The Bob Books are these short little books, that come in sets of 12, that incrementally build on each other. The very first book, covers just four sounds (M, A, S, T) and on sight word (on), and each book builds from there.
The stories are so short and so doable for a beginning reader that they instantly give the child a sense of success. They’ve read an entire book!
It’s an incredible thing to be able celebrate, and the beauty of the Bob Books is that they give that opportunity to succeed early and often.
The books themselves are not a reading program and should not be used on their own. Every child needs help learning the phonemic sounds, phonological sound combinations, and sight words of the English language. What the Bob Books give are an opportunity to practice reading in a book format very quickly, building on that sense of success.
Personally I’ve looked at and tested a LOT of different reading materials and tools over the last 10 years, as I’ve sought materials to help my own children learn to read, and I have to say that the Bob Books are crucial element to our reading program, especially at that early reader stage.
Even Z feels success with these books (he’s able to read the first few, and that knowledge that he can read at least some books, helps build his confidence and motivation for further reading).
Here’s an example of what you’ll find in a Bob Book. I grabbed the third book from the first set off our shelf. It’s title is “Dot”.
As you’d expect the book is about Dot. The whole book uses 9 words total to tell the story of Dot, her dog and cat, and a hat. So there’s a lot of repetition of common words, using sounds the child already knows.
At the beginning of each book is a list of the sounds that are covered in the book, which is helpful for determining if your child knows the sounds they need for that particular book.
Each page in the first set usually only has one sentence, but I have noticed that towards the end of each book, there might be a page that has one or more. So the child is feeling confident on each page, and has read the words in the book a few times before they get to a page with more words, like this:
As you can see the pictures in the book are simple, and not overwhelming, which for my kids is very important. When they are learning a new skill, they do much better on pages that are simple and in black and white, so this works perfectly for us.
I borrowed my first set for K, when she was just beginning her learning to read journey, as I always like to test something before buying it. Since then I of course have purchased my own copies (and have lent them out a few times too) of all three sets. J used these in early in his learning to read journey, as has Little E.
Z of course is still working through the first few books, but that’s Z and with his dsylexia these books play an important role in his feeling successful in his efforts.
Again, these are not a complete program, but rather one (essential) tool in your learning to read tool box. I do use other readers as well, but these are the first that my children use in their journey.
If you don’t already have access to the Bob Books, I recommend either borrowing a copy from a friend or fellow homeschooler, looking for a used copy (if you can find them), or grabbing a set on sale. (Today as I write this I see Amazon has a great price on them, so you might check there as well)
Hope this helps!
…Shannon
P.S. Thanks Bobbie (Clumsy Crafter) for asking the question!
P.S. S. Here are a few more of the resources we use for Learning to Read:
This week we had a fabulous time putting together our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.
Every year, as a family, we choose a holiday charity to participate in, something where the kids take the focus off themselves and what they want and think about other kids in other families who may not have as much as they have.
It’s part of our effort to instill a love of giving in our children and let them appreciate that no matter how much they may be giving up or not getting, there are others who have less.
Well this year, we chose to put together shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. Operation Christmas Child is an outreach ministry through Samaritan’s Purse, where they send shoe boxes packed with fun kid friendly toys and practical hygiene items to needy children around the world.
Operation Christmas Child allows you to use either a regular size shoebox, wrapped, or the plastic shoe boxes you can buy for a $1. I chose to do the plastic shoe boxes, because then that gives the mom or child a durable box to store things in.
The kids and I printed off the list of suggested items and discussed them. Each box has to be marked whether it is for:
A boy 2-4
A boy 5-9
A boy 10-14
A girl 2-4
A girl 5-9
A girl 10-14
So that worked out perfectly for us. Little E did a box for a girl 5-9, Z did a box for a boy 5-9, J did a box for a boy 10-14, and K did a box for a girl 10-14.
No big surprise that Little E’s box was full of pink girly things and Z’s had balls and cars
But I’m also really proud of Z who is into war stuff, for understanding and respecting that anything related to war was not allowed in the boxes. And it was a good opportunity to explain why – for many children war is not a game, but all too stark of a reality.
After invading a store for an hour, we came home with bags of stuff and interestingly enough it was exactly the right amount to fit inside the shoe boxes. Not only did the kids choose age appropriate kid stuff, but they also included pratical items like:
notebooks & pens
brush or comb (and hair clips or bands for the girls)
a bar of soap & wash cloth
a tshirt
toothpaste and toothbrush
And that too gave us the opportunity to talk about how some basic items like these are luxaries in other areas of the world, that not everyone can just go to the grocery store any time they want.
To personalize the boxes, we went ahead and printed off the Operation Christmas Child coloring page, and filled out a little bit of the information about where the boxes were coming from and about each child who packed them.
Kate even wrote a personal letter to the person recieving her box.
After the boxes were all packed up, we chose to donate the shipping costs online so that we could get the barcoded labels. This is a really cool feature because Samaritan’s Purse will email us and let us know where in the world our boxes are shipped (and thus, making this a geography lesson as well)
If you haven’t already chosen a christmas charity to participate in this year, I encourage you to check out doing a Operation Christmas Child shoebox. It’s a lot of fun and provides a ton of discussion opportunities.
But either way, choosing any ministry or charity to work with at Christmas time is a wonderful way to help our children (and ourselves) take their eyes and thoughts off themselves and what they want and think of others, the way Christ would want us to.
Learning to read starts out as such a struggle, laborious and slow, but then there’s that first spot of victory, that spot where everything seems to click, where instead of laboring over a word, a sentence, a page in a single session, they are reading whole entire stories in a single session. Wow! It’s a sweet deal.
Well, guess what? Little E has hit that spot! And we are celebrating!
Little E with the readers she's finished
That’s right. She has now not only had success with the Bob Books, but now she has read the first five books in the Sing, Spell, Read, and Write series, and is quickly making her way through the 6th book.
And, she’s started reading other story books.
This is such a BIG deal for not only Little E, but every child on the road to learning to read.
It is so easy to grab hold of this success and push for further reading, but I have to caution myself from doing so. (Did that with K, and that was a mistake!) Instead, I am celebrating with her and letting her set the pace for the next steps.
Every victory on this learning to read journey needs to be celebrated. It is such a huge victory and a life changing accomplishment. Once they are solid readers, they can learn anything – anything they like. Every step towards that indepedence is to be treasured.
For now, Little E and I are joyously reading each new story in her readers, and talking about the chapter books she’ll be able to read when she is ready (she’s got a few picked out). Such excitement! She’s so excited to be so close to reading the books she wants to be reading and join the ranks of independent readers.
Just had to share with you.
…One proud mommy (Shannon)
P.S. For those of you curious, we are careful to be sensitive to Z’s challenges, emphasizing that Little E’s success is her own and that everyone learns to read at their own pace, that Z has done other things faster than Little E. It’s so important for us, with varying abilities and talents, to not compare our children, but to celebrate their individual successes and while still encouraging the others.
P.S.S. And if you haven’t pick up on this before, I do not use Sing Spell Read and Write’s full program – just their readers, which we love because they make us smile
Normally I start my holiday planning back in September, figuring out my budget, who I need to buy gifts for, and what we are going to make. But this year I got a late start, and with the Fall Road Trip consuming my November, I’ve realized that I need to fall back on some tried and true sources for inexpensive christmas gifts.
Now don’t get me wrong. I prefer to give gifts that reflect that person’s interests and uniqueness. But I do have some standard fall back gifts. My favorite place to hunt for christmas gifts when cash is short is the thrift store.
Seriously.
Some fantastic, inexpensive Christmas gifts can be found at the thrift store – in new, still in the box or with the tags condition.
The first time we discovered this was back during our first financial crisis ten years ago. We had $20 for christmas gifts that year, and it was the thrift store that allowed us to stay in budget and still enlist Santa, fill stockings, and give presents to close friends and family.
Hidden on what looks like disorganized messy shelves of stuff is a treasure trove of inexpensive gift ideas.
Not only will you find holiday specific items, like on the shelves in the picture above, but also still in the box or new items that the previous owners just didn’t have a use for. These are in fabulous condition and so much less expensive than buying new. Here are two of the types of items I picked up this weekend:
The mugs are in perfect condition and will be great gifts when paired with hot chocolate, herbal tea, or even candy
The jars have also never been used, and will make perfect containers for homemade hot cocoa mix or little candies.
Now these are wonderful gifts for friends and teachers, and such, but I also like to pick up more thoughtful, individual gifts at the thrift store too. If you look in the nick-nacks shelves or over in the housewares section, you can also find some treasures.
Here you can find home decor items, figurines (have a collector in your family?), new candles (oh I love candles…), little boxes (hint, hint), and all kinds of fun things. Even beautiful throws and decorator items. (Heck, I even bought new sets of sheers and curtains for both Z & E at the thrift store – they were thrilled!)
The trick is to look for the items that are is the best condition possible and are a really good deal. (Most thrift stores also have a discount day, try going on those days too.)
The book, toy, electronic, and software isles can yield some great results too. This weekend I picked up a couple of cd players to give to the kids as early Christmas presents for our Fall Road Trip, and a handful of unopened educational game software that would have made great stocking stuffers if I weren’t going to use them for the road trip.
Even in the shoes and clothes you can score some great deals. This weekend, I picked up new, unworn fashionable boots for K (which she loves!), snow boots for Z and J, and like new boots for Little E, plus a whole slew of warm winter clothes in perfect condition, including cute pjs for Little E that still had tags on. Here’s a few of the items that we found that would have been great gifts, if we hadn’t been shopping for the road trip:
boots, jeans, sweater, & gloves
brand new overalls, gloves, and talking kitty cat (in perfect condition)
button down shirt, leather coat, & gloves
I also picked up a few secret things that I can’t share here, cuz the people I bought them for might actually read this. But believe me, they won’t be able to tell that their gifts were purchased at the thrift store and not the department store :)
The point is to keep an open mind and look for new or nearly new items that would make fabulous, thoughtful gifts. Your budget will thank you and so will your friends and family!
Family road trips are huge part of our family culture. Some of my best childhood memories are of the road trips we would take – to Sacramento on business, to Washington state to visit my aunt, to the San Juan Islands to dive, or even just a trek to a campground a few hours away.
Greg loading the van, 2009
There’s something of an adventure in that process of loading up the car, driving for hours, and arriving in a new an unexplored area. Stopping along the way at rest areas, or road side attractions, there is always something new to see.
So it shouldn’t be surprising that Greg and I have carried that through to our married and family life.
For our honeymoon, we packed up my little Geo Metro and headed out on a 9 day road trip from Minnesota to Glacier National Park, to Yosemite, and back to Minnesota again, camping all but one night.
My brother and sister-in-law were married during our financial crisis ten years ago. But there was no way I was going to miss my baby brother’s wedding. We pawned our wedding rings, drove our mini-van through the night from Sacramento to Colorado to be there for their wedding, stayed overnight in a hotel (using Priceline to get it cheap!), and then drove home again. J was less than a year old, and K was only three.
The last day of the 2004 road trip
Back in 2004, we trekked out again and drove through 13 states in 14 days, driving from California to Oregon (to visit my mom), and then to Minnesota for Greg’s parent’s wedding anniversary party, and then back through Denver (to see my brother & sister-in-law), and back home again. K was 7 and Little E was only 10 months old. It was actually for that trip that I started my very first blog in 2004, Travels with Kids, to share the trip with friends and family.
In 2006, we made our move from California to Texas, driving the entire distance, down California, across Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas to Houston in five days. That one was harder for Greg and I because we couldn’t talk and tag team the driving. He was driving the moving van and I was driving mini-van. But the kids loved it! I’m not so sure about the 2 cats and rabbit that we had with us.
Jazzy's first road trip, 2009
Then in 2009, knowing it had been five years since we had seen Greg’s parents, we made a road trip from Houston to Minnesota, in the Fall. If you are ever going to go to Minnesota, go in the Fall. It’s beautiful.
Because we pay cash for everything, we did our tag team driving, with no hotel stays, staying in his parents basement and visiting family and showing the kids where K was born and where we used to live, and where Daddy grew up.
Now, it’s been four years since we moved to Texas. Four years since we’ve seen my mom in person (we have video phones, so we have seen her via the phone, but that’s not the same). And since we were last there, she’s added emus, alpaca, and llama to her herd at the ranch, whom we’ve never met!
So it’s time for another road trip!
I hope that you’ll join us on this family road trip as we prepare for our trek and head off to enjoy this beautiful country and creating wonderful memories that we will cherish for years to come.
At the beginning of each book is a list of the sounds that are covered in the book, which is helpful for determining if your child knows the sounds they need for that particular book.
To personalize the boxes, we went ahead and printed off the 
The mugs are in perfect condition and will be great gifts when paired with hot chocolate, herbal tea, or even candy
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