When I pictured homeschooling my preschoolers, I pictured curling up on the couch and reading quality children's literature out loud together and then going off to do hands-on activities together. But read alouds don't work in my house. For one thing, I have a child who is completely uninterested in fiction. For another, I have a 2 1/2 year old and an 8 month old whose sole purpose in life is to disrupt what I'm doing. Reading aloud just doesn't happen. My challenge is to find a way to meet the cozy-on-the-couch homeschooling feeling with the unique and numerous personalities that surround me.
There are so many reasons to like this book! I wish I had it when S was a preschooler (he is the one that doesn't like stories). There are 282 pages of activities in full color. The pages aren't too crowded, the illustrations are simple and easy to name, and the content is not overwhelming. There are some number writing and circling activities, but not anything too advanced. Most of the activities can be done orally. Which means I can go curl up on the couch with my preschooler and have that cozy quality time. Before someone interrupts us.
The only drawback of this book is the pages are not perforated and cannot be easily removed. So any writing activities are going to be a struggle in keeping the book flat. If a person really wants their preschooler to learn number writing and object circling with only this book, they can take it to Office Depot to have the spine removed for cheap. But I wouldn't do that. It's so much easier to hand them a blank piece of paper and say, "Draw something."
Both my just-turned 5 year old and my 2 1/2 year old love this book. E (5) can answer the questions (How many? Which is 2nd in line? Which is more?) and F (2 1/2) can point out shapes and colors and name pictures. One of my favorite activities is having the child divide objects into groups and explain how they made their groups. Are they going to sort by color or by shape? You never know! Other critical thinking activities include Half n Half Animals, Can You Find Me?, and Mind Benders, which can all be found in their own Critical Thinking Press activity books.
I see this book joining our other favorite point-and-name books in the basket next to the couch.
Legal Disclosure: As a member of Timberdoodle's Blogger Review Team I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a frank and unbiased review.
