Perfect Picture Book for the Adventurous Boy

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Do you have an adventerous, inventing, imagination filled little boy at your house?  Well, here’s a really fun picture book to look for at the library.  It’s a bonus if you like Moon-Pies too!  We actually checked this book out because my E6 is a real live Jimmy Zangwow look alike!  When I saw the book I said, "E, if you were a drawing this is exactly what you would look like!"  They are a match from the red hair, freckles, boots, goggles, scarf, & big belt.  My E6 is all about costumes & accessorizing & he says he is going to an inventor when he grows up.

Jimmy Zangwow’s Out-of-this-World Moon Pie Adventure by Tony Diterlizzi is a really fun imaginary adventure of a boy who gets turned down when he asks for his favorite snack-moon pies of coarse!  And who can blame his Mom- she doesn’t want to ruin his brussels-sprout-noodle-bean casserole.  So to pass the time before supper he takes a trip in his junk jumbilee jalopy to see the moon, the Milky Way, Mars, some martians & one Grimble Grinder.
It’s just a fun book with great art & it showcases the imagination of a little boy.  It’s also a really fun time saying expressions like "Gadzooks, Jumping June bugs! & zip pip kaboodle."  This book could be be worked into a lesson on space, math (the milk is in pints, quarts & gallons & there are 999 mars men,) the spirit of inventing, sharing, or even poor snack choices (if you want to be a real downer.)  My suggestion however, is to check this book out & buy a box of Moon-Pies to enjoy together after you read it.

By the way, loud burping is used to save the day in the end so if that offends you pass this one up.  But let’s be honest if you’re not used to burping you probably don’t need books for boys anyway!  Here is my E6 with his own Junk Jumbilee Jalopy (what can I say, he was inspired!)  It even has an emergency shoot (umbrella,) headlights (mason jars,) & a Moonpie holder (cardboard box.)

Book for Reluctant Readers

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Has your son every told you he did not want to learn to read?  Afterall, boys have more important things to do like saving princesses, defending forts, digging trenches, planting crops, catching wild game, the list goes on & on.  Here is a great short book for you to read aloud to him. 

Prairie School by Avi

http://www.amazon.com/Prairie-School-Can-Read-Book/dp/0060513187/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317762928&sr=8-1

This is the story of a nine year old boy living on the prairie in 1880.  He is a good boy & a hard worker & he has more important things to do than learn to read.  "Reading is as much use on the prairie as the stars!"  When his aunt come to visit she gradually helps him see that if he learns to read he can "read the world."  It’s a great short book, especially for little boys, who can’t quite see the value in spending time on letters & such!

Book Baskets

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Here is a peek into our school-maybe an idea you can use.  We have a part of each school day called book basket time.  We have been doing book baskets for 3 years now & have really seen great returns on this investment!  All of our boys enjoy books & book basket gives them time to enjoy books & allows me to make sure they are seeing/reading certain books.  Although we have used book baskets for several years, this year we have incorpaorated it into our workbox schedule & it fits beautifully.  Book basket is a center on everyone’s schedule & it provides a great break from seat work- my older children often enjoy their snack during this time too!

So what is book basket?  A basket of books, of coarse!  Each of my boys has a basket (ours are actual baskets but they could be anything- plastic bins, cardboard boxes, or even bags.)  Inside those baskets are books that I want them to look at or read.  There are several books in there so they may choose which books to read on which particular day but books stay in the basket until they are read so eventually they all get read. 

What kinds of things go in the book baskets?

4th grader:  Most of the books I put in his basket are supplemental books to go along with other things we are studying.  He consumes books much faster than I could ever keep up with & I don’t want his reading to be limited by my time.  Our history program is Mystery of History (MOH) & we read that text together in our family time.  I also choose living books to go along with some of the major topics from MOH, or ones that I think my boys will be particulalrly interested in, or great hsitorical fiction that I just think they should read.  Although we sometimes choose these living books as family read alouds we don’t have time to read them all so I put them in his book basket.  I also put in books that supplement our current science topics but which I don’t plan to read as a family.  Lastly, I include books which relate to the upcoming Fabulous FUN Family Friday (FFFF- see seperate post.)  For example, this week our FFFF is camo bugs so I will put bug books in his book basket for him to read before FFFF.  This whets the appetite for the upcoming unit study, creates a foundation of knowledge, & minimizes the amount we will have to read on FFFF.  Some of the books that I put in his basket are only to thumb through (unless he wants to read it all) or have specific pages to read & I denote either of those with a sticky note on the front.

Pre-schooler & 1st grader: The majority of the books in my younger son’s book baskets are books that relate to the upcoming FFFF.  My pre-schooler does not read & my first grader is not really confidant in reading solo yet so I include lots of books with great photos, drawings, & graphs.  This works great because by the time FFFF arrives they have already gathered quite a bit of info from the books & if there is something that they saw that particularly interests either of them I can read it in detail then.  This ensures that I am really helping them learn about the things that interest them instead of only what my mind sees as important.  When I collect our FFFF books I check out as many great books on our unit study topic as I can find.  I never expect to read them all aloud to them, that would be impossible in one day.  Instead, I pick a few pearls to read aloud & then pass the others through their book baskets during the week.  I am amazed by what they learn & the incredible questions they ask as a result of this process.  Another type of book that goes in these boy’s book baskets are free choice library books.  When we make our monthly library trip I allow each of them to check out a certain # of books of their choice.  They bring the books to me so I can make sure we aren’t bringing home anything that would go against our morals or beliefs but other than that I am pretty loose on what they select.  What that means is that we wind up going home with quite a few books which I think "stink."  They don’t have any objectionable content; they are just poorly written, predictable, shallow, based on cartoon movies, etc.  I don’t want them to be discouraged & I don’t want to read the books so I cycle those through the book baskets in the course of the month as well. 

For my younger boys I ususally put 2-3 new books in their book baskets each day.  They look through the books at their leisure (during their scheduled book basket center) & if they are finished with it they return to our library bag (or our bookshelf.)  This also makes it really simple for me to know which books are ready to be returned to the library & which ones need to be renewed.  The only part that gets a little confusing is that these boys usually look at all the same books so I occasionally get confused on who has had what since I do not write down the specific titles I put in the baskets.  When this happens I just ask if they have had a chance to read the book or not.

For my oldest son I usually keep 2-5 books in his basket.  Most of his books take more than 1 day to complete but having several in there gives him more choice on what he feels like reading that day.  He might have 1 very long novel in process, 2 informational books (like the DK Eyewitness books,) & then maybe some short books as well.  I even cycle through some of his younger brother’s books occasionally for some fun. light reading.  Occasionally I put in a magazine I want him to read too!  He follows the same process of leaving books in his basket until he is finished with them.  The only difference is that when he does finish a book he records it’s title & author on his reading log before he putsit away.  This way we have a record of exactly what he has read.

We love our book baskets; maybe it is something you might want to try in your little schoolhouse too!  I’d love to hear other’s variations; I’m sure many of you do similar things.

Books for Boys

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As I have spoken with other homeschool families around me I find a lot of talk about boys who don’t read well or who don’t like to read.  I also hear the same talk (& in greater severity & frequency) from the many families whom I know & love whose sons attend public school.  It seems to be a common concern among parents of boys. 

I have the pleasure of being a "hero mother" myself.  I must say right off the bat that I am very blessed in this concern (reading.)  Although I have varying degrees of like & love among my sons they all do enjoy books.  My eldest LOVES books.  He would be perfectly happy to spend his days emersed in books from dawn till dusk.  My second son loves books too but he doesn’t want to spend his life with them & he wouldn’t choose them as a Christmas gift.  My 3rd & 4th sons enjoy books very much.  My sons have not read particularly early but they do read well, in my opinion.  Anyways that is the background; what is the point?

I don’t suppose to be an expert by any means but I do think our family has been pretty successful in this area so I thought I would create a category within my blog to help others help their son’s love to read.  In this first entry I am going to suggest a few general ideas & in later posts I hope to highlight books that I think boys must read.

Things to ponder (based solely on my experience & no particular expertise):

1. Boys will not always choose books if there are other more visually stimulating options!  I think one of the most detrimental things to boy’s reading habits & abilities are television & video games.  Even a boy who eats, drinks, & sleeps books can be drawn away by the fast moving box of pictures.  There are all kinds of studies out there that you could research & read about how the speed at which images are brought to the brain during these activities & it’s effect on learning.  Our family loves a good movie but I am 100% positive that eliminating these habits from your daily life is a benefit.  And don’t even mention educational programming!  It’s like I always tell my sons, it’s not that the thing that you are doing is so bad- but ask yourself "Could I be using this time to do something better?"  Imagine how much time we waste doing things that aren’t so bad?  No educational television or video game could replace a good book!

2. There is no replacement for reading aloud to your sons!  I am convinced that this fact has had a great influence on our sons.  I read to my eldest in utero (I had time!)  I read to him while nursing from birth on & I still read aloud to him today at almost 10 years old.  And I don’t just mean picture books or directions-novels.  Invest some time in a great family read aloud & you will see a difference in boys.  Reading a novel aloud to boys allows them to sit back, relax, & imagine the story without having to do all the work of decoding the written language.  You don’t have to be Jim Weiss & have 100 different voices to read with enthusiasm & excitement.  Read aloud books that are above your son’s reading level- real living books!  They will see that books are the key to exciting journeys, unknown lands, & incredible adventure.  They can & will follow the story line of complex novels & inticate vocabulary.  Not only does reading aloud make them want to read themselves, it also helps them learn to read with tone & inflection, increases vocabulary & attention span.

3. Narration.  This goes right along with reading out loud.  My educational philosophy is Charlotte Mason & I learned about narration from her writings.  In a nutshell, narration is reading aloud to your son & having them tell the story back to you.  You begin with short passages that your son can handle- a few sentences ro a short paragraph.  You progress to entire chapters.  This is a very positive, oral activity- not a book report.  We began narration in kindergarden & staretd with books from the Childhood of Famous Americans series which I highly recommend.  If you get your hands on the old ones they are not so politically correct & you cna find books that highlight the boyhood adventures of all kinds of famous men.  Does your son like sports- try Lou Gerig, history- Jefferson Davis.  Find soemthing they like & begin there.  The benefits of narration are incredible including real story comprehension, sequential skills, attention to detail, & pre-writing skills.

4. Listen to audio books.  This is not a replacement for #2!  My boys have always loved audio books- from books on tape with little readers to Adventure in Odyssey(not actually an audio book) to novels like Undaunted Courage.  Although not a replacement for #2 I do think it can have some of the same benefits & you can do it while driving (unlike #2.)

5. Give books a place of value in your family.  Why would your son want to read if books aren’t important to his family.  I read- at some points in life I can’t find time for more than a magazine article but I always read & my sons see my reading.  My husband also reads & we talk about the things we read at supper as a family.  My husband has even raced my oldest son in reading a book- talk about an incentive, nothing like a little healthy competition to spur on a boy!  F9 started reading D-Day by Stephen Ambrose (yes, the really huge book.)  Neither of us had ever read the book & we wanted to make sure we knew what was in there so HH (aka Hot Hubby) started reading it too.  Well it developed into a race, down to the wire.  F9 would read during the day, HH at night.  F9 even resorted to hiding the book the last few nigths to slow HH down!  Point is-let them see you read & talk about what you read.  On the same note, show that books have physical value.  Writing in & tearing books is a capital crime at our house so we teach our youngest sons not to do this.  Then we can keep books out & available all the time.  If books are only on the top shelves & need special permission to be used, will your son read?

6. Don’t forget the Good Book!  The best reason to encourage your sons to read is so they can read God’s word- the Bible.  I explain this to my sons.  God has written a special letter to each of them, an instruction manual for life- reading is the key to unlocking that.  To emphasize this fact I have a special tradition in our family.  When each of my sons begins to read independently I buy them thier own real Bible & cover.  I pick it out especially for each of them & write something in it about thier accomplishment.  I can honestly say that of all the experiences I have had as a mother teaching my sons to read has been the greatest.  In my mind there is no greater gift that you could give anyone than the gift of reading & I consider it a miracle that God has allowed me to participate in this great endeavor!

Little Britches by Ralph Moody

Material from a previous blog:

My first book that I would like to highlight in my new blog category- Books for BOYS is one our family just finished reading as our family read aloud.  We loved this book!

This book has everything a boy would want in a book- horses, cowboys, indians, farming, gunslinging, & adventure.  It is the true story of Ralph & his family during the early 1900s as they start their life as tenant farmers.  Ralph is 9-11 years old in the book & the story focuses on his relationship with his parents (especially his father) & his becoming a man.  There is some mild swearing in the book but it is not presented as anything glamorous & if used as a read aloud can easily be passed over.

We all loved Ralph’s adventures including learning to ride a bucking donkey, "hunting" pheasant, starting school, & becoming a real cowboy.  There is also tons of very detailed information about the times in which he lived (irrigation wars & the gold panic) & how crops were grown, harvested, & stored.  It would make a great addition to any study of this time period.

We all laughed several times over the remarkable similarities between Ralph’s mother & me.  My HH gave me a knowing look when she got caught up at an auction & said she just "couldn’t let those lovely Buff Orpington pullets go by at twenty-five cents apiece."  And when Ralph described how "Mother always did kind of like operations," after he got a huge splinter in his rear, all my boys & HH rolled with laughter.  I have been accused at times of enjoying my duties as head nurse, surgeon, & veterinarian a little too much.

In addition to being a book any boy would love to hear read it also contains so many pearls of wisdom that every boy needs to know.  Here are a few of my favorites:

"A man’s character is like his house.  If he tears boards off his house and burns them to keep himself warm and comfortable, his house soon becomes a ruin.  If he tells lies to be able to do the things he shouldn’t do but wants to, his character will soon become a ruin.  A man with a ruined character is a shame on the face of the earth."

"…a man always makes his troubles less by going to meet them instead of waiting for them to catch up with him, or trying to run away from them."

"Any man who says the world owes him a living is dishonest.  The same God that made you and me made this earth.  And He planned it so that it would yield every single thing that the people on it need.  But He was careful to plan it so that it would only yield up its wealth in exchange for the labor of man.  Any man who tries to share in that wealth without contributing the work of his brain or his hands is dishonest."

"You know, Son, sometimes a fellow has to take a licking for doing the right thing.  A licking only lasts a short while, even if it’s a hard one, but failing to do the right thing will often make a mark on a man that will last forever."

We're Going on a Bear Hunt

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We’re goin on a bear hunt…gonna catch a big one!

We have been enjoying We’re Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen & Helen Oxenbury.  I’ve always known this song from my days of working at camps & the boys & I have enjoyed singing & acting it out.  It’s so fun to read the book now & see the wonderful illustrations in this version.  I highly recommend it!

Imagine then how excited we all were when my dear husband came home tonight with a REAL bear!  He was bow hunting on our farm & harvested this good sized male black bear.  Quite an accomplishment with a bow even for a experienced hunter like him!  He doesn’t usually hunt bear but we are all so excited every time that we see a bear or it’s sign that the excitement overtook him.  We plan to make a bear rug from this beautiful animal & the boys are excited about making things from bear claws!  His skull will also make a wonderful specimen for our collection.  We have a family policy that we never kill anything that we don’t eat (with the exception of predators & varmits) so I will have to blog soon about how bear tastes & the best recipe; that will be a first for all of us!  Let me know if anyone has any recipes!