Hello Book Bums families!
We are sending out Happy Mother's Day wishes to all the moms and the women who spread love like moms in our Book Bums community. This week we focus on words and books connected to love. We're also thinking about summer and how to have fun and keep moving while we read.
Remember we love to hear from you. You can respond to this email with your questions and comments!
Word of the Week
bibliophile (bib-lee-oh-file) noun/person, place, or thing - someone who loves books.
One of my favorite things about Book Bums, is meeting other bibliophiles and talking about books.
Literary Calendar
• May 12 is Limerick Day in honor of poet Edward Lear, who made this type of poem popular.
• A limerick is a humorous poem that follows a specific rhythm and rhyme pattern.
There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, “It is just as I feared!
Two Owls and a Hen,
Four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard!”
Tips for Readers and Writers
Reading with kids doesn’t always require sitting. There are lots of ways you can help kids to navigate words.
One way to incorporate movement into your summer reading plans for your beginning readers:
Play: Read It, Act It Out
Contact a Book Bums Tutor for more information how to play.
Print words and hang them on the deck or in the kitchen—anywhere you like.
Your kids place a pointer finger under the first letter, make that sound, then move to the next letter and make that sound, and so on until the whole word has been decoded. The kids slide those sounds together and then DO what the word says. If it says h-o-p, the kids will hop.
When your kids can do this activity, they are demonstrating reading comprehension!
From our Bookshelves
From Our Bookshelves
This one is a family favorite!
We want our children to know they are greatly loved, but what if we’re trying to demonstrate that love in ways that our kids aren’t fully accessing? How can you ensure your children receive the messages of love that you’re sending? Well, you may need to try speaking a different language. Don’t worry. You are fully equipped to be multilingual when it comes to love languages.
First, you’ll want to take the online quiz with your kids. Then, plan a special family night dinner to discuss each person’s love languages.
Psst! Moms—this might be a great way to get just what you’re needing for on Mother’s Day!
Tips for Families
Tips for Families
Dr. Gary Chapman says that each of us has a preferred love language— a way in which we best receive the love of those around us— a way that best speaks to our hearts.
Some feel loved when others share quality time with them. Others feel loved when they receive thoughtful gifts. Many relish words of affirmation, while others don’t care about any of that and would much prefer a warm hug, snuggling on the couch, or some other sort of physical touch. Still others feel truly loved when someone performs a thoughtful act of service.
Do you know which your child prefers? How about you? What’s your love language?
You should know that, often, the way we prefer to receive love is the way in which we convey our love, but those we love may not be receiving the love that we’re sending out because it’s not their love language.
So, how can you be sure you’re speaking your child’s love language? How can you be certain that your child is receiving the messages your heart is sending?
I recommend that you read The Five Love Languages for Children, Dr. Gary Chapman.
Here’s another suggestion.
Well, it’s more like a sure-fire plan for showing your young child your love. (And YOU are going to love it, too!)
Plan to read to your elementary school-aged children, most days, throughout the summer months. When you do this, you can speak all the love languages.
First, you’ll purchase some books both you and your child will love—gifts! You’ll be spending quality time together when you read. You’ll sit side-by-side, so physical touch is being shared. As you talk together about what’s happening in the story, you can sprinkle in some words of affirmation. And, the act of service is that you’re making space in your child’s day to share a story and really listen to him or her as s/he responds to the text.
Choosing a great book is essential, so next week we’ll share LOTS of our favorites.
Wordology Workshop
• The Greek root phil means love.
• Phil appears in many words, often combined with another root that indicates what is being loved. For example our word of the week bibliophile, which pairs phil meaning love with bibl meaning book.
• Here are some other examples: philosophy, philanthropist, anglophile, cryophile. See if you can figure out what is being loved in each word.
Practical Grammar
Is it a while or awhile?
Here’s the scoop.
The two-word expression a while means a period of time and it often follows a preposition.
Like this: After a while, I got bored with the puzzle.
We use awhile to mean for a period of time. It’s an adverb.
Like this: Why don’t you sit awhile and enjoy some lemonade?
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