eBooks

Develop the fine motor skills your child needs for school success! Fine motor skills are a stepping-stone for school readiness, and Everyday Play gives you the tools you need to make developing those skills easy and fun! Organized by age, the dozens of activities in Everyday Play are inexpensive, require few or no materials, and are easy to do with your child. They give you and your child great ways to have fun while laying the foundation for important skills that they need for school. Activities include: No-Mess Finger Painting, Marble Painting, Racing Tracks, Squeezy Water Play, Graph Paper Art, and Water Droppers. Holding a pencil, drawing a line, zipping a coat - Everyday Play helps your child accomplish all these milestones and more. With a chapter of frequently asked questions from real parents, developmental guidelines, and easy strategies for teaching your child important skills, Everyday Play is the book you need to ensure your child is ready for school.

Turn classrooms into inspiring learning environments! Based on the latest research about how children learn, this book helps elementary school teachers make their classrooms into creative spaces that facilitate teaching and learning. With "before" and "after" photos of real classrooms, teachers can examine each area and determine their own classroom�s need for improvement.

Young children are naturally interested in their world. With Social Studies and Me!, you can support children's curiosity by using storybooks to engage them in social studies and literacy learning. Each storybook exploration includes: Social studies standards and learning objectives, ways to link the book to children's experiences, ways to foster standards-based discussion about the book, ideas for extending, observing, and assessing the learning, and ways to connect with families.

There is nothing that children love more than a good story. Story S-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-r-s for the Primary Grades, Revised connects 90 of the best children's books to early learning centers, stretching each story five ways with lively and entertaining activities that heighten reading readiness, sharpen comprehension skills, and expand the excitement of story time. Pulling the best stories from the original books, this new edition also features new children's books as well as old favorites, refreshed activities, and online references for expanding story experiences. 256 pages. Paperback.

With the help of the stories and activities in this book, take the time to watch, wonder, ask questions, talk about, and explore the world of science with your child. Use favorite children's books to investigate animals and insects, learn how plants grow and change, and discover how shadows grow and shrink. With four chapters that cover a multitude of themes, it's never been easier to deepen your child's understanding of important science and reading concepts at the same time! 144 pages. Paperback.

"Jump into Science" is the perfect way to turn children's love of active games into learning opportunities! The activities in each chapter are organized by level of difficulty and each one incorporates fun, exciting science experiences with movement. Most activities require few or no materials and include related children's books or music to extend the learning. The science skills index is an invaluable reference tool giving teachers flexibility to plan around children's interests. Paperback. 132 pages.

Forget stuffy, structured craft activities; your child needs time to create! Rather than merely teaching your child to name colors and to hold a pencil, the hands-on process art experiences in Time to Create encourage discovery through a variety of art media, including drawing, painting, print making, collage, and sculpture. With ideas for encouraging creativity, advice for choosing the right art project, and suggestions for minimizing the mess, you and your child will be on your way to fun-to-do art explorations in no time! Christie Burnett is the writer and founder of the popular Australian parenting blog Childhood 101. She has worked as an early childhood educator for many years and is the mother of two young girls.

With quick and simple ideas, "101 Easy, Wacky, Crazy Activities" is guaranteed to enliven any day. Encourage children to think creatively, problem solve, and have fun while learning. Written by two experienced teachers, this collection of open-ended ideas is a book teachers and parents will want to keep handy. Paperback. 144 pages.

Start children on a path toward a lifetime of reading with more than 200 activities, games, and songs that introduce them to the alphabet. It all begins with 26 letters. The wiggles and squiggles that turn into words, stories, poems, and great literature are the tools for future readers. Children will love learning their letters as they play the Name Game, sew their own letters, create Puzzle Pairs, and more! Jean Feldman and Holly Karapetkova apply their signature creative style to teach literacy skills and the alphabet! Paperback. 140 pages.