Reflection

Through this process, I have come across many books that differ in style, genre, and theme. However, my favorite books would have to consist of E for Ethics, Marley’s Treasure, and Mrs. Piggle- Wiggle. Children can benefit from all three stories, and truly learn good moral lessons. I don’t look for anything in particular when I am picking out these stories. I like comedy, mystery, adventures and try to vary in order to accommodate all the kids. I truly enjoyed reading each and every book, and felt that I can use each in perspective to a lesson. I think being creative is the main essence in preparing a good lesson, and books, can be the key.

The New Kid at School By: Kate McMullan (CHAPTER BOOK)

This book is about a young boy, Wiglaf, who got picked on by his 12 older siblings. He then decides to join a special school that trains heroes, The Dragon Slayer's Academy. While there he has a quite interesting first day which ends in him being chosen to save the town. This is an adventurous book, that is filled with many jokes. This book will appeal to children by enticing their imagination with an alternate world of reality. Through reading this book, they will join Wiglaf and his friends on this wonderful journey to find and slay the dragon. In the book, there is also black and white illustrations that gives the kids a visual of what is going on. Wiglaf is a comical chapter to chapter book that, that I highly recommend

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald (CHAPTER BOOK)

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle is the neighbor that everyone wishes they had. She's the widow of a pirate, lives in an upside down house, and is always ready for a tea party with freshly baked cookies. But that’s not all, when it comes to kids, Mrs. Wiggle has the answers to every dilemma by letting the kids realize that what they are doing is wrong and has consequences. This book is really simple because the chapters are short and all follow the same pattern. Kids will be captivated by the different symptoms that kids go through, and the cures that Mrs. Wiggles will come up with. This is a light-hearted, silly book that can be a lot of fun to read out lout with young children. It also teaches valuable lessons in a less serious manner, for kids to listen to, and keep in mind.

E is for Ethics Author Ian James Corlett (CHAPTER BOOK)

E is for Ethics; How to Talk to Kids About Morals, Values and What Matters Most. This is truly a beautiful book, which sends out a powerful message. It is a short book that discusses the importance of being kind, understanding, unselfish, and compassionate as well as responsible. This makes life a lot easier for a parent who wants to instill these messages into their kids at a young age. It is divided into 26 chapters, to make it simple and easy for kids. They are short, funny, and conclude with questions to test their knowledge. Kids make everything challenging, and in my opinion, this book is the answer to many prayers.

Imagine Author: Norman Messenger

This book's title reads like a command, “Imagine a door without a room. Would you be indoors or outdoors?” From that introduction, you're invited to imagine all kinds of things from fabulous animals to bicycles with square wheels, and dolls becoming ogre. This is not a typical storybook, instead, it is all about make believe, and how far a child’s imagination can go. I think children will be absolutely delighted with this book and it will give those hours of entertainment as their imagination soars. In the end, this book is much like any creative child's imagination, sometimes creepy, sometimes cool, sometimes weird, but usually interesting. This book is also filled with beautiful, inspiring artwork as well as geometry and math puzzles in the corner of some pages. It is a full package deal.

Fancy Nancys By Jane O'Connor

To Fancy Nancy, who loves to accessorize and making everything fabulous, her parents seemed like they were from a different world. “Even at the ice cream store Mom, Dad, and little sister never even ask for sprinkles.” As a result, Nancy decides to give them "fancy" lessons to which they willingly comply. This sweet book shows that children are who they are, fancy or plain, and that when you love someone you do things you wouldn't normally do, just to please them. Children will also learn great vocabulary words as well as creativity through this wonder. I also think families with their own Fancy Nancy will really get a big kick out of this book.

Marley's Treasure By Gable Yerrid

Featuring cheerful, child-friendly illustrations, Marley's Treasure is a picture book with a strong moral lesson. When Marley, a young monkey, stumbles across a beautiful treasure of shining golden bananas, he hoards them to himself. In the process, he becomes distant from his friends and unhappy. With the wisdom of his friend Pete, Marley starts to understand that the greatest value of a treasure lies in sharing it with friends. This well written tale touches the heart with its message of giving and parents will love reading it as much as their children, who will enjoy hearing it. This story is expressive and full of charm, in the sense that it will interest, as well as educate young kids.

Hiccups for elephant by James Preller

Hiccups for Elephant is a great book for beginning readers because it's short, and funny for the young kids, and the letters are big and easy to see. This book is about a group of animals trying to take a nap, but one has the hiccups, the elephant. In the story all the animals work together so they can find a way of stopping the hiccup. The book is funny and teaches a great lesson about how important it is to work together and try to figure things out. I strongly recommend this book because it captivates the reader by putting them into a mysterious mood. Kids will definitely enjoy it.

Under Your Skin: Your Amazing Body By Mick Manning & Brita Granstrom

Get under Your Skin invites children to explore the structure and operation of their own bodies. It goes on a journey through the body, from how your tongue detects taste, to how your body sends messages to your brain. Each paragraph or related group of short paragraphs is headed by a key word or words in bold type, to make it easy and simple to fallow. This book also uses flaps and vivid illustrations to contrast the external and internal view of various anatomical systems and features. This is a clever means of introducing body structure and functions in a way that children will enjoy reading and viewing. Similes and metaphors also keep the emergent scientist engaged and entertained. The skeleton “is your body’s framework – without it you‘d be like wibbly, wobbly jellyfish!” (p. 10).

More Spaghetti I Sat ! by Rita Golden Gelman

More Spaghetti, I Say, is one of my favorite books. This is a comical book about a monkey who loves spaghetti and his friend wants him to play with him, but he is too busy eating spaghetti. At the end, the monkey who loves spaghetti gets sick and then decides he has time to play, but then his friend starts eating spaghetti and can't play. This story is quite silly and amusing with great illustrations. It is also a great choice for a read out loud, because of the rhyming words, which makes it a lot of fun for young kids. This book repeats itself and would be good for younger children who have sight words because it has great ones like not, can, I, see, etc..

Snowmen at Nigh By Caralyn Buehner

This is about a kid who builds a snowman, and notices it has changed overnight. He then imagines all the things that snowmen do overnight, like have iced cold coco, snowball fights and sled down the hill. The illustrations in this story are very animated and the text is graphically designed to add to the fun. "Then the snowman games begin: They line up in their places,/ each one anxious for his turn in the snowman races." The imaginative description and lively art could provide an entertaining read-aloud for bedtime sharing or winter story times. It would also be great for teaching prediction because children could draw their own idea of what snowmen do at night and write a caption.

The way I feel By Janan Cain

The Way I Feel illustrated a girl with a wide range of emotions. My favorite quote sums up the essence of the book, “Feelings come and feelings go. I never know what they’ll be.” Silly or angry happy or sad -They‘re all part of me!” This book shows how one might feel dependent upon different situations and circumstances. It is a great way to teach young kids to express how they feel as well as learn new vocabulary. The texts in this book are fun, silly, exciting, and full of images. Educators could also engage the students into acting out different scenarios that can trigger different emotions. I believe this would be the perfect lesson for young kids, and an important part in evolving.

All Summer’s Fun By Daniel Skalak

All summer’s fun takes you through the adventures of few friends who manage to make the most of everything. From belly flops at the pool to nights spent camping in a tent with all the mandatory flashlights, snacks, and ghost stories, to the boldly colored lizard-like monsters making breakfast of ice cream and a whole chocolate cake. The rhyming text and fun pictures make this a good book for sharing as a read-aloud or creating a writing assignment about summer activities. All summer’s Fun is the perfect story for kids who thinks they’ve run out of things to do during a long hot summer, because their imagination will be sparked. This book portrays the true nature of young kids, in the sense that they should be creative to entertain themselves.

Can You Count to a Googol? By Robert E. Wells

Can You Count to a Googol? In this fun book of numbers, Robert E. Wells explores the wonderful world of zeros and tells how the googol came to be named. It begins with number 1 and adds zeros one page at a time. “One is the number of bananas you could balance on your nose if you were a good banana balancer.” The silly drawings do a great job of illustrating the various numbers (Picture one hundred penguins each holding ten scoops of ice cream in a cone), multiplying by ten all the way up to a trillion. After this, it jumps to a quadrillion, a quintillion, an octillion, and then a googol. The book makes a point of showing the numbers as numerals and written numbers with cartoons that can illustrate the growing numbers. The imaginations make this book great for read-alouds and for encouraging kids to enjoy math. The very last page even tells of the googol's history, and kids will love knowing that a 9-year-old named it!

Good Morning Sunshine: A Grandpa’s Story By Sharon McKenna

Grandparents are special people. Somehow, they make waking up grumpy, eating your vegetables, and going to bed when you don't really want to easier. In Good Morning Sunshine, little Katie shares how her grandpa teaches her to feel better through the ups and downs of an overnight visit. The simple story does a nice job of showing how much a supportive adult in a child's life can mean. This is a wonderful story which is charming, and joyful. I love the way it portrays the stresses in a child's every day life with innocence, and how grandpa makes the best out of every situation. All in all I do recommend this book, because it’s a warm and fuzzy reading for children as well as a gentle lesson on good parenting for parents.

Morles and beliefs on sex

Morals and Beliefs on Sex

In today’s society, I’ve come to realize that sex here in America, is very popular. I personally don’t have too much of a reaction towards sex, the reason being, is because of the many beliefs and morals I have for myself. I strongly believe virtue should only be given to a person who is certain to spend both lives together as a married couple. I don't think that sex is bad! I think that it's beautiful; that's why I want to save it until marriage. Furthermore, if something is beautiful, why restrain it? If sex is so beautiful, why not encourage people to practice it for enjoyment, as long as they do so safely and with someone they trust? Why such enormous restrictions on it?

Today, the majority of people choosing to have sex are teenagers. Many people don’t and choose not to understand the importance of sex. Sex is an important thing, but not thee important thing. People are entitled to their own judgment, and can decide to have sex when and however they please, but why loose the only one thing to a person when all that’s being felt for the opposite is just lust? Most of the time when people are in a relationship they feel love towards one another and show their form of love by having sex, because pleasure feels good. Yet when the relationship comes to an end, that’s when people start to notice there feelings was not necessarily love, it was lust. In the end, why would you want to know you gave the only precious thing up for feelings that didn’t really exist?

Born and raised in an Egyptian culture, I was told that babies come from God. Growing up in an Orthodox Christian family, the word “sex” has never been mentioned. With Christian parents, I was taught that sex is sacred and should only be given to the man I know I’m going to spend the rest of my life with. Sex has more value and significance than pleasure. I found out the definition and concept of sex in health class in the seventh grade, and even then it didn’t really sink in. Everything became so clear in eighth grade, when some of my friends became pregnant and almost everyone was involved in a relationship. It seemed uncertain at first, since the assumption of having babies to me was something within marriage, or so I was taught.

Entering high school was an oversize step into the sexuality world. I met someone who went to my church and he was my first connection. Although we didn’t go too far at first, a little tap kiss seemed over the edge. We were together for about three years and although our relationship went smoothly at first, in the long run, I realized our thoughts about boundaries in a relationship were absolutely different. I was frightened to get past making out, conversely he thought why not go all the way if we were so much in love? Yes, I was in love with him, but I wasn’t willing to give up the only thing I believed in just because I loved him. In my opinion, if he really loved me he should have just been more patient. This wasn’t the reason we broke up, but a relationship needs to keep growing in every aspect or else it dies, and I guess that’s what happened with us. The reason for the break up came when my ex constantly displayed his jealousy whenever I interacted with the opposite sex. He would do this by verbally abusing me and making me feel guilty for simply and innocently talking with another man. I interpreted this suspicion as his way of trying to control my actions, since he couldn’t control anything else. He interpreted it is as himself giving me attention and caring for my well- being. He would explain to me how he didn’t trust men for the simple fact that he knew exactly what their intentions were. He would emphasize that all men want one thing, which is sex. I believe there is a soul-mate out there for everyone, and eventually I will find the right man to honor me with love, nurture, respect, and compassion.

Being Christian always taught me, if you lust over someone in your heart you have committed adultery with that person in your heart. I’m not going to say that I didn’t think about sex or lust over a guy, because then I would be lying after all I’m human; but as for myself not being experienced with such intimacy I am not one to say that sex can be used in a positive effect. All I know about the subject matter is what’s said by people, and that’s all I have to judge upon it. An individual cannot criticize a matter if he/she isn’t experienced or taught in that subject.

In the past five years, my beliefs towards sex have grown stronger. I hear lots of stories from my friends where they regret rushing before their time. Over 50% of the people I have spoken to about sex said that the first person they lost their virginity to was a big mistake. Why would I want to put myself through that? Someone might question, well how do I know that it would be a mistake for me? However, why would I take a chance in making a mistake, when I can just let time take its place? I waited this long what’s a little longer. Most people switch partners just for the simple fact that they are not satisfied with the pleasure, even if it is after marriage. After I get married, I won’t have anything to compare it to, I will be satisfied with everything my husband has to give me.

My parents wouldn’t even kiss on the lips if my sister and I were around. It was more of a respect issue than anything else. They would be very disappointed at me if I were to lose my virginity before marriage. "No premarital sex" was something my sister and I knew was mandatory in my parent’s household, even though it was never emphasized upon. My parents are the type to look down on girls who have babies before marriage, they feel that those girls weren’t well disciplined by their parents and they don’t know the responsibility of having a child. Teenagers today have a lot more sex than adults. They also have children when they are just children themselves. Young adults barely know how to take care of themselves; nevertheless take care of another person.

PARAGRAPH SKIPED

In conclusion, I feel that sex is a special thing and should only be practiced within marriage. Why would I want to experience a moment like this, when I know the person I chose to have sex with, is not or intend to be my husband? Sometimes I look at the way our country is becoming and how we have such a high percentage of divorce and I realize this could be due to our dating standards. The more we date, the more we have one-night stands, and the more we change partners. We often look for more pleasure elsewhere, forgetting that the purpose of sex and making love is so remarkable. We as humans sometimes fail to realize the true meaning of the compassion and secrecy that love has to offer. We take love and the meaning of it for granted, and don’t appreciate what it has to offer until it’s gone! I can not wait for the future to see what love has to offer me. I hope I’m the happiest person in the world and receive what I’ve been dreaming of. Until this day, I look back and thank God I didn’t do anything that I might have regretted. Although, at times I would sit there and wonder what my attitude toward sex would be like if I wasn’t a Christian. Would my perceptions and morals have changed? I guess I’ll never know!

Reading list :)

1)Stray Dog, by Marc Simont
2)What I Like About Me!, by Allia Zobel-Nolan
3)N-O Spells NO, by Teddy Slater
4)The Way I Feel, Jahan Cain
5)Here Comes Summer, by Peter Zekagkas
6)If I Were A Lion, by Sarah Weeks
7)Mice Are Nice, by Charles Ghigna
8)Look Out, by Jenny Giles
9) More Spaghettie I Say, by Rita Galman
10)Hiccups For Elephant, by James Preller

The Stray Dog, by Marc Simont

The Stray Dog, is a true story, that talks about a family who went to the park for a picnic. When the food was ready and it was time to eat, the father spotted this stray dog. The kids got so excited and started playing with him for the rest of the day. Not only did they teach him tricks, but also named him Willy. But when it was time to go home, the parents refused to take the dog, just in case he belonged to someone else. All week the family couldn't stop thinking about the dog. As a routine, they went to the park on the following saturday for another picnic. But when they think they'll never see him again, he appears in the dog catcher's net. They quickly claimed him, and gave him a new home. This is a simple, sweet book for young kids. Its all picture oriented, that can tell you the whole story without reading a word. Its easy to undersand and any young child or parent who loves dogs, will also love this book.

Autobiography

I am from Egypt, and I attended school there until the age of 10 years old. It was one of the many memories, that I don't mind leaving behind. They were extremely strict, and used horrible methods to teach. If we missed a homework, misbehaved, forgot to memorize what were assigned, there was always consequences, mainly hitting. With a ruler, they would strike your hands. Sometimes the whole class would even get it, just because of one or two students talking. In simple words, it made me hate school, and learning itself.

Reading and studying doesn't come easy to me, and therefore I was never fond of school. I always attempt to do my best and try to improve my capabilities, but I feel like it never gets easier. In High School, I had to read few book in my literature class, and thats when i actually enjoyed reading my first book. It is called The Outsiders, and it remains to be my favortie novel. It kept me thinking and anitcpating all throuhout. I just enjoyed it and found it to be well told. Sometimes i just need a push, or motivation to start reading.

In the beginninng, im usually very shy and tend to keep to myself. However, with my friends, ill pprobably be the loudest person and usually the one to push others to loosen up. I am a teacher's assistant, so my work day is from 7am to 3pm and then I have school at night. By the time i get home, im usually exhausted. In my free time though, I like catchin up on my shows, or go out with my cousins and friends.