The Story of the World Series by Susan Wise Bauer

The Story of the World series

“If you love history and want to convey that love to your children, these books are indispensable.”–The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

Told in the straightforward, engaging style that has become Susan Wise Bauer’s trademark, The Story of the World covers the sweep of human history from ancient times until the present. Africa, China, Europe, the Americas–find out what happened around the world in the centuries before our own. This read-aloud series is designed for parents to share with elementary-school children, or for older readers to enjoy alone. Introduce your child to the marvelous story of the world’s civilizations!
Volume One: Ancient TimesVolume Two: The Middle Ages
Volume Three: Early Modern Times
Volume Four: The Modern Age
Also available in audio format!
Use alone, or combine with the curriculum guides and tests for a complete elementary history/literature/geography program.
For details and reviews, visit the Story of the World page.
Purchase at Peace Hill Press, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble; or order anywhere books are sold.

Peace Hill Press, 2001-2007, ISBNs 978-1933339-009 /978-1933339-092 / 978-0971412-996 / 978-0972860-338

Montessori At Home or School: How To Teach Courtesy and Grace

According to Deb Chitwood of Living Montessori Now, the "Montessori at Home or School: How to Teach Grace and Courtesy" is a bit like "Montessori meets Miss Manners." 

In Montessori, grace and courtesy is seen as an important part of a child’s education and an important part of meeting a child’s inner needs. The Montessori method provides a framework that can effectively be used with one child or a group of children. 

Part I talks about grace and courtesy for preschoolers and elementary-age children. Suggestions are given to help parents and teachers feel comfortable teaching grace and courtesy. Part II gives rules of etiquette in many situations for preschoolers through age 12. 

Sections include "Using the Montessori Method to Teach Grace and Courtesy," "Why Use the Montessori Method?" "The Preschool Child," "The Elementary-Age Child," "Introductions," "Greetings and Farewells," "Conversations," "Saying 'Please,' 'Thank You,' and 'You're Welcome,'" "Saying 'Excuse Me' and ‘I'm Sorry,'" "Coping with Problems in Public," "Bathroom Manners," "Cleaning up after Yourself," "Having Friends Visit," “Being a Guest at Someone's House," "Table Manners," "Telephone Manners," "Letter Writing," "Games and Sports," and "Showing Respect."

24-Karat Etiquette

I have this book on Google Play Books and I must say, it's an excellent resource, especially in this world of diminishing good manners.

The Book of Manners

I think this is a great book to read for anyone wishing to refine their manners, both within themselves and towards others. It is a great resource for Muslims and for anyone who wish to study manners in Islam.

The PDF file is currently free to download from here. Please take the time to check it out.

Progressive Phonics Reading System - 100% FREE

I had forgotten that I had also used this to supplement my son's Jolly Phonics programme at school. We had fun reading the short and entertaining stories. Most importantly, it reinforced Phonics reading at a gradual and progressive pace.

Here is more about the Progressive Phonics programme, as stated on their home page:

Progressive Phonics is an all-in-one reading program that is easy, fun, and totally FREE---that's right,

  totally and completely free!

And with Progressive Phonics, ANYONE can teach a child to read and write in just a few minutes a day,
  which makes it ideal for parents, teachers, tutors, volunteers and home-schoolers.

No experience necessary. Just pick a book and start reading it with your child/students.

Matching handwriting worksheets and activity sheets for each book -- when children write what they learn, 

  they learn it better.

Also teaches the essential sight-words (and phonics rule-breakers) that most phonics programs fail to teach.

Instant access -- download and use today. (Free registration required, but there are sample books you can
  look at before registering.)

Our books can be read on-screen or printed on your color printer. Each book takes 4--8 minutes to print
and uses as little ink and paper as possible.

Check out this amazing and generous site now! :D

Progressive Phonics (New Alphabetti Books) by Miss Katz N. Ratz

Progressive Phonics (Old Alphabetti Version) by Miss Katz N. Ratz

I Can Teach My Child To Read

Here is another excellent resource for teaching our children to read. It talks about why it is important for children to read and shows us how to develop reading skills and comprehension in our children beginning from infancy.

I've purchased the e-book available on this site: I Can Teach My Child To Read The site also contains free tips on teaching your child to read! Do check it out!

The Amazing Jolly Phonics

When I was little, my mom taught me reading through a system of reading known in her hometown (Bicol, Philippines) as katon. She first taught me the vowel sounds and the consonant sounds, and as soon as I knew them, she started blending them together. Something like below:

b a = ba       b e = be       b i = bi      b  o = bo       b  u = bu

Then, she gave me a chart to read everyday, which consisted of a systematic syllable chart (I intend to post a copy of the chart). We also used a book for practice. It is still in circulation to this day and costs only 30 pesos or less. I learnt to read very quickly through this system.

When I became proficient in readingTagalog, my mother bought me English books to read. I quickly noticed many differences in the way English and Tagalog words were spelled and pronounced, but through practice and repetition, I managed to read proficiently in English.

Fast-forward many years later, here I am with my own children.  I wanted to give my eldest a headstart in reading but I faced a huge dilemma. My children's first language isn't Tagalog.  I could not teach them the way my mom did. I tried, but it didn't work because they couldn't relate to the  language. My little girl was still a baby, and we used Glen Doman reading cards for her. Unfortunately, I could not get my son to read as early as I wanted to.

The answer came 7 months after I enrolled my son in Kindergarten 3. The school used Jolly Phonics. The teacher told me to check out the website for more information. She also told me it isn't the usual system of reading taught in schools. I was at first doubtful about this method of reading. Would it really help my son to read? How effective is this method? But, there was no other choice but to try it, especially since the school was using this method. Since we enrolled him late, he only had 7 months to learn reading. With very minimal help from me, he progressed to reading very well in what I consider a short span of time.

Here are the books he used at school:

                                       

I think the great features of Jolly Phonics is the use of music and movement for learning the letter sounds. They also make use of attractive graphics to inculcate the child's interest to read. I just wish I had studied this system earlier and bought some supplementary materials for my son when he was studying this.

Just recently, I bought some Jolly Phonics materials for my 2-year old daughter. We started with getting to know the characters Snake, Inky and Bee in the Jolly Stories book. As much as she enjoys the stories, she also loves tracing over the embossed letters on each page with her fingers while sounding them out.  We also bought the Jolly Songs book and CD and she enjoys doing the actions while singing.  She enjoys every single thing about Jolly Phonics! We have even started to blend letter sounds!

If you're looking for a Phonics reading programme for your little one, I strongly recommend Jolly Phonics! Please take note that it comes in different English versions (UK & US).

To view and/or purchase some of the Jolly Phonics books and materials we purchased, please visit our Literacy section in our Amazon store. Here is the link:  Literacy

Below is the link to the Jolly Phonics website, a very rich resource for teaching your child to read. (It contains loads of freebies so you can get started immediately.) Check it out!
Jolly Phonics
Jolly Phonics Free Resources for Parents and Teachers

Happy reading! :D

Brilliant Ideas for Boosting Your Child's Self-Esteem

I found this gem of a book in our local bookstore. When I browsed through, I could not let it go! It contains 52 creative ideas jam-packed with drama techniques, exercises and games that we can practice on our children, and/or our students to help them come out of their shells and shine!




Here are some of the things our children and students can gain from the exercises in this book:

- self-belief and the confidence to stand up on their own
- the confidence to accept constructive criticism and not be afraid to unleash their imagination
- better concentration
- full use of the five senses
- the ability to tackle phobias and fears that could be holding them back without realizing it
- the ability to cope in real-world situations

Following are some of the wonderful topics covered in this book. All the 52 ideas (topics) are dealt with in detail and supplemented with creative games and exercises to develop and reinforce the subject.

1. Manners maketh man (and child)
2. Once upon a time, a man made up rhyme
3. Improvisation means imagination
4. Ah… the magic of live theatre
5. Attention please, no upstaging here, thank you!
6. Keeping a lid on anger
7. Get that spider off me - facing phobias
8. New friends, new situations
9. Acting without judgement
10. Performing under pressure

and many more!

I simply love this excellent resource for parents and teachers! :D