Let's Prepare Our Kids for the Future  by Susan Stephenson Regular readers of The Book Chook will have picked up by now that I believe strongly in the importance of play as the way kids learn best. When children start school, I think we should maintain this attitude of learning through play as much as possible. It seems a no-brainer to ...

Learning Activities for The Wrong Book by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com As I mentioned last week, 11.00 am on May 23 is National Simultaneous Story Time in Australia, when hordes of eager kids and adults share a picture book in libraries, schools, homes and other places around the country. In 2013, the book everyone will be ...

We're getting close to that time of year in Australia when all who love reading and children's books have a huge celebration known as Children's Book Week. School and public libraries will be offering all sorts of activities and fun according to this year's theme: Read across the Universe. The dates for Children's Book Week Australia 2013 are: ...

Producing Visual Content Online with Kids by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com In Visual Literacy - Investigate and Play with Images, I re-stated my belief that picture books are a great format for developing early visual literacy skills, and that we also need to ensure kids encounter a range of different visual ...

Visual Literacy - Investigate and Play with Images by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com Our world is becoming more complex visually. We must help kids think critically about what they see. (We also need to help them develop the skills they need to consciously produce visual content that targets an audience ...

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Early Learning HQ - Great Learning Resources  by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com Recently I discovered a great set of online learning resources that support parents and teachers looking for activities to help kids learn. Early Learning HQ offers thousands of free-to-download early years resources. There's no ...

Letter to the Book Chook - Pre-school at Home  by Susan Stephenson Photo credit: danitort from morguefile.com Dear Book Chook, My 4yo, Ethan, will be going to Kinder this year, but we are currently on a waiting list and have no idea how long it will take to get in, if at all. What things could I do with ...

Play Guessing Games with Kids by Susan Stephenson A few weeks ago, I reviewed The Carnival of the Animals, a wonderful children's picture book that's also a guessing game. It made me think about guessing games and how they're a great way to sneak some learning into a whole heap of fun. Here's a list and description of ...

More Ways to Celebrate Dr Seuss' Birthday by Susan Stephenson, www.thebookchook.com In 2011, I brought you some ideas to help celebrate Dr Seuss's birthday on March 2. Here are some extra ideas your kids/students can try for a literacy-inspired celebration: * Brainstorm a list of words that Dr Seuss makes you think of. Add ...