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I just realized I missed the school book fair! I always loved the book fairs in elementary school. We’d go with my mom, and she usually let us pick out a book or two. Of course once we had our own money, we’d buy our own books.
I went through a Roald Dahl phase and would buy any of his books! I just loved his sense of humor.
Not that I need any more books, but they are one of my favorite educational tools. Holding a book between your hands, reading, getting lost in the story. That means learning to read as well. It’s something I want my kids to enjoy, without feeling like it’s a task.
I’m really excited about Scholastics new Ipad App – Storia. You can download books from scholastic, and they sit on your “shelf” on the app. The kids can pick their book, and it will even read the story to them. Which at my kids age is perfect. There have been a lot of books Mark has downloaded onto the Ipad, and reads to the kids at bedtime. Some of them read for you, but here’s the difference I’ve seen.
On Storia, the words being read are highlighted, so your child can actually follow along, and learn the words as well as enjoy the story. Of course you can also turn off the automated reading, and read it yourself – another great option.
Our favorite book so far has been Clifford. It’s a character the kids are familiar with, so it holds their attention. Another great aspect of Storia are the activities. On some of the pages a little lightening bold will appear. You touch the lightening bolt, and activities will pop up. It’s not just fun and games though, it’s things like “put the story events in order from first, next, last” and “match the characters with their names”. So it promotes paying attention to the story and what is happening. They’ve got something for every level of reader too.
The App is FREE to download (even better, right?) and comes with 5 Free Books! You can download more books from scholastics website. Here is the big kicker though, right now when you buy certain Kellogs boxes of cereal, you can get codes for $5 giftcards to Scholastic! We haven’t redeemed any yet, but I’ve got quite a few (Fruit Loops and Krave were on sale…we stocked up). Mark and I have been reading The Hunger Games together, and we need the last book. Guess what? Yep, Storia has it for download! I might just use our coupons for that.
I’m not a big electronic fan (hahaha, says the blogger), but I do love this app. I find myself wishing Mark could leave the Ipad home somedays so we can read the books on Storia.
