Hello Book Bums families!
We hope back-to-school season is treating you well. This week in the newsletter we bring you lots of resources to help you through - a book recommendation for your anxious student, tips for building alphabet basics, and Book Bums' brand new program to help you appreciate your teachers all year long!
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Word of the Week
promptly (prompt-lee) adverb/word that adds meaning to a verb, adj, or adv - 1. with little or no delay, or 2. punctually
Siena always tries to arrive promptly because she doesn't like to keep people waiting.
Literary Calendar
• August 18 is National Bad Poetry Day.
• Bad poetry may seem like a silly thing to celebrate, but this day reminds us that good writing can be hard work. It's a good day to take a risk and try writing some poetry yourself.
From our Bookshelves
Princess Posey, First Grade Parade, by Stephanie Greene, is a heart-filled portrayal of one young girl’s anxiety around the start of first grade. If you have a little one who was a bit nervous about beginning this new school year, Princess Posey just might be a great book to read together. Best, it’s a series; so if your little ones love this one, there are more! This book features pink tutus, parades, and pinkie toes; but it also features siblings, snakes, and shenanigans. It just might make the start of the new school year smoother for them AND for you.
And, oh, how I wish all our early childhood schools had “kiss and go” lines, like Posey’s, rather than those humdrum “drop off” lines.
Tips for Raising Readers and Writers
Whether you’re teaching preschoolers or supporting older kids who are having difficulty distinguishing the letters and recalling the corresponding sounds those letters represent, providing kids with alphabetic knowledge is a foundational component that is essential for reading and writing.
There are lots of ways to integrate letter learning into young children’s daily lives, and I continually encourage parents and grandparents of young children to do so before the age of three.
Though it may seem simple, there is actually much debate about how to best teach kids those 26 letters. Here are some tips you might find helpful:
• Concentrate on only a few letters at a time. (You can start with two or three floating foam letters in the bathtub.)
• Provide a variety of ways for your kids to experience the letters. (magnets, Banangram tiles, foam, etc.)
• Use books and environmental print to heighten kids’ awareness of letters and their peculiarities.
• Allow kids to construct letters. (Play-doh, sticks, dot dabbers, candy molds, sandpaper, etc.)
• Coloring pages and crafty letter making can be used to promote letter knowledge.
• Use games to make the learning fun. (Click here to download a free gameboard from Book Bums.)
• Keep the teaching/learning sessions short and stop before your child’s interest wanes. Always leave them wanting more.
• Sing the alphabet song making sure that each letter name is enunciated clearly. (When you sing, distinctly name L, M, N, O, P so your kids don’t think there’s a letter called ellimmenno.)
• Though we lean upon alphabetical order initially, kids must come to recognize and name letters while also providing the associated sounds, both in and out of order.
• Teach tidy, efficient letter formations while you’re teaching the letter names and sounds. The tactile movement promotes recall.
• Name the letter and make the sound only one time—not three.
• Be sure to eliminate any /uh/ sound from the ends of sounds.
• Cater to your child’s interests to maximize engagement.
• Alphabet books can be a fun way to promote a knowledge of the letter names and their corresponding sounds. (Jerry Pallotta, author of the Who Would Win series, has published alphabet books about beetles, jets, extinct critters, the US Army, the eyeball, boats, the desert, and so much more!)
Tips for Families
As you’re meeting your kids’ teachers, we’re confident that you’re excited for a new year of learning for your child. Do you know what is often a point of school year frustration? Wanting to make teachers feel appreciated but forgetting to dedicate all the time it takes to do so.
At Book Bums, we want to help! We’re launching our own 2-4-6-8 Who Do We Appreciate? OUR TEACHERS! teacher appreciation gift-giving plan. If you live in the Lakota Local School District and you’d like to remove 2 to 8 things from your “to do” list this school year, you can join our Whew! That’s-Taken-Care-Of gift-giving program.
Here’s how it works:
We’ll provide your teacher with a delightful gift 2, 4, 6, or 8 times a year. We’ll shop for, wrap (beautifully), and promptly deliver your teachers’ gifts according to the package you purchase.
Here are the package options:
Show your appreciation to your kids’ teachers:
2 times this school year ($45)
Christmas and Teacher Appreciation Week
4 times this school year ($75)
Halloween, Christmas, Teacher Appreciation Week, and the last day of school
6 times this school year ($105)
Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Teacher Appreciation Week, and the last day of school
8 times this school year ($135)
Fall Conference Night, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Spring Conference Night, Teacher Appreciation Week, and the last day of school
*BUDGET: Christmas- $25, Teacher Appreciation- $20, all others- $15
All you have to do is sign up for one of the gift-giving options and
1. provide the full name of your child,
2. the name of the teacher,
3. the grade level, and
4. the school building where s/he is serving your student.
We’ll take care of the rest! What will the packages include? Sweet treats (many from our Book Bums vendors), books &/or book-inspired gifts, gift cards, inspirational notes/quotes of gratitude, flowers/plants, and whatever delightful treasures we find to share your heartfelt thanks for all your kids’ teachers do.
Of course, the gifts will be signed from your child. You can have your kids write their own personal notes, too, but leave the gift giving up to us.
Simply respond to this email and we’ll forward the necessary forms to get 2 (or 4 or 6 or 8) things off your to-do list this school year. We promise to make your teachers absolutely gush with gratitude and be oh-so-glad they have your child on their class lists.
Questions? Email Dr. Christy at [email protected].
Wordology Workshop
• The Latin root grat means thank or please.
• You can find it in many words including grateful, congratulate, gratuity, and gratify.
• Add a prefix, and you can find grat in words about a lack of thankfulness such as ingrate and ingratitude.
Practical Grammar
In this section of the newsletter, we often point out common errors we make as we navigate this literacy-rich world of ours. This week we’re looking at the word err.
Err is a verb that means to mess up; to make a mistake.
Error is the noun form of the same word. It’s the mistake itself.
The proverb “To err is human, to forgive is divine” simply means, “Hey, everyone makes mistakes. Have some grace.”
If you know someone who would benefit from our newsletter or tutoring at Book Bums, please share this email with them! Thank you.
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