Tikki Tikki Tembo (Books 63-64)

Is it Time? by Marilyn Janovitz (I thought it was a little boring, but Austin liked it. Good for babies or young toddlers.)

Tikki Tikki Tembo retold by Arlene Mosel, illustrated by Blair Lent (an old Chinese folktale)

Good Children's Books (Books 52-62)

I don't really have anything bad to say about these books. They were all pretty entertaining.

The Cake That Mack Ate by Rose Robart, illustrated by Maryann Kovalski (even I was surprised at the end- short read, but very cute)

If You Give a Moose a Muffin by Laura Joffe Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond (If you've never read the this one or the others in this series, you really should. They are classics.)

This is the House that was Tidy and Neat by Teri Sloat, illustrated by R.W. Alley (Moms everywhere will be entertained by this one.)

Snip Snap! What's That? by Mara Bergman, illustrations by Nick Maland (onomatopoeia again)

New Dinos written by Shelley Tanaka, illustrated by Alan Barnard (nonfiction book- They really have discovered a lot more about dinosaurs since we were kids.)

The Flea's Sneeze by Lynn Downey, illustrated by Karla Firehammer (cute)

Rolie Polie Olie by William Joyce (I've never seen the cartoon on Disney, but the book is cute. Austin really liked it because the characters are alien robots.)

My Little Sister Ate One Hare by bill Grossman, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes (borderline weird, but it has a funny ending)

The Wheels on the Bus by Maryann Kovalski

Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash by Sarah Weeks, pictures by Nadine Bernard Westcott (great for even little ones)

We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (I just remembered that I told Austin we would go on a bear hunt today. I guess I'd better get off here and go hunting.)

More than just a pig in the pond

Book 51:

The Pig in the Pond by Martin Waddell, illustrated by Jill Barton

Here's another one of those weird books that I've run across the past few weeks. The basic storyline is as follows: Neligan's pig really wants to cool off in the pond like the ducks do, but he thinks that pigs don't swim. Finally he jumps in anyways, and all the farm animals are shocked that there is a pig in the pond. As shocked as they all are, none were as shocked as I was when farmer Neligan comes home, strips down naked and jumps in himself. I was very surprised to find a naked old man in one of our library books. Very weird indeed.

On a different note...

For those still wondering how my thyroid biopsy went, I wanted to let you know that it came back benign. No cancer, thankfully.

I wish that were the end of it, but it isn't. The cysts/nodules probably won't go away on their own, so my endocrinologist will continue to monitor their growth every six months. If any of the nodules grow again, they will need to do another biopsy. I will likely have surgery to remove my thyroid at some point in the future, at which point I will start taking thyroid medication.

They also diagnosed me with Hoshimoto's Disease. Boo! for autoimmune disorders.

However, like I said before, no cancer at this point. For that I am very thankful.

Bob Books

Joseph is teaching Austin how to read using Bob Books. He worked as a reading tutor when we first came to Louisville, so he has taken the initiative to work with Austin. I couldn't be more thrilled!

Each box of Bob Books has twelve little books that build upon one another. The first book only uses four sounds M, A, T, S. Austin is currently working on Book 1 and Book 2 and has great enthusiasm.


I recently read something from The Well Trained Mind that changed my perspective on teaching a child to read and write.

Some good phonics programs insist that you combine writing with reading and tell you not to progress on until the child is able to both read and write sat, fat, bat, from dictation. I think this tends to frustrate very young readers. Your goal is to get the child to read quickly, easily, and early. Many children are ready to read before they have the muscular coordination to write as fast as they can learn to read. I have done the reading and writing drills separately until first grade. Teach one letter (always do capital and small letter before going to next letter) at a time.. you can just go through the alphabet, or you can follow the order in your primer, going back to the beginning with the writing, but forging ahead with the reading. It is important to closely supervise the forming of the letters in the beginning. It is more work to break incorrect habits later.

I was encouraged to read this. Austin, for example, has very poor fine motor skills. He cannot color in the lines or draw recognizable pictures yet. However, he shows enthusiasm for reading, and he knows all his letters and their sounds. We are foraging ahead with reading. His motor skills will catch up.