I can not get my two and a half year old son to stay in bed at night.  Do you have ideas for getting kids to sleep in their own bed?

 I’m a firm believer in consistency and structure when it comes to bedtime.  Just like the current advice that’s out there for adults that can’t sleep, children need night time rituals to get them prepared for sleep. 

 Bedtime should be at the same time each night.  Lights should be dimmed in the child’s bedroom in preparation for sleep.  Always put your son to sleep in his own bed.  A special stuffed animal to sleep with, a favorite quiet relaxing bedtime song and a short story will create a comforting atmosphere and a simple bedtime ritual.  If your child still naps, make sure that the naptime is as consistent as possible and not too near bedtime. 

 You’ll find that as your child gets older he’ll expect and look forward to your special time together before bed.

My daughter is in grade 2.  She is a good reader but we have a problem.  Many of her friends are now reading chapter books.  She wants to read them too but seems to be very nervous when she brings one home.  I am sure that that she can read them but I don’t know how to help her relax and enjoy a good book.  Can you think of any way that I can ease her into chapter books?

 When readers move from shorter texts to chapter books it can be an overwhelming task.  There are several ways to ease children into chapter books.

 Choice of books is very important.  For example, a child who is just exploring chapter books should not pick up a Harry Potter book or any other chapter book with dense print and long chapters.  Early chapter books should have large easy to read print, good spacing between lines and short chapters.

 My favorite authors for beginning chapter books are Cynthia Rylant and Mary Pope Osborne.

 Cynthia Rylant:

Henry and Mudge is a wonderful series that children seem to love.  There are many books in the series.  Your daughter should start with, Henry and Mudge – The First Book.  This book introduces the characters Henry and Mudge.  After reading this book, even though they are numbered, the books can be read in any order.  The chapters are very short, not too many words on a page, and the print is good size.  Cynthia Rylant has written two other series, Mr. Putter, and Poppleton.  These are not chapter books but a series of three short stories per book and they are very funny. 

 Mary Pope Osborne:

Second graders love Mary Pope Osborne’s, Magic Tree House series.  Chapters are short, and the print is good size.  Covers and titles are inviting and children can learn a little history as they read many books in the series.  Children should start with Dinosaurs before Dark.  This book introduces Jack and Annie, the main characters.  After that, the books can be read in any order.  Some children will only read the books in order while others prefer to look at the many titles and choose their next book.

 Children also love the Nate the Great series by Marjorie Weinman Sharmat.  Most of them are not divided into chapters, but they are not too long, have good size print, and stories that young readers seem to like.  Nate is a boy detective who solves mysteries in his neighborhood.  The reader gets to know Nate and his friends.

 Other chapter book series that second grade students like are:

 Cam Jansen, series by David Adler

A-Z Mysteries, by Ron Roy

The Adventures of Captain Underpants, by Dav Pilkey

Junie B. Jones, by Barbara Park

The Bailey School Kids, by Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones

Flat Stanley, by Jeff Brown

 There are many others but these seem to be favorites depending on the interests of the child.  Other tips for taking the fear out of chapter books: 

• Start reading a chapter book with your child or even read the first chapter aloud to your child.  Getting them interested in the story sometimes helps them tackle the book on their own.
• Comprehension is critical.  Talking about the story with your child will help her to follow the story and want to continue to read to find out what will happen next.
•  A technique that has worked with many students is the following.  Get a very large paper or oak tag.  Write the name of the book at the top.  Write characters and setting under the title and leave a space to fill in this information as you go along.  Underneath characters write Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc., for as many chapters as there are in the book.  Leave enough room for a post it to fit underneath each chapter.  As you start reading the book together, begin to fill in your chart with characters and setting.  Put a star by the most important characters when you find out who they are.  After finishing each chapter write very brief notes about what happened in that chapter.  Write no more then you can fit on a post it.  You can use either 3×3 or 5×3 post its.  Each time you return to read more of the chapter book, read your post it notes from the beginning.  It only takes a few minutes and it will remind your daughter what has happened in the story making it easier for her move forward within the story.
•   You should also talk to your daughter’s teacher.  Your daughter probably thinks that she is the only one that is having this problem.  I can assure you that she is not.  Her teacher might take a group having the same issues and teach them how to read a chapter book.  The method above is one way, but there are others and it might just get her on the right track and make her feel as though she is not alone.

Learning the proper term for solid shapes at an early age gives your child a head start in geometry.  It’s very simple to teach them some proper names.

1. Call a can a cylinder.
2. Call dice or square boxes a cube.
3. A CD case or a cereal box is a rectangular prism.
4. A  ball or a globe is a sphere.
5. A cone shape at the primary level is just like an ice cream cone.
6. A pyramid can easily be shown to a child courtesy of almost any book on ancient Egypt.

If you use the objects proper name and then its “household” name interchangeably, children can learn about a variety of 3D solid shapes before they enter kindergarten.

To take this lesson to the next level, talk about the number of sides (faces) of a shape, the number of corners (vertices) and what shapes have common attributes.  Does it roll?  Can you slide it?  What shape appears if you trace around the bottom of it with a pencil.