Educational creativity

My Back to School Box of books includes books about family and friends.  We have always done those themes at the same time. When I Was Little A four-year-old's Memoir of Her Youth by Jamie Lee Curtis If you have four year olds this one is perfect.  It creates so much language and background information about your children.  We always did a self portrait after reading this one. This is a funny rhyming book that you could easily use to teach children when it is appropriate to paint. Are There Any Questions? by Denys Cazet (Children ask lots of questions while on a field trip) Chester's Way by Kevin Henkes (making new Friends) Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes (great self esteem) Clifford Runs to Story Time by Norman Bridwell Countdown to the First Day of School by AnnMarie Harris Dinosaur Starts School by Pamela Duncan Edwards First Day, Hooray! by Nancy Poydar First Day of Kindergarten by Kim Jackson Go To School by Stan and Jan Berenstain (Berenstain Bears stor...

I love fingerplays and songs where the tune is familiar but the words are new.  Here's one. The Friendship Song (London Bridges) A friend is someone who is kind, who is kind, who is kind. A friend is someone who is kind, just like (child's name) A friend is someone who can help, who can help, who can help. A friend is someone who can help, just like (child's name) A friend is someone who can share, who can share, who can share. A friend is someone who can share, just like (child's name) A friend is someone you can trust, you can trust, you can trust. A friend is someone you can trust, just like (child's name) Finger People Finger people are such fun We will meet them one by one. First comes mother, (pointer finger) Next comes father, Ther is big brother, Here is sister with her ball Here is baby last of all Now we'll count them just to see How many in our family 1,2,3,4,5               ...