Back in the day (has it
really been 4 years!!!), one of the things I most prided my classroom on was the library. Picture a very well-curated, neatly organized, beautifully displayed, inviting little collection of books. Lots and lots of careful consideration went into it's location, the furniture and the set up- it was the epicenter of the classroom after all! And whenever something changed in there, it was big news.
About once a month or so, I would sneak a new book basket onto the shelves based on something relevant to our collective classroom life- the time of year, a particular unit of study, a topic of interest, or perhaps a new author I wanted to introduce. Inevitably, it took mere moments upon arrival for someone to discover the new book basket. "There's a new basket guys, a new basket!!! Quick, come look!" A crew would gather round to commence the investigation, pouring carefully over the contents. Perhaps one child would read the basket's label, "Rebecca's faves!" Another would make a connection to one of the books in the collection. Eventually morning meeting would start and the basket would get it's formal introduction. Think of this as the runway show of the classroom- each book was taken out, the title read and an explanation given for why I had included it. Without a doubt, that basket would be the most visited for several weeks.
Every once in a while something like this, something I loved about the classroom, something I was really good at, something I know deep in my core was really good teaching slips into our home without my realizing it. You can take the teacher out of the classroom, but... So was the case of the book basket. It started with an innocent trip to the container store, a place I was once banned from by my then boyfriend/now husband in an effort to stop me from spending my meager paycheck on my classroom (a terrible habit of most really good teachers). I could write a thousand posts on my love of a good container, but I digress.
So, I return home happy to have found the perfect sized bins for my daughters bedroom book shelf (which, yes, I organize and re-organize as meticulously as I did my classroom library). I'd pre-measured of course and 4 baskets would fit perfectly on the shelf in question. But when I started organizing the shelf, I decided that 3 baskets seemed a bit more manageable. So I was left with an extra basket on my hands. What to do? What to do?
I've always kept a stack of books in the kitchen (and another stack in the living room), so why not give them a proper home? And somehow that started something. Simply giving those books a special home elevated my little kitchen collection and suddenly I felt the need for a theme. For the first incarnation, I pulled together all of our winter stories. They were also all books I loved and would enjoy reading over and over and over again (which should be expected when you set up a basket like this).
Well, I have to tell you that the ole book basket has had the same effect at home as it had in the classroom- increased interest in reading, more time spent reading, and more conversation about our reading (lots of connections made between books). I credit this to accessibility and the excitement of having a special collection designed with just her in mind- maybe next up should be a non-Disney princess collection? I am thrilled that this idea has slipped into our home and look forward to sharing it's progression with all of you here.
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