Homeschooling Discoveries - The Captain Joe Series by Emily Madill

Over the past few month I have had to slow down a lot on blogging due to issues beyond my control. I thank everyone .. readers and authors for being so patient! I have so many outstanding reviews and I will get to them all. So many books have come my way in the past 3 or 4 months and I want to tell you all about what is so great about them. That said starting today I want to let you know about a bunch of awesome homeschooling resources I have come across. I don't home school but I do love to supplement beyond what my daughter learns at school, she loves it too. I put out a call for reviews many months ago and got so many amazing responses I could hardly keep track! I was going to make this a monthly feature but I think between the writers who contact me and the books I find both at work and at the library, this will become a weekly feature! So enough of my gabbing  ....  here is this weeks first find!

JK to Grade 3 (and beyond)

The Captain Joe Series by Emily Madill

The Captain Joe Series© was designed as a tool for adults to teach children about constructive imagination. The four books are a fun and interactive way to introduce the concept of "Thoughts Turn into Things, so Choose the Ones that Make you Happy" to young children, ages five to nine years. Joe and his thought-zapping superpower will invite children to use their imaginations to constructively choose thoughts that promote healthy self-esteem and self-awareness.

Each of the four stories is designed to teach a key concept. Follow the series and discover what happens with Joe when he encounters a magical wizard. Captain Joe to the Rescue introduces Joe and the concept of his thought-zapping superpower.

(from http://captainjoesteachingresources.com/index.html )

Emily is a mother of two boys which shows that she understands how kids function and think. I liked that the stories were very simplistic in regards to explaining what can sometimes be a  a very complex idea for young children, self-esteem. The stories follow a young boy as he learns that he has a superpower, he can turn his dark thoughts into happy thoughts, a superpower that everyone has .... they just need to know how to use it! I read these books with my daughter who is nearing the end of JK and she really seemed to get a grasp that she should have fun and not worry what others will think. She was able to take this very basic concept and place it into her own life. She excels at so much but in one area at school this year she has had some trouble (learning to print). After a while she was so upset at her progress that she forgot about all the stuff she was good at and focused on the printing ... which really upset her. I took out the Captain Joe Books at bedtime one night and we slowly re-read all the books. After discussing what we read I brought up all the stuff she was good at and that overtime she would improve. The books were a great way to get the discussion going and now she is feeling much better about herself.

The teaching guide is a nice supplement as there are discussion exercises as well as some reading comprehension sheets and even a math page for each book.

I think that this is a good addition for early readers as they can practice reading and learn to feel good about themselves at the same time.

For more information go to Emily Madill's website http://www.authorsresources.ca/index2.html 

or

to the Captain Joe website

 http://captainjoesteachingresources.com/index.html