*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts.
A new year invariably means new year resolutions. We all make them because…well, that’s the thing you do at the beginning of a fresh year, right? But how many of us stick to our resolutions? I would guess most of us can keep the momentum and enthusiasm going for maybe the first month after the ball drops. And then it’s just downhill from there.
If there is one thing that 2020 taught us, it’s that life is completely and totally unpredictable and the only constant we can reply upon with absolute certainty is change. No matter what else goes on, something is bound to change…especially when we least expect it. And as parents we know all too well that the unexpected is lurking around the corner, just waiting for us to let our guard down long enough for it to sneak up behind us and yell, “BOO!” As parents, we never know when something will be the last time because our children are growing and maturing at such an alarming rate, we can’t really keep up. One minute you’re helping tie their shoes, then you blink and they’re driving off to college. There is one thing, however, that you can do for and with your child no matter how old they are and that’s read.
Read aloud to you child.
Listen to your child read aloud to you. Read the books that your child loves. Share your own reading life. Discuss what you’re reading.
Books have the power to bring people together, particularly a parent and child. Through books, lasting bonds are created, nurtured and memories are made. So, I challenge you now to resolve to make 2021 the year of the book. I’ll help you get started:
I resolve...
Read One Dad's Reading Resolutions for the New Year from Brightly.
Happy reading all year long!
-Kate @ BTBL Author
We are three generations that seek a way to get back to basics. It’s not that we eschew technology, but sometimes simpler is better, especially in raising our children. Mom was a reading teacher, Amanda is an early childhood educator and Kate a children’s literature specialist and former school librarian along with the latest additions, a daughter (now 5) for Kate, and two sons (now 3 and 1) for Amanda. We advocate reading aloud, the simple toys that use imagination and encourage creativity and learning in the kitchen, which can be a fun mess but also teaches life skills. Join us in raising healthy, happy, inquisitive and intelligent children.
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Let the snow fall and the baking begin!
*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts.
Winter starts off with a month of baking and cooking for Christmas and Hanukkah! December is the National Egg Nog and Fruit Cake month, along with many National Day‘s for various baked goods (Pie Day, Cookie Day, Brownie Day, Pastry Day and others.) My First Baking Book by Rena Coyle and the DK cookbook, Mommy & Me Bake, are great beginner baking books. And don‘t forget to share all of your own favorite holiday recipes! Consider sharing these baking themed stories: The Baker‘s Dozen: A Saint Nicholas Tale by Aaron Shepard, Hanukkah Cookies with Sprinkles by David A. Adler, or one of Jan Brett‘s Gingerbread stories (Gingerbread Baby, Gingerbread Friends, Gingerbread Christmas). So, get busy in the kitchen and bake some goodies to share. Bring a plate of delectable treats to your neighbors and those who can’t bake for themselves or live alone. Teach your children to pay it forward by spreading the kindness of the season and then snuggle up and read together!
Looking for more children's cookbooks? Find our favorites at the bottom of our book list:
Baking, Cooking, Gardening & Food Related Books
December
National Eggnog and Fruitcake Month
1st: National Pie Day
4th: National Cookie Day
7th: National Cotton Candy Day
8th: National Brownie Day
9th: National Pastry Day
10th: Hanukkah Begins
12th: National Gingerbread House Day
Don't forget about Jan Brett's Gingerbread series as well (see above)!
13th: National Cocoa Day
15th: National Cupcake Day
16th: National Chocolate Covered Anything Day
17th: National Maple Syrup Day
25th: Christmas Day
For a more complete list of Christmas titles, look at our Holiday Books list.
26th: National Candy Cane Day
28th: National Chocolate Day
This year of focusing our blogs on our Bookworm Bakers division, where we blend baking, cooking and gardening with literacy, has come to an end. We hope that you will embark on filling your children’s growing years and beyond with memories of baking, cooking and gardening. These offer the best way to learn math and reading naturally through real world, hands-on experiences, building life skills and creating lasting memories that will hopefully be cherished and passed down to future generations. That is why we encourage you to write down family recipes and your own memories of childhood, for all too soon they will be forgotten and disappear forever. I think about the stories my mother has shared about my grandmother and her cooking and the get-togethers with other families who came to this country with her. I never had the chance to meet my grandmother, but I do have my mother’s memories and photos, and my grandmother’s own cookbook and handwritten recipes, so I do feel a sense of connection to my past. If we don’t document our life, past and present for our children, a bit more of our heritage will be lost and we will be unable to reclaim it in the future.
Happy holidays from our family to yours!
-Kate @ BTBL Author
We are three generations that seek a way to get back to basics. It’s not that we eschew technology, but sometimes simpler is better, especially in raising our children. Mom was a reading teacher, Amanda is an early childhood educator and Kate a children’s literature specialist and former school librarian along with the latest additions, a daughter (now 5) for Kate, and two sons (now 2 and 1) for Amanda. We advocate reading aloud, the simple toys that use imagination and encourage creativity and learning in the kitchen, which can be a fun mess but also teaches life skills. Join us in raising healthy, happy, inquisitive and intelligent children.
*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts.
Cooking and good food brings people together and that is most evident at this time of year with so many people celebrating holidays and just plain celebrating life. Cooking and baking seem to make us slow down and appreciate all that goes into creating the wondrous foods from our past, from our culture and the new creations that we find or even invent. Cooking together with your children shouldn’t be just a one time of year experience but should be embraced throughout the year.
In December we talked about how cooking can be a wonderful way to boost reading and math skills in children as well as building self-esteem, confidence and teaching life skills. When cooking, one is almost always reading; whether it be a recipe, instructions on a box or food labels, reading and math are at the forefront. If you love literature and cooking, you can share both loves with your children through books such as:
As the new year begins, we are going to focus on our Bookworm Bakers division, where we blend baking, cooking and gardening with literacy. Bookworm Bakers is all about taking the love of books and reading, and combining it with food; namely cooking, baking and even growing your own food. There are so many books that have stories, themes and concepts that can be teamed up with baking, cooking and growing that not only educate but can create a lasting bond and memories with your children. Cooking with young children aids in hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. As children get older, cooking can be used for patterning, sequencing and basic math skills. Children who help with cooking also gain confidence, a sense of pride and accomplishment and learn about responsibility, not to mention the social and creative aspect of cooking together. Such a fun, engaging, and terribly tasty pastime is a positive on so many fronts that it should be a part of every childhood.
~Food Calendar & Suggested Reads~
A food calendar will be included each month to help with some ideas for family cooking, baking and reading. There are so many National celebration days in honor of certain foods, and we don‘t even have them all, but we thought it a great idea to combine those days with fun cooking and stories (a number we found are celebrated more than once a year.) We have also tried to include some theme related storybook titles that we have found and enjoy, as well as some cookbook titles that we recommend you try. We are not expecting anyone to follow the calendar faithfully. Instead we offer it for suggestions, ideas and inspiration when you are looking for a fun way to combine cooking and reading. Find a food you want to celebrate and then look through recipes with your child(ren) and spend some time creating something delectable together. Always be on the lookout for additional titles and fun ways to cook and read as a family.
January
National Hot Tea, Meat, Oatmeal, & Soup Month
National Hot Tea Month
National Soup Month
4th: National Spaghetti Day
2nd week: National Pizza Week
*For our favorite pizza recipe and additional titles take a look back at our blog Pizza, Pizza!.
6th: National Bean Day
6th: National Shortbread Day
11th: National Milk Day
19th: National Popcorn Day
20th: National Cheese Lovers Day
21st: National Granola Day
23rd: National Pie Day
*For additional titles read our previous blog Celebrate National Pie Day.
24th: National Peanut Butter Day
27th: National Chocolate Cake Day
Last Saturday: National Seed Swap Day
30th: National Croissant Day
31st: National Hot Chocolate Day
Whenever hot chocolate is mentioned, my mother brings up an old Peanuts comic strip in which Linus makes a cup of hot chocolate for Lucy. Linus asks Lucy how she likes it and she says, "It's terrible! It's too weak! It tastes like some warm water that has had a brown crayon dipped in it!.," to which Linus replies, "You're right. I'll go put in another crayon." We always laugh about it. So, just imagine our excitement when we found a recipe on page 80 of The Peanuts Holiday Cookbook titled 'Linus's Marshmallow Hot Chocolate' featuring the very comic strip across the top of the page! Giggle at the comic strip and enjoy a delicious cup of hot chocolate (crayon optional).
- - -
Now, January typically means snow, but we here in Southeast Michigan have had little snow so far this winter, though we hope for enough to get out and play in soon. When it does snow, or if you have snow where you are, consider making some snow cream with your children. We made some last year and much to my surprise, it was rather yummy. Be sure to gather clean snow?
You might also want to consider watching Maurice Sendak’s Little Bear’s Snowbound where Granny makes snow cream with honey (which is what inspired us to give snow cream a try). You can find the episode on YouTube.
Happy reading & baking!
-Kate @ BTBL Author
We are three generations that seek a way to get back to basics. It’s not that we eschew technology, but sometimes simpler is better, especially in raising our children. Mom was a reading teacher, Amanda is an early childhood educator and Kate a children’s literature specialist and former school librarian along with the latest additions, a daughter (now 4) for Kate, and two sons (now 1 and a newborn) for Amanda. We advocate reading aloud, the simple toys that use imagination and encourage creativity and learning in the kitchen, which can be a fun mess but also teaches life skills. Join us in raising healthy, happy, inquisitive and intelligent children.
*Note: this post contains Amazon Affiliate links. Any purchases made via the links provided go to support our literacy efforts.
The winter season begins with the last month of the year and the celebration of several holidays, depending upon culture. This is the time of year when families gather from far and wide around the table to celebrate the season and the joy of the holidays. It is also when time honored family recipes emerge to once again take center stage. This is not the time to relegate the children to the play room but to include them in the preparation of the family meal. Cooking is a wonderful way to engage all of the senses, producing memories that resurface with the scent of certain foods and is also a wonderful way to boost reading and math skills in children without them even knowing it. Cooking also builds self-esteem, confidence and teaches life skills. Planning menus, choosing and reading through recipes and writing out a grocery list all involve reading and as a meal is prepared, math and science skills are engaged (to further enhance these skills, double or cut a recipe in half).
Cooking, especially during the holidays, is a cross-cultural experience that helps us explore our own heritage as well as other cultures and allows for an opportunity to learn where our food comes from and the people involved. To support this idea consider including the following books along with your traditional holiday favorites:
For additional baking/cooking and holiday related stories, take a look at our book lists.
What's happening in December?
1st: Author Jan Brett’s Birthday - Brett has numerous books that lend themselves well to the winter season. Her beautiful illustrations offer detailed depictions of animals and people from various locales and cultures. Consider The Mitten, Annie and the Wild Animals and Home for Christmas as well as the classics The Twelve Days of Christmas and The Night Before Christmas.
5th: Walt Disney’s Birthday - Need we say more? Disney is an industry unto itself. Read about the man himself in the Who Was? series Who Was Walt Disney? by Whitney Stewart or another Disney biography. You can then further explore the wonderful world of Disney through the many Disney characters we all know and love.
7th: Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day - Take this opportunity to search online, visit your local library or bookstore for age appropriate books to learn about this day in American history.
10th: Poet Emily Dickinson’s Birthday - Share Dickinson’s poems with your child. Consider Poetry for Young People: Emily Dickinson by Frances Schoonmaker Bolin or Poetry for Kids: Emily Dickinson by Emily Dickinson and edited by Susan Snively. Also, look out for Jane Yolen's picture book biography Emily Writes: Emily Dickinson and Her Poetic Beginnings coming out in February 2020.
Melvil Dewey’s Birthday - A great time to teach children about the Dewey Decimal System and visit your local library to see it in action. Consider Do You Know Dewey? by Brian P. Cleary and The Great Dewey Hunt by Toni Buzzeo.
11th: Author William Joyce’s Birthday - Think Rolie Polie Olie and The Guardians of Childhood. Consider our personal favorite The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore and look for the short film on YouTube.
30th: Author Mercer Mayer’s Birthday - Known for his Little Critter and Little Monster series. With hundreds of books to choose from it shouldn’t be difficult to find one or more to read to your child.
31st: New Year's Eve - Celebrate the ending of the old year and the beginning of the new with Natasha Wing's The Night Before New Year's.
Remember to take this time at the end of the year to build fond memories with your children as you celebrate family traditions of old as well as introduce new traditions. Try to always include a book at the end of the day or at the beginning of a meal or even while waiting for those cookies to come out of the oven.
“Most of our childhood is stored not in photos, but in certain biscuits,
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At three years old most children, my daughter included, can assist with (or even accomplish on their own with proper supervision) cooking tasks:
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-Kate @ BTBL
Author
We are three generations that seek a way to get back to basics. It’s not that we eschew technology, but sometimes simpler is better especially in raising our children. Mom was a reading teacher, Amanda is an early childhood educator and Kate a children’s literature specialist and former school librarian along with the latest editions, a daughter for Kate (now 3) and a son for Amanda (now 1.) We advocate reading aloud, the simple toys that use imagination and encourage creativity and learning in the kitchen, which can be a fun mess but also teaches life skills. Join us in raising healthy, happy, inquisitive and intelligent children.
Author
We are mom Sandra and daughters Amanda and Kate, all with backgrounds in literacy and education, who want to share our philosophy of taking the basics of life; books, simple toys that encourage play, imagination and creativity, and using cooking and baking to teach math and real life skills to raise happy, inquisitive children. Join us in exploring the old and the new and sifting through the myriad of research to consider what is best for our children.
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