Who can believe it’s October already? We are well into the school year despite COVID at our heels. COVID or not reading for young minds is essential. If not any other year this school year we should definitely immerse our children’s mind with reading materials.
This is the time for creative thoughts and inspirations. It has been proven that if we introduce children to reading from the early years such as kindergarten it will help them to develop a love for books and they will go on to be avid readers.
I will be looking at different level books throughout the school year. Today I want to focus on early readers and the books I want to look at are the Fancy Nancy Series.
Fancy Nancy series is age-appropriate from 3 years and up. It is about a little girl who likes all things Fancy. She is very polite which means she is Canadian 😄. She is very chirpy and is always getting involved in exotic and interesting activities.
Fancy Nancy likes to use big words because of course they sound fancy and she always give you simple form of the words as well as translate to French because French of course is such a fancy language. Children love to read Fancy Nancy as she gets into so many wild adventures and ridiculous situations.
Even though the book is loved by girls; boys can also read Them and enjoy the books and I would encourage parents to read it to both genders. This book is a big hit with children because of many reasons.
It is fun and entertaining as the character is always getting into something. It presents the family as a cohesive unit. She is always looking to her parents for help or they are always involved in whatever she is doing. She has a younger sibling and a dog. Many children can relate to the characters life. She likes glitter and she likes to dress up which is a hit with many girls and even boys. Children in kindergarten are at the age where they will dress up in their parent’s clothes etc. Fancy Nancy series appeal to this side of their development as they try on shoes, scarves etc. This all makes it fun. My students have had many dresses up sessions while listening to Fancy Nancy songs.
The book also appeals to children’s artistic side. It will make them want to draw and color and glue and paste as they try to come up with fancy artwork. The artwork illustration is not short of beautiful. It is colorful, it pulls you in and makes you want to see what is next. My Kindergarten students are always eager to go on to the next page as they cannot wait to see what the next illustration will be. You are never disappointed after reading a book in this series.
If you are a parent or teacher, they are many activities or a lesson that can be constructed after reading any of the books. And the best part is that for parents with older children the activity can be modified. There is always a vocabulary at the end which can be used to teach spelling or language arts. For French lovers you can use French words to teach simple vocabulary. You can have art activities based on the book or you can have a dress up session as the characters in the book or even a dance party.
The fact is that there is never a dull moment with the Fancy Nancy series. I highly recommend this series for early learners. This should be a part of children’s book library. Parents remember that there is also the local library where you can borrow books. So do not feel pressure to go out and buy books if you cannot afford it. The library is a great source to get access to a variety of books.
What is important is that we get our children to read. It is a great way to get them distracted from our crazy world right now but also feeding their minds. Reading is knowledge and Literacy is Power. Let’s get our children into reading now!
Parents and Teachers if you have read Fancy Nancy let me know your thoughts and if you have a favorite one.
