Let’s Get Ready with Cedar Valley Publishing

We had the pleasure of reviewing Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! in an English version and in a Spanish/English version, plus Let’s Get Ready for First Grade!. Since our Blogger Mommy Jennifer’s daughter “G” is about to turn 5 years old and will be starting Kindergarten next year, we thought she would be the perfect person to review these two books for us. You will also hear from a guest reviewer, my older daughter Jessie, who is a 2nd grade teacher in Southeast Arizona. She will give us a review from a teacher’s point of view.

Jennifer and daughter “G’s” thoughts…

Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten! is a great book if you have a child who is getting ready for pre-k or kindergarten. This book is fun, brightly designed with colorful reusable dry erase pages. The book starts off with meeting a classroom called the “Cedar Valley Kids” taught by a teacher named Mrs. Good. It covers numerous skills and subjects such as the alphabet, numbers, shapes, colors, knowing your own phone number and address and so much more. 

My daughter “G” is 4-1/2 years old and absolutely loves this book. She especially likes the dry erase pages and how she can practice over and over again. She also likes how Mrs. Good is giving tips at the bottom of every page with a different look.

I have purchased other pre-k workbooks for my daughter before but she was never really interested in them and became easily overwhelmed. I really like how this book has easy to understand activities and directions and also covers all of the early-learning basics. I also like that at the end of the book, there are tips for parents and caregivers on what they should be doing to help their children learn successfully.

Let’s Get Ready For First Grade! is very similar to Let’s Get Ready For Kindergarten!. There is a new teacher named Mrs. Best and of course a new set of subjects and skills. Both of these books come at a great price. They are very sturdy and durable and can be used over and over again or for other children. These are both great learning tools and I highly recommend them to any parent or caregiver who has a child getting ready for pre-k, kindergarten or who is in kindergarten now and preparing for the first grade.

Jessie’s thoughts, from a Teacher’s point of view…

Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten! (Spanish/English Edition) by Stacey Kannenberg is full of great information to help get your little ones ready for their first day of school. The inside covers are filled with great tips for parents on getting your child ready for learning, homework, and even skill levels. Of these, my favorite was the stages of writing. Many parents are concerned in the early years of school about where their child is in their development and where they think their child should be. But, Let’s Get Ready for Kindergarten! lays it out great.

As you move into the book, you will find numbers, letters, words, and more for your child to identify. It can be a little overwhelming for you and your child to take all of this in at once; but as it says in the book, “This information will take time to understand. Keep reading it over and over again.” This book was not meant to be completely learned by day one of kindergarten. It is a good start and meant to be referred to again and again throughout the year as practice. I would recommend taking on a page or two at a time. There is a lot of information that if done all in one sitting could stress out a 4 or 5 year old, which means stressing you out too. Also, I wouldn’t recommend handing it to a child without guidance. Depending on your state’s standards for kindergarten, this book could go beyond what your child is supposed to learn in kindergarten and even start to get him/her ready for first grade. Having both English and Spanish throughout the book does seem to clutter the pages. If this is a problem, see the English only version.

Having children who have come into my class speaking not a word of English, I would use this particular edition with children to help them in their English development skills, even outside of kindergarten. Everything in this book is in English and Spanish which would be great for the ELL (English language learner) student.

The book itself has thick laminated pages. Some pages call for writing directly in the book with a dry erase marker (great for using it over and over and with multiple children). It also has a strong binding to prevent pages from being easily torn out.

The Baby Store is giving away one of EACH of Stacey’s “Let’s Get Ready” books!
CLICK HERE to Enter!

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