Buying peace and quiet for Christmas

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I remember those days. I handed my kid an iPad and told them to go to Storyline Online.

Slow clap. Your parenting is remarkable

I did this, and it is great. I’m never going to read a book as well as a trained actor! My kid loved the book read by Wanda Sykes, to the point of imitating her voice and re-enacting all the action with her stuffed animals. It’s was definitely a good parenting choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pro tip: Once you’ve memorized the book, you can “read” it with your eyes closed and get some extra rest.

“In the big red barn in a great green field, there was a pink pig who was learning so squeal…”

"One hippo all alone calls two hippos on the phone"

I can whip out Good Night Moon and Little Excavator from memory if we are ever away from home and forget a book!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're a better parent than me - I would never read the same book multiple times!!!

As a reading teacher, I encourage you to read books multiple times to your kids if they ask. It's very important for their literacy skills and can help them become life long readers!

PP you replied to. Hmm - my kids are now 17 and 12, they're bookworms and have no problem with literacy Princess in Black and Treehouse are trash books, and there was no way on earth I was going to read more than one to my kids. I read copiously to them throughout preschool and elementary school, but GOOD books: Winnie-the-Pooh, the Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, the Redwall series, a lot of lesser-known older classics, myths, fairy and folk tales. When you're reading to your kids, you can punch way above their reading level, and pause to explain vocab, character motivation, etc. And if they're learning to read, they can totally decipher a few words, then a few sentences of those higher-level books. This is what kids used to do in past generations, before the explosion of easy readers and kiddie fast fiction.

It's really nice of you, OP, to re-read her favorite books, which I suppose is a comfort thing at bedtime, but if PIB is coming out of your ears, you can always try to tempt her with new-to-her, better, stories.

I'm the reading teacher. I'm glad your kids are bookworms. I dislike the way you call the books that many kids love and gets them excited about reading "trash books" as they are perfectly good children's books. I do agree that reading above their level is important, but I disagree in being so judgmental. But you do you

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're a better parent than me - I would never read the same book multiple times!!!

Hoooooow do you get away with this? My kid is in the stage where she can read but only just, so reading an entire book, even a picture book, is pretty difficult. But she's obsessed with a few different series for young readers, and can't yet read them on her own. I have read every book from the Princess in Black series so many times.

Her grandmother got her the Magic Treehouse books for Christmas and I'm excited because (1) something new, and (2) I think this might be a good bridge book for her that she might be able to start reading on her own in the next few months, since it's more explicitly aimed at new readers.

I tell my DD (3) to "read it to Mommy" when she wants to repeat a book. Her favorites are ones she's basically memorized so she does a really cute job "reading" it to me.

[Anonymous]

How will you deal with your kids disappointment and let down after Christmas? Kids get sad after Christmas.

[Anonymous]

I need to re-stock my rainy day closet for those bitter cold Feb days/weekends when the Christmas toys will have lost their novelty, it's too cold to spend too much time outside, and I need to kill the afternoon with something fresh and new.


I never understood why people complain about too many presents from grandparents, etc. Hello, toy rotation!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pro tip: Once you’ve memorized the book, you can “read” it with your eyes closed and get some extra rest.

“In the big red barn in a great green field, there was a pink pig who was learning so squeal…”

"The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play, so we sat in the house on that cold and wet day. I sat there with Sally. We sat there we two and oh how we wished we had something to do...."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're a better parent than me - I would never read the same book multiple times!!!

As a reading teacher, I encourage you to read books multiple times to your kids if they ask. It's very important for their literacy skills and can help them become life long readers!

PP you replied to. Hmm - my kids are now 17 and 12, they're bookworms and have no problem with literacy Princess in Black and Treehouse are trash books, and there was no way on earth I was going to read more than one to my kids. I read copiously to them throughout preschool and elementary school, but GOOD books: Winnie-the-Pooh, the Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, the Redwall series, a lot of lesser-known older classics, myths, fairy and folk tales. When you're reading to your kids, you can punch way above their reading level, and pause to explain vocab, character motivation, etc. And if they're learning to read, they can totally decipher a few words, then a few sentences of those higher-level books. This is what kids used to do in past generations, before the explosion of easy readers and kiddie fast fiction.

It's really nice of you, OP, to re-read her favorite books, which I suppose is a comfort thing at bedtime, but if PIB is coming out of your ears, you can always try to tempt her with new-to-her, better, stories.

I'm the reading teacher. I'm glad your kids are bookworms. I dislike the way you call the books that many kids love and gets them excited about reading "trash books" as they are perfectly good children's books. I do agree that reading above their level is important, but I disagree in being so judgmental. But you do you

Agreed..any book your child likes is a good book!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pro tip: Once you’ve memorized the book, you can “read” it with your eyes closed and get some extra rest.

“In the big red barn in a great green field, there was a pink pig who was learning so squeal…”

"One hippo all alone calls two hippos on the phone"

Three hippos at the door bring along another four.
Lol I can’t believe I still remember it - DD is 15.

[Anonymous]

"The night Max wore his wolf suit..."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How will you deal with your kids disappointment and let down after Christmas? Kids get sad after Christmas.

We make a “winter fun list” of things like ice skating or visiting a museum, but also including things at home like special baking/cooking, art project, etc. It gives them something to look forward to.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pro tip: Once you’ve memorized the book, you can “read” it with your eyes closed and get some extra rest.

“In the big red barn in a great green field, there was a pink pig who was learning so squeal…”

"One hippo all alone calls two hippos on the phone"

This so made me smile. Been a few yrs but it was a nightly bedtime book and I still know it by heart.

Thanks PPs who started the quoting!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're a better parent than me - I would never read the same book multiple times!!!

As a reading teacher, I encourage you to read books multiple times to your kids if they ask. It's very important for their literacy skills and can help them become life long readers!

PP you replied to. Hmm - my kids are now 17 and 12, they're bookworms and have no problem with literacy Princess in Black and Treehouse are trash books, and there was no way on earth I was going to read more than one to my kids. I read copiously to them throughout preschool and elementary school, but GOOD books: Winnie-the-Pooh, the Chronicles of Narnia, Harry Potter, the Redwall series, a lot of lesser-known older classics, myths, fairy and folk tales. When you're reading to your kids, you can punch way above their reading level, and pause to explain vocab, character motivation, etc. And if they're learning to read, they can totally decipher a few words, then a few sentences of those higher-level books. This is what kids used to do in past generations, before the explosion of easy readers and kiddie fast fiction.

It's really nice of you, OP, to re-read her favorite books, which I suppose is a comfort thing at bedtime, but if PIB is coming out of your ears, you can always try to tempt her with new-to-her, better, stories.

I'm the reading teacher. I'm glad your kids are bookworms. I dislike the way you call the books that many kids love and gets them excited about reading "trash books" as they are perfectly good children's books. I do agree that reading above their level is important, but I disagree in being so judgmental. But you do you

THANK YOU. I was also very annoyed by “trash books” — those books aren’t like high fiction, but there’s nothing wrong with them. They have tight story structure, exciting conflict/struggle (for kids), and engaging characters (again, for kids).

I remember a teacher calling Babysitters Club books “dumb” when I was in 4th or 5th grade and it felt so harsh because I really loved those books and related so much to one of the characters. Her comment stuck with me and I gave up reading those books after that. As an adult I’ve met successful writers of literary fiction who loved those books unabashedly as kids.

Let kids read what they want. It’s not “trash” just because it’s not classic literature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How will you deal with your kids disappointment and let down after Christmas? Kids get sad after Christmas.

My kid doesn’t get sad after Christmas. She always seems pretty content with her gifts and enjoys the week off from school and the chance to relax, sleep in, and play all day.

I was not aware that post-Christmas disappointment was a thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pro tip: Once you’ve memorized the book, you can “read” it with your eyes closed and get some extra rest.

“In the big red barn in a great green field, there was a pink pig who was learning so squeal…”

"One hippo all alone calls two hippos on the phone"

Three hippos at the door bring along another four.
Lol I can’t believe I still remember it - DD is 15.

I totally forgot this book existed until just this moment, but I could type the rest of it from memory.

All the hippos go berserk!