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Guest post by educator, mom, and “education diva,” Ruth Spivak.  Mwahahaaaa! An awesome villain can really make a great book. Oh sure, it’s great to have a hero who models virtue and courage, but it’s the villains who are often the most interesting and memorable characters.  What would Charlie and the Chocolate Factory be without the outrageously [...]

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Percy Jackson is a five book chapter book series about a 12 year old demi-god boy whose dad is Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea. Percy spends the series of light-hearted, adventurous books escaping from monsters, training at Camp Half-Blood (a camp for demi-gods) and questing — for example, in the first book, he tries [...]

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I’m sure you read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steve Covey and maybe even Sean Covey’s book, The 7 Habits of Happy Kids. Educational Insights teamed up with Sean Covey and Franklin Covey to create The 7 Habits of Happy Kids Game. This game gets kids learning about the habits and applying them to their lives and we’re [...]

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It’s been awhile since I had time to do a Soup Scoop – did you miss it? Since I usually don’t ask rhetorical questions, will tell me what you think? For Your Nightstand – No Regrets Parenting The kids have left the nest, and as you reflect on the last 18 years, do you have [...]

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Don’t you think it’s perfect that Earth Day arrives in the spring with fragrant flowers trees and verdant buds? The new growth reminds us to celebrate nature and living things. So, in the spirit of that celebration, here are beautiful new books that are perfect for Earth Day. Celebrate Earth Day With Picture Books 1. Step [...]

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Linking Standardized Tests to funding, teacher pay, and/or school performance ranking, etc. creates a destructive avalanche of consequences for both children and teachers. It’s simple cause and effect. (Seemingly apparent to everyone except for the policy makers.) Destructive Consequences of Testing 1. The MANIPULATION of students to perform well OR ELSE . . . “your [...]

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If your kids play baseball or just love the game, you’ll be thrilled to know that this spring there are a gazillion newly published baseball related books. Baseball Picture Books 1. ABCs of Baseball by Peter Golenbock, pictures by Dan Andreasen 2. Flat Stanley at Bat (I Can Read 2) by Jeff Brown, illustrated by Mackey Pamintuan [...]

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Kids love to design and create. We’ve been experiencing fashion design here at the Taylor house with a visit to the Yves Saint Laurent exhibit at the Denver Art Museum and playing with Rosie Flo’s Coloring Fashion Show. Rosie Flo Rosie Flo Coloring Fashion Show, from Chronicle Books, is a coloring paper doll pop-up theater extravaganza, [...]

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Thanks to The Bully Project for sponsoring my writing. Visit their website to join the movement and learn more. “Cici’s the boss and she told Jenny and Amy that I can’t play,” my daughter said when she got home from school. I stall for time, “Okay . . . why is she the boss? Who [...]

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Answer: A Riddle! Kids love writing riddle poems. Think about it — riddles usually give sensory details and describe something a child knows about. Plus, they encourage critical thinking! answer: an orange     /    image by bcmom Read Riddles Adapt your reading and writing riddles to the age of your child. Read riddles from books [...]

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Get you kids jazzed about poetry during Poetry Month. A great way is write about something edible — like popcorn – and work on one or more poetic elements. I like to teach repetition, onomatopoeia, and use of white space with pcorn. Salty, slippery with butter popcorn. Prep your kids with example poems that include repetition, [...]

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It’s April. Happy Poetry Month! Ever wonder how to get kids interested in reading and writing poetry? Kids gravitate towards funny, rhyming poetry which is a place to get them hooked. But, I don’t like using rhyming poetry with kids too much or their writing becomes only rhyming. (Which usually stinks and makes no sense.) [...]