“A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:” Proverbs 1:5
Anyone else with me that the best time of day to do math is first thing in the morning?
Why? I always feel that if we can get through math in the morning all other subjects will fall into place.
Personally, I enjoy elementary math but it is work and it isn’t always fun so getting a 10 year old on board with me isn’t always easy. Howe do I motivate her?
I let it be known that if we can get through our Math and English then we have a good book to read.
I have always read to my children even when they were babies.
We have been raising six children for the past 29 years. Whether it was an afternoon of board books when they were toddlers or allowing them to work on their penmanship and art while I read in school; we were always reading. I have one child left to school and I will keep reading to her.
My older children used to stop in and listen in on the books I was reading to Mellie as a toddler. I would read to my older children chapter books while my toddlers listened in. It just didn’t stop because a little one was in the room. If you choose clean books with good story lines, even toddlers will pick out things to understand. This also makes them “old before their time” and gives them an edge on children their age.
I have seen this with all our children but especially with our youngest, Melanie. She was born when our youngest was 8 and oldest 19. She has always been around older people and it shows. I am having such a good time with her since I’m so much more of a relaxed mother now that I’m in my 50’s.
Two series I wanted to touch on today are based on history and geography.
Dear America
While I haven’t personally read a lot of these Dear America books, my girls love them. My married daughter now has the entire set of Dear Canada. We moved from Canada about 22 years ago so she and her two older siblings were born up there. She loves that series so I slowly collected them all for her.
These series are based on real facts of history and follow children through the years as they write in their dairies what is going on with them. Stories that take place anywhere from the American Revolution to the sinking of the Titanic and beyond. A great way to involve your kids in the history of the world in the fashion of reading a story! I actually read historical fiction often and love it.
Eric Wilson Mysteries
This is just one of the many series Eric Wilson has written over the years. His stories take place with either Tom or Liz (siblings) or both of them solving a mystery that surrounds a famous landmark. Mellie and I are reading The Lost Treasure Of Casa Loma right now and she is enjoying it. Why? Mostly, because a couple of years ago we visited that castle in Toronto with my mom.
We have been all over the castle in different rooms observing and learning about the man who built it. We can picture the rooms described as we read it. There is also a part of the book that takes place in Niagara Falls and we visited there, too. She just was so excited to picture things in her minds eye.
Eric Wilson is helping children remember landmarks and teaching them the geography of Canada. He has at least one book that takes place in Florida, too. I grew up devouring his books and I hope Mellie will, too. They are written at an age level of about Grade 5 and up so she is right there to read on her own. In the meantime, I’ll be reading to her while she sketches, works on her cursive or plays with her dolls.
We can never read too much to our children or for ourselves. Take time today to read a good book, open God’s Word or just enjoy a comic with your children. Readers ARE leaders!