I’ve put together some book recommendations for children and teaching books for parents and teachers, at Memory Joggers Amazon Store.  I have 6 different categories;
Writing Books for Kids
Math Books for Primary Grades
Creativity Books for Kids
Reluctant Readers
Learning Challenges
Geography, History, Social Studies

These are all books I’ve used in my teaching or recommended to me by educators.  I’ve written a review on several of them in my section called Book Reviews. I hope you’ll check out the Creativity Books for Kids. I recently read an interesting article in Parenting Magazine called, “Why Art Makes Kids Smarter.”

I’ve been concerned for a long time about the cut back of art programs in the public schools. Art, music, drama all provide access to right brain creating and learning and we need this balance of logic (left brain) and creativity (right brain).  They go hand in hand.  How can students learn about Navajo Indians without working with clay to create a pot?  Drawing a mural of the covered wagon migration of settlers across the U.S. gives us a mental picture for remembering what occurred.  Seeing how watercolor can blend and create beauty opens parts of the brain that promotes appreciation.

A friend of mine was helping me pack some boxes. He looked at the material and the box and measured carefully, using all of his left-brain capabilities.  He said only 4 items could possibly fit.  I looked at it using a right brain perspective, and realized if the material was placed in the box sideways (not the normal direction), we could get in 6 items.

My point is, that the creativity and looking at things from a different perspective is a learned skill. It is right brain thinking. This skill is nurtured when we open students’ minds to creative thinking and exploration.

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If you read my previous blog on discovering your child’s learning style, you must be reading this because you have a Visual Learner in your house, right? Of all the learning styles, the visual learner is the one who usually can create something to do on their own.  But lets give them a little push in the right direction.

• Writing – Make up several small blank books (5 sheets of 8.5″ x 11″ paper folded in half), add a cover of colored paper and staple together like a mini book. Tell your child to write a story and draw pictures, or write a journal of things they did each day and illustrate it. Make sure they proof read the book so they can share it with someone else. Watch the movie about Beatrix Potter (Miss Potter), the artist and writer of children’s books. She loved to draw and write cute animal stories.

• Reading – Again, read books with pictures. If children are reading chapter books, encourage them to illustrate their favorite part. Things come alive when they see it!  If there’s a new vocabulary word, look up the definition and draw a picture of the meaning of the word. A good book for vocabulary is Vocabulary Cartoons: Building an Educated Vocabulary with Visual Mnemonics by Sam Burchers.

• Math – Turn word problems into pictures or charts. Read the I Hate Mathematics Book by Marilyn Burns and do the projects. Find books at the library that teach math with art projects. There are lots of books available to inspire the visual learner. Another good book for understanding word problems is Read It! Draw It! Solve It! by Elizabeth D. Miller. She has books in this series for grades 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. If they are struggling with the memorization of addition/subtraction facts or multiplication/division facts, check out some of my learning systems which work well with visual learners.

All Memory Joggers products come with an unconditional 30-day money back guarantee.