It’s almost that time of year in Australia. The time of year that kids love going to school, heading to the library and seeing what Scholastic has to offer in the way of new reading material. It’s a time to get dressed up into your fancy dress and resemble your favourite book character. It’s time for Book Week 2014!
Book Week is a special time for us here in the nanny life. Given that I’m pretty big on the importance of reading, and so too is Miss7 who loves a good book, we just love it!
| “Escape into the world of books and you could escape to anywhere!”
This year’s Book Week theme is Connect To Reading. I don’t know about you, but I’m excited! Because for the past few weeks I’ve been working on a routine with Miss15months. Each morning after the older kids have gone to school, and soggy weet-bix has been wiped off baby fingers, we sit down to read some books together. She points at the pictures, babbles away in a high pitched excited voice and turns the pages. This is our little moment to connect with each other and to connect to the story.
At the moment we’re loving the Usborne touchy-feely “That’s Not My” Books by Fiona Watt. The vibrant colours and the sensory touch and feel features make it a very engaging activity that provides great opportunities for developmental milestones. Plus, they’re super thick and baby teeth resilient.
Connect To Reading
It might be a great opportunity to really sit down with your kids and enjoy the moment with them. Read their books together as a family activity and discuss the book once you’re finished. Two very simple questions that allow for great dialogue are, what happened, and why? Doing this can be a great way to gauge how your child’s reading ability is progressing, and also understand their comprehension and thoughts about the events within the story. Reading is always more powerful when wonder and meaning is inferred!
Of course the downside to Book Week, is that many parents dread it. Because although book week is super fun for kids, and teachers love scheduling plenty of activities for Book Week in their classrooms, parents are always the ones sitting up late the night before the book parade sewing costumes.
And so because I know that being arm deep in paste and glitter is not always your cup of tea, and that most times your cup of tea will go cold whilst attempting to contain the spread of finger paint, I’ve got a good mix of activities to share with you for Book Week 2014. We’re going to have fun here on the blog, and get in on the action with the magic of reading and story telling!
Book Week 2014 On The Blog
Stay tuned for book reviews of what we’ve been reading lately in the nanny life, and my recommendations on the best children’s books for bedtime reading. There’s craft and DIY activities inspired by our favourite books. We’ll be bringing picture books alive in the kitchen, and even getting out that dreaded sewing kit to string together a Book Parade Costume. Like you, I’ll probably be doing that last minute the night before also!
We want kids to connect to reading by simply participating in the act of reading – and to enjoy the experience!
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Do you read books with your toddler? Do they sit still long enough to enjoy the story?
Official Book Week dates run from Saturday 16th August through to Friday 22nd August, and this years theme is Connect To Reading. For more information on Book Week, you can visit The Children’s Book Council of Australia. All images of Usborne’s touchy feely books from Usborne Children’s Books.
I’m up to three books each night before bed now, otherwise my son won’t go to sleep. by the end of the next few weeks, it will be 10 books a night at the going rate 🙂
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We love the “It’s not my series..” and I agree with you about reading being a time of connection. Sounds like you have a great series lined up, I look forward to reading it.
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What a lovely article, Hope. I always enjoy reading about what you are up to in the Nanny life, and of course reading, especially with young children, is one of my favourite activities. As a teacher I always looked forward to Book Week. It was a great opportunity to read new books and find out what the children liked about them. I have just looked at the books shortlisted for this year and some of my favourite authors and illustrators are there. It looks to be a wonderful collection. I look forward to seeing the book parade costumes your little people get to wear, and to hearing about your book choices. Keep up the great work! 🙂
So sweet you get your special time with miss sweet 15 months! And I love your book choices. I can’t wait to see what your favorite bed time stories are!
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