Hosting a Scholastic Book Fair in the fall and spring gives parents the opportunity to purchase some of their children’s favorite stories to enjoy when they are not at school. Preschool Director Lenora “Ponie” Mojado was pleased with the strong turnout.

“The parents, students and teachers always enjoy the book fair; I also invited managers and other departments to join in,” she said. “We estimate that over 100 books were sold. This is a wonderful outcome for our preschool and kindergarten classrooms, providing funds for student gifts and new books that will enrich their learning environments.”

Mojado enjoys purchasing the Monster Truck books for her little cousins, and is also a big fan of Jory John, the author of The Smart Cookie, The Bad Seed, and The Cool Bean.

“The book fair has some Halloween and fall-themed books by Jory John, and I’m hoping to add those to my collection as well,” she said. “He’s my favorite author.”

The most popular book characters among the preschool children are Monster Trucks and Bluey, along with Paw Patrol and there were many titles in those series to choose from.

“Whenever they see their favorite characters at the book fair, they get so excited,” Mojado said. “Many of them enjoy picking out books and setting them aside at the register with their names on them. They often ask, ‘Can I write my name on the sticky (note) so no one takes it?’ and I always tell them yes, of course. The children truly enjoy all the books from the book fair. The girls especially love Disney Princess books, cat-themed stories, and journals with a lock and key. Overall, a wide range of genres is popular. When the children see the books, their eyes light up—it’s wonderful to watch.”

The teachers also enjoy the opportunity to promote reading to their students. As adults with interest in genres that range from non-fiction and romance to true crime, mysteries and inspirational, all enjoy reading to the kids in their classes.

Popular titles for the teachers to read to children in all three classrooms with children ranging from 3 to 5 years old include books by Eric Carle, especially The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

“It is very relatable to them because kids love to eat, and they love the science of the caterpillar morphing into a butterfly,” kindergarten teacher Betsy Post said. “They are in absolute disbelief when they finally see a beautiful butterfly emerge from its cocoon. Such a fun story!”

The Pete the Cat series is also popular.

“The catchy songs and themes in these books are great attention grabbers for children,” preschool teacher’s aide Jess Thompson said. “Also, any child-friendly books that are based on sharing, hygiene, how to be kind, ways to calm down, etc. are also my favorites. These types of books are a great way to introduce or review self-help and social-emotional skills.”

Pre-kindergarten teacher Ana Garcia said her students also enjoy Pete the Cat. “The students stay engaged because of the catchy repetitive songs and storytelling,” she said. “Children love to move and dance and sing along, making a fun interactive experience.”

Julissa Garcia loves sharing Pete the Cat and Llama Llama with her three-year-old students. “I love how Pete the Cat books have a musical tune to it so I can be more animated as a reader and they have fun learning concepts like counting, colors, problem-solving, and more,” she said. “Llama Llama books have a big selection that cover relatable topics for our preschoolers.”

She said reading to her students is an engaging way to connect/bond with children. “You never really know how often your students are read to at home, so as a teacher in the classroom, I take any opportunity to nourish their interests in books,” Garcia said. “It helps develop their language skills and builds their reading comprehension while gaining more understanding of the world around them. Children can also relate to certain characters in books they are exposed to, or they can even use their imaginations with more fictional characters.”

Pre-k teacher’s aide Amanda Juarez feels reading to children is important because it helps them develop language skills, it helps improve their cognitive development, helps with bonding and helps them with school.

“Reading to children is the foundation for everything they will learn later,” Ana Garcia said. “Reading to children introduces them to new words and teaches them language sounds.”

Post said kids thrive when they use their imaginations, especially while reading a book themselves or as they are being read to. She said their fluency grows and their understanding of new vocabulary explodes as they read.

“Children are like sponges. When reading to them, they pick up on all the words coming from the book, whether you notice it or not,” Thompson said. “Exposing them to different words or stories expands their vocabulary and also builds their literacy skills. From experience, I’ve noticed when reading to a student one-on-one, our bond grows. Being able to connect to something or someone in a story with them makes our connection stronger. Even if there is nothing to relate to in the story, just taking the time to read a book together allows them to see that they are important and a priority of mine.”

Each shared their thoughts on the most important skill students should develop to help them begin reading on their own, which is a goal at the preschool.

Julissa Garcia said being able to actively listen to a story first, then begin to retell the story in their own words is critical. “Utilizing props like visual cards to sequence the order of events in a story, puppets and dolls/figurines, and simply answering questions about the book are all great practices to build on those skills,” she said. “Students should also acknowledge books by learning the parts of a book (front cover, backside, spine, title, author, illustrator) and reading/turning pages from left to right. Also, beginning to understand that letters are symbols that make words, and that text has meaning is very important.”

Ana Garcia believes the most critical skill is letter sound and recognition combined with a love for books. She said that once children learn letters that represent sound it helps build confidence they will need to start reading words independently.

“In my opinion, phonics, print recognition, and vocabulary are great skills to develop before being able to read individually,” Thompson said. “Being aware of how text in books flow from left to right and understanding that words have sounds would be a great start.”

Juarez feels learning phonological awareness will help students begin reading on their own. Post said having confidence in themselves is the skill that helps new readers become fluent readers.

“The more they practice reading, the more fun reading becomes,” she said.

The post Book fair helps kids have fun with reading appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.

Because “reading colors our world,” children were asked to wear their favorite color on Monday. Since “reading is crazy fun,” wearing their silliest socks or rocking a crazy hairstyle was Tuesday’s theme. Wednesday saw the students dressed as their favorite superhero or wearing a superhero shirt to remind them that “reading gives you superpowers.” Because “books bring out your wild side,” kids were encouraged to wear animal print clothing or a shirt with a favorite animal on it during Thursday classes. The week ended with an invitation for everyone to wear their pajamas to school to remind them to “cozy up with a good book.”

Pre-kindergarten teacher Ana Garcia took things a step further and chose R as the letter of week. Not only is it the beginning letter of reading but the children made rainbow bracelets as one of their many daily activities, which reinforced their color recognition skills.

Preschool Director Lenora “Ponie” Mojado enjoys the Book Fair because parents get to purchase books for their children to enjoy at home. Additionally, the preschool benefits directly from Book Fair sales through Scholastic Dollars, which teachers can use to purchase books, classroom materials, and educational items.

This year’s book fair was very successful, earning almost $1,700, some of which goes back to the school. “This provides teachers with valuable resources for their classrooms,” Mojado said.

Book Fair Consultant Jessica Cameron has worked at Scholastic for three years and served as the preschool’s consultant this year. Her role is to help to organize book fairs and talk to book fair hosts to help with planning events. She serves a large area and helps more than 650 schools in Riverside County, with about 100 of them being preschools.

She said every school that hosts a fair gets a percentage of the profits earned back in Scholastic Dollars that can be used to purchase books off of future fairs or to shop the Scholastic Dollars Catalog online that has many fun items from books, to book vending machines, digital products, outdoor toys, classroom resources, and more. They also offer 10 percent extra in Scholastic Dollars for schools that run more than one fair.

“We have been working with Soboba Tribal Preschool since 2016, there was a break during COVID (2020-2023) and we started back in 2024,” Cameron said.  “It’s been my pleasure to work with Soboba Tribal Preschool.”

Cameron has always had a love for reading. “I love the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins,” she said. “My little sister and I read the books together in middle school/high school and won tickets from a radio contest to be able to go see the first movie at a local theater when it premiered. I’ve loved that Collins has continued the series with new additions as well.”

Mojado appreciates the work Scholastic does to curate the selection of books based on the age group served.

“For future fairs, we plan to order additional items such as pencils, erasers, and small novelty items that families enjoy,” she said. “We also consider what parents typically like to purchase, and Scholastic sends a variety of high interest children’s books. They also include a $5 table with chapter books for older elementary students. The $5 chapter book collections are especially popular with families who have older children, and parents often pick up books for siblings as well.”

Before releasing her students from rug time, Garcia asked each student if they had a favorite book. Many of them replied with the popular title, “There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rainbow” by Lucille Colandro. This is one that was read aloud to the class as part of their rainbow theme on March 12. Garcia commended the students for sharing and said all their titles were good choices.

“Our most popular books for sale this year have been princess-themed stories, Spider-Man books, and monster truck books, which the children are especially excited about,” Mojado said.

For more information, please visit https://education.scholastic.com/content/fairs/home.html.

The post Soboba Tribal Preschoolers get silly for books appeared first on The Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle.