Mistakes that Worked

Summer break is just around the corner.  For a lot of kids that means reading will be neglected for a few months.  It is essential you keep reading and sharing books with your child during the summer months!  Did you know children can lose up to two years of reading skills over the course of summer break?


I highly encourage you to make reading a priority.  Since kids are going to be in a play mindset, you are going to have to work a little harder to keep their attention.  Over the next month I am going to share some books I think will keep your child's attention.  I will also share some follow-up activities you can do with your child to keep their mind sharp and fresh.


The first book I want to share is  Mistakes That Worked by Charlotte Foltz Jones.  Kids LOVE this book. This book shares mistakes that turned into great inventions.  Did you know the chocolate chip cookie was a mistake?  So was the slinky and the waffle cone!  Your child will love finding out how some of their favorite toys and food were invented by mistakes!

This is a book you do not have to read cover to cover.  It is a great opportunity to talk about how to use a table of contents! Read through the table of contents with your child and decide what mistake you want to learn about first! Each of the mistakes discussed in the book are only one or two pages long.  Since each story is short your child's attention will not wander.  This book is great for practicing the comprehension strategies of asking questions and determining importance.

Good readers are constantly asking questions about what they read.  They ask questions before reading, during reading and after reading.  When readers ask questions, it shows they are engaged with the story.  Kids love when one of their questions are answered in the text of a story! Sometimes questions are not answered.  However, this just keeps the reader thinking and encourages the reader to do more research to find the answers. Mistakes That Worked encourages kids to question.

Some thinking stems you can use with your child to get them asking questions are:

• I wonder...  
• Why...
• How could....
• What if...

As you read each mistake that worked, be sure to model asking questions.  This will encourage your child to ask questions. Ask genuine questions you have. For example, when I first read about the chocolate chip cookie said, "What if the chocolate chip cookie would have never been invented?  I wonder what Ruth thought the first time she tried the chocolate chip cookie." 

This book is also great for determining importance.  Each story will present a lot of neat information, but what is really important to remember? After reading each story be sure to talk with your child what one thing they want to remember about the invention.  This is also a great way to summarize!  

You can use some of the following thinking stems to help your child determine what is important.

• I want to remember...
• One thing we should notice...
• It's interesting that.

There are lots of way to extend your child's learning beyond the book. 

1. Make or purchase one of the mistakes that worked and explore it with your own hands! Who wouldn't love playing with a slinky after reading about it?  Or making their own waffle cone?  
2. Pick your favorite mistake that worked and do some research about it to learn more. 
3. Visit the United States Patent of Trademark Office Kids' Pages and learn all about past inventions and patents!  Your child can even do a search for patents!
4. Work with your child and create your own invention.  Kids often come up with some of the best ideas!
5. Visit the Invent Now Museum in Akron, Ohio.  It is FREE!  I have never been so I cannot give a review on it.  
6. Sign your child up for a Camp Invention close to your home!

Teacher Appreciation

Teacher Appreciation Day is May 3rd!  That is next Tuesday!  I encourage you to take a few moments and thank your child's teacher for all they do.  Teachers appreciate the smallest of gestures.  A hand written note expressing your gratitude will mean a lot.

There are also many inexpensive ways to say thank you with a small gift.

Some ideas that are all under six dollars:

Who doesn't love chocolate cake?  You can find Warm Delights at most grocery stores!  Tie a pretty ribbon around it with a fun message and ta-da!   

A popcorn bucket!  You can fill it with movie goodies.   The popcorn bucket is tricky to find.  I found mine at Wal-mart! I threw in a pop and some candy for a great movie night!  You could add a movie to the bucket or a gift card for a movie rental.  The possibilities are endless!

Attach a card thanking the teacher for making learning a popping good time.  

Tie a ribbon around a box of tea and attach a little note!   You can always add a gift card to a local coffee/tea shop.

Do you have a cute idea for Teacher Appreciation Day?  If so, be sure to share!

And the Winner Is...

Comment number five belonging to Susan. Congratulations!

Thank you to everyone for participating.  There will be another giveaway soon to kick off summer!

Tops & Bottoms

Spring is a time for planting gardens.  If it would just quit raining, I would be able to start working on my garden!  Tops & Bottoms  by Janet Stevens is a great book to read with your child during gardening season!  


It is such a cute story about a lazy Bear who sleeps through every planting season. He strikes up a deal with a clever Hare.  The deal is that Hare and his family will plant and harvest the crops on Bear's land and in return they get half of the crops.  Hare asks Bear if he wants the top half or the bottom half of the crop.  You will have to read the story to find out why Hare is so clever!

I LOVE this book for many reasons.  One reason is for the illustrations.  They illustrations really help hold the reader's attention.  The book is actually opens vertically and not horizontally. This grabs children right away!

The story also teaches a great lesson and it provides an opportunity for children to practice determining importance.  Children need to use higher level thinking skills  to understand the lesson the story is trying to teach.  It is also a great story to work on inferencing (another high level thinking strategy)!  When we infer we take our background knowledge and combine it with text clues.  

This book is a great springboard for studying plants!  It is garden planting season, so get out and plant some vegetables.  As you plant different vegetables you can talk about how they grow and what section (the top, bottom or middle) is the yummy part!  Children are naturally curious and love learning about how things grow.  If you cannot plant a garden you can always visit a local farmer's market and have the same conversations.  

Some questions to guide your conversation:

1.  Read to "He had lost a risky bet with a tortoise and had sold all of his land to Bear to pay off the debt."  Ask your child:  Do you know a story about a tortoise and a hare?  What happened in that story?

2.  Read to "It's a done deal, Bear" and ask your child:  Why do you think Hare is willing to do all the work and split the profits?  Do you think he might have a trick up his sleeve?  What might it be?

3.  Read to "Hare plucked off all the tops, tossed the into a pile for Bear and put the bottoms aside for himself" and ask your child: Predict how you think Bear is going to react to his part of the crops?   How did Hare trick Bear?  

4.  Read to "It's a done deal, Bear" and ask your child: What trick do you think Hare has up his sleeve this time? 

5.  Read to "It's only fair that you get both tops and bottoms this time" and ask your child:  Why would Hare give agree to give Bear the tops and bottoms? What crop do you think he might plant this time?  

6.  Read to "They never became business partners again" and ask your child:  What is the lesson we are supposed to learn from this story?  Have your child complete the following sentence starter:  I want to remember....

Today is the last day to enter the giveaway of Janet Stevens newest book!

Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You

It will be May at the end of the week and that means June is soon approaching!  May and June are full of graduations. There are pre-school graduations,  kindergarten graduations, high school graduations and college graduations.


I recently stumbled upon the sweetest book that would be a great present for any level of graduation.  It would also make a great present for the birth of a child or for Mother's Day.   Wherever You are My Love Will Find You by Nancy Tillman will fill your heart with love.

Tillman shares a sweet and simple message with the reader: love is the greatest gift we can share with our children.  It is a gift our children can carry with them each day. The illustrations are breathtaking and really add to the message of the story.  I know you will want to read it to your children over and over again.

No comprehension conversation starters are needed with this book.  The message of eternal love is quite clear.

The give away ends tomorrow.  Be sure to enter!

Monster Bookmarks!

I normally do not share crafts on this blog.  However, I came across the coolest bookmarks and thought your child might just love them as much as I do!

They are just the cutest little monsters!  Click here to learn how you and your child can make the bookmarks!

Don't forget the give away ends on Wednesday!  Be sure to enter for your chance to win a copy of Janet Stevens newest book!

Give Away Time!

The last time I had a give away I loved it.  So, I am doing it again!  If you would like to enter for your chance to win a copy of The Little Red Pen by Janet Stevens all you have to do is follow my blog!

1.  Click on Follow and become a an official follower! Leave a comment letting me know you have become a follower!  If you already follow my blog all you have to do is leave a comment!

2.  If you would like to enter a second time you can post a link to my blog on your Facebook page.  Leave another comment letting me know you shared the link!  

This give away will end on Wednesday, April 27th.  The winner will be selected using random.org!