Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Remembrance Day

We are currently learning about diaries and how to write a journal so I purchased the book The Diary of a Wimpy Kid recently and luckily for us it has coincided with the Into Film Festival, were a load of school kids get to go to the pictures and watch a few films for free, including home educated children.

We have booked onto a number of films over the coming weeks but this week we got to watch The Diary Of a Wimpy Kid - The Long Haul. What a funny film, the kids loved it and of course another hit as Oliver picked up the book as soon as we got home and we have some resources to work through next week to compliment the film.

Before we went home we decided to pop in to the Imperial War Museum to pay our respects as it is Remembrance Day Tomorrow 11th November and they also have the Wyndham Lewis: Life, Art, War display at the moment which I thought would be good to go and see and I certainly was not wrong.

His last major painting 'A Canadian War Factory' which was unfinished is my favourite painting, there is something about this painting that I love.

It comes across as a sad painting by one that has seen his best days gone by, it epitomises Lewis's demise for me, the unfinished nature invokes an emotion in me based in pity. Lewis was not without controversy in his life which Richard Slocombe, Art Curator, IWM (Imperial War Museums) writes about here

We ended the day with a trip to one of my clients to pick up paperwork and another client to pick up some items to sell on their behalf and then a quick dash to get ready for Badgers, which should be fun tonight as they are starting on their Xmas sculpture.

Book of the week - Where the Sidewalk Ends

We fell across this book by accident while looking for poetry inspiration for our infrastructure project, the poem we came across contained in the book is called 'Where the Sidewalk ends', (see Infrastructure roads poetry).

The poem is an adult poem, one of very few adult poems in this book, the rest are all silly children's poems, for instance my favourite one is 'A Running Giraffe'. because it is funny and imaginative and makes you laugh out loud.

The book is funny and full of creative and imagery flair, not only is it entertaining for the adult kids but also entertaining for the smaller kids too.

When the book arrived I read a couple of the Poems out loud to myself and the kids overheard and came running to listen to more, giggling along to each poem.

When I had finished I put the book down on the table to make a coffee, only to come back with Oliver eagerly reading away to himself. Bingo, what a great book, it must be to have inspired Oliver enough to pick it up.

The bonus to this book  is that Shel Silverstein has a great educational website to go along with his poems, packed with fun and games.

I purchased my copy of the book on ebay (click through here) as it was the cheapest place I could find to buy it, used of course but still in great condition.

This book brings laughter and smiles all round, inspirational enough to spend the rest of the day making up silly poems after reading it.

Shel Silverstein was one of those authors that broke the rules not just with his grammar but in life too, as before he wrote the children's books he wrote for Play boy and rubbed shoulders with Hugh Hefner.

Here is a little bit about his history..

The surprisingly sex filled life of Shel Silverstein

Despite his controversial lifestyle and works, he should be on every households book shelf, he was an award winning, witty, cheeky and mischievous, artistically talented and not afraid to challenge boundaries.

Shel Silverstein has many works available I think there are about 11 children's books that he produced and they are classed as classics and they can be purchased on eBay (click here), it has been said these books shaped many a child's growing up years and continue to inspire the next generation of poets.

I will certainly be having a rummage through the eBay listings and seeing what I can lay my hands on, Shel Silverstein has definitely earned a place on our bookshelf!.

I am so very grateful to our 'infrastructure Project' as although not really related, we would never have discovered Shel Silverstein without it.

Encouraging a love of reading in children: Raising Kids Who Read.

I recently read this book called Raising Kids Who Read: What Parents and Teachers can do by Daniel T Willingham. > You can buy it here <

The book provides practical solutions for cultivating a love of reading that lasts into adulthood.

For me it is important that the kids love reading, our house is full of books and we spend a lot of time reading books, the kids love reading, especially Oliver.

This book resonated with me as some of the techniques he talks about I have done with the twins and I can tell you categorically that it works.

The science-based approach in Raising Kids Who Read applies to kids of all ages.

Education expert Daniel T. Willingham's Research-based, concrete suggestions to aid teachers and parents in promoting reading as a hobby Age-specific tips for developing decoding ability, comprehension, and motivation in kids from birth through adolescence Information on helping kids with dyslexia and encouraging reading in the digital age Debunking the myths about reading education,

In the book William's suggests to parents to not just give commands, but ask a lot of questions to show that the purpose of language is to acquire new knowledge, not just communicating one's own wishes. 

There are many familiar ideas that I have always put into practice such as family reading time, having lots of books accessible around the house, using silly voices and changing names, letting the children choose their own books,  magazine subscriptions. For us it was the Free Lego Life magazine which they love, this is for children aged between 5-9 years old and they receive 5 copies a year, my two love the arrival through the door of their Lego magazine > FREE LEGO MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION <

This is not a book about teaching reading, but about trying to create reading habits, it is an informative, smart, and yet simple book!...

Book of the Week Scream Street

Scream street is not strictly a book of the week for us but a series of books, this is a series of books that we have randomly dipped in and out of.

They love this series of books and was one of the first chapter books we had ever read. It captures the imagination. The kids were very excited when they heard there was to be a series of scream street made for the TV in the form of a kids program.

This is an excellent long term read for us and the kids love my silly voices and the characters come alive for the twins.

The website gives lots of information about the book that has been made into a tv program and this site gives more information about Tommy Donbavand and his 13 books about scream street.

Sadly he is suffering from cancer but has had the news he is in remission, he is documenting his journey with good humoured witty updates on a blog aptly entitled Tommy v Cancer.