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Kindergarten Book List

Picking books for a Kindergartner can be hard. Because not all of them read. Or, if you have one like my 5yr old. She can read, she just doesn’t want to. So, what do you do to inspire reading? Here’s a few suggestions.

And I would love for you to comment below with a book your Kindergartner (or past Kindergartner) has just loved. Because I’m always looking for new books!

Just One More by Jennifer Hansen Rolli – While not exactly at a Kindergarten reading level. My 5yr old just loves this fun book about a little girl who wants “just one more” of everything until she runs into trouble.

According to my 5yr old she can read it all by herself – which mean’s she’s memorized it. Any time a Kindergartner reads, even if it’s memorized, is good, because she’s still looking at the words as she goes.

This book basically lives on her bedside table so she can read it every night before she goes to bed.

This is another book that sits in a stack by her bed.  She just loves Shopkins. While she still can’t completely read this alone, I’m always happy to read it to her and her older sister will often read it to her as well.

Both of my girls are crazy about Shopkins so this is actually a very popular book with both of them.

While not something she can completely read alone yet, it’s so important still to be reading to your Kindergartner. So find something that she loves and it’ll help a lot with her reading skills.

My Lucky Day by Keiko Kasza is a favorite book with not just my Kindergartner but with all of my kids as well. It is a hilarious story about a little pig that “accidentally” shows up at wolf’s front door.

Wolf thinks that it’s his “lucky day” but is it?

We have re-read this story so many times that I have lost count.

If you’re looking for a book to read to your child that you won’t mind reading over and over, My Lucky Day is perfect. It’s cute, funny, and entertaining.

A Mud Pie for Mother by Scott Beck is another super cute book about a little pig.

It’s Momma pig’s birthday and little pig just wants to make her a mud pie. But when he sets out to do this all sorts of problems ensue.

In the end, little pig find the perfect gift for Mother pig.

This book actually has plenty of smaller words that your Kindergartner can read. You’ll have to read a few and she can read a few. It’s a fun and cute book to read together and help your Kindergartner work on her budding reading skills.

Barbie’s Cupcake Challenge is a tad bit advance for a beginning Kindergartner. It’s a level 3 Step into Reading, so it’s very likely that my child will be able to read it by the end of the school year.

My 5yr old told me that this one is one of her favorites and I’m happy to help her read things that she enjoys. There’s plenty more Step into Reading Barbie books out there and they’ll make great incentives or rewards for the next couple of years!

This post does contain affiliate links.

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Super Simple Mother’s Day Gift List

Looking to keep it simple this year? Just remember it’s the thought that counts. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to get Mom a Mother’s Day gift she’ll love.

1. Flowers – There’s something for everyone in this category. I love red roses, and bonus points if there’s baby’s breath with them. My husband knows this and gets them for me often. My MIL doesn’t really like cut flowers. But she loves potted plants that she can either plant outside or grow inside. I got her a tulip house plant for her birthday a few months ago, she put it on her porch and it’s perpetually blooming for her. She shows it to me every time I’m at her house. For Mother’s Day, I’ll just run up to Home Depot the day before and pick out something that looks like it’s going to bloom soon. It’s a super simple gift, but something that I know she loves.

The key with flowers is to put out a little effort and find out what kind of flower your Mom likes. Cut or potted? Red, pink, blue, or yellow? Roses, tulips, daisies, or lilies?  Flowers get a bad rap because they’re often a thoughtless gift, you just pick up something random and give it to your mom because you can’t think of anything else. Find out what she really likes, and the’ll be appreciated.

2. Chocolate – Again, don’t just drop by Target the night before and pick up the first thing you see on the shelf. Does your mother like light or dark chocolate? What fillings does she like? Does she have a favorite brand? It’s not about just getting a gift because you have to. It’s about getting something special just for her. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it does have to be something she likes.

My favorite chocolate is a bit pricey, I just love Godiva milk chocolate. And when someone gets it for me, it’s mine, and I don’t feel at all bad about not sharing with everyone. Do some research and get what she likes.

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3. Popcorn – I have a food theme going here, don’t I? The key with this again is thought. I know for me as a mom, a special snack just for me is hard to come by. I usually just snack on whatever everyone else is having. You know, stale goldfish from the kids, too-spicy salsa from my husband, and whatever else people in my house like to eat. I rarely purchase a snack just for me.

If your mom’s favorite popcorn is microwave popcorn, get that. You can get some really fun popcorn at specialty stores or even at your local grocery store. I love popcorn that’s been drizzled in chocolate. But it’s like $4 a bag so I don’t just go buy it for myself.

Better yet, get your mother some fun popcorn, her favorite sweet drink (coke, tea, lemonade, etc.), and a new DVD. I bet she’ll even invite you to join her movie night.

4. Coffee – Most moms I know consume a lot of coffee. My mom loves coffee. I know a few who don’t drink it at all and I’m not sure how they survive! If your mother doesn’t drink coffee, she probably drinks tea, hot chocolate, or cokes. The key here is, get her a beverage that she loves. My favorite coffee brand is Green Mountain. It’s always so smooth and delicious. Find out what your mom’s favorite brand is. Does she like beans, ground, or k-cups? Or, would she prefer a gift card to her favorite coffee shop? My mom always feels pampered with a Starbucks giftcard. Add a giftcard for her Kindle and she has a relaxing afternoon out. A lot of local coffee shops have their own special blends, maybe your mother likes trying new things. Just knowing that you put in some extra effort to get her something she likes will be appreciated.

Want to give a really special gift? Include a personalized coffee cup with her coffee. And she’ll think of you every time she drinks coffee.

5. Personalized Gift – Shutterfly has awesome magnets, scratch pads, and cards if you’re not crafty but still want to make something special for your mom. If you like to create things, make her something that she wants or something that will remind her of how much you love her everytime she sees it. For example, my MIL loves aprons, so I like to either make her an apron with the kids artwork on it, or buy her an apron from shutterfly or someplace similar with a picture of the kids on it. It’s useful, because she wears it while she cooks and it’s special to her because it lets her show off her grandkids. If you like to bake, bake your mom a special cake, or have her over for dinner one night. There’s so many personalized gifts you can give to your mom that let her know you were thinking of her way before Mother’s Day. (because these things take time)

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5 Things I Learned from my Mom

My mom will always be special to me. She was a great mother and while I may not have completely appreciated her when I was a child, the older I get, and the older my children get, the more I realize how much my Mother sacrificed and how much she gave for me and my siblings.

Here’s a few of the many things I learned from my mom.

1. All about Hair – Oh, you know. Long hair and tangles. Many tears. I’d rather go around looking like a porcupine than brush out all those tangles. But, nope, find a good hairbrush and brush away.

My mom also taught me how to fix my hair. How to use hairspray. How to use hot rollers (which I still own because you know that crazy curly hair fad is coming back in someday). She was even ok with me getting perms, dying my hair, trying new styles, etc.

I actually keep my hair pretty natural these days. But I’m so grateful that she was ok with me trying out new things and finding my style when I was a teenager.

2. How to wear makeup – Her best advice on this topic – aside from showing me HOW to apply things like mascara (so I didn’t end up looking like a raccoon) and lipstick – “makeup should accent your face, not hide it”. To this day, I still can’t stand the feel of foundation, so I don’t wear it. But, my mom taught me to be confident and happy with the way I look and to enjoy makeup as a way to dress up and not a means to hide my face.

And since the natural look is all the rage these days, I’m quite happy with my makeup routine.

3. How to cook – Being able to cook, and being comfortable in the kitchen has served me so well over the years. For starters, think of all the money my family saves by only going out to eat a few times a month. And then there’s the fact that I don’t have to spend a long time in the kitchen to come up with a healthy meal that my family likes.

I’ve had lots of practice and it all started with my mom letting me join her in the kitchen and make a mess.

4. How to have good manners – These are so important, and it seems that they are often neglected these days! From just how to be polite to people to which fork to use at that formal dinner party. Manners have served me well over the years.

5. How to be a Mom – Of all the things she taught me. I think one of the greatest things I learned was how to be a Mom. From seeing her pain when I was in pain from one of my many skinned knees (almost all acquired by flipping over my bike handlebars), to answering all my late night phone calls (which she would still answer even today). Watching her care for me and my siblings, and listening to her advice on life. Loving my Dad, and seeing them work as a team.

I have a great Mom who gifted me something invaluable. She showed me what a great Mom is. And that’s how I learned how to be a Mom.

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3 Thing Im Glad My Mother Taught Me

My mom taught me so much! And there’s lots I continue to learn. Thinking back through this year, there’s 3 things I’m so glad she taught me!

IMG_20150124_1949362231. Cooking – I cannot tell you how often I’m so glad I can cook! And I can do more than follow recipes, if I don’t have the right ingredients I improvise, I add spices as needed, and I’ll just wing it when I feel like it. Having confidence in the kitchen is such a blessing. I remember being at the counter helping bake, cook, and making a mess right along with my mom. Now, I let my kids do the same!

I’ll never forget the time I mixed up this beautiful tri-colored pound cake (in a bundt pan). I was in my early teens so fully capable of following a recipe. That cake was lots of work, and having three colors just made it more complicated. I successfully mixed it, baked it as instructed, and then set it on the rack to cool for 5 minutes. Next, continuing to follow the directions, I tipped it over and dumped it out onto the rack.

Only problem was, it wasn’t done. There were 3 colors of poundcake batter dripping down the counter and making a puddle on the floor. I cried, and I know my mom felt exactly as I did (even though she wasn’t crying). She had to clean up the mess. And then, we had a lesson on how to check a cake for doneness BEFORE tipping it over.

2. Sometimes Life is Hard – But you don’t give up. Life is constantly frustrating, irritating and just downright hard. But that’s all part of life, and definitely part of mothering.

Thankfully, that usually balances out with fun, love, and successes! You just don’t give up when things get hard, just keep going and things will come out ok in the end.

20141211_1316183. My Emotions are My Choice – I don’t mean I don’t have them. I can’t always choose when they’ll strike. But, I can be responsible for them. There are days I count to 10 before answering any questions. And there’s times I’m just tired, hungry, and crabby – and everyone knows it. That’s what coffee and chocolate are for!

Some days it’s really hard, but I can’t blame anyone for how I respond to things – like right now I would really like to tell the girls exactly what I think about them interrupting my writing for the 20th time instead of playing quietly in their room! Instead I calmly gave two choices. They can play quietly in their room until I come get them or they can take a nap like their Brother. We’ll see how long it lasts, but hopefully at least until I’m done writing!

With 2 girls I’ve started teaching emotional responsibility already. It’s ok to be mad – but we do not throw things or slam doors when we’re mad. It’s ok to be upset and it’s ok to cry – but we don’t yell at siblings or say unkind things because we’re upset. It’s not about not experiencing the emotion but it’s about remembering that no matter how I feel I still have a responsibility to be kind and considerate towards others.

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Motherhood

With Mother’s Day right around the corner, it’s a time when I start thinking about motherhood. I usually start by reviewing how different my life would have been without a husband and kids. It would be a lot different, I would work a full time job (not that I don’t now, but I would be getting paid for everything that I do), wear dangly earrings (I can’t right now because the baby thinks they’re toys), and have a much smaller house (really, I think my house is just for toy storage anyways, so I don’t get a lot of space for my stuff these days).

Of course, with any musings about motherhood and being a wife, I always end up back at Proverbs 31. I’ve heard this chapter taught so many different ways, and used to say so many different things, but I still have my favorite verses.

Verse 11 – “The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain.” – I love this verse, the verse before this in the ESV version says “an excellent wife…”. I grew up with the KJV version which starts with “A virtuous woman…”. But, I prefer the ESV, because I understand what “excellent” means, “virtuous” is just not used commonly enough anymore for me to connect to it.

Anyways, back to verse 11. We’re discussing an excellent wife and how her husband trusts her. I think of all the things I do for my husband, pay bills, answer his phone, reply to e-mails, little projects he wants done, etc. and I realize that most of thetime, he just asks me to do something and never checks in to see if I actually did it, he just assumes it’s going to get done in time. Basically, he trusts me.

Verse 16 – “She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.” – So, I’m not planting a vineyard anytime soon, but I would say that I’m pretty good at not overspending our budget and managing our finances. I think of Proverbs as poetry, so I very rarely take what I hear literally – as in, this verse does not mean that I need to go buy a field and plant a vineyard to be an excellent wife. I think it means that I take good care of what I have and take advantage of opportunities to provide for my family. (provide not being necessarily working a job but also saving money, spending wisely, and using what I have to create more)

Verse 17 – “She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. – This verse totally, definitely, means that I have to go to the gym several times a week! Just kidding, but I do enjoy a good workout, it’s very stress-relieving.

Strength can be seen in many different ways. I’ve heard plenty of people say “she’s the strongest woman I ever knew” when referring to a favorite aunt, grandmother, or mother and they’re not talking about physical strength. It’s more about the inner strength it takes to be an excellent wife, mother, and woman.

Verse 23 – Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land” – This would indicate that the husband is not home all the time helping his wife, he is free to pursue business deals, hobbies within reason, and he trusts his wife (back to verse 11) with managing everything not exclusively his areas of knowledge or interest. This also ties into verse 31 – “Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates” – obviously it’s not just the husband who’s known in the gates (“the gates” being a circle of people, sphere of influence, etc. – I don’t know of anyone who thinks it’s profitable to actually sit at a gate these days).

And my favorite verse, verse 26 – “She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue” – I always think of this section in Caddie Woodlawn when her mother has a talk with her about the different expectations that she has for her daughter compared to her sons. Basically, what she says is, it’s women who bring gentleness, refinement, and common sense to this world and without women this would would be a very rough and uncivilized place to live.