Dino Facts with Down in the Valley

 

Did you know? 🦕🦖 Down in the Valley not only teaches you how to count but also shares some awesome dino facts! 🌟 Can you guess which dinosaur could swim? Or which had a spiky tail for defense? Comment below with your guesses!

From Sketch to Book

 Ever wonder how dinosaurs come to life in a book? 🖌️🦕 Author and illustrator Cassie Veselovsky takes you for a quick look behind the scenes of Down in the Valley! 🎨✨ From sketch to final creation, every dino has its own adventure. 🦖  Would you rather be a dino explorer or a dino artist?

Three Things to Avoid When Helping Your Child Learn to Read

The top three things to avoid when helping your child learn to read:

1. Pushing Too Hard, Too Soon: Pressuring children to read before they're ready can lead to frustration and a negative association with reading. It's important to gauge your child's interest and readiness, introducing reading in a fun and relaxed manner.

2. Focusing Solely on Books: Limiting reading practice to books only can make the process feel rigid and boring. Incorporating a variety of reading materials like comics, magazines, menus, and signs can make reading more engaging and enjoyable for your child.

3. Neglecting Phonemic Awareness: Jumping straight to reading whole words without building a strong foundation in phonemic awareness (the ability to hear, identify, and manipulate individual sounds in spoken words) can hinder progress. Spend time on phonics games, rhyming activities, and sound matching to develop these essential skills.

Singing plays a powerful role in developing phonemic awareness in children, which is the ability to hear and manipulate individual sounds in words. Songs naturally break language into smaller sound units, such as syllables and phonemes, because the rhythm, rhyme, and melody of songs emphasize these elements. When children sing, they become more aware of how words are made up of different sounds and syllables. For example, in nursery rhymes or singable books, repetitive patterns like "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" or "The Wheels on the Bus" slow down speech, allowing children to clearly hear and distinguish individual sounds and sound patterns. This repetition helps them recognize rhyming words and syllable breaks, all while boosting memory and recall. Singing also incorporates playful language that encourages listening for sounds in a stress-free environment, making it easier for children to absorb and process. Over time, this sound recognition helps children with reading and spelling, as they can more easily decode and blend sounds to form words. In short, singing is a fun, engaging way to strengthen phonemic awareness, setting the stage for successful reading development.

Down in the Valley

Get ready for a dino-mite adventure! Head down into the valley and meet amazing dinosaurs like T. rex, stegosaurus, ankylosaurs, and more in this fun, singable counting rhyme, inspired by the classic "Down in the Meadow." You'll learn your numbers while discovering cool dino facts! Plus, there's a coloring page and fun activities inside to keep the prehistoric fun going!

Follow along on Instagram and Facebook for the pre-release fun and for your chance to win a free copy of the book!
 

CANDY for the Literacy Win!

Familiar songs like Bingo are great for learning! 🎶 Have you tried singing ‘CANDY’ with your child yet? Singing helps them hear every syllable!" #HappyHalloween 

 

Five Little Hedgehogs

 

Did you know hedgehogs can curl into a ball for protection? What superpower would your little one have if they were a hedgehog?

Five Rascally Raccoons

Ever seen five rascally raccoons running around and getting into mischief? Neither have I, but they’re in this book! 

What’s the silliest animal adventure your child has had?