A New Reader

Friday was a momentous day in our home! After practicing his phonics sounds, Luke asked me to quiz him on how to spell words like I do with Elijah. So we started out with CAT, HAD, PEN, SUN, BUS, etc. and with some help making each letter sound, Luke did a fabulous job! Once we were on a roll, Elijah joined in to help teach Luke by writing words on our white board and reviewing more phonics sounds. Then, Luke read his first book!!! We have the first set of BOB Books which are great phonetic readers. I can't describe how proud Luke was of his accomplishment. He read and re-read the first two books and now has them memorized. I am amazed at how much Luke picks up by participating with Elijah during our school day. It's wonderful to see the two of them helping and encouraging one another. Way to go, Luke!

Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons

I came across these books by Amy Krouse Rosenthal in my local library. They are wonderful for teaching children the meaning of character traits in a way they can easily relate. These books are on my wish list for my boys. They'd make really great gifts for others as well.

The first book Cookies: Bite-Size Life Lessons teaches traits through the activity of making and eating cookies. Here are a few of my favorites:

"COOPERATE means, How about you add the chips while I stir?

PROUD means, My chin is high, and I sure do like the way my cookies turned out.

MODEST means you don't run around telling everyone you make the best cookies, even if
you know it to be true.

RESPECT means offering the very first cookie to your grandmother.

PESSIMISTIC means, How awful, how absolutely dreadful - I only have half my
cookie left.

OPTIMISTIC means, This is great - I still have half my cookie left.

REGRET means, I really wish I didn't eat so many cookies."


Christmas Cookies: Bite-Size Holiday Lessons just came into publication this fall and explains character traits in the same simple-to-understand style.

"DISAPPOINTED means, I tried to make it look like a star, but it didn't turn out at all the
way I expected.

APPRECIATIVE means, Thank you so so much for taking the time to bake with me.

CHARITABLE means setting a big batch aside to give to people who maybe don't have any
cookies at all.

MODERATION means at the party not having twenty cookies, and not having zero cookies,
but having just enough cookies.

FRUSTRATED means, I can't believe we burned them again!

PERSEVERANCE means, We tried and tried and tried, and we finally made the perfect
not-burned batch.

THOUGHTFUL means, Let's give some to our neighbor!"