What's On My Nightstand: August 2011

I love reading children's books to Jonathan and Grace-- but mommy needs some reading time too! It's hard to find the time sometimes, but here's what's on my nightstand. I don't generally review the adult books that I read, but let me know if you'd like to hear about any of these. I try to have books going in many different categories... so here they are (links are NOT affiliate links):


Faith 


The Message of Joel, Micah & Habakkuk by David Prior-- I'm studying Micah right now in my quiet time and I'm reading this commentary along with Micah. I've liked past books that I've read in The Bible Speaks Today series. I'm only on Micah 2, but so far, so good!

Treasures of Encouragement: Women Helping Women in the Church by Sharon Betters. I've been meaning to read this one for a while. I picked it up off of some recommended booklist somewhere. Encouragement/mercy is not one of my natural gifts, but it's one I would like to develop.


Family


The Blessing by John Trent & Gary Smalley-- This is a parenting book about giving your children the gift of unconditional love and acceptance.

Warrior Prayers: Praying the Word for Boys When They Need it the Most by Brooke McGlothlin-- I've been really burdened to be praying for both my children and I'm excited to join the 21 Days of Prayer for Sons in a few weeks. I'm praying for my son and future son-in-law. ;)


Home 


Taste of Home 2010 Annual Recipe Book- my mother-in-law just gave me this book. I love all the TOH annual books and am excited to try some recipes from here (esp hot fudge cake-- yum!)

31 Days to Clean: Having a Martha House the Mary Way by Sarah Mae - this one is on my iPhone waiting for me to finish. Is it bad that September only has 30 days? Lol.


Homeschool


Towards a Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason-- Also on my iPhone. I'm very interested in Charlotte Mason's approach. I just finished reading Home Education (her first book) this month and now it's on to her last book. I hope to read more of her after this.

Laying Down the Rails: A Charlotte Mason Habits Handbook by Sonya Shafer-- this one is about helping children establish good habits that will allow their lives to go smoothly. It seems like the early years are all about training, doesn't it? I hope this book is applicable!

For Fun


I need recommendations here! I tend not to like Christian fiction-- with the exception of Francine Rivers. I enjoy a good mystery, but nothing too gory or violent. It's hard to find well-written adult books. Any recommendations?

What are you reading?

Pinterest Tuesday: Fabulous Monkey Ideas!

Our Country Road hosts a weekly link-up party revolving around Pinterest. Pinterest is a great way to find some visual inspiration! Be warned- it can also be very addicting! I love seeing what other people are "pinning".

So I thought I'd share some of my favorite monkey-related Pinterest finds in a special board .  Here are some of my favorite finds. Hopefully the kids and I can fit some of them in this week!


Monkey Paper Plate Art:

Source: superheroesandprincesses.blogspot.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Lots of Monkey Ideas:

Source: familyfunnotebook.blogspot.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Monkey Footprint Art:

Source: funhandprintart.blogspot.com via Amanda on Pinterest

Go over to Our Country Road and get more inspiration for playing with your little ones!

Tot School Preview: Monkey Sensory Bin

We're back! We spent a little over a week down in central Illinois celebrating Grace's birthday and visiting my husband's family. Now we're settling back in at home and ready to start looking at monkeys this week.

I haven't shown this to Jonathan yet, but here's the monkey sensory bin I created:

It has brown aquarium rock, green and yellow pompoms, some fake trees, and pipe cleaner "vines" for the monkeys from our monkey toob to hang on. I'll give him the usual spoons, cups, and tweezers to practice transferring and pouring. He's been loving these sensory bins, so I think he'll have fun with this one. :)

I'm linking this post up to:

Tot School @ 1+1+1=1
Link & Learn @ No Time for Flash Cards
The Sunday Showcase @ Mom to 2 Posh Lil Divas
Montessori Mondays @ One Hook Wonder
Pinterest Tuesday @ Our Country Road
For the Kids Friday @ Sun Scholars

Timberdoodle Giveaway!

Psst: Timberdoodle is giving away one item of your choice for free from their preschool curriculum.

Go over here to see what items are included!

And here to enter.


I love looking through their catalog!

Kids in the Word: Jacob

Our Bible story a couple weeks ago was about Jacob. We learned about Jacob receiving his father's blessing, Jacob's ladder, marrying Rebekah, wrestling an angel, and reconciling with Esau.

Bible & Books 

Most of our stories, once again came from our favorite toddler Bible: The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes. We read this most mornings at breakfast. The story of Jacob was divided up into five different mini-stories, so we covered one per day. (We also read the two stories about Isaac to bridge the gap from Abraham to Jacob). As usual, Jonathan really engaged with the stories and the pictures in this Bible. It's just perfect for him at this stage.

Twin to Twin by Margaret O'Hair

This was a recommendation from Hubbard's Cupboard. It's a lively story following a pair of energetic fraternal boy-girl twins from infancy to toddlerhood. The big, colorful illustrations show the twins playing, eating, bathing as well as celebrating milestones like walking and talking. The rhyming text is equally sweet. It's a great book for teaching and emphasizing the concept of twins. Jonathan has some friends who are fraternal twins, so the concept wasn't unfamiliar to him. Still, this was a sweet read.

"Piglet Tells the Truth" from First Virtues for Toddlers by Mary Manz Simon

The story of Jacob also lends itself well to talking about being honest. Simon has written twelve short stories focusing on different biblical virtues for children. We read this short story about a little pig who learns that being truthful pleases God.


We also learned the nursery rhyme Peas Porridge Hot (also per the recommendation of Hubbard's Cupboard).

Art 


Our Country Road designed a super-cute printable for the story of Jacob's ladder. She and her kids make a Bible Activity Book containing a printable activity for each story they learn. What a fabulous idea! I think I may incorporate it next year-- how fun to be able to look back and see what you've learned about God even as a preschooler! For now, we just practiced our gluing (sorry for the poor quality picture):

So that's how we learned about Jacob and Esau. Coming next week... Joseph!

Reading Our Library- Bob Barner

Today I want to share some books by American author Bob Barner. But before I introduce him to you, I wanted to point you to the wonderful blog that started this journey of ours. I referred to it back when I started this blog, but wanted to highlight it again. Reading My Library is the project of Carrie over at Reading to Know. While she hasn't been posting as of late, it's still a wonderful resource for children's book reviews. 
Anyways, on to Bob Barner! 
Bob Barner is an award-winning author of over 25 children's books. Many of his books, such as the ones we checked out, are focused on nature. They make great additions to unit studies. We first read Bugs! Bugs! Bugs! as part of our unit study on bugs and insects. Afterwards, we checked out a few other of Barner's books. Barner's books are wonderful introductions to wildlife and nature for toddlers and preschoolers. They feature colorful collage pictures and short, yet informative, rhyming verse. Without further ado, here are the books we enjoyed:

Bears, Bears, Bears
This book introduces us to a variety of bears from around the world. We meet grizzly bears, panda bears, black bears, as well as some bears which would be less familiar to a US audience such as spectacled bears. Barner's vivid collage illustrations are very engaging and the rhyming text gives good factual information about each type of bear. At the end of the book is a world map showing where each type of bear can be found. Jonathan enjoyed looking through this book with me and had fun trying to name each type of bear. I highly recommend this for any bear loving child! 

Penguins, Penguins, Everywhere!
This nonfiction book is a very toddler-friendly introduction to penguins. Barner's collage illustrations introduce seventeen different varieties of penguins. The birds are shown engaging in a wide variety of different activities from swimming to tobogganing. The short rhyming verse describes the birds and relays information about different varieties of penguins and what they like to do. At the end of the book is a chart comparing the different penguins. Barner's style easily held Jonathan's attention. A must for any penguin-loving child or a penguin unit study!

Stars! Stars! Stars!
Can you sense a theme with these titles? This particular book focuses on the solar system. It teaches about stars, planets and constellations while featuring Barner's vibrant collages and simple rhyming text. While the information is now a little dated-- Barner includes Pluto among the planets-- it's still a very visually appealing introduction to stars and outer space for toddlers and preschoolers. 


Barner has also written several longer nonfiction books that would be appropriate for preschoolers and lower elementary students. His books are well worth including in a toddler's library! 
I'm linking up to Read Aloud Thursday over at Hope is the Word.

Tot School- b is for bug (and birthday!)

Jonathan is 31 Months

This will be an short post this week because we've been busy this weekend celebrating a birthday:

Grace is 1!!!!

It's hard to believe a year has flown by already! She's cruising the furniture and trying to talk and she's such a little lady! We'll be down in central Illinois this week visiting family and checking out the state fair!

But if you want to see what we've been up to this week, check out these posts:

Sensory Bin: 


Our bug sensory bin was a huge hit this week:

We practiced spooning and pouring the grassy green rice. Jonathan had fun matching the bugs up to some insect flashcards I found in the Target $1 Spot. We also used some Montessori printables that Carisa designed.

Books 


We read several great books this week. Jonathan's favorite was The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle. He loved this so much we checked out a few more of Carle's buggy books. They were a big hit!

Games 


We had gorgeous weather this week so we went on a "bug safari". I hid ten of his bugs in the grass outside and Jonathan and his friend T. hunted for them. We used our Sunny Patch magnifying glass to explore and attempt to identify the real bugs we found outside as well.


Bible 


We talked about Joseph this week. Look for a summary post soon!




Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out 1+1+1=1 for more Tot School ideas.