Explore the World with Your Kids, By the Book

Growing Book By Book is a fantastic website for encouraging a love of reading, and I think her idea for an Around the World Family Book Club is fantastic.

Each month this year she has picked a book from a different country and then at the beginning of the month she shares other books related to that country and culture and conversation starters related to the topic. There’s also a themed menu, a table craft and an idea for a family project you can all do together.

So for example for May the country is Japan, the book is A Peace Tree from Hiroshima by Sandra Moore; the meal from Chef Sarah Elizabeth includes miso soup, vegetable tempura and sushi; and the table craft is a Zen garden from Sunny Day Family.

Check out the whole year so far and what’s coming up. Instead of doing one a month, you could do one a week over the summer, or just cover the ones you are particularly interested in.

I think this is a great idea for learning about different cultures and trying new foods.

What country would you like to explore?

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Summer Reading Printables and Tips for Parents

I’m in deep denial about the fact that new year is almost upon us again! It’s been the fastest and the longest year at the same time, and I can look back and see some good things as well as some things I wish had gone differently.

Doing a year in review with your kids — whether in the classroom or at home — is a good way to capture some of their memories and the things they really liked about the year gone by.

There are a lot of different printable year in review worksheets you can use if you want to make this super easy. Here are links to a few (often part of larger posts about NYE celebrations with kids that are worth a read, too):

Teach Beside Me has lots of fun printables fro the end of the year, including a year in review that covers favorite memory, funniest memory and the best book they read, among other topics.
NurtureStore‘s version has space for a self-portrait and prompts like favorite toy, best day out this year and future dream job.
Remember favorites, their “best idea” of the year and have room for setting goals for next year with this one from The Keele Deal.
The year in review from Yes We Made This has room for drawing or writing and includes things like something they learned, a memory they made and a place they visited.

Of course you could pretty easily make your own year in review for the whole family to do that asks questions based on what you most want to remember. (Favorite video game? Best friend? Favorite family memory?)

And if after the year in review you’re ready to look ahead a bit, Mrs. Merry has new year’s resolution printables to inspired kids to look ahead and set goals for things they want to try. You can totally fill this one out as a grownup, too.

[Photo: Mrs. Merry]

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Have you read?

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