It all began when I created a Pinterest account to discover new teaching ideas... as I was scrolling through tons of creative pins I uncovered the wonderful world of quiet books. I instantly fell in love with the concept of teaching my daughter through homemade, tailor-made books. Some pages are just for fun and to keep her entertained during church, plane rides, doctor's visits, etc. but others facilitate mastery of basic life skills such as tying one's shoes, and preschool skills like counting and letter recognition. They are also fantastic for fine motor skill development. My "theme" is travel/going places. So far I have completed an "outerspace" two-page spread using Imagine Our Life's rocket ship and astronaut templates. I also created one page of an arctic spread I am working on. This page was created using an ice skate template from FantastINK's blog and inspired by a Pinterest pin to this wonderful quiet book pattern from shelleywallace on Etsy. The arctic idea came from a quiet book that can only be described as a phenomenal work of art found here by Meli Melo Deco. I plan to create an igloo puzzle for the other page in the spread. I'm still trying to decide whether to do an ice skater doll, ice fishing color match, or an arctic animal theme with my igloo. Other page ideas include a rainforest habitat, beach sandcastle building and seashell counting pages, and a circus "under the big-top" adventure. I'm starting early, so hopefully I will have it completed by the time she is ready to use it!
