What to do with your Whirly Swirly Thoughts by Jennie Allen illustrated by Nadia Gunawan

 

What to do with your Whirly Swirly Thoughts by Jennie Allen illustrated by Nadia Gunawan is a delightful picture for ages 5-8.  The book walks you through all the emotions, thoughts, and feeling you have and what you can do with them.  The story talks about what to do if your thoughts get too big and start to take over, you have a choice on what thoughts stay in your head, and some concrete activities for kids such as being thankful or physical activities.  

I found this book so delightful.  What a wonderful way to talk to kids about their thoughts and start great conversations with them. I love the honesty and beauty of this book.  This would be perfect for elementary health, Sunday School, or to start conversations between parents and kids.  The pictures are stunning, engaging, and add to the beauty of the book.  

I highly recommend What to do with your Whirly Swirly Thoughts by Jennie Allen illustrated by Nadia Gunawan.  This will be one of my favorite picture books of 2025.  

Blurb: As a mother of four and bestselling author of Get Out of Your Head, Jennie Allen knows what it’s like to swirl in a spiral of thoughts, but she also knows we don’t have to stay stuck in toxic thinking patterns—and she wants to pass on this liberating truth to the next generation.

A great gift for teachers, caregivers, or back-to-school celebrations, What to Do with Your Whirly, Swirly Thoughts is a wonderful tool to teach your children thatGod created them and their amazing brains with a plan and a purpose, and He wants to help them use their thoughts and brains for good;
God has given them power over their thoughts; and
even if they’ve been stuck in a swirl of anxious, scary thoughts, they don’t have to stay there!

With whimsical illustrations from Nadia Gunawan and a beautifully decorated cover, this picture book addresses one of the most foundational skills for a happy, healthy life. Surround your children with your love and with tools to combat anxiety and negative thinking.

You Quack Me Up for International Joke Day

Did you know today is International Joke Day? Comet insisted on celebrating International Joke Day by sharing 800 Animal Jokes For Kids : You Quack Me Up published by Tommy Nelson.

  
This is the cutest book for kids ages 5-11. My 13 year old and I laughed at many of the jokes together.  he book is filled with knock-knock jokes, riddles, limericks, and tongue twisters. There is also a section on how to write jokes. The layout is nice and easy to read.

I have found that kids love jokes and joke books are a great way to encourage reluctant readers and writers.   It would be fun to take turn reading them aloud to each other.  Kids love to write their own jokes and read them to you! This is a great way to encourage kids reading, writing, and share some smiles.  

So to end with a joke. . . .

How do beavers surf the web?  ...........     They just log on!  

Happy International Joke Day!  

You Quack Me Up

 

National Parks by Lonely Planet

I am so thrilled to share with you two books from Lonely Planet publishers on the national parks. Lonely Planet Kids America's National Parks( 9-12 year olds) and Lonely Planet Kids America's National Parks Activity Book (1-3rd grade) are fantastic books for your kids.

Lonely Planet Kids America's National Parks is a wonderful book filled with 63 different parks across the United States. Each four page spread shares about the park and highlights things to do in the park.

The parks are in alphabetical order making them easy to find. I loved the beautiful pictures and wonderful information provided. My kids have enjoyed looking through the pages and the young man I am tutoring. It would be great if you were planning on visiting the parks, to enhance your studies of US geography, to learn more about the vast landscape of the United Stares, or for pleasure reading. I highly recommend Lonely Planet Kids America's National Parks.

Lonely Planet Kids America's National Parks Activity Book is a fun activity book that includes drawing, word searches, crosswords, finding pictures, and coloring.

The activities are very engaging and were a hit with my tutoring student. The directions are easy to follow and the color pages draw you in. I highly recommend Lonely Planet Kids America's National Parks Activity Book

I hope you travel to the National Parks this summer through these incredible books.

Becky

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Why I love a portfolio. . . or Portfolio Review vs. Standardized Test

A question I receive often is “Should I give my home educated student a standardized test at the end of the year, or complete a narrative portfolio assessment"  I usually reply it depends on what kind of information you hope to gain. One way to look at this question is to think “Do you want one picture of one moment in time, or a running movie with many pictures taken over time? “

A standardized test is a “snapshot “of a student at one moment in time.  A standardized test is scored in a consistent manner so you are able to compare your student to a group of students in the same grade who have taken the same test.  You usually receive a percentile ranking which tells you what percentage of the students taking the test your student scored better than.  For instance, if your student was in the 33rd percentile in math then your child scored better than 33 percent of students in the sample group from the publisher who took this test in math.

  

A standardized test is limited in that it is more likely to tell you what your student does not know versus what they do know or have learned this year.  A standardized test also dictates what the publisher feels is important for your student to know.  It does not take into account what your student has learned this past year.

A narrative portfolio assessment is a group of work samples that reflect your student’s growth and progress over the last year.   It consists of many “snapshots” that come together to reflect what your student has accomplished this year.  You, as parent educator, get to showcase what your student has accomplished.

Besides celebrating what your student has accomplished, a portfolio also helps you to plan instruction for the next year.   For instance, you realize you concentrated on learning your math facts, but did not spend as much time learning how to solve word problems.   Next year, you commit to working on more problem solving.  You look at your book list and notice that your student has mainly read adventure stories this past year.  You commit to introducing him/her to biographies, non-fiction, and /or some poetry next year to vary his/her reading diet.   I believe this is time well spent.  You are assessing your student’s needs and planning instruction based on those needs.

A narrative portfolio assessment also gives you a chance to present what your child has accomplished to a certified  teacher.  My hope is that when I review your student’s work I bring a different “set of eyes” to your student’s portfolio.   I try to provide encouragement to parents, insight into your student’s growth, and provide feedback to help you plan future instruction for your child.   My goal is to partner with you to celebrate your student’s accomplishments and encourage you on your home education journey.

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