The Next Best Book Club discussion

Hi, my name is Siobian and I just joined goodreads.com. I love, love, love reading and I'm always looking for other people who compulsively buy books and love to read as well. I teach toddlers so while they all love to read (I'm getting them started early!) our book discussions mainly consist of... Me: "What did you think of the book?" Child: "Is good. Pretty pictures! Yeah!" Sigh. We're working on it. Anyway, I'm excited about being part of this group and hope to hear from some of you. I'm ALWAYS looking for good books to read. Thanks!

Welcome, Siobian! I'm a Newbie, too, and have quickly become addicted to this site. We have something else in common besides books...I teach kindergarten! And yes, I'm working on the kids' book speak as well. It's amazing how quickly they pick it up! We're doing our part to create future bookaholics, aren't we?

Hi, Siobian. I just joined this group, too, and I am really enjoying it. There is so much activity that it's hard to keep up!

Val,
Oh, I hope so! I have two children in my class now who could sit and read all day long. It makes me so happy! One of my favorite things is to see a child coming to me with a book and hearing "Read! Read! Read!"

Welcome Siobian! I love your name, so pretty! I'm a reader because of my Dad. He was an avid reader. Every night when he was home, he'd pour himself a drink and light up a cigar and read a book. I did not pick up the drinking or smoking habit, though. But some of my favorite memories of reading are my mom reading to me before I was old enough to go to school and my teachers reading out loud to the class. My very, very favorite was my 4th grade teacher, Mrs Eberhart, reading Huck Finn to us. I can picture her now reading to us way back then and I'm 45 now. God bless teachers! They really can influence the world. :)

Hi Sera! I'm really enjoying it too. I can already tell that this site is going to seriously cut into my reading time!
Bluedaizy...Thank you! Sometimes it's hard to feel appreciated. But, it's so amazing to me how quickly children learn. I've worked with kids since I was in high school but just recently became a full time teacher. I work in a child development lab and right now I'm part of an early literacy research program and it is so fascinating how much children learn to enjoy reading when you actually take the time to read with them. My mom always read with us before bed and I have so many great memories of that. I hope the kids in my class will have memories like that one day as well.

I have no doubt they will! :) What influenced you to become a teacher?

Well, my younger brother had a learning disability growing up so I always helped him with his homework and with anything he was having trouble with. I really enjoyed it because it felt like I was really doing something and helping and decided I wanted to teach. Then, when I got to high school they had a program where you could go to the primary school and work in the special needs room, kindergarten or pre-k rooms for an hour a day. I signed up and worked with the special needs children and loved it! I've worked with kids ever since.

That is very cool. I am very envious. I secretly wished to be a teacher but couldn't stand the thought of having to talk all day in front of other people. What did I know? So silly back then. Now I talk all day to adults and occasionally in front of them. You live and learn...heavy sigh. :)

Hi Sioban, We met in the other thread already, but heres my offical welcome! so glad you found us and have jumped feet first into posting!!!

:)

Hey to you too Sera :)

Bluedaizy, you know if I taught in the public school and had to stand up and do formal instruction all day I think it would drive me crazy! Luckily, we're all about the "learning through play" method so I do nothing but fingerpainting, building with duplos, and reading "Fuzzy, Fuzzy, Fuzzy" all day long! Although, I'm a bit envious of you getting to carry on adult conversations that don't involve biting, potty training, and "How do we get these kids to stop banging on the tank and scaring the fish?!" You talk in front of adults too though? What do you do?

Thank you for the welcome Lori! I didn't want to be a "silent" member!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that! I'm in insurance. Started paying med/dental claims, then wrote training manuals, then trained, then worked in an insurance call center and managed/trained. Now I deal with sales reps all day and I would trade you a sales rep for biting, potty training and banging tank kid any day. But that's the grass being greener, hunh?

Siobian, I know what you mean about wanting grownup conversation! But I recently became a teacher after working as a legal assistant for 15 years, and believe me...those kids are much better to deal with than attorneys!!!!

Speaking of getting our love of reading, my parents have always been avid readers so I came by it honestly. You mentioning the kids saying "Read, read, read!" to you reminds me that a story I hear a lot about when I was a kid was walking up to my grandma when I was about 2, handing her a book and saying, "Sit! Read!" The last time I saw my grandmother, when she was 96 years old and had alzheimer's, she told me that story.

Ha ha! Okay, you're right! Maybe I'm not that envious! :) You should come be a visiting teacher for a day (or two!) I think an hour of molding with playdough would do anyone a world of good. It's like my stress relief.

Val, that was such a sweet story! No wonder you're such an avid reader now!
Yes, I want adult conversation now and then, but truly, I wouldn't trade my kids or my job for anything in the world.

Me either! They are just so fabulous and say some of the most heart-warming and then heart-wrenching things. But my favorite thing is getting them excited about reading anything and everything!

I'm glad you liked my Grandma story. :0)

Isn't that awesome?! You said you teach kindergarten which is a few years older than mine and I'm curious...how do you incorporate reading in your curriculum? I'm always interested to learn the different ways people get kids to read!

It is amazing what we are having kids do these days, especially in kindergarten. Gone are the days of cutting and pasting and learning to share (although there is still that, just not to the degree it once was). I taught all-day kindergarten, and so we had Read Alouds (where I read stories meant to incite discussion...so I would stop and ask questions of the kids, have them turn and talk with a partner about it or just get their impressions); Shared Reading (where I would use a Big Book - very oversized so that all kids can see it - and I model reading behavior and then have kids do the same); Guided Reading (small groups by ability level where we learn how to read a small book all together); and Independent Reading (starting kids out reading by looking at pictures then through class work building up their ability to read leveled books on their own).

Okay, that was probably WAAAAY more than you wanted, but I am so excited about the balanced literacy program. I would do all of that stuff throughout the day, swapping Read Alouds and Shared Reading, but always doing Independent Reading time. Of my 24 kids in my last class, all but two of them were able to read at least the first batch of leveled books on their own!

Okay, I'll stop babbling now....

Wow! That's amazing that many kids were able to read leveled books! And, no, that was not babbling. I love hearing about kids reading in any shape, form, or fashion.
I know that this is kind of going off the subject but, do you feel that they might be putting too much pressure on kids too soon now? What with the ITBS tests and everything? It's like you said where kindergarten isn't about sharing and cutting and pasting anymore. I'm just an outsider looking in so I would like the perspective of someone who actually works in a school system.

Oh my gosh YES, there is so much pressure! I don't think we see it so much at the kindergarten level, but definitely at the higher grades (and not even THAT high). I taught third grade a couple of years ago and they had to take the WASL (Washington Assessment of Student Learning) for reading and math, and those poor kids were completely stressed out. And don't get me started on standardized testing and No Child Left Behind! I'm sure it's not the same everywhere, but I hate how some principals practically shut down all normal operations of the school during WASL time. So many teachers only "teach to the test" and with the emphasis on reading, math and science, virtually all history or social studies has gone by the wayside.

Again, I'm new to teaching so I'm coming at this from a different perspective than seasoned teachers. But from all of them I've talked to, they feel pretty much the same.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I've heard around the board. I actually had a speech class a couple of years ago where we had to pick a social problem and do a series of speeches on why it was a problem and what could be done about it. I picked NCLB. We had a few teachers in my class who almost started crying when we had discussions after the speeches about how stressed their children were in only second grade. It really is sad.

Yes, it can be quite disheartening. So I'll stay with my little Kinders, teaching them to read and to love and take care of books. Plus, I have such a kick reading kids' books! Of course, I'm always reading with my 7-year-old, so I get PLENTY of kid book time.

Have you read any Sandra Boynton books with your kinders? I love "But Not the Hippopotamus"...although thinking about it, those books are probably a bit young for your kids. What books do your kids like to read? If I'm driving you crazy with all of the questions please let me know and I'll stop!

Hi-di Ho peoples :)

Hey Siobian,
Thanks for starting this thread! I've enjoyed reading the comments about teaching reading, kindergarten. I'm an avid reader as well...and I'm glad that not only did I find GR, but found this group as well! I am a medical writer, so I deal with medical information all day and need to escape it in my off time. I'm looking forward to this site and this group, because lately I have been watching a lot more movies (courtesy of Netflix) and haven't been reading as much. I am starting to get excited again about all the great books there are out there to read.

Welcome, Siobian! I saw your post on the Growing Pains thread, and can relate to your initial hesitations about joining. I, too, was worried that book snobs might be rampant and might look down on me, but have been so pleasantly surprised by GR and this group. :) What we all have is a love of reading and a respect for each other and the written word. This world would be so boring if we all only liked the same works.

Yes, there are definitely no snobs here! I've only been on this site for a week at the most, and everyone is so positive and approachable!

Siobian, I'm sorry I didn't respond earlier and, no, you weren't bothering me at all with your questions! Ask away! We had some neighbors come over so we were out back roasting marshmallows and talking until the mosquitoes (and the late hour for kids) sent us back in.

In answer to your question about books the kids like, I'll have to think about it. Off the top of my head, though, they surprised me with the variety of things they liked. They LOVED non-fiction (especially when it pertained to the current unit) or anything with funny or interesting words (they really giggled at "Today I Feel Silly & Other Moods that Make My Day" by Jamie Lee Curtis because it says "diarrhea".

And Boynton has always been a favorite in our house.

Welcome Siobian! I LOVE your name!! It was one we had considered if we had a girl. We ended up with two boys though, but still gave them Irish names. :-)

Mmmmm, toasted marshmallows!!

Yes, they were quite tasty and it was just a perfect summer evening!

Charity, what are your sons' names?

Aidan and Dylan

I guess Dylan is technically Welsh, but it's still very popular in Ireland.

Oh, I've always liked those names. My family is Scoth-Irish (plus quite a smattering of who knows what else). My sister's first husband was a McUne, and their daughters are Kathleen Marie and Elizabeth Maureen. I always loved those names.

Hi Siobian, welcome to the group!

Hello everyone and thanks for the welcome!! I really wasn't sure how many people would respond; I've never done anything like this before. I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone although, instead of getting up this morning and going straight into reading, I had to get on and check GR!

Charity, I love the name Aiden! If my husband and I have boys we're talking about the names Aiden and Ciernan. For girls I like Caoilinn and Deirdre.

Aidan was my absolute favorite, so I was so happy we had a boy (we didn't find out the sex of either of our children).

If we have another child, I'm now thinking about Fallon for a girl, Finn for a boy (two more Irish names...surprise, surprise). I'd love to spell it Fionn, but my husband said that everyone will always butcher the spelling.

We keep joking that we should name our kids Finn, Sawyer and Thatcher. :-)

It has been a pleasure reading this thread. I also work with kids and have three of my own so child development of all kinds is near and dear to my heart. A huge thanks to you teachers for giving so much of yourself to help our kids grow.

Hi Siobian,welcome to the group.How is your name pronounced?In my mind when I see your posts not knowing how your name is pronounced will drive me a little bonkers! :)

Thank you so much for your kind words, Marsha! I'm glad you've liked reading the thread!

Sherry, my name is pronounced Sha-bon, although, I hardly ever hear my name fully pronounced anymore. For the longest time, my brother called me Bon Bon since he couldn't say "Siobian" and now my family just calls me Bonnie. My husband and my kids at work call me Bon so it's kind of nice to be using my full name on here!

That's so pretty,and really how lucky are you that at least your nicknames are cute.I mean really how cute is that to be called Bon Bon.Makes me think of chocolate.Not a bad thing at all.

Haha. There's actually a funny story my mom likes to tell everyone about how when my brother first started pre-k his class was passing mine in the hall and he yelled out "Bon Bon! It's me! Hey Bon Bon!" so I came home after school crying because everyone started calling me Bon Bon. The name stuck and I was called that until I switched schools in middle school. I guess I got used to it because it doesn't bother me at all anymore. :)

Ahh,I can see how awful that would be for a kid but it still is pretty cute. :)

I was called "Pitufita" (translation: the little blue girl-smorf) all the way through High School because I was the joungest and shorter in all my classes and my friends were the giant-guys that played soccer. It never bothered me though, it sounds cute in Spanish, plus everyone was always extra nice to me because they didn't want to upset the guys, you know? He he he College was another story...

It does sound adoreable in spanish.

Charity, I wanted to name my first son Aidan but my hubby said absolutely not. He pointed out how horrible the kids could be about it. Our last name is Hettler. just imagine the name he would be called... he would be Aidan Hettler....
but they would call him.....

I wont type it, dont want to start a riot or a war, but in any case, it sold me on the spot (tho I still LOVE that name)...

Yeah, Lori, I think ya'll made a wise choice on the name

Haha, I wasn't here much longer than you! I just started yesterday. :) So far, I don't think I'm going to want to leave! And I've enjoyed talking to you in other posts and thanks for the welcome!