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I’m going to be chatting LIVE on with Kristen Chase on the Motherhood Uncensored Show about books and activities to prepare your little ones for their first year of school, whether it’s preschool, pre-K, or kindergarten. The show is on Wednesday, July 30 at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. You can listen to it live at blogtalkradio or you can call in at 646-915-8634 and chat with us.
For a lot of kids the first day of school is scary. Reading books and talking about school can help calm their fears. Here are some books and activities you can do with your child to get the discussion started.
Books
Kevin Goes to School (Kane/Miller) – Belgian author Liesbert Slegers’s character Kevin and his friend Ali help make the transition to school less frightening.
Something for School(Available in August 2008 from Kane/Miller Book Publishers) It’s the first day of kindergarten, and Yoon’s new teacher and classmates mistake her for a boy. Oh no! This book is about starting school and making friends instead of assumptions. By Korean author Hyun Young Lee.
Little School (Kane/Miller) Australian author Beth Norling gives readers a realistic account of preschool life so your preschooler knows exactly what to expect when they start.
First Day Jitters (Charlesbridge) Author Julie Danneberg’s character Sarah Jane is scared and doesn’t want to start over at a new school. With prodding from her father, Sarah Jane reluctantly goes off to school. She is quickly befriended by Mrs. Burton, who helps calm her nerves. Also available in Spanish.
Kindergarten Countdown (Random House) By Anna Jane Hays and illustrated by Lind Davick. A little girl named Lucy counts off the days by naming what she’ll do in kindergarten, what she’ll wear, and what she’ll learn. (Read my review of Kindergarten Countdown.)
The My Home 2.0 website is full of techno-helpful tips and DIY projects. Many are eco-friendly like How 2.0: Make a Solar Cell Phone Charger. The project takes one hour and uses an Altoids Tin case, 2 mini solar panels, soldering equipment, a wire stripper and a cell phone charger (either for the wall outlet or car).
I reviewed this project online with it’s step by step pictures and helpful directions, and it seems doable as long as you’re fairly handy and know how to use a soldering iron. They also caution to use an extra cell phone charger or to get a cheap one at Best Buy. This would be a great project for a teenager or maybe for an adult with a child assisting. Having a solar cellphone charger is a must for anyone who hikes or camps, too, and this would make a cute present for the “greenie” in your life.
There are also several projects that are much more challenging but are fun to watch, like “Hack a Bat.”
I’m off to the BlogHer conference tomorrow, and the kids will be off to their grandma’s later today. After my children’s escapades yesterday, I’m glad to get a break from them. You see, Nathan decided to spray PAM all over the kitchen floor while I was upstairs folding laundry and packing bags. Somehow Lucie didn’t witness his shenanigans either. What possesses an eight-year-old boy to do that is beyond me. I’m not sure he knows why he did it either or why his sister covered for him.
So I leave you with some things to read and a yummy recipe to make. Hopefully this will keep you busy enough so your son or daughter won’t cover your house in cooking spray.
To read:
I Don’t Want to Go by Addie Meyer Sanders and published by Lobster Press. It’s about a little boy, Joey, who is scared to visit his grandparents on his own for the very first time. I’m lucky. My kids are thrilled to be staying at the old folks apartment where their grandmother lives. They’re even excited about going to church with her. If your child is afraid of any type of transition, this would be a good book for them since it shows a little boy overcoming his fears.
Kersplatypus by Susan K. Mitchell from Sylvan Dell Publishing. A strange little creature appears out of nowhere after heavy rains Down Under. The other animals wonder what he could be. The For Creative Minds section provides more information on platypuses and other Australian animals.
Kimberly-Clark, the folks who make Huggies and Kleenex, are working with Box Tops for Education to give parents a chance to win 100,000 Bonus Box Tops, plus an exclusive concert featuring Radio Disney star Jordan Pruitt for their child’s school.
If you have school-aged kids, you know that Box Tops for Education is a program dedicated to helping schools raise money to develop programs, purchase books, and buy school supplies. I’m always on the lookout for those little labels on the products we buy, and have been collecting them all summer. Now that Lucie is starting kindergarten in August, I’ll have two classrooms to collect them for.
Last year our school’s teachers earned enough to buy a die-cutting machine for classroom projects – around $350. Imagine winning this prize for child’s school - 100,000 Bonus Box Tops are equivalent to $10,000! Here are some of they could buy with that money:
20 wireless-ready laptops.
Enough No. 2 pencils so that when laid end to end they would stretch across the length of more than 145 football fields.
An educational class trip for 20 students including airfare, hotel accommodations and museum admission.
If you are a legal resident of the United States,18 years or older, a parent/legal guardian of a child in grades K-8, and your child attends a school located within the 50 United States or the District of Columbia, you are eligible to enter this sweepstakes.
Entries are limited to one entry, per person, per day, with a maximum of 80 entries per person throughout the sweepstakes
Parents or legal guardians of students in grades K through 8 can enter the sweepstakes daily June 28 through September 15 online at www.RockBacktoSchool.com. Winners will be selected at random from all eligible entries on or around September 22.
Look for Box Tops on specially marked packages of participating Kimberly-Clark brands like Huggies, Cottonelle and Kleenex along with many other participating products.
Last month Paramount Home Entertainment and Nickelodeon Movies released The Spiderwick Chronicles on DVD and Blu-ray. Based on the series of Spiderwick Chronicles books, the movie brings to life the unseen, magical world that surrounds all of us. The all-star cast includes Freddie Highmore from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Mary Louise Parker, Sarah Bolger and the voices of Seth Rogen and Martin Short
If you’re not familiar with the story, here’s a quick description:
From the moment the Grace family moves into a secluded old house peculiar things start to happen. Unable to explain the accidents and strange disappearances, the Grace children, Jared, Simon and Mallory start to investigate and find the unbelievable truth of the Spiderwick Estate and the amazing creatures that inhabit it.
The release of this video as well as recent releases on Disney DVD including The 45th Anniversary Special Edition of the Sword in the Stone and The Jungle Book 2 make me wonder what comes first, the book or the movie. Obviously the book if the movie is based on it, of course. But how often after seeing a movie do you go back and read or reread the book? What about your children?
I think it’s half and half with me. I’ve read the Harry Potter books years before the movies came out. But movies like Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia made me go back and read books I tried to read, but couldn’t get through, as a child.
Bottom line for me is that anything that gets people to read is a good thing. So enjoy the movies and then go check out the books!
Bring a smile as wide as the eye can see with a personalized letter from Santa. Watch your children as they open one of the most unique ways Santa brings his special greetings in a personalized letter from Santa, delivered right to your children from the North pole.
Kevin Goes to School(Kane/Miller) – Belgian author Liesbert Slegers’s character Kevin and his friend Ali help make the transition to school less frightening.
(Available in August 2008 from Kane/Miller Book Publishers) It’s the first day of kindergarten, and Yoon’s new teacher and classmates mistake her for a boy. Oh no! This book is about starting school and making friends instead of assumptions. By Korean author Hyun Young Lee.
(Kane/Miller) Australian author Beth Norling gives readers a realistic account of preschool life so your preschooler knows exactly what to expect when they start.
(Kane/Miller) French author Marie Léonard set a story of a reluctant first-time school-goer in Africa. Also available in Spanish and French.
First Day Jitters(Charlesbridge) Author Julie Danneberg’s character Sarah Jane is scared and doesn’t want to start over at a new school. With prodding from her father, Sarah Jane reluctantly goes off to school. She is quickly befriended by Mrs. Burton, who helps calm her nerves. Also available in Spanish.
(Random House) By Anna Jane Hays and illustrated by Lind Davick. A little girl named Lucy counts off the days by naming what she’ll do in kindergarten, what she’ll wear, and what she’ll learn. (Read my review of Kindergarten Countdown.)
First-day jitters: starting preschool by Isadora Fox, Ilisa Cohen and Diane Debrovner of Parents.com
by Addie Meyer Sanders and published by 
by Susan K. Mitchell from 
on DVD and Blu-ray. Based on the series of 
, the movie brings to life the unseen, magical world that surrounds all of us. The all-star cast includes Freddie Highmore from 
, Mary Louise Parker, Sarah Bolger and the voices of Seth Rogen and Martin Short
