Another year zooms past

Practicing her handwriting.

So here we are in the last week of school.  All the library books at back at school, the reading reports have been filed for posterity, and even the art folders have come home.  Annika's portfolio is a trip through an exceptional year, starting in 4yo kindergarten, and finishing in Prep.  From writing small sentences, to writing pages at a time.

I am not educated enough in the ways of Montessori to write in detail on the Method, but let these photos speak for themselves.  For a child with advanced language skills, and advanced math skills, the opportunity to choose her own work, work by herself OR with others, learn the concrete AND the abstract ... the genius of Montessori is very clear.

Piping meringues

This last week is a time of very mixed feelings for us, because we take a step out into the unknown next year with a new teacher.  For many families, that's the norm every year, but at Montessori, the mixed-age philosophy means most students get three years with each teacher.

The Bookmonster, however, has had just two years with her beloved teacher, who has put a tremendous amount of effort into extending her in class, and ultimately, securing the opportunity for her to skip a grade. Going into Cycle Two - grade one - next year will give her the chance to work with her intellectual peers, we resources aimed at older children, and with expectations scaled that bit higher.  She thinks her new teacher is cool, and awesome, but ... he's not Bri.  And that upsets her.

Calculating with the skipchain

I know it will all blow over in the excitement of the first week of school, but it doesn't help that all her crying is making me cry, too.  Bri and I mounted the "she's not quite the same as other children" roundabout together, and worked so hard to find what it is she needed.  I know she is in the best possible place for her, and that she needs to be with the older kids, but ... I don't want to say goodbye either!

 What's not to love about a teacher whose most critical comment on the end-of-year report is "Annika needs to work on moving around the classroom quietly and slowly, as her singing tends to distract others at work."  Singing is one of those things moving into Cycle 2 will help with - she will be able to join the choir, and learn an instrument if she wishes.  Join the Chess Club.  Munch through someone else's library of books (though, to be fair, she has already started doing that!)

Every parent must feel some regret as their children get older, but when you have a child that needs to do everything sooner/faster/more, that regret is particularly sharp. The Bookmonster has decided she would like to be 15, thank you very much.  The Bookmumster would be happy if you could try being 5 occasionally, my darling.

Any ballerinas in that Treehouse?

In the interests of analysis, and thanks to a very cooperative librarian, I have a obtained a complete list of Annika's borrowings since May. I'm very surprised to see how limited the list of authors is; I realised her thirst for Magic Ballerinas and the Magic Treehouse was overwhelming, but they make up such a huge portion of this list.  When Annika chooses her own books, she goes straight for her favourite authors; she will try new ones (especially if the word 'fairy' or 'princess' is featured prominently) but only when there are none of her favourites about.

The Aussie Bites selection was also surprising - I'm wondering if it's a coincidence that Sheryl Clark has written so many of the ones Annika chooses.  Are there that few Aussie Bites writers aiming for young girls? Finding stories set in a semblance of reality is so important, especially amongst the flood of badly written, over-princessified rubbish. (Katie Chase's Little Princesses are the exception ... imaginative AND well written; a pleasure to read aloud as well as beloved of the Bookmonster.)

A recent discussion of picture books on BubHub (parenting forum) made me think about whether or not Annika is exploring those options enough.  She does read Sofia's books as well, but more in passing.  But interesting, well written stories will always be improved by the addition of beautiful illustrations, whether you are five or fifty.

May -

The Too Tight Tutu, by Sheryl Clark (Aussie Bites).
Season of the Standstorms, by Mary Pope Osborne (Series: Magic Treehouse)
Hester the Jester, by Margaret Clark (Aussie Bites)
Elephant Mountain by Janeen Brian (Aussie Bites)
The Treasure of the Orkins by Tony Abbott (Series: Secrets of Droon)
Wandihnu and the Old Dugong by Elizabeth Wymarra (picture book)
Tale of the Outback Waterhole by Robin Skirrey (picture book)

June -
Susie the lifesaver by Sherryl Clark (Aussie Bites)
The Rain Princess by Katie Chase (Series: The Little Princesses)
If the Shoe Fits, by Krista Bell.
The Whispering Princess by Katie Chase (Series: The Little Princesses)
The Knight at Dawn by Mary Pope Osborne (Series: Magic Treehouse)
Show and Tell by Bruce Dawe (Aussie Bites)
Problem Pony by Sherryl Clark (Aussie Bites)
Monday with a Mad Genius by Mary Pope Osborne (Series: The Magic Treehouse)
The Peach Blossom Princess by Katie Chase (Series: the Little Princesses)
Carnival at Candlelight by Mary Pope Osborne (Series: The Magic Treehouse)

July -

Eve of the Emperor Penguin by Mary Pope Osborne (Series: The Magic Treehouse)
Escape from JabarLoo by Tony Abbott (Series: Secrets of Droon)
Rosa and the Secret Princess by Darcey Bussell (Series: Magic Ballerina)
Pirates of the Purple Dawn by Mary Pope Osborne (Series: The Magic Treehouse)

August -

Thanksgiving on Thursday by Mary Pope Osborne (Series: The Magic Treehouse)
Dragon on the Red Dawn  by Mary Pope Osborne (Series: The Magic Treehouse)
Joan of Art by Margaret Clark (Aussie Bites)
Blizzard of the Blue Moon by Mary Pope Osborne (Series: The Magic Treehouse)
Daisy and Alice at the Princess Academy by Vivian French (Series: The Tiara Club)
Holly and the Land of Sweets by Darcey Bussell (Series: Magic Ballerina)
Rosa and the Golden Bird by Darcey Bussell (Series: Magic Ballerina)
Philomena Wonderpen is a teeny weeny doll by Ian Bone
Holly and the Rose Garden by Darcey Bussell (Series: Magic Ballerina)
Summer in Enchantia by Darcey Bussell (Series: Magic Ballerina)
Philomena Wonderpen is a very naughty teacher by Ian Bone
Animalia by Graeme Base
Moonlight on the Magic Flute by Mary Pope Osborne (Series: The Magic Treehouse)
The Adventures of the Wishing Chair by Enid Blyton

September -

Holly and the Silver Unicorn by Darcey Bussell (Series: Magic Ballerina)
The magical world of fairies: enchanted tales from Fairyland by Nicola Baxter
Philomena Wonderpen is a school camp star by Ian Bone
Day of the Dragon King by Mary Pope Osborne (Series: The Magic Treehouse)
Rosa and the Secret Princess by Darcey Bussell (Series: Magic Ballerina)
Holly and the Dancing Cat by Darcey Bussell (Series: Magic Ballerina)
The rain princess by Katie Chase (Series: The Little Princesses)
Afternoon on the Amazon by Mary Pope Osborne (Series: The Magic Treehouse)
Firelight Friends by Sue Bentley (Series: Magic Kitten)
Rosa and the Three Wishes by Darcey Bussell (Series: Magic Ballerina)
Winter of the Ice Wizard by Mary Pope Osborne (Series: The Magic Treehouse)

Don't ask about our overdue fines :D

The dance incursion

By Annika

15 oct 2010

Today we had the dance incursion. My favorite bit of the incursion was the butterflys .We had scarves for wings and when ever we rested on a flower we made our selves really, really, really, really, really, really tiny.The room 6 preps went with the room
5 preps.it really was such fun! We also pretended to wash the scarves in a pretend river. We didn't really wash them, we only pretended. I made a poster about the dance incursion - here it is!

New horizons?

Once a week, Annika has been going into a Cycle 2 classroom to do activities with the older kids (ages 6-9).  As part of that, she also gets to borrow books from the Cycle 2 library, which is terribly exciting for her.  I was curious to see what she would bring home last week, but quite flummoxed by the result. An Aussie Nibbles book - Susie the Lifesaver - which is on the shelf in her own classroom, and an acknowledged favourite. Why would she choose something so simple?

On thinking about it, I am starting to understand.  The flipside to excitement tends to be stress - good stress, perhaps, but still stressful.  In the unfamiliar environment, Annika must have been quite relieved to find something familiar.  Susie the Lifesaver threw her a lifeline.  It's a good reminder to me not to push, to let Annika do what she needs to do, when she needs to.  At school, I often see her choosing activities that are well below her capabilities, but as her wise teachers have reminded me, it's not all about the intellect.  It's about comfort and familiarity and being able to relax in the learning environment.

And we are still having marvelous moments with books as well.  Immersed in the latest Magic Ballerina, Annika actually stopped reading long enough to asked me a question! "What does 'discordant' mean, Mum?" Unfortunately, the bookmumster knows very little about music and had to stumble along with something about the sounds not going together, not sounding good ... and fell back on the trusty "Ask Sue!"

Sue, the assistant in Annika's current Cycle 1 classroom, is an authority on all things music, and the concept of what was discordant was discussed at length, with the bells to assist, in class.  Annika now has a better understanding of it than I do.

Poetry and notes

The upside to being a voracious reader, of course, is being a keen writer and storyteller.  The Bookmonster has that in spades ... our house, in fact, is literally wallpapered in dozens of notes commenting on various preoccupations from puppet shows to ballet, instructions for Mum and Dad, messages to her little sister, and general observations of daily life.

Some of then are funny, others mundane, and some scarily beautiful. Take the tale of the fox.

"The fox is stiff. Very stiff.  Stiff as my finger sometimes.

It means it is numb. Stiff and cold."

The fox in question was found dead in our backyard.  It was her first closeup encounter with both a fox, and a dead animal.

Her teacher has observed that the Bookmonster tends to process her feelings through her writing, and her composition book is full of two or three sentence accounts of scary or upsetting experiences, usually illustrated to underline the point. What a tremendous outlet for a young child ... while this reading/writing thing has its challenges, it is quite clearly a very fortunate gift.

Annika reviews Bindi

Bindi Wildlife Adventures: Camouflage. By Chris Kunz.

This book is about Bindi helping to find a stolen Komodo Dragon when she visits Singapore.  She also saves the life of a girl called Jasmine who was bitten by the  Komodo dragon. They have poisonous saliva. I liked this book because it was about Bindi, and it was funny when she made a joke about the bumboat.  She wanted to know if they were going to travel by bumcar, or bumcycle. It made me roar with laughter.  I also liked it because it helped me to learn about a new animal. 

Home from the library

The Bookmonster has ballet on a Monday afternoon, and that's when the Puzzlemonster and I go to the library to refuel.  The stocks were low this week: only three books that seemed suitable for Annika, with nothing particularly appealing in the non-fiction section either.

We took out: Magic Ballerina, Summer in Enchantia (Darcy Bussell); Blizzard of the Blue Moon (Magic Treehouse #36 by Mary Pope Osborn), and Philomena Wonderpen is a teeny weeny doll (Ian Bone).  They have already been read and re-read and the Puzzlemonster objected yesterday when her sister decided to move onto "her" library books. (Gilbert the Great, Brave Little Penguin, I've Lost My Kisses, Murphy Jumps a Hurdle, and Little Dog).

Peace was reestablished when I reminded them that the Bookmonster LOVED to read to her little sister, and they spent half an hour curled up on the couch together, reading aloud. I try to remember its good for the Bookmonster to read aloud ... she loves to play with the tone and colour of the language, and delivers the full dramatic experience.  It's also a good gauge of her understanding of the words ... and it's wonderful to hear her explaining the meanings to her adoring little sister.

The Bookmonster review

Solo Bush Babies: Koala by Robin Stewart

It   is  about  a  baby  koala  losing  his  grip   on  his  mother's  back  one  night. he  falls. I liked  it  because  it  was exciting, and had lots of  good words.  Some were: pouch, moonlit, wailing, completely, camera, and reporter.

By Annika

Reading right now

The Bookmonster's bedside drawer currently contains:

Ballerina monster

* Magic Ballerina (Holly and the Rose Garden) by Darcey Bussell
* Dragon of the Red Dawn (Magic Treehouse #37) by Mary Pope Osborne
* Thanksgiving on Thursday (Magic Treehouse # 27) by Mary Pope Osborne
* Oliver's Egg (Aussie Nibbles) by Meredith Costain
* Philomena Wonderpen (is a very naughty teacher) by Ian Bone

and open, on her bed, from which she had just arisen thanks to a lurgy:

* Magic Ballerina (Holly and the Land of Sweets) by Darcey Bussell
* Magic Ballerina (Rosa and the Golden Bird) by Darcey Bussell

And yes, the Bookmonster loves her ballet. Almost as much as reading!

A short history

Bookmonster and sister playing Reading Eggs 

The Bookmonster started reading around the time she turned 3. We're not exactly sure when ... she was so good at memorising entire books, she had us fooled.  At 3, however, she started one day a week in a beautiful Montessori children's house, and in her second week came back with her first reader.

It took her about a month to move from "I am Sam" to children's books.

By three and half, when she started Montessori school proper, she was on beginner readers (level 5).  By the end of her first year (2009), she had "levelled out" the entire range and moved on to chapter books.  Aussie Nibbles and Aussie Bites are generally a good ranges, but the content can be uneven, and in some cases, the books are uninspiring.

And lets not talk about PegLegMeg, when the Bookmonster came out of her room with a worried look on her face.

"Mummy, what does 'torture' mean."

Oh dear.

And so I learnt to vett her reading quite carefully.  I peruse all the books from the library quite carefully, looking at content first, and language second.  There are lots of worthy, uplifting books, but some have the most boring language.  Others are too scary.

We have a number of reliable series that we hunt down everything published.  They are:

* The Secrets of Droon series by Tony Abbott
* The Magic Ballerina series by Darcey Bussell
* Doll Hospital by Joan Holub (excellent use of historical themes)
* The Magic Treehouse series by Mary Pope Osborne
* Pony Pals by Jeanne Betancourt
* Bonnie and Sam books by Alison Lester
* Matilda Mudpuddle by Gordon Winch.

Annika also loves Tashi,  by Anna Fienberg et al, but I am uncomfortable with some of the content.  It verges on a bit too scary at times, and I spend a lot of time convincing the BookMonster that certain things are Most Definitely Not Real. Fantasy is a somewhat disputed area in Montessori theory, but generally is not favoured for young children, and the 5yo tendency to overdose on fairies and magic has to be carefully balanced with reality.  We love how the Magic Treehouse books mix fantasy with historical themes, and Pony Pals and Bonnie and Sam manage to deliver good strong female role models doing lots of healthy, outdoorsy stuff.  Bonnie and Sam, of course, get major props for being Australian, as does Matilda Mudpuddle.

About the Book Monster

A month ago, my daughter came marching out of her bedroom.

"Mum.  This book says I'm a bookworm!"

She was delighted. To find out what it is you are - who you are - when you feel different to everyone else is a magnificent thing.  But herein lies the problem.

My daughter -  the fairy queen, the pirate princess -  is five years old.  She reads better than many teenagers.  I call her the Bookmonster. She munches through books like the Cookie Monster attacks cookies, and I am going mad trying to keep up with her.

The problem is not trying to find books.  We go to the library each week - there is no shortage on the shelves.  The problem is finding books she SHOULD be reading. Books that will open the horizons for her, without teaching her about concepts a five year old doesn't need to know.  Books that will build her love of the language.  Books that will challenge and stretch her, without forcing her to become a teenager before her time.

The Bookmonster is a very young advanced reader.  There isn't a lot out there for children who read so many years ahead, and we need all the help we can get.  This is me, bookmumster, seeking help.

This blog will list what Annika Bookmonster has been reading lately - the nitty gritty of titles and series and if she feels like it, an analysis from the Bookmonster herself.  And then, it's over to you, oh great Internet public.  I'm hoping the parents of other Bookmonsters (or the monsters themselves) will join us to share what they have been reading too.  Bookmonsters of the world -  unite!