Mary Baratta-Lorton
• Teach how to glue: there's a product with a red top that replaces the normal glue top, which only allows one drop to come out
• They receive a Reward of placing something to indicate they completed the task: a button on the Gingerbread Man, (he has three buttons--one for each of the three things they are to do)
• Match the Reward to their likes: glue, buttons, paint, etc.
• "Place your finished items on this shelf where I can see your work later"
• Give the praise when Mama's free--they're learning independence
• Puzzles--independent pieces, with knobs; Choose puzzles that teach something: e.g. development of a frog

Teaching Motor Skills

• Teach to Trace: teach how to hold a pencil correctly
• Later teach how to read cursive, so they'll be able to read letters written by their Grandma's
• Teach "pulling down" on letters, not up; start with tracing with their fingers; draw in the sandbox
• Learn Block Letters--Direction is important

Teaching Visual Skills

• Matching activities and games
• Make a pizza round with pictures on the wedges--have them clothespin the two that match
• Make it self-checking:  on the back put matching colored dots, so turning over they know immediately if they got it right:  They want to get it right!
• Memory Games--Look for old games at Garage Sales:  Four Seasons Memory Game (teaching something as they play)
• Dominoes (Big chunky ones):  e.g. Add on to the end of the picture the piece that matches
• Dominoes Colors

These activities introduce everything that's in a "Contract".  You can start as young as 2-1/2 years old, depending on the child. You know your child best.
  
About Bonnie: Go to her Timeline of History here.
Bonnie Anderson has been a Teach Institute and Accreditation Association consultant for 25 years. She is a former Kindergarten teacher, and loves using her creativity working with families and children. She is a wife and mom who Homeschooled her own two sons, Ben and Dan, who now are grownup and on their own and one was married this past year. Bonnie loves books, and sells used children's books through her business, Bonnie's Books.  She has a personal library of over 20,000  used children's books.  She specializes in historical fiction, but has her loft filled with books for younger "readers".  She loves to collect the stuffed animal or doll which "is" the character for a particular book. 

Homeschooling: Moms of Preschoolers

Amy at "Raising Arrows" has a great post for Moms of Preschoolers thinking of Homeschooling, and I totally agree with her. Please go and read this excellent post.

I want to encourage you, if you are in the first years of Homeschooling or considering it, that you can do it!  Look at all you've taught your child(ren) already.  Everything they know, they learned from you.  You've been Homeschooling since the day they were born.  How have you done it? By prayer, by learning as you did it. By counsel from trusted advisors. By trial and error.  You went out and got the training, information, knowledge for how to do something or how to teach your child something, *when you needed it*!  That's how you Homeschool.  God gave you every skill you need to Homeschool, when He made you a mom or dad.  He gave you the responsibility to raise your children. He gives you the wisdom and ability to do what He gives you to do.  Trust Him.  He won't let you down.

Teaching the 3R's are the only thing that's important in the early years. Teaching phonics and reading, which is fun, I think--making your child a lover of books--is the one thing you will do that will unlock all other areas of learning.  But do it in your child's timing.  Each child has their own timetable.  We played with wooden blocks that had letters on them. I probably got them at an antique store or a thrift store.  I would say the sound that the letter made while we played. Then, as they were able to make the sounds correctly, I moved on to putting sounds (blocks) together, until I had words, like cat, or mom, and they could repeat the sounds back to me. Then later I would print really short sentences down for them to read. It was playing, not school. No desk, no curriculum. I tried and failed miserably(!) at trying to make my little guy sit at a desk and do school. Don't try to bring the public schoolroom home!

As Homeschooling has taken off, one of the good/bad things is that there are so many more options and choices of curriculum. You can so easily get overwhelmed. The benefits of Homeschooling include lots of time together. Don't get tricked into thinking that you've got to have a certain curriculum, (and if you choose the wrong one, your kids will be ruined).  Can I let you in on a little secret?  Every Homeschooler does it differently. Actually, every Homeschooled kid has a different education, even in the same family. And you're going to make "mistakes" just like I did. When you're graduating your kids and even beyond, you're going to *know* it was by God's grace that you did it.

Read up and study all you can about the "tools of your trade", but follow Godly people's example. Get to know what's out there, but don't feel you have to use it.  Listen to advice that is Biblical. Be on your knees daily, talk things over with your husband, and ask his counsel, trust the Lord to give you wisdom.

Finally, two things: Know each of your children's learning styles, and your learning/teaching style.  Study how to teach to their style.  (Using all the senses in learning is how we all learn best.)  Secondly, I recommend Ruth Beechick's three little books (you can get them all in one book or individually) for moms of preschoolers.







 

Faith of a Child

Evening Hymn

 I hear no voice, I feel no touch,

I see no glory bright;

But yet I know that God is near,

In darkness as in light.

He watches ever by my side,

And hears my whispered prayer;

The Father for His little child

Both night and day doth care.

--Anonymous