AD | Gifted
This year is a pretty big year for Erin as she is due to start Reception in September. Although she has been going to nursery since she was 2, and has been to 2 very different nurseries, I feel like Reception is something else altogether though and this is where things really start to change for Erin. As we’ve been in lockdown now for around 11 weeks Erin has been really out of touch with the things she is used to normally. She hasn’t been around children her own age, she hasn’t had to deal with teachers or rules etc.
To help Erin be better prepared for starting in infant school I wanted to see what we could do to help teach her some important lessons, such as how to treat other people, how to be confident in herself and what might happen if she gets scared or worried about something. A great way to discuss these kinds of issues are by using books as an aid and we discovered Wonderbly, a company who offer personalised books where your child ends up as part of the story.
The Little Girl Who Lost Her Name
When I was growing up I could never find much with my name on it. Although mine is a fairly common name, the spelling of it doesn’t seem to be and I always got jealous of people who had really awesome personalised items. The Wonderbly website allows you to personalise a lot of different elements to the book, from the dedication, to the picture of the main character and then characters within the story.
From the very first page, with the personalised dedication, your child will know that The Little Girl Who Lost Her Name is for them. It really sets the tone for the book and for what your child is about to experience.
The book focuses on the main character, your child, and they have lost their name. Under their bed they find a magical rainbow trail and wonder if that’s where their name has gone to. But, the child isn’t sure whether or not they are brave enough to go off and explore.
Now at age 4.5 Erin knows how to spell her name and can write it pretty well. Along the journey in the book the little girl (or boy) meets some fantastic characters who really help them out. Erin could easily figure out that E was part of her name and she was excited to see that. It helped her to talk about her name and the letters that spell it out as the story went on.
Not only does The Little Girl Who Lost Her Name help to teach children about how to spell their name, the letters that make it up, but it also helps to teach them about making friends. This is something really important for children getting ready to start school as it shows them that they can find friends in anyone, no matter if they’re a little different to themselves.
The Little Girl Who Dared To Dream
The second book we got is The Little Girl Who Dared To Dream, a sequel to the Lost My Name Book. Once again, on the Wonderbly website you are able to add some lovely personal touches to the book, such as the name of the character and their picture.
The Little Girl Who Dared To Dream follows your character after they wake up to hear some worried voices. They go off on a magical rainbow path to see what the problem is and to see who might be in trouble. For children who are about to do something big, like start a new school and go up to Reception like Erin is, this is a great way to help children to be brave and to want to help others around them.
The character meets some fun characters on their adventure who all need a little bit of help. The character’s new friends all come up with a word to describe your child after they have been helped and each one starts with a letter of their name. It’s quite a subtle way of helping your child to pick out the letters in their name and to help them with spelling it out. Not only that, but the words can help your child to realise just how amazing they are for different reasons.
While the stories in the books are fantastic I have to say that the illustrations are great as well. The books are really bright, fun and I think this really helps to keep a child interested in what is going on. Of course, I think it helps when the main character looks a bit like them!
Not only are these books great for a child about to start school but they can be used for a whole range of situations. Wonderbly have a great range too so there are different books for different things.
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