I was waiting for all the cards to arrive before sharing what we got from the International Postcard swap which was hosted by Zoe from
Playing By The Book. Some of the cards actually came in envelopes with little gifts or extra letters inside, in fact the first 3 came like that to which I was kicking myself thinking I had missed an email somewhere on what the swap included. We made our postcards from a damaged book, I cut, Ebi-kun glued, I hope handmade cards were OK, I feel a bit bad about it now.
We did get some good book recommendations 'Orrible histories series is one I think we will have to check out :o) Thank you to all those that sent cards, most didn't have a blog/email/address of any kind so I can't thank them in person.
I also have to give Zoe a big thank you for the books that she sent as prizes to her blog contest that we won. The first was
Three Cheers For Inventors, this is a fantastic book, jam packed with information and Ebi-kun LOVES it. We have been reading an inventor a day before yochien, it is written in a fun and humorous way and lots of attention to detail.
The other book was
The Planet Gods, which is beautifully illustrated, we haven't sat and read this one yet, we are saving it for when we study planets, Ebi-kun did sit for a long time looking at all the pictures. If you are looking for a good deal when buying books, I have to recommend
The Book Depository, it is quick and it has FREE international shipping, yes, I know, I sound like a broken record but there are new readers who might not know about this :o) PLUS there prices are often cheaper than Amazon!
Oh please don't feel bad about home made cards! I thought yours was wonderful. AND we have thank you for YOUR book you sent to us - I have to admit that it has intrigued M rather than become her very favourite book of all time but still, it's given us lots of chance to talk together about the story and about Japan so that's wonderful.
ReplyDeleteSome other people have expressed that they felt bad because some families did more than a card. I don't really know what to do about this - I don't want to stop people being generous, but nor do I want any families to feel bad. I think that next time I do a swap I'll include a note saying that in my experience people are generous in their responses, but that no-one should feel obliged to include anything more than the postcard (or whatever item is being swapped). What do you think?
E starts kindy in the Fall and we have decided to enrol him for the very same concerns - social, etc. He is, like your son, above grade level and I, too, am walking a little on the worry path that he may get bored but on the other hand think/know that he will enjoy having friends tremendously. So nice to know all is going well for your precious boy. :-)
ReplyDeleteZoe - thank you! I didn't expect the girls to fall in love with the book, I still have no idea why Ebi-kun loves it so much, just seems like a very odd story to me, but he insisted that we get that one LOL.
ReplyDeleteWhen I have run swaps in the past, I have stated the minimum criteria, you have to include x, y and z but you can choose to add more if you like but they have been swaps for small packages. The postcard swaps have always been just postcards and I usually have them include an easy recipe on the back. I always get more people for the US sign up than anywhere else so I just make sure everyone is aware that they will get more US partners than other international ones, I also ask that if anyone in the US is able to represent another country that they do so, that has worked out quite well too.
Phebe - I hope E enjoys kindy as much as Ebi-kun does. I believe that education isn't just about maths and the abc's, we need to teach them about social behaviour, communicating with others, how to work in a group or team etc. So he is still learning and he is learning skills that I can't teach him one-on-one at home, plus he comes home shattered so he isn't bouncing off the walls and driving me nuts :o)
Hello Jo!
ReplyDeleteWe received your postcard, Jan and Neó were very happy to know about Leo and his favourite books! And when they saw that the postcard arrived from Japan, they were really "impressed" (how arrives a postcard from Japan to Catalunya? airplane, ship..., they asked to the postwoman!).
Thanks a lot!
Àfrica.