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When Teaching Babies to Read is Phonics Taught?

2010-03-08T21:19:00Z

A woman on my Yahoo Groups posted this question, which is a very common question that deserves an answer.

Question

I'm just wondering, when you teach a baby to read, are they being taught to memorize words or are they actually being taught phonics? In my opinion, unless you learn phonics, you don't truly know how to read.

Answer 1

Children who under 2yo nearly always need to be taught using the sight word method. However, if they are exposed to enough words in that manner they can intuit the rules of phonics and be able to read any word they are presented with. My 7yo daughter is a case in point. I taught her from 3mo to about 2yrs via sight word flash cards. From 2yrs to 4yrs we played a lot with words. She now reads anything with ease except for college level books.

The beauty of the sight word method taught in this manner is that children figure out the rules of phonics all by themselves which is the best way to learn something!

Children who are older than 2yo can be taught with straight phonics or the sight word path to phonics. I have tried teaching 4 year olds with phonics. For us, it was difficult. If I could rewind life knowing what I know now I surely would have started all my children on the sight word path to phonics reading program when they were babies. - Laurie Mom of 10 kids

Answer 2

I as well taught both phonics to older children and sight words to younger children at a preschool in Japan (it was exclusively in English) and found that for the most part, the younger children who learned sight words were better readers, spellers, and excelled in reading aloud quickly and with comprehension. The older ones who got their phonics had to take the words apart rather than simply know what they were. We didn't have much success with them, but their parents insisted on the phonics regardless of what we said.

Both groups were reading, of course, but the younger kids looked like they were having fun and enjoying the stories - the older kids looked stressed about the words themselves.

All reading and learning is at the core memorization - but that doesn't mean it has to be rote. Children build up a foundation of information and then learn ways to grow that base on their own.

As a teacher, I highly recommend sight word teaching, and plan on teaching my own daughter this way as well (due in 4 weeks!!) from birth. - A.T.

Click here for more information on How to Teach Your Baby to Read

How Many Words Should I Teach My Baby To Read At One Time?

2010-03-04T16:52:00Z

When I read Glenn Doman's book How To Teach Your Baby To Read 8 years ago, I got a little caught up in the details of how I was supposed to go about teaching my baby to read. I began by making hundreds of word flash cards so I could begin teaching my baby to read. The book recommends that you start with 5 words per session. They suggest that you start with one set and show it three times per day. You continue to add sets of words until you have 5 sets, or more if you are really ambitious. You will be taking cards out each day and adding cards in each day.

What I discovered after a brief period of this flash card frenzy was that 5 flash cards at one time is not a magic number. It is simply a guide. In reality, this would never work for me. I think most parents are like me in that respect. I want what is best for my baby, but we need to be realistic about how to accomplish it.

I never stuck to the 5 words at a time rule. Well, let me rephrase that, I only followed it if my children were losing interest with a set and I needed to shorten it. My 5 month old would easily look at 20 words in a set three times a day. I followed that up with a word book that taught 20 words as well. Each session usually consisted of teaching 40 words at a time. While that might seem like a lot, it worked for us. My babies loved the time we spent viewing materials several times a day. All in all we may have looked at materials for a total of 10 minutes per day. Some days we did less and somedays we did more, but we always had fun.

When you begin to teach your baby to read you can start with 5 cards, just to gauge your baby's level of interest. If they are still attentive after seeing 5 words you may want to up it to 10 words or 15 words. Just make sure you are always having fun. Instead of retiring words and adding new words I just changed out my stacks of materials each week. This worked extremely well for us. The fondest memories I have of my babies' childhood are the moments we spent playing and learning.

I have put together a video tutorial of all that I learned during this fantastic journey of teaching my babies to read. You can view it at A Guide to Teaching Babies to Read. When I first began I had so many questions. This comprehensive guide will show you exactly how you can teach your baby to read and it answers all those questions you have when you first start out. I wish it were available when I began.

www.intellbaby.com

Using Flash Cards to Teach Your Baby to Read

2010-02-26T23:24:00Z

When you begin to teach your baby to read you will probably use flash cards. I strongly recommend that you do not let your baby handle the flash cards. First of all, the flash cards are made of paper and if they are torn they can become a choking hazard to your baby. Also, once you let your baby handle the flash cards, you are no longer in control of the mini reading sessions. Third of all, you will not be able to move quickly through the cards and keep your sessions short and sweet.

In order to maintain control of your flash cards you can place your baby in a bouncer seat and stand in front of them with the cards. You can also place your baby in a high chair for your reading sessions. You may want to show your baby flash cards while they are lying on their back. You can hold the cards above them, out of their reach, so that grabbing of flash cards is not an issue.

Make sure you always present your materials in an environment that is peaceful and without distractions.

Click to learn more about how to teach your baby to read with flash cards.

Monki See has 4 sets of baby flash cards available that you can use to teach your baby to read.

www.monkisee.com

Babies Learn to Read Fast

2010-02-24T23:25:00Z

When you first begin your baby reading program you will need to show your baby a word between 15 and 20 times before they master it. However as you work with your baby, you are strengthening the connections in their brain. This means that through exposure to words and written language your baby is learning the patterns of the language at the same time. When you first begin teaching your baby to read the written language is completely foreign to them. After a few months on a reading program your baby will be able to pick up new words at a much faster rate. This is because you are exposing them to phonics even though they are learning to read using the whole word method. Your baby is picking up the sounds of the letters and will master new words at a very fast rate.

In the beginning you definitely want to show the words many times, but as soon as you notice that your baby is capable of learning new words after only seeing them 2-3 times, you will have to pick up the pace of your program. You can also introduce short phrases and sentences to keep it interesting for your baby.

When my baby was 2 years old he would pick up new words after the first viewing. I would go to show him the words again and he already knew them. It helped that he could speak and tell me what he knew, otherwise I may have bored him to death. It wasn't long after this that he was reading words phonetically that he had never come across before. It happens at different times for different children but it is certainly magical when it does.

Do you have your own story to share? I would love to hear it.

If you want know more about how you can start your baby on a baby reading program check out www.monkisee.com. Monki See teaches babies to read through their fun and entertaining baby DVDs and baby flash cards.

How Many Times Should Babies See Each Word?

2010-02-23T17:18:00Z

When you begin teaching your baby to read with flash cards you will want to show them each word between 15 and 20 times. This is the equivalent of showing them a set of words 3 times per day for 5 days or 2 times a day for a week. I have found that the easiest way to remember to how many times I have shown my baby a flash card is to make tally marks on the back of the flash cards. I find this helpful because sometimes midway through a set of flash cards the baby loses interest and we need to stop. Making tally marks is an easy way to keep track of how many times we have viewed each word card.

Another way to keep track of when you should switch materials is to choose a day of the week as your starting day. Show your baby the materials all week and then switch them out for new ones on the same day each week. Do you have any tips for keeping track of material swapping? I would love to hear them.

I would bring out new materials every Sunday and we would look at them all week. We usually looked at learning materials 5-6 days a week. Each week I would put away the materials we had covered and bring out a new set. Sets would include baby flash cards, word and sentence books that I made, dot cards to teach math, and encyclopedic knowledge cards. We didn't always do everything but we always had a steady dose of new words. That is the part of the program that we were the most consistent with.

All programs can and should be adjusted to suit you and not the other way around. Teaching your baby to read should be fun.

Click her for more information about How to Teach Your Baby to Read with Flash Cards.

Monki See has a line of flash cards and DVDs to teach your baby to read. You can view them at www.monkisee.com.

How to Use Memoflix to Teach Your Baby to Read

2010-02-22T02:50:00Z

If you haven't yet tried out www.memoflix.com to teach your baby to read for free, it is time you headed over and checked it out. Currently there are 52 different categories of words, which gives you the ability to teach your baby to read over 500 words. Each category has a word and then the picture and some of the files even have sound effects. It is a great free resource to get started teaching your baby to read.

The best way to use Memoflix is whatever works best for you and your baby. If you want to expose your baby to language and increase their vocabulary, view as many or as few of the categories as you wish. However, if your main goal is to teach your baby to read, you should select up to 3 categories at a time and view them regularly. You will want to show these digital flash cards 2-3 times per day for about a week. Your aim is to show your baby the same words between 15 and 20 times. Once your baby has viewed the words an average of 15 times, it is time to move on. You will want to review the slides you have already seen twice per week. The flash cards do not change at a very rapid pace. This allows you to repeat the word, or ask your baby to point to the word, making the viewing more interactive.

It is important to review words that your baby has mastered, in order to maintain mastery over these words. You can review with baby flash cards or point out familiar words in books. If you prefer to be exact about exactly how many times you have shown each category, you can keep track on an index card or a notepad. Just put a tally mark each time you show a set. When you reach 15, it is time to introduce new sets.

Do you have any other questions? I would be happy to answer them here.

For more information about how you can teach your baby to read visit www.intellbaby.com

Teaching Babies to Read Words Beginning With the Same Letters

2010-02-20T20:37:00Z

When you first start teaching your baby to read, try not to show them words that begin with the same letters. For example, don't show them cat, camera and cookie in one set. When you begin to teach your baby to read you are teaching them to recognize the way the word looks. They process the words as if they were an image. They are able to recognize the shapes of the words. When we show them words that all begin with the same letter, we may confuse them a bit.

However, once you have shown your baby 50 words or so, you can certainly show words that begin with the same letters. As a matter of fact, it is an excellent idea to show them words that teach the patterns of the language. This helps your baby to process language and pick up on the phonetic patterns of the language. After your baby has seen several words that start with the letter C, they will intuit, or figure out on their own that the letter C makes a K sound, much of the time.

It is important not to get caught up in the rules however. Your baby will learn language by being exposed to language. If you have words that start with the same letter, don't shy away from presenting them because you may be breaking some rule. Babies are geniuses when it comes to language and they can figure out far more than we give them credit for.

Do you have any questions about teaching your baby to read? If so please share them here.

You can also check out A Guide to Teaching Babies to Read. This video guide takes you step by step through the 8 different ways in which babies learn to read. It has tons of ideas, answers all your questions and shows you how easy it is to do.

www.intellbaby.com

Your Baby Can Learn to Read For Free

2010-02-19T00:24:00Z

Have your heard that your baby can learn to read for free? Seriously, you can teach your baby to read without spending a single penny. If you are interested in starting your baby on a reading program you need to check out www.memoflix.com right now. Memoflix is a website that has created online flash cards, presented as mini-movies, about 1 minute in length. They show a word and then a picture and some of the slides even include sound effects. Each category teaches 10 words and there are over 50 categories at this moment. That means you have access to 500 words and pictures for FREE. All you have to do is sign up and you will be given a password so you can get started right away. It requires no work, no material preparation, nothing. Just place your baby on your lap, choose a category and enjoy the show.

Memoflix is continually adding new categories and will notify you as they upload new files. I don't think there is another resource like this available anywhere on the internet that is free. If you know of other great resources for teaching your baby, please share them here.

Nine new categories have just been uploaded and they are:

In the Music Room

In the Pantry

Reptiles

Snacks

Things We Read

Things We Wear 1

Things We Wear 2

Tools 1

Tools 2

Go on over to Memoflix and enjoy the whole experience of teaching your baby to read for free. You won't be sorry. You can even use Memoflix to teach your baby vocabulary.

Please share your thoughts here. I would love to know what you think.

Who Wants to Have a Dumb Baby?

2010-02-14T14:11:00Z

The other day I met a guy and we began to discuss what our business is all about. We explained that we create educational baby dvds and baby flash cards so parents can teach their babies to read during the early formative years. He immediately grasped what we do. He got all excited and said that it makes perfect sense that by watching something again and again a baby would understand and learn to read. His children are all grown, but he mentioned that during the first years of life we are filling them up with information and when they begin to speak they just spill over all the things they have been learning. They are like little machines, processing all the information that surrounds them.

He is a really upbeat and excited guy and he said something that was profound but it really made me laugh. He said that selling educational products to parents should be simple to do because what parent wants to have a dumb baby? He said, "I don't care who you are. No parent wants to have a dumb kid. If you could buy some educational baby dvds for $20 to help you have a smarter baby, why wouldn't you?"

My thoughts exactly, but never verbalized quite that way.

If you would like more information about how your baby can learn to read visit www.monkisee.com

Teaching Babies to Be Good Readers

2010-02-11T17:26:00Z

If you have already begun teaching your baby to read then you know how easy it is to teach your baby to read many words. Babies can easily learn to read hundreds and thousands of words before their 2nd birthday. But where do we go from here? It is very important to practice reading with your baby. Practice reading sentences from books or create them on sentence strips available from the local office supply store. It doesn't matter if your baby knows all the words already. Your baby can learn to read many of the words in context without having to see them on a flash card separately.

The whole point of teaching your baby to read is to assist them in becoming an independent reader. Once your baby knows 50 words or so, start to create sentences using those words. You can use a dry erase board and write sentences throughout the day for your baby to read.

When my baby was less than a year I would write him notes on the dry erase board while I was holding him. I would write "Joshua is a handsome boy", or "I love you, Joshua." I would then read the sentences to him as I pointed to each word and I would see his eyes following right along. He couldn't speak, but I could see that he understood what I was showing him. Click here to view an 18 month old baby reading sentences.

Teaching your baby to read requires a large amount of faith. You must know as a parent that your baby has the ability to learn to read and that if you continually expose your baby to language, your baby will learn to read well, way before they ever go to school.

If you want to find out more information about how to teach your baby to read, check out our extensive 80 minute guide that includes everything you need to know to teach your baby to read. Click here to view A Guide to Teaching Babies to Read.

www.monkisee.com

Book Review - Tikki Tikki Tembo

2010-02-09T20:28:00Z

One of my very favorite books to read aloud to my kids is Tikki Tikki Tembo. I remember reading this book when I was a child. My kids love this book as much as I do and request it be read to them again and again. I taught me son how to read as a baby and he would read Tikki Tikki Tembo to me when he was 3 years old. It is a lot of fun to say Tikki Tikki Tembo's great long name. After you read this book a few times your kids will be saying the great long name along with you.

The story of Tikki Tikki Tembo is about how the Chinese gave their first and honored sons great long names. To their second sons they gave hardly any name at all. When Tikki tikki tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi pip peri pembo falls into the well and his brother has to continually say that great long name before anyone can even help his poor drowning brother, the Chinese quickly learned that it was better to give children a simple, short name.

www.intellbaby.com

Your Baby Can Read For Free With Memoflix.com

2010-02-09T00:28:00Z

In case you haven't already checked out Memoflix.com it's time you did. Memoflix is a way in which your baby can learn to read for free. That's right, for free. All you have to do is register to use the site and you can view a large collection of online baby flash cards designed to teach your baby to read or just increase their vocabulary. There are already over 50 categories of these 1 minute flash card movies and the library will continue to grow. You can visit the site by clicking here http://www.memoflix.com.

If you want more information about how your baby can learn to read visit http://www.monkisee.com.

Signing with Babies

2010-02-07T17:07:00Z

I recently had the chance to have coffee with my sister and my 10 month old niece. As she was sitting in her highchair I was feeding her bits of an oatmeal cookie. Each time I gave her a bite of the cookie I would sign the word cookie to her. I was signing eat and cookie each time she had a piece. She was watching me carefully to see what I was doing. Within a matter of minutes, I noticed her little fingers moving in mock sign language. Of course, she would not be signing back to me that quickly, but she could understand that the movement as I spoke the words was always the same and it was a special code I was using with her. She has never been exposed to sign language, but she seemed to enjoy it.

Using sign language with babies and children is lots of fun. You don't need to know a lot of signs to get started. With just a dozen or so signs you can effectively communicate with your baby and teach them to express themselves before they can easily speak their requests to you.

I love the online sign language dictionary available at www.aslpro.com. You can browse the main dictionary or the dictionary of signs for babies. You can select just about any word you want to know how to sign and watch someone demonstrating the sign for you. You can repeat it as often as you like until you learn to do the sign correctly and it is totally free. I have learned so many new signs using this dictionary. It is a wonderful resource because you can choose to learn signs that you would use frequently.

I began to seriously sign with my last baby and all my kids joined in. They love to sign and teach all their friends. You are never to old to learn a new language.

www.intellbaby.com

Combining MonkiSee with Your Baby Can Read

2010-02-05T23:05:00Z

When Monki See Monki Do was first released in August of 2008 it looked as though it would be giving some competition to the now well-known Your Baby Can Read program. Both companies strive to teach babies to read mainly through their dvds and flash cards. Each company claims that if you have your baby watch their baby dvds and review with the flash cards your baby will quickly be on their way to reading.

What has been an interesting revelation is that many parents are not just choosing either Your Baby Can Read or Monki See for their baby reading programs. Many parents have decided to combine usage of both programs and the results have been noteworthy.

Parents and caregivers are continually letting us know that although the products do the same thing, the way in which they do it is different, and this is having a huge impact on their babies’ success. By combining the two baby reading programs, Monki See and Your Baby

Can Read, the results are unbelievable.

The Monki See Baby Dvd series strives to incorporate a playful and entertaining edge to their baby dvds. Each baby DVD is filled with upbeat music that gets babies moving and grooving. The catchy poems throughout the videos stimulate babies' language development and teach babies how to read. The use of puppets and silly skits keep these baby videos light

and entertaining while also packing a powerful educational punch.

So what happens when parents combine the usage of these two programs? The results are amazing. By rotating the two different products, your baby is being exposed to a greater number of words, more so than if either product is used alone. It also keeps babies from getting bored with either program. There is some overlap in the words that are taught, but the format that is used to reinforce the meaning of each word is very different. The combination of Your Baby Can Read and Monki See is definitely raising a generation of early readers.

Many parents are alternating the viewing of these two products. They alternate showing their babies a MonkiSee video in the morning and a Your Baby Can Read video in the afternoon. It is important to show the dvds regularly in order for babies to achieve mastery of the words

being taught before moving on to the next volume.

It is important to remember that the more words babies are exposed to before their 3rd birthday the faster and easier they will learn to read. Parents that are really interested in teaching their babies to read should highly consider combining these programs for ultimate

results. Here is what some parents have to say about combining the Monki See and Your Baby Can Read baby reading programs.

“We started out with the Your Baby Can Read program but after a few months my daughter was losing interest. Even though there are 5 dvds, they are all relatively the same. I stumbled across the Monki See program and immediately purchased their video collection. Abigail loved the addition of these videos to her reading program. She was totally engaged by the monkeys and the music. I could see that she was really enjoying her program again. Now I mix it up. She watches Monki See once a day and Your Baby Can Read once a day. As soon as we added the Monki See products I could see a definite increase in what

she was learning. I don’t know what we would have done without these two great products. I am certain our 16 month old wouldn’t be reading over 200 words had we not used these programs. She is so smart and shocks people when she starts reading without being prompted. I recommend these programs to everyone I see with a baby.”

Michelle - Katy, TX

“My son is 10 months and we just finished the Your Baby Can Read program. He really enjoyed it but I didn’t know what to do with him now that we finished it. Of course we read lots of books, but I wanted to continue to teach him new words. I did some research online

and saw that people were recommending Monki See. We just started using their program this week and I couldn’t be happier. My boy just loves to watch the videos. They are very different from Your Baby Can Read and they hold his attention the whole time. He actually cries when the videos end. I am just so thankful that we can continue teaching our son to read. He is so smart! He loves to look at books and can point to the correct word when asked. Finding Monki See has been a real blessing.”

Andrea – Saratoga, NY

“I was a skeptic at first about all this teaching babies to read hype. I thought that we shouldn’t pressure babies to learn how to read. After watching the convincing infomercial for Your Baby Can Read I decided to try it for the 30 day trial period. I was pretty certain this was all a bunch of nonsense and I would send it back before the trial period ended. Was I ever surprised! My baby loved it. I did some research to see what other baby reading programs were available and came across MonkiSee. It has been an incredible

journey and I can’t even imagine not having done this with her. First of all, she loves to watch Howie and Skip. She is not only reading the words on the screen, she is spelling them too! How many 20 month olds do you know that can spell the word circle? Believe me, she can! These programs have been so much fun for both of us. I find that we play a lot of games with words. We are interacting, bonding and having lots of fun."

Cheryl – San Diego, CA

Book Review - A Baby Sister For Frances

2010-01-28T14:18:00Z

I have been reading A Baby Sister For Frances this week to my daughter and enjoying it very much. Russell Hoban really knows how to capture the spirit of a child in his books. In A Baby Sister For Frances, Frances decides she is fed up with sharing her mother's time with her new baby sister. As she leaves for school in the morning she declares that she will be running away after dinner that evening. Her mother makes no big deal about it as Frances prepares to runaway.

I love where Frances decides to go and how it all works out in the end. This book is a classic and will be around for a long time due to the simplicity of the story. Once again, it is fun to read because you can adjust your voice to speak for father, mother and Frances. The songs Frances comes up with are always my favorite parts of the stories. If you have not yet read this book you are missing out on a great children's storybook.

This book has 5 stars on Amazon and I would have to agree with it. This is a book that I don't mind reading again and again.

For more information on how to introduce your baby to language at an early age visit www.intellbaby.com.

Book Review - Bedtime For Frances

2010-01-27T14:25:00Z

If you have never read Bedtime For Frances you are missing out on a guaranteed favorite for you and your child. There are several Frances books available and they are all adorable. The author, Russell Hoban, must have written this about his child or a child that was close to him. He captures the bedtime ritual so well that you can imagine it really taking place.

All of the Frances books are written in such a way that you can imagine these scenarios actually taking place. In Bedtime For Frances, Frances is supposed to go to bed but she just isn't tired. The story takes you through the process of finally getting Frances to sleep. If only we as parents could be that patient. This book was first published in 1960 but will be around for a long time since the story of getting your kids to bed is timeless. My only regret with these books is that he didn't write more.

My daughter has been enjoying this book immensely. It is a really fun book to read to your little ones because you can change your voice to make it more interesting. I read in a deep voice for father, read in my normal voice for mother and talk babyish for Frances. In each Frances book she makes up songs and I have a lot of fun singing her songs. My daughter is beginning to sing along to Frances' alphabet song since we have been reading this book every day. The book is rated 4 stars on Amazon, which surprised me. I think it should be rated 5 stars. This book will always be a favorite of mine and I hope to read it to my grandchildren someday.

To find out how you can teach your baby to read for free be sure to visit www.memoflix.com to sign up for our free online flash cards in over 50 categories.

Reading to Baby

2010-01-26T19:46:00Z

I have been reading Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss to my 2 year old for the last few nights. We have been having a lot of fun reading this book because we both love it and we have been using sign language to sign the words we know. This makes the whole experience a lot more fun. SInce the book is written like a long poem, it is easy to recite from memory. I noticed that after my daughter heard the story she was walking around the house saying, "Let me be." Which is a line from the story. She was also repeating the long list of places that the Cat in the Hat would not eat green eggs and ham. Not in a box, not with a fox, not on a train, not in the rain...

Reading to our children is so important. It develops language skills, listening skills, increases vocabulary and helps children to learn to read on their own. If you point to the text while you are reading you will also increase the chances that your child will recognize the words on their own.

I really feel that rereading the same books is very important. The more your child interacts with a story, the more they get from the story. They are able to memorize lines of the story and fill in the words if you pause. While it is fun to read many books, don't neglect to reread some of your favorites.

If you want to know more about teaching babies to read check out A Guide to Teaching Babies to Read. It is a complete 80 minute guide that will teach you everything you could want to know about teaching your baby to read and then some.

For more information about teaching your baby to read and great products to get started visit www.intellbaby.com

Book Review - Green Eggs and Ham

2010-01-23T14:19:00Z

Last night I read one of my all time favorite books to my daughter. I think I read this book when I was a kids and I always enjoy more each time I read it. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss is a classic book to read to your children.

In this story Sam-I-Am is trying to get the Cat in the Hat to eat green eggs and ham. He is relentless and in the end the Cat gives and tries the dish, which to his surprise he finds to be quite tasty. There is a lot of repetition in this book which encourages little children to pipe in and repeat the lines.

If you know some basic sign language you can even make the signs for many of the words as Sam and the Cat go through the list of all the places they would or would not eat these green eggs and ham. This book has plenty of emotion which makes it fun to read. You can really get into reading the lines with excitement as the Cat tries to get Sam-I-Am to leave him alone.

This is by far my favorite Dr. Seuss book.

www.intellbaby.com

Books are Great Friends

2010-01-22T14:11:00Z

I am traveling right now to my old town and feeling a little homesick since it is a third world country. The first thing I did with my 6 book loving children after we got settled was visit the local library. It is tiny compared to what we just left. Back home we have a service with our library where they deliver books to our front door. Going back to our little library is definitely a step down, but we enjoyed it none the less.

My children were excited as they saw familiar books they had read in the past. The older children were recommending favorite books to their younger siblings. My little ones were grabbing some of our most loved books from the shelf. The only problem with the library is that we can only check out 4 books each. We are used to being able to check out 100 books per library card in the US. Nevertheless, we found some great books, making the trip a success.

I have to say that when you fall in love with reading and find stories that you love, it is like meeting an old friend. They always deliver that special feeling that you get from reading a favorite book. This week, my old friends are seeing us through our moments of boredom and lack of things to do.

This week I will post book reviews for some of our favorite all time books so stay tuned.

www.intellbaby.com

Winnie the Pooh

2010-01-21T13:52:00Z

If you have not had the opportunity to read Winnie the Pooh by the original author, A.A. Milne, you are missing out on a great treasure. We are all familiar with the bear of very little brain whom we have seen on TV and in colorful story books, but this is just a snippet of the character that was created by the very gifted author, A.A. Milne. His son was the real Christopher Robin and his work has survived for more than half a century already. You can start with Winnie the Pooh which is the first book that was written.

If you are familiar with the stories of Winnie the Pooh you will recognize where they were excerpted from when you read the original. I read Winnie the Pooh aloud to my 6 children recently, the oldest at the time was 13 and the youngest 1. The children gathered around and laughed at Pooh's silly poems and songs and the predicaments that the gang from the Hundred Acre Wood would get involved it. If you like to read and do not read the Pooh books by the original author you are really missing out on a real treat.