True Adventures Collection

Do you like adventure and excitement?

Do you  like true stories?

Do you like short stories?

If you answered "yes" to any of those questions then take a look at the True Adventure Collection.

The True Adventure Collection is a combined volume of three books: 

True Survival Stories

True Stories of Heroes

True Spy Stories

True Survival Stories tells exciting tales about the Hindenburg, Appollo 13, Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition plus other stories of people surviving against great odds.

True Stories of Heroes lets us know of heroes that aren't always known to us from history books.  There were heroes at the catastrophe at Chernobyl the nuclear reactor that exploded, and surgeons in the battlefield in Beirut.  There are also fun stories like the animals that have saved human lives and "Evel" Knievel's jump across the Snake River Canyon.

True Spy Stories gives us a glimpse of some real 007 agents that worked during World War One and Two as well as during the Cold War.  There were agents, double agents and some who didn't know what they were doing but were collecting a lot of money!

There fantastic stories are even more amazing for being true!

Written by Paul Dowswell and Fergus Fleming
Published by Usborne Books
These books can be purchased at www.TonyasBooks.com

10 Tips for Reading Aloud to Children

These 10 tips are taken from a book mark that I purchased from Usborne Books & More and is based on
 "Thirty DO's to Remember When Reading Aloud" by Jim Trelease.  He has a wonderful website that gives more information on reading aloud.  To read more go to www.trelease-on-reading.com

1.  Remember:  The art of listening is acquired.

2.  The first time you read a book, discuss the cover illustration.

3.  Read slowly enough for the child to build mental pictures.

4.  Use plenty of expression, change your tone of voice, and adjust your pace to fit the story.

5.  Encourage involvement; invite the child to turn pages for you.

6.  Ask "What do you think is going to happen next?"

7.  During repeat readings of a predictable book, stop at key phrases and allow the child to provide the words.

8.  If you can't finish a chapter, find a suspenseful spot at which to stop.

9.  Paper, crayons and pencils allow active children to keep their hands busy while listening.

10.  Reading aloud comes naturally to very few people.  To do it with ease takes practice.  It's worth it!

St. Patrick's Day Fun!

Today we had some fun making 2 different types of Shamrock crafts!

For the first one, we cut out a shamrock from white paper.

Glued it to a piece of green paper

Spread glue all over the top of the shamrock

The sprinkled crushed eggshells, dyed green, all over the top.

Turned out pretty!

The second one, we cut out four egg cups from an egg container

We painted the foursome green

The girls decided to sprinkle the leftover eggshells all over these shamrocks too!

When they dried, we put green pipe cleaner stems on.

Turned out pretty!  Love that creativity!

Musical Shakers!

Children love to make nice sounding music! 

These shakers are cheap and easy to make and make a really appealing sound.

Start with empty Easter eggs -now is a great time to get these!  Fill each one half full with rice.  Glue the eggs shut. 

Put on some music and start dancing and shaking!

Match the Sounds!

This "Match the Sound" game helps children listen carefully and pick out differences in the sounds.

Start with a bag of empty Easter eggs.

Gather different objects to put inside the eggs.  Ideas:  pennies, buttons, beads, beans, rice, cut-up straws, safety pins, barrets and cut-up toothpics. 

Fill at least 2 eggs with the same objects.

The Game:  Have the children take turns shaking the eggs and finding two that sound the same.  Carefully open the eggs to see if they guessed correctly!

Dancing Streamers!

Children have a natural ability to move to music.  They hear the rhythms and beats and must sway and bee-bop around.  They love to use these streamers.

The streamers are fun to make and fun to dance with!

Supplies:  paper towel or toilet paper rolls, paint, paintbrush, strips of tissue paper, glue and stickers.

Start by painting the rolls different colors.

Glue the streamers on the inside.

Then decorate with stickers and pens.

Time to get moving!  We danced to different types of songs such as Blue Danube, Bach's Taccato in D Minor, Carnival of the Animals and Pachabel's Cannon.  Pick fast and slow songs, cheerful and dark.  The children will move differently to the different sounds.

Bean Box Treasure Hunt Update!

Some children must experience textures with their whole bodies!

This definitely describes my Shelli.  She is always rolling in mud, bark, paint and now beans!

Yes, she has paint all over her face!

The biggest treasure in the treasure box!