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Tag Archives: Anne G.

Home Education

Posted on August 12, 2020 by GPL

Many parents are embarking on educating their children at home due to the COVID-19 situation. GPL has put together a list of resources to help you in this new endeavor – GPL Homeschool Page.  There are a plethora of choices available. Whether you are choosing virtual options, online options, hybrid programs, or completely going off the grid to make your own programs, we have resources to direct you to for help.

Both my coworker Bonnie and I have educated our children until college with an assortment of programs and materials. I used a combination of curriculum including systematic phonics programs, Saxon math, and unit studies-based curriculum. My children were involved in 4-H (public speaking, aeronautics, sewing, nutrition, animal husbandry, etc), Bible Bowl, various soccer and running competitions, Civil Air Patrol, piano, youth groups, and many volunteer experiences. In high school they participated in coop classes and took dual credit college classes for science and foreign language. All my children received numerous scholarships and obtained degrees from Ashland University in Ohio, Notre Dame, Hanover, and Purdue. It was not an easy road but we made it.

Bonnie based her home school curriculum on the recommendations of The Well-Trained Mind by Susan Wise Bauer. Her children attended the education coop classes offered by SEEK and SCHA (Southside Christian Homeschool Academy). Several of these high school classes are AP (Advanced Placement). They took dual credit classes at Franklin College (Running Start Program) and were involved in numerous performances through CGFAA and AGAPE youth community theater programs. They were also in church youth groups, local volunteer services projects, received classical training in voice and piano and were pages in our GPL Children’s Dept. Her daughters received scholarships to Ohio State University and IU. Bonnie’s youngest was named as a National Merit Scholar.

Please feel free to ask us about our experiences and curriculum recommendations. We try to stock our Parent/Teacher collection with helpful resources and are open to suggestions and requests for new materials.

Posted in Books & More, Kids Korner | Tags: Anne G., education, homeschool | Leave a comment |

My Summer Reading List

Posted on July 17, 2020 by GPL

All this time at home has given me an opportunity to read many new children’s books. I thought I would share with you some of my new favorites. Many of these books are on order and will be available soon.

 

FUNNY BOOKS (My favorite genre):

Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat
by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.
Lexile Level: 660

Personally, I love funny books so reading Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat was a delight! Klawde, an intergalactic overlord/emperor feline has been overthrown and exiled to planet Earth by teleporter. He lands in Elba, Oregon and is taken in by a young man (Raj) who has recently been transplanted with his family from Brooklyn, New York. Raj is dealing with his own crisis of being a city boy and having his mother sign him up for survival camp on an extinct volcano. Klawde reveals his situation to Raj who orders equipment from the internet so Klawde can build an escape transporter. There is laugh-out-loud dialog in this hilarious book. Fast read.

 

Bernice Buttman, Model Citizen
by Niki Lenz

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.
AR Level: 5th grade 1st month/ 7 points
Lexile Level: 780

If you’ve ever read The Best Christmas Pageant Ever you might remember the irascible Imogene Herdman. Picture a cross between Imogene and reality star Honey Boo Boo who intersects with Nonnatus House from Call the Midwife and you have yourself quite a book! I couldn’t put it down! Bernice is being raised in a trailer park by a “distracted” mother and 4 rowdy brothers. She is renown in school as a hateful bully and her dream is to be a famous Hollywood stunt woman. She has not been taught any manners and is rude and crude. When her mother leaves the family for some scheme to be on a reality show, Bernice is sent to live with her aunt who is a Catholic nun. OH MY!!!! The transformation is similar to Korman’s best seller: Restart.

 

A Zombie Ate My Homework
by Tommy Greenwald

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.
AR Level: 4th grade 1st month/ 5 points
Lexile Level: 560

This is a new series (trilogy) about a young zombie that was developed in a government laboratory who escaped and was taken in by a very kind family. This is a fast (short chapters) and fun read that I think the entire family will enjoy. (Great for reluctant readers!)

 

 

NONFICTION:

The Day the Universe Exploded in My Head
by Allan Wolf

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.

The Day the Universe Exploded in My Head is an enjoyable poetry book filled with great illustrations and funny informative poems dealing with space.

 

 

Gross as a Snot Otter: Discovering the World’s Most Disgusting Animals
by Jess Keating and Jessica Anne Morrison

Interest Level: 5 – 8 years (This seems like a very low leveI- I found it interesting and I’m 67.)

This book will have your children enthralled, horrified, and completely hooked! Great illustrations and amazing facts team up to make this a great selection!

 

FANTASY:

The Whispering Wars
by Jaclyn Moriarty

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.
AR Level: 5th grade 1st month/ 15 points

The Whispering Wars is a beautifully written fantasy filled with enchantments, nonstop action, stolen children and a magical flu (which creeped me out since I read it while quarantined with the COVID). For those who love a well plotted fantasy – this book comes highly recommended.

 

The Mystwick School of Musicraft
by Jessica Khoury

Interest Level: 10-12 yr.

This book is a Harry Potter-esque book with music as the vehicle of the magic. Amelia Jones has always dreamed of following her dead mother’s footsteps in studying at the Mystwick School to learn the magic of music. After she completely blows her audition she is thrilled to get the invitation to attend – but later finds out that it was issued by mistake and now she must prove her worth. This is a charming fantasy and sure to prove a worthwhile series.

 

 

GRAPHIC NOVEL:

InvestiGATORS
by John Patrick Green

Interest Level: 7-10 yr.
AR Level: 3rd grade 3rd month/1 point

This is a series of goofy fast-paced graphic novels based on the exploits of alligators who solve mysteries by traveling through toilets. If your kids love Dog Man and Captain Underpants this will be a winner!

 

 

 

SURVIVAL:

Lifeboat 12
by Susan Hood

Interest Level: 8-13 yr.
AR Level: 4th grade / 4 points
Lexile Level: 610

Lifeboat 12 is a fictionalized account of a World War 2 survival story. During the bombing of London children were sent to the countryside (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) for safety but they were also sent on ships to Canada. This was a great idea except that Nazi U-boats were torpedoing the ships. Ken Sparks a 13 yr. old Londoner is on the ship with 89 other children when the ship is hit and sinks. Because their boat was not swamped like the others and made it farther from the wreck, the rescue boats missed them. The book chronicles the horrific days of little water, scorching sun, cold nights, and the pain of “trench foot” while trying to row back to the motherland. It’s written in verse – so an easy read- especially for reluctant readers who love survival stories.

 

REALISTIC FICTION:

Finding Orion
by John David Anderson

Interest Level: 8-12 yr.
AR Level: 5th grade 3st month/ 13 points
Lexile Level: 790

This book is bizarre. Rion Kwirk’s family is very quirky. His mother named the children after constellations and his father works for a candy factory where he concocts unusual and sometimes disgusting flavors. Everything is turned even crazier when a clown arrives with a singing telegram to inform them that their grandfather has died. His dad’s father is the polar opposite of his son. Rion’s grandfather rides motorcycles and gives gifts like a taxidermied squirrel and crossbows. The story REALLY gets going when they attend the “FUN”NERAL and then discover that they must follow through with a scavenger hunt to find Grandfather’s ashes. As weird as it seems in the description, this is a poignant read and delves into forgiveness and what it means to be “family”.

 

Posted in Books & More, Kids Korner | Tags: Anne G., books for kids, kids | Leave a comment |

Reluctant Readers

Posted on June 15, 2020 by GPL

It’s summer and we really want to keep the kids reading so they don’t experience the “Summer Slide” (when academic skills decline without practice). Some children just love to read and it’s hard to keep them out of a book – but for many others, it’s like pulling teeth to motivate them. Reading is very challenging for many students so you have to be strategic in finding materials that will entice them to read. Books that we have found to be popular are: the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Captain Underpants series (and anything by Dav Pilkey), graphic novels like Smile and Baby Mouse. Nonfiction titles that draw kids in are books that contain short interesting factual information like Ripley’s Believe it or Not andGuinness World Records.  Joke books are a great immediate gratification read. Many boys like war books and we have a plethora of these in graphic novel format. Two of our hottest series are the I Survived series by Lauren Tarshis which covers exciting times throughout history and the You Wouldn’t Want to Be series which has a fun, factual, easy-to-read boxed layout.

A tip that has worked well for me: READ TOGETHER. I will read a page and the child will read the next page aloud or perhaps only the next paragraph. In this way the child is not overwhelmed by the text and by hearing the story and discussing the story together, vocabulary and comprehension are enhanced. Also, don’t count out audio books! The slogan, “Audio Books are Not Cheating” is TRUE! Children gain vocabulary, comprehension, and background information from listening to audio books! This choice is especially wonderful for family vacations! GPL has a wide selection of wonderful audio books and my most recent favorite is Restart by Gordon Korman which just won the YHBA Intermediate Award!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our GPL staff will be delighted to select appropriate fun materials for your children. Call 317-885-5035, and we will pull books that we will tailor especially for your family.

Posted in Books & More, Kids Korner | Tags: Anne G., recommendations, reluctant readers, YHBA, young hoosier | Leave a comment |

Young Hoosier Book Award

Posted on May 15, 2020 by GPL

Voting Open until June 1st

The Young Hoosier Book Award is a program that encourages students to read books for their own enjoyment. Every year Indiana teachers and librarians get together and read hundreds of books to find the best 20 books that students will enjoy reading on their interest level. The first category is for Kindergarten to Third Grade and is made up of picture books.  The YHBA Intermediate for 4-6th graders. 

To vote students need to read at least 12 of the picture books and 5 of the intermediate books and then click on the Voting Link. 

YHBA Picture Voting 

YHBA Intermediate Voting

These books will be available for curbside delivery by placing them on hold or through our online resource: Libby. Students may listen to audio books or have the books read to them. I have served on the Intermediate Committee a number of years so I can suggest my favorites for this year:

Restart by Gordon Korman

This was my very favorite book of the year!!! It has great humor and is thought provoking. A boy falls off his roof at home and then awakens from a coma with amnesia. He doesn’t even remember his family. When he returns back to school he realizes that everyone is afraid of him and that he was a jock/bully with a bad reputation. The mystery unfolds as to why he was on the roof and if he will decide to make changes in his new life.

 

Superstar by Mandy Davis

This book has great Indiana appeal. A young boy with high functioning autism has to move back to Indiana since his astronaut father was killed in a space accident. He has been home educated but must go to public school so his mother can return to work as a librarian. See how he adapts to all the changes in his life and contends with a mother who has great fears about his future.

 

Unlikely Story of a Pig in the City by Jody Kendall

A great story about a big family in a small city apartment who rescues and tries to raise a baby pig.

 

 

 

Chester and Gus by Cammie McGovern

Chester has failed to pass the canine service dog test and goes to live with a young boy with severe autism.

 

 

 

 

I hope you will enjoy some of the books for this year’s award and participate in voting!

 

Posted in Books & More, Kids Korner | Tags: Anne G., childrens, YHBA, young hoosier | Leave a comment |

Review: I’m Trying to Love Spiders

Posted on July 8, 2019 by GPL

I’m Trying to Love Spiders
by Bethany Barton
5 stars

Age Group: Kids 4 – 8 years
Other: Lexile Measure AD510

This Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee is a refreshingly hilarious nonfiction selection. The narrator is terrified of spiders and works her way – page by page- trying to learn about and appreciate them without squashing them…..UNSUCCESSFULLY!!! This wonderful selection is illustrated with comical ink and digital images which relay scientific facts in a humorous way.

 

Read-alikes

Animal Grossology by Sylvia Branzei

 

 

Posted in Books & More, Kids Korner | Tags: animals, Anne G., kids | Leave a comment |
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