A Great Read and a Fun Trip

Summer is a perfect time to schedule special days to special places! One place that is always great to visit is the farm. There are so many things to see, hear, touch, smell, and maybe even taste. In our Kindergarten classroom, we spend a couple of weeks learning about the farm. We as teachers believe that it is important for our little ones to understand how important farms are to our daily life. We learn about the many types of foods that farms can provide for our communities. Visiting a nearby working farm is our favorite way to experience the inner workings of a real life farm.

If you live in northern Illinois, there are two farms that I highly recommend:

Volkening Heritage Farm at Spring Valley, in Schaumburg

You can find more information at: http://www.parkfun.com/spring-valley/heritage-farm

Royal Oak Farm, in Hebron

You can find more information at: http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.com/

A fun book to read before you head out for your excursion (or if you are just looking for a great book to read with your child) is Jim Aylesworth’s Cock-a-doodle-doo, Creak, Pop-pop, Moo.

This book highlights the simplicity of family life on a farm. There are chores to be done and games to be played in a day of this family's life. The illustrations are fun and funny and are a perfect fit with the rhythmic text of this beautiful story.

Before reading this book together, read and talk together about the title. Talk about what your child already knows about farm life. Ask them to make predictions of what each sound in the title may be referring to – remind them to think about things that happen on the farm/what lives on the farm as they make their predictions. Don't forget to mention the names of the author and the illustrator, too.

Part of the experience in reading this book is the significant amount of onomatopoeia that the author uses. Onomatopoeia is when words form the sounds of what they name. Talk to your child about how these sounds, that appear throughout the story, will add a fun element to the reading of the book. After you know that they understand what onomatopoeia is, tell them that as you read you want them to hold their thumb up every time they hear these special words for sounds throughout the story. Doing this will help them practice listening for these sounds.

After reading the story together, go back through the book and ask your child to find ways that the illustrations support the story. For example, on page 3 the text reads, “come fast as you can.” In the illustration we see one of the boys sliding down the stair railing. On page 13 we read, “Breezes swish through fields of wheat.” In the illustration we see the wheat bending as a result of the blowing breeze.

Another important thing that can be discussed after reading this story is the support of family. Throughout this book, the farm family is working together to make everything go smoothly throughout the day. You can have a great discussion with your child about how your family works together each day to make things go smoothly. And, maybe, this would even be a great time to help them see what else they can do to help support your family each day.

If you do go on a Farm Field Trip, ask your child to pay attention to the sounds they hear while you are visiting. When you get home, they can write their own story of their day at the farm and include onomatopoeia in their story – just like JimAylesworth did in his!

Aimee

Summertime Family Visits

One of the BEST things about summer is family visits!

My whole family – my brother and his family, my sister and her family, and my mom – lives in Tulsa, OK and we live in northern IL. It is not easy living so far away from family. So, when we can get together those are great days! My brother planned a surprise visit a couple of weeks ago. He didn’t tell me that he was visiting his best friend in WI because he wanted to show up at my door – for the fun of it. And that’s what he did. He showed up at my door with my niece and my nephew. That was the best surprise and we had a great time together…

Drew and my nephew, Evan

Evans first Portillos experience

Evan, my niece Kaely, and Hannah

This week, my sister is here with her family. The guys took the kids camping. They had an amazing time boating, fishing, swimming, and having other camping adventures.

Hannah, my nephew Aidan, and my brother-in-law Micah

All four kids boating

Aidan and Luke

Luke and Steve

The joys of camping!

The best part of this whole thing is that my sister and I were able to spend some sweet time together - just the two of us - how often does that happen?!?

Maybe you have had the opportunity to spend time with far-away family members this summer. Maybe you have traveled to them… Maybe they have traveled to you… Maybe you have been to a family reunion where you have been able to reconnect with many family members at once. For me, these times are so precious because we are building sweet memories with the people who mean the most to us!

Cynthia Rylant has written a fabulous book about her own childhood memories of her extended family visiting! It is beautifully written and illustrated. And, I love the fact that we can all relate to the beauty of this family tale.

This would be a fun book to share with your child this summer. As you read it together, there are several connections you and your child can make to this story...

Share with your child your own memories of going on family visits:

          Where did you go and who did you see?

How did you get there?

Did it take a long time?

What did you do along the way to not get bored?

What did you do when you got there?

          Share about times when family came to visit you:

                   Who came and where did they come from?

                   How did you feel waiting for them to arrive?

                   Where did everyone sleep?

                   What kinds of things did everyone do together?

                              

Also, talk together about family trips you’ve taken and/or family visits you have had recently:

Who did you visit and where did you go?  

How did you get there?

What kinds of things did you do and/or see along the way?

What were your favorite things to do when you were there?

Who came to visit you and where did they come from?

What did you do when they were at your house?

Where were some places that you visited together?

What kinds of things did you eat?

Did you play games? Inside games? Outside games?

After you have read the story together a few times and have had rich conversations about it, have your child write their own story. Have them draw and write about a time when your family went for a visit or when you had extended family visit you.

Refer to some of Cynthia’s strong descriptive language as a guide:

          “pulling us against their wrinkled Virginia clothes”

          “so much laughing and shining faces and hugging in the doorways”

          “going to sleep with all that new breathing in the house”

          “then we crawled back into our beds that felt too big and too quiet”

          “they looked at the strange houses and different mountains”

“they crawled into their silent, soft beds and dreamed about the next summer”

Here is one more way that you and your child can enjoy this book together:

HAPPY SUMMER!!

Aimee