Today’s review is for the Scaredy Cat Reading System from Joyce Herzog, and let me tell you, I had trouble getting away from the kid long enough to write this review. Several times a day, since we received the program, he comes to me and says, “Mama, can we do my reading now?” Lest you think I’m neglecting him, we actually sit down every time and “do reading”. His attention span gets us through 30-45 minutes before he’s ready to move on, but he always wants to do more later.
Joyce Herzog separates the letters into groups according to how the sounds are made, rather than teaching the letters in alphabetical order. For example, B and D are two of the “first name” letters – the sound you hear at the beginning of their “name” is the sound they make. My 4-year-old has been wanting to learn to read for a couple years (he has a big brother he wants to keep up with), but nothing was helping the letters and sounds stick in his head. Part of that was that he just wasn’t ready, and part of it was that I couldn’t find a way to explain it to him so it made sense – to him (it all made perfect sense to me.) Continue reading TOS: Scaredy Cat Reading System Level 1 (Pre-school)
Was Mr. Darcy real? Is time travel really possible? For pragmatic Manhattan artist Eliza Knight the answer to both questions is absolutely, Yes! And Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley Farms, Virginia is the reason why!
His tale of love and romance in Regency England leaves Eliza in no doubt that Fitz Darcy is the embodiment of Jane Austen’s legendary hero. And she’s falling in love with him. But can the man who loved the inimitable Jane Austen ever love average, ordinary Eliza Knight?
This hop is hosted by Literary Addicts and is from May 20 at 12:00am – May 31 @11:59pm EST.
I’ve had a lot of books go out through Paperbackswap, but I still have a large collection, so for this hop, you get to choose from the following John D. MacDonald novels. They are all hardcover, and all are Book Club Editions. You can choose to to take all, or only those you want. There will only be one winner. Continue reading Win John D. MacDonald Books in the May There Always Be Books Hop!
Welcome to my not-as-regular-as-it-should-be post chronicling the brilliant, fun, and crazy things my kids say.
We’ve been using sandpaper letters (borrowed from a friend) with Bennett for quite a while to help him learn the difference between stuff like p and q, b and d, and a couple others that I can’t remember right now. I still have trouble understanding much of what he says (a cause of endless frustration for each of us), and for some reason, my brain seems to kick into neutral every time we get the letters out. We have the same exchange every single time:
B: I want to taste the letters.
Me: *sigh* You can’t taste the letters, silly. They don’t belong to us.
B: No! With my finger!
Me: Oh, trace! Sorry. Yes. You can do that.
I was cooking supper and Bennett was bringing me jelly beans, one at a time. He brought the last two from the bowl, and asked me which flavor I wanted.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“So I can have both of them?”
Sure, son. That’s exactly what I said. Continue reading Kid Quotes (5/18)
A red-hot political thriller from a blue state author.
Buried among the thousands of financial transactions he reviews each day, analyst Randy Duncan finds a secret web of laundered money financing the assassination of the President, which, in turn, will lead the country into war. Can Randy and his law-student daughter Clare follow the money and stop the enemy in time? In a political thriller worthy of Dan Brown, Richard Condon, and Allen Drury, award-winning novelist Larry Bograd charts a political thriller sure to keep you reading and leave you sleepless wondering and worried about who really controls America. Continue reading Book Blast and Giveaway: The Enemy by Larry Bograd
*sigh* Yes, I managed to miss my Blogoversary, and wouldn’t even have noticed if the kids and I hadn’t been talking about rocks. We got a “rocks” DVD from Blockbuster, and Jeffrey said he didn’t want to watch it because he doesn’t like geology. I told him it was only thirty minutes, and give it a shot. I reminded him that looking at rocks was how he got interested in dinosaurs – which are still a fascination. One he has passed on to his little brother.
I told him that I took him to a rock show when he was four, and that was where he first learned about fossils and dinosaurs. (Before that, he was all about animals and Pokemon.) “I even wrote about it.” Poor kid. His whole life has been chronicled on this blog. I pulled up the post, which was a little difficult because I hadn’t even titled that first post. (I added a title this morning.) Yes, that was my very first post on this blog. (Not my first blog post, though. This was my second blog.) The date: May 13, 2006.
Most of you haven’t been here for seven years, but thanks for being here now!
Writers Workshop of Science Fiction and Fantasy is a collection of essays and interviews by and with many of the movers-and-shakers in the industry. Each contributor covers the specific element of craft he or she excels in. Expect to find varying perspectives and viewpoints, which is why you many find differing opinions on any particular subject.
This is, after all, a collection of advice from professional storytellers. And no two writers have made it to the stage via the same journey-each has made his or her own path to success. And that’s one of the strengths of this book. The reader is afforded the luxury of discovering various approaches and then is allowed to choose what works best for him or her. Continue reading Excerpt and Giveaway: Writers Workshop of Science Fiction and Fantasy
