Back to School Book of the Day: This is the Way We Go to School by Edith Baer

This Is the Way We Go to School: A Book About Children Around the World  "Some children walk to school; others ride a bus. Children go by ferry in New York, vaporetto in Italy, trolley car in San Francisco, and helicopter in the Alaskan Tundra. With fun-filled rhymes and colorful illustrations, children will discover just how much fun getting to school can be."

I am a big fan of infusing cultural experiences into every-day experiences for children. You don't have to have that "All Around the World" theme to discover the world around us! When you do your theme about birthdays, talk about how different families and other children around the world celebrate. When you talk about seasons, learn what weather is like in other parts of the world too. Culture is a part of our every day lives and doesn't have to be relegated to that one week or month on your lesson plan!

Here are some related activities to try with this story:

1. Look at a map or globe and place markers on the areas where the children in the story live.
2. Make a class graph and allow children to tell how they get to school each day (bus, car, walk, etc).
3. Look online for pictures of children in all types of school. Print them and share them with the children.
4. Visit a site like E-Pals (which is primarily for Kindergarten and older, but you may also find a pre-K teacher looking to connect with other pre-K classrooms) and connect with another class. Build a class relationship with a classroom in another part of the country or another part of the world!
5. Allow children to draw pictures of their favorite part of the story.

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