Words That Cook develops Free Resources for parents and educators that help you motivate and inspire your children to learn and to love reading, writing, storytelling and wordplay. Librarians, trainers and other community organization members find our resources effective for stimulating and guiding literacy discussions and workshops for groups of parents and/or educators.
These resources are derived from our award-winning TV/DVD Series, Words that Cook! Parenting with children’s books™, and work in combination to provide you with practical, straightforward and enjoyable tips and techniques that will enhance your life and the lives of your children forever.
To support professionals and parents in using the DVDs to nurture family literacy in schools, centers and homes; we offer DVD Viewing & Workshop Guides.
Each guide includes: a DVD summary and outline – highlighting the guests, topics, ages, tips and strategies – the Recommended Book List, suggested literacy activities for children and discussion prompts and group activity ideas for professional and parent workshops. The guides are available free of charge as downloadable and printable files. All DVDs can be ordered in our Marketplace or you may be eligible for a discount at NAEYC.
The guests in our educational TV/DVD series – whether they are educators, librarians, authors, illustrators, poets, storytellers, parents or children – have valuable experiences and insights to share. As they discuss and model techniques they have found successful, our Recipes for Success™ encapsulate experience- and evidence-based practices that you can immediately put into action with your children.
The Recipes for Success guide you in a wide variety of areas, including: choosing books; developing strong read-aloud techniques; increasing vocabulary; playing with the sounds of words and the concepts they convey; reinforcing learning; creating positive connections between home and school; engaging in lively, thought-provoking discussions and extending stories with related activities.
Many of the Recipes for Success address the challenges parents face with time, learning disabilities and conflicting demands.
Each Recipe is artfully captioned on screen and then replicated on this Web site. The Recipes for Success pages are organized by show and attributed to the appropriate guests. As you review them, think of them as a smorgasbord of nutritious ideas: when something appeals to you, give it a try.
For all of the shows in our educational TV/DVD series, we develop Recommended Book Lists and Potluck of Fun™.
The selections in our Recommended Book Lists are meticulously chosen by
Dr. Miriam Marecek, one of our Educational Consultants, and connect with topics and themes that emerge from show content. Dr. Marecek is an internationally renowned and respected children’s literature expert and one of only a handful of people whose professional recommendation is sought as each new children's book is released by every major publisher. Each book recommendation includes information on the author, illustrator (if applicable) and publisher as well as a detailed summary.
The Potluck of Fun are developed by the Words That Cook staff for each book recommendation and provide entertaining and engaging ideas to make the books spring to life. The Potluck of Fun include tips for reading each specific book and ideas for expanding on each book with related activities and additional reading. Often, links to other Web sites that introduce valuable information and resources for parents and educators are also included.
The Recommended Book Lists and Potluck of Fun pages are organized by show and then by age group: Ages 0-3, Ages 3-6, Ages 6-9, Ages 9-12 and Parents. Also on these pages, you will find More Show Related Books, which include recommendations from and books mentioned by guests in the shows. Again, think of the Recommended Book Lists and Potluck of Fun as a smorgasbord and try the books and activities that you feel connect with and support your children’s interests and learning styles.
|
