I always believe that there is no one universal guide in raising a child. It is a dynamic process and a balance between waiting for the child and being intentional about certain aspects of her/his growth. I love to read and that is why I exposed Arya to reading when she was still in my womb. I am intentional when it comes to books and love for books. But I tried to keep myself in check as much as possible. Arya was reading but not as often.

Dino Dana Field Guide

Then came the Dino Dana Field Guide. This book is always mentioned in a kid’s show called, “Dino Dana.” The show is about a young girl who is a paleontologist in training. She studies everything about dinosaurs. The field guide is her notebook of dinosaur experiments. You could imagine Arya’s amazement when she got hold of a book that she has been seeing in the show. It took a while before we got the book.

The book now stays in the bedroom. She decides what stories to read every night. Sometimes, I ask if we can cut down on the number of stories to read. It is now part of her daily routine. We take turns in reading and I assist her with the unfamiliar words. She helps me pronounce the name of the dinosaurs. If you are into science, this book hits two birds with one stone. It clearly uses the scientific method for every experiment that is presented in the book. It has a lot of definitions, context clues, colorful pictures and it shows how to syllabicate the names of the dinosaurs. It is a what I call a “sulit” buy.
It is definitely worth it for pre-schoolers. 🙂