Run Girl Run by Ellen Y. Mueller

 

Genre:  Young Adult, Realistic Fiction

Source: I won a copy from LibraryThing. The opinions expressed here are my own.

 

This is a wonderful yet heart wrenching story. Tracie is a sixteen-year-old girl who wants nothing more than to survive another day without her father beating her.  After escaping her father’s wrath she meets up with her friend. He lets her stay with him. She learns he has some of his own issues. When he suggests they pack up  and he takes her out of state to his mom’s place, she learns just how messed up he is. She has exchanged one bad situation for another. 

This is a story about beating the odds. Tracie learns how much strength she really has and learns she must find a way back home. But, how do you define home? Why is she unable to contact her mom? As I read this emotional roller coaster of a read I kept thinking about students I have had over the years. How many of them were like Tracie and hid it well? Where were the people they knew that could have helped them. I then wondered, how far are most people willing to go to help those they don’t’ know real well? Who are the heroes who will help save a life or turn it around.  Definitely a book I would love to have on my shelves at school if allowed. However, I will definitely recommend it, especially to the counsellors at school to have in their arsenal to help kids.

1 2 3 Ultimate Preschool Math by MamTalk Publishing

 

Genre: Children's Workbook

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

As a former kindergarten teacher I learned that small kids are like sponges. If you give them the opportunity and guidance they can learn much more than people think they can. By the end of the year my kindergarteners could read an analogue clock. They could read and write small stories. Why? The curriculum we used pushed them. Some of them needed more encouragement or needed to be retaught like everyone does in something. But they all succeeded

That is what this book does. The very first page does this. It shows a blank hedgehog ( one with zero needles) The student draws the needles on it, trace the zeros then trace the word zero, then they practice writing it on their own. Then of course they get to color the animal associated with it. After they have finished tracing, writing and coloring they can count the number of each animal.

Next they are asked to count objects up to ten. A certain number of shapes are placed in boxes and the child must count them and then color the correct number choice. Then they count and write the number under each picture like a graph.  Then there are pictures with different objects. Children color the count scattered objects and write the number in a box that corresponds to the pictures.  They learn to count one more or one less, then match the number to the objects. They learn the concept of before, between and after, inside and outside, right and left.  This is all followed by simple addition and subtraction. Once again they get to practice on basic shapes.  As always upon completion there is a certificate.

These are fun, engaging math concepts that are sure to keep the youngest child busy and actively learning

Large ABC and 123 Learning My First Big Tracing Workbook for Kids by Kidsup Publishing

 

Genre: Children's Workbook

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

One hundred and eleven pages of tracing fun for the young child. The very first page shows each letter and the numbered directions for writing each letter. Like your typical preschool/kindergarten letter tracing book they use cute animals for each letter. What I loved about this page was they used animals such as an alpaca, a narwhale, a sloth, a vulture and a yak. These are not the same ordinary animals we usually teach  them first. I know with my own grandchildren, if I showed them something they had never hear of before then it was a teaching moment for me.

Kids start off tracing single lines that are horizontal, vertical, slanted, the V-shaped before they ever start tracing letters.  In the beginning each letter takes up one full page.  Then you move onto the next section where you have one animal for the capital letter and one for the lower case letter.  The letters are followed by numbers then shapes that have positive statements attached to them. They even get into a rhombus, trapezoid, pentagon, hexagon and octagon.  As always, when your child finishes this book they get a certificate that you can print out and they can color.