"Bonding While Learning empowers parents to encourage and motivate their children to learn, not because they have to, but because they want to – without even knowing it! The reading preparation activities and games help parents stimulate their children’s mental development, giving them a distinct advantage when they begin school."- Carol Henault
Executive Director
Reading is Fundamental of Southern California
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"Finally, anyone looking for educational activities to do with their kids has to look no further than this book!"
- Stacy DeBroff
CEO, Mom Central, Inc.
Principal, Mom Central Consulting
Co-Founder, Mother-Talk: When Mothers Talk, Great Things Happen
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"This book is beneficial to every child who is lucky enough to have a parent, a grandparent, or an older sibling to take the time to use it.... I know of no other outside-the-classroom literacy resource for young children and their families that's so thorough and yet so easy to understand and use immediately."
- Dorothy Aronoff
Preschool & elementary teacher of more than 30 years
California, USA
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"As a former kindergarten teacher, preschool teacher, and NAEYC-accredited preschool program director, but most importantly as the parent of a preschooler, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone who wants to work one-on-one with a child to help develop early literacy skills. Many parents turn to flash cards and workbooks, but young children learn much more readily and easily through developmentally appropriate games and fun activities. Finally, here is a resource that explains this to parents in clear, easy-to-understand language, using concrete examples and materials with which you can simply cut out of the book and play. If you are truly interested in preparing a child for reading success, I also recommend THE READ-ALOUD HANDBOOK by Jim Trelease, which educates the reader on how to make the most of the read-aloud experience. These two books complement each other well and could be great blessings to any preschooler or kindergartener whose parents/grandparents would take the time to read and use them."
- Sherry Gann
(Posted first on Amazon.com)
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"Bonding While Learning is soooo up my alley. Each page contains a simple, easy-to-follow activity you can do with your three-to-six-year-old to encourage reading success and improve your relationship with him or her. Best of all, it's not a set of drills, like another book I bought recently. Your child won't even realize you're engaging in reading preparation. As a mom who is also home preschooling my daughter, I love books like this one that give me new ideas for learning activities with [my daughter], particularly when there's not a whole lot of blah blah psychology writing to accompany it. Great book!"
- Lindsay Ferrier, Suburban Turmoil
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"This book provides lots of practical activities to share with toddlers and preschoolers to encourage speech, early reading, and interactive communication. Letters, sounds, listening skills, decoding, and more are encouraged through games and exercises which are easy to set up at home, daycare or school. Bonding and personal interaction are also encouraged through give and take lessons between parent or teacher and the young child. This is a great resource for young children with special needs, including speech, dyslexia, or autism."
- Allison Martin, Children's Disabilities Information
(articles and resources empowering parents of children with disabilities and special needs)
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"So many grandparents wish they could help their young grandchildren either prepare for or succeed in school, but are unsure how to go about doing so or even what exactly, they should be doing. Well worry no more! The solution comes in the form of the activity book Bonding While Learning by Gary Lee Kosman and Grace May Chiu.
"The book, for children ages 3 to 6, is meant to help your grandchild learn and practice important reading skills. It includes games and activities (with needed materials), as well as tips for grandparents to correct common mistakes their grandchild might be making. Not only does Bonding While Learning provide a range of activities, making them simple for grandparents by instructing them as to when is the best time to use them (based on skill level or effectiveness), the book also enables grandparents to create opportunities to bond with their grandchildren.
"With games that will make reading fun for kids and keep both them and their grandparents entertained and engaged, Bonding While Learning is a fantastic resource for grandparents of preschoolers and kindergarteners. Anyone looking for educational activities to do with their grandkids has to look no further than this book! Bonding While Learning can by purchased at your favorite bookstore or amazon.com or borrowed from Senior Resources of Guilford’s Resource Library by contacting Angela Eanes at 373-4816."
- Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
A resource sponsored by the YWCA of Greensboro, the YWCA of High Point, and Senior Resources of Guilford
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"This book provides a series of practical activities to share with toddlers and preschoolers to encourage speech, early reading, and interactive communication. Letters, sounds, listening skills, decoding, and more are demonstrated through games and exercises which are easy to set up at home, daycare or school. As they encourage close participation and use examples from daily life, many of the activities would be helpful for older adopted children who are learning a second language."
- ComeUnity (a website for parenting, adoption & special needs resources)
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"As a former teacher and now a mom of 2 young children, I highly recommend this book to parents, grandparents and care providers who want to help their children get a running start on reading. This book is NOT a "drill and kill" get-your-child-reading-by-age-4-in-100-easy-lessons-or-else manual. It's all about how to deliberately expose your child to good literacy principles in a fun, engaging, natural way. The book even includes reproducible printouts of materials so you don't have to hunt them down yourself (who has time for that?)! I also plan to order this book as a gift for my sisters and friends of little ones."
- Jennifer Wong
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"I believe that your book's philosophy is inspiring and great for schools as well as for individual families. Thank you for making such an outstanding book for our teachers and families."
- Director, Mann Family Early Childhood Center
Los Angeles, CA
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"Thank you for this great resource. I really enjoyed the easy to follow steps and instructions your book provided. I loved the Talking Bag idea. I am a family support coordinator for a Head Start program and will be forwarding this info to our education specialists for their review as well."
- Michelle Schmitz-Bohrer, LSW
Mandan, North Dakota
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"The best thing about Bonding While Learning is that it arms parents with the tools they need to make educational time interactive and fun -- at home, at the park or on-the-go."
- Go Baby®
Read the entire review.
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"This book has been a welcome addition to our household. I had been worried that my youngest of three sons (age 4) was not getting enough individual attention in our homeschooling.... Bonding While Learning provided the perfect opportunity to spend quality time cuddling with him on the couch while feeling confident that I was "officially" educating him....
"It is exciting to see an educational resource that values the time parents spend with children, promoting "bonding" as an important component in academic progress. I also appreciate the fact that Bonding While Learning is not stuck on an age-appropriate timeline. Realizing that children do not learn in a cookie-cutter style, the authors encourage parents to use the activities in any order that works for them and their unique child....
"I would recommend this resource to someone who is beginning to homeschool a young child but has fears about "doing it right." The book is "schoolish" enough for parents to trust they are really teaching their child, yet homey enough to build warm memories between parent and child."
- Deborah Burt,
The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC (June 2007)
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"We are delighted with [Bonding While Learning]. Since I'm a grandmother with an interest in reading to her granddaughter, and a person with no background in teaching reading, it is a wonderful resource. And just the sort of thing that I need.
"It's beautifully done besides. I'm so glad I bought it.
"You've done a wonderful job."
- Anne Schink
Portland, Maine
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"My name is Fredda Loewenstein and I am the Associate Director of the Mann Family Early Childhood Center. Our director, Carol Bovill, asked me to relay some of the feedback that we got from our staff about your book Bonding While Learning....
"We are a developmental school and we do academics in a fun way. Your book played right into that. The lessons in your book show ways to introduce letters and numbers to Nursery aged children in a playful developmental way.
"Using your 'Create Your Own Menu' idea, one of our classrooms transformed themselves into an Italian Bistro for the morning. In addition to creating their own menus, they cooked pasta with a variety of sauces, made table decorations, played music by Andrea Bochelli. and wished everyone a 'bongiorno.' In keeping with your model, some of the food that was discussed was Marcia’s Manicotti, Lindsey’s Linquini, Fredda’s Fish and Carol’s Carrots! The class had such fun that day and learned so much!
"A game that I observed in a class was 'I Spy a Rhyme.' With a few minutes to pass right before dismissal time, the teacher started the game. She gave two or three clues and then she turned the game over to the children. They caught on really quickly and seemed to really enjoy the added dimension to the classic 'I Spy' game.
"Play-dough is a big hit in our younger classes. The children often use the play-dough to form letters that they are familiar with. The recipe you provided for Kool-Aid play-dough was wonderful. It produced such a colorful, flavorful, sensory experience.
"We are a school with a very strong educational philosophy. Our classroom learning is a reflection of different pedagogic philosophies. We have been particularly influenced by Montessori, High Scope and Reggio Emilia. Our teachers are top notch, all of them are college educated with more that the required units in Early Childhood Education. Our staff runs exciting innovative programs. On their own, some of our teachers have come up with lessons similar to ones in your book. Your book would be a valuable resource for schools looking to raise the level of education in their schools. There are a lot of unique ideas that would help infuse each classroom with fun, creative learning experiences. I think it would be a great tool for any school to have in it’s resource library."
Fredda Loewenstein
Associate Director, Mann Family Early Childhood Center
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"Wow this book is really great! I loved the fact that in the beginning it gave important information about the book and the authors. It is also great that it explains how to praise your child for their accomplishments. The activities and the materials provided were easy to understand and work with and provided time for me to sit down individually with my child and work on them. He was very excited to work on the different projects and we often did more than one at a time at his request."
- iParenting Media Awards Reviewer
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"That book was actually the 1st one I read to get ideas about activities to do with the kids and I found it VERY helpful as I've never had any early childhood development training or anything like that. Honestly, I plan to save it to use with my kids someday as I found the book very informative."
- AmeriCorps member with the
Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation
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"Wonderful job on "Bonding While Learning"! I just found the book on your website yesterday but I plan to use many of the activities with my young son and the best part is, he won't even know that he's doing "homework"--what a bonus!"
- Shelby Hoytal
Topeka, KS
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"I'm a single mother with a full time job. Teaching my son before was difficult and frustrating. Now that I have the book, I find it much easier to teach my son and see his progress as we go along.
"If you're looking for a book that lets you spend quality time and, better yet, teach your child and prepare him for preschool, this is the book for you."
- Teresa Lopez
Los Angeles, CA
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"The book came so quickly in the mail.... It's put together so well, and is so clear and simple to follow."
- Jaime Friedman
San Diego, CA
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"I have given two books to friends becoming grand mothers and they loved the book. We all think it's a fabulous tool to interact with your children and or grandchildren .I will be purchasing more in the future."- Leslie Louden
Henderson, NV
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Bonding While Learning by Gary Lee Kosman and Grace May Chiu is fun, engaging and full of positive energy.... Bonding While Learning, is an outstanding way for parents and children to bond while helping your child to grow academically, socially and positively.
- Michelle Rossi
Author of All About Me and contributing author
in the Chicken Soup for the Soul series
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"I read this book and it gave me a great perspective into helping my kids learn how to read. We have made tremendous strides since doing some of the activities. My kids are at the point where reading has become more enjoyable. I highly recommend this as a teaching method for parents and their children."
- Posted by a reader at Barnes & Noble.com
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"Your book is a big hit at Mann Family Early Childhood Center of Wilshire Boulevard Temple.
"The Director...loved it and asked me to provide three more books for her teachers who teach the 5 year old classes. The 17 moms in my son's class who received it loved it too!"
- Robin Broidy
California, USA
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