Booklist in Omni Outliner

For some time I've been wanting to start recording all the books I check out from the library for M and C. I could have just made a list of them in a Word document but I wanted a way to tag and organize them by categories with some books in multiple categories. What I need is something similar to the way iTunes organizes music with a general library and then the ability to group those songs into different playlists except my playlists would be book categories. I haven't figured out a way to do exactly what I want (working within the constraints of my system and budget) but I have developed a workable substitute in Omni Outliner.

I made an outline of all my books separating them into categories by type: baby board books, short picture books, long picture books, easy readers, chapter books. For each entry, you can make notes so in the notes section I add tags like: Halloween, animals, anatomy, fall, etc. I can then do a search of the document to find all books with the word "animals" in the notes.

Science Exploration

This week we checked out What Makes a Magnet? From the library. It's part of the Let's Read and Find Out About Science series which I highly recommend. On Wednesday morning, I usually keep M home from preschool so we can meet some of her friends from the toddler playgroup we used to have. During C's nap, we have some Mommy and M school time and this week, we did the experiments from the magnet book. We gathered objects in a cardboard box, some that would attract a magnet and some that would not. Then we tied a magnet from the fridge to a pencil and M "fished" for the objects. Then we used the magnet to make another magnet using a needle and turned the needle into a compass. M couldn't wait to tell her dad all that she'd learned we he got home. It was definitely a successful lesson!

Car Survival Kit

I was talking with a friend yesterday about what we keep in our cars so I thought I'd make a list of all the things I've found handy to keep in the car:

diapers
wipes
change of clothes for both girls
first aid kit
poison care kit (added after M ate a mushroom in a friend's yard when she was 18 mos)
towels (good for wiping water off park equipment and many other things)
snacks
water bottles
plastic bags
umbrella stroller
sweaters for everyone (and hats and gloves in the winter)

This Week's Books

Since I last posted we've done lots of chapter book reading. I'm amazed by M's capacity to listen to longer and longer stories. I love seeing her face light up at the prospect of reading. Today when I picked up from preschool, I told her that C and I had gotten a whole new stack of library books for her. She was thrilled and began looking through them the moment she got inside the house.

We're currently reading Half Magic by Edgar Eager. The chapters are very long so we're splitting them up into two or three reading session . I thought M might find the storyline too complex or be frustrated by the many literary and cultural references she wouldn't recognize but we're over halfway through and she still wants to keep going. As we read the chapter where the children meet King Arthur, M said she wanted to read some of the stories the children were talking about so checked out Young Arther by Robert Sans Souci.

I'm enjoying this stage of reading where M can enjoy such a wide range or books from short picture books to fairly complex chapter books. Having so much to choose from is wonderful.

Chapter Books We've Read Recently:
*Pony-Crazed Princess #7 and Ellie's Summer Vacation
*Goldie the Sunshine Fairy by Daisy Meadows (a bit insipid for my taste but M enjoyed it)
*Betsy Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace and the next three books in that series
*Mercy Watson Princess in Disguise by Kate DiCamillo
*We started reading The Penderwicks but the themes were a little too advanced for M so we decided to stop and read it when she's a bit older.

Picture Books We're Enjoying
*Many Moons by James Thurber
*Big Brother Little Sister by Papa Oyibo
*The Three Little Witchs' Storybook by Georgie Adams
*O'Sullivan Stew by Hudson Talbott
*Let's Make Rabbits by Leo Leoni
*Leon the Chameleon by Melanie Watt

Science Exploration

M and her dad had a great time the other day using the computer to answer some of her myriad questions about anatomy, both human and animal. Using Google Images and Wikipedia, they were able to find pictures and info about the human skeleton as well as the skeleton's of frogs and several other animals. M would announce what she wanted to see and then her dad would type in a search in Google Images to get a picture and then find further info in Wikipedia if need be. The spent the better part of an hour exploring and it turned out to be a great Daddy/daughter bonding experience as well as terrific science learning.

They also read from The First Encyclopedia of the Human Body, an Usborne reference book that is one of M's favorite reads. I would recommend it for anyone child interested in learning about the body. The Usborne catalog lists is as age 8 and up but M is happy to listen to it anytime.

This Week's Books

M filled up her stamp card for the library's summer reading program so she got to pick out a free book. She picked Anansi the Spider by Gerald McDermott and she love it!

Other picture books we're enjoying this week:
The Fool and the Fish, a tale from Russia by Alexander Nikolayevich Afanasyev
New Socks by Bob Shea (very silly, reminds me of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus)
Pumpkin Jack by Will Hubbell (author of Apples Here, one of our all times favorites)
T. Rex by Vivian French (great for any child interested in paleontology)

We just finished reading Betsy Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelave which M adored. We'll start on one of the sequels soon. We just started the first book in The Unicorn's Secret series. M likes it so far but we've only read one chapter.

I'm reading a great historical romance by an author I've been wanting to try, Gaelyn Foley. This book is the first in her new trilogy set partially in India. I can hardly put it down. The title is Her Only Desire.

Activities To Do With A Preschooler

As mentioned below, when I was pregnant with C, I started making a list of activities that I could do with M so I wouldn't have to wrack my brain every time I needed a fresh activity or something to get up out of the house. I'd been working on the list and my plans for the summer when I ran across this post on Zen Habits and found a lot of activities I hadn't thought to add.

A few caveats: I've left activities on the list that I have found difficult to do now that I understand the reality of having a baby and a preschooler like going swimming. We regularly do lots of crafts, so I didn't include activities like painting or using markers.

Here's my list in no particular order.
Do a cooking project
Go swimming
Go to the park
Make a playdate with friends
Play in the yard
Watch a movie
Do errands we can walk to (for us that includes going to the post office, renting a movie, buying bread at a local bakery, and going to the library, buying coffee beans from our favorite roastery)
Check out books from the library
Go to a coffee shop for a snack
Go to our local nature center/zoo
Play with sidewalk chalk
Pull out a toy we haven't played with before or a new toy from my stash (I keep a few inexpensive toys in a closet for special days when we need something new)
Go to the children's museum
Play with playdough
Paint with water
Do some pages in an activity book
Go to Barnes and Noble and read and play with the Thomas set.
Go see the animals at Pet Smart
Set up the tent to play in
Go for ice cream
Do a treasure hunt
Play games on the computer (like those at PBS Kids)
Dance to fun music
Water play outside
Decorate cookies
Find an educational show like on Animal Planet, Discovery, etc
Take a collecting walk and search for special rocks, leaves, pinecones, etc.