We have been blessed to find loads of books on a variety of subjects here in Islamabad courtesy of our two favourite booksellers – Alvi Book Bank and Jumbo Book Sale. Mr Alvi really needs to get larger premises – I worry that my kids will be injured by an avalanche when they try to tackle his precarious piles of books. Still, he’s helped us secure such wonderful literature and enough Science texts to last us for at least 3 years that we are not complaining (much). Jumbo Book Sale has been wonderful in that we have found many vintage Weekly Readers (I just love the thick papers and monochrome illustrations… they really don’t make ’em like they used to!) and award-winning chapter books.

I’d love to do some reviews here but I am wondering if I should use our Goodreads account or just feature them here on my blog. For those of you who read my blog (there must be … what? two of you? :P), I’d like your opinion on this.

Thank you Raihanah for the link to Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is simply STUNNING ma shaa Allah! If you and your kids are interested in marine life and conservation of oceans, then you will love this treasure trove. Monterey Bay Aquarium has loads of classroom resources that you can download. Their inquiry-based curriculum is designed to motivate and engage students and support the California and National teaching standards through classroom or field experiences.

Check out their stash of resources here. Nice, right??

Blick Art Materials is a family owned business and a premier art supply source for professional artists, students, and teachers. What I really like about the site is that it offers hundreds of printable lesson plans and video workshops for teachers … um hmmm, for FREE! Yayy! Lessons can be sorted by grade level and discipline. Check out the Multicultural Lesson Plans – really wonderful resource for country unit studies/Geography!

Spelling Connections is the only spelling program for Grades K-8 that utilizes a 5-day plan for spelling success. A complete program, Spelling Connections offers a full line of program components, including online and optional resources as well as a variety of assessment options.

Spelling Connections makes it easy for students to

• learn valuable spelling patterns and strategies.
• retain more of their learning using practical study tools and activities.
• transfer more spelling knowledge for success in reading, writing, and test-taking.

You can download Home Spelling Practice and Spelling Worksheets (Grades K-8) for FREE (wooo hoo!!). These pages may be printed for use at the beginning of the week to introduce the current spelling words and at the end of the week to preview next week’s spelling words. Homework Master pages (English only) may be printed to provide additional spelling practice in a game-like format.

For students, summer is a time for fun and play. It is also the time when children’s learning slides. Research (Brace, 2002a) shows that during the summer students forget many of the reading and math skills learned during the school year. This “summer slide” requires schools and teachers to spend valuable time during the next school year helping students “re-learn” lost skills, and it greatly reduces the time available to master new skills and subjects.

A child’s ability to succeed in school takes a partnership – one that begins at home and continues in school. To increase learning and stop the summer learning decline, the Michigan Department of Education has developed summer literacy activities for preschool, prekindergarten, and early elementary students to practice at home.

These activities are being distributed on a pilot basis as part of our ongoing effort to help teachers teach and children learn. Activities are aligned with the Michigan Curriculum Framework, Michigan Literacy Progress Profile and the No Child Left Behind Act.

Visit this page to download free Literacy and Math activities from pre K – 3.