Positively Homemade Valentines

Positively homemade Valentine bookmarks were lovingly created for my students for this week's Paint Party Friday.  I always try to give Valentines that have a purpose, so it seemed natural to give Valentine bookmarks to encourage my students to read.  Each bookmark was personalized on the back.

As an educator and parent, I try trying to encourage children to develop a daily habit of reading at least twenty minutes a day.  The reading can be a novel, non-fiction, jokes, magazines, newspapers, comics, poetry, basically anything, as long as the child is reading.

If each student in my class reaches the goal of reading 400 minutes is a month, then we are going to have a reading marathon, when we spend the whole day reading at school  in our pajamas, cuddled up in blankets, along side our favourite stuffed animals. We will read recipes and make homemade waffles, participate in Readers' Theatre, and  read both individually and in pairs whatever reading materials they like.

Please, if you are a parent with a young child, or a grandparent with young grandchildren, read to your child/grandchild. It is such a special way to spend time with them.  You will not only be creating life-long memories, you will be helping your child learn a life-long skill that will help them every day.  It is a time to cuddle, discuss ideas, dreams and to get to know your child/grandchild.   Even if your child feels they are too old to be read to, you can still read side by side, each with your own book.  By seeing you read, it is wonderful way to role model reading and develop a reading habit and will give the child a person they can talk to about any questions they may have.

There are so many children around the world who wish they could go to school and read, but because of economics, gender biases, geography, politics, religion..., they can not go to school.  If you are lucky enough to be able to read, celebrate that you can read by reading with a child... You may be the person that helps a child to realize their dreams and you may be the seed to grow the imagination of a child!

To create the Valentine bookmarks, I used scraps of watercolour paper used my Geli Plate for the first time, acrylic paint, bubble wrap and sequin waste, the end of a paint brush, paint sprays and rubber stamps, a Sharpie fine tipped pen and embroidery floss.

Happy Valentines' Day and Paint Party Friday!