Paddy and His Books

I've written about Paddy's Books before on my other blog. This is sort of an extension of that one.

I notice that I plan so much better if I have a "big picture" and a guide or "golden thread" to steer through it. Paddy's book list -- there is such an array of books to choose from that it can get overwhelming. FIAR's booklist "feels" both too varied and too constricted to me. But following threads of connections works great. BY:

Author: Lobel, Minarik, Jan Brett, Eric Carle.

Genre: Folk tale, Fairy Tale.

Theme or Topic: Imaginary Pets, Bears, Winter, Counting.

Art: Watercolor, colored pencil, woodcut

Style & Literary Devices: Repeating, Cumulative, rhyming

Connections: cross-cultural, science, geography, history, religious.

When Paddy likes a book I think through these categories. It serves a few useful purposes. One is that is helps me be attentive to what he is getting out of the book. For example, recently he has become fascinated with counting, so he likes books -- and there are MANY -- where there are lots of objects on a page to count.

Another useful purpose is that it gives me a mental way to categorize his reading and make connections myself. Related to that is that I can go to the library and search across these categories.

I think as he gets older this can easily translate into a theme approach to learning. The details will emerge as I become more aware of what type of learner he is and what his gifts and interests are. Right now I know he loves to "play" stories with me and that he enjoys picking out details and phrases and discussing them. He is quite verbal.

If I sounded critical of Five in A Row, above, I am not critical at all. I like the book choices and I think the method is wonderful and has worked very well for many people. I use the books more as a starting point. I have learned (and am still learning, every day!) how I personally manage best, and it is more like a big picture, connection to connection approach.

I often use the Real Learning booklist and plan to follow it with Paddy using the above categories to brainstorm ideas for follow-ups. Elizabeth's book has many ideas for developing love of literature in small children.

Anyway, I'm SO glad that even with two grown children already I still have one up-and-coming to learn with, and four more in various stages of the learning process!