Education | Daddy Mojo

My First Seek and Learn: At Home, makes learning Spanish seem like play

No bones about it, full immersion is the best way to learn a second language. Full immersion is also a luxury. If you don’t live in a country where your native tongue isn’t the primary language or can’t afford a school where that’s the modus operandi of teaching, it’s also not an option. This is where you’re thankful for those relatives who still speak a second language fluently or need to seek out books that start at a very young age. My First Seek & Learn: At Home, Mi Premer Busca & Apprende: En Casa is the same either way you say it. It combines the curious element that toddlers have hardwired into their brains and adds a bi-lingual element that will pay dividends for years to come.

My First Seek and Learn: At Home uses common, household words and happy illustrations to make learning Spanish a seek and find, for ages two and up.

Open, abierto el libro y apprendre

Unproven, Unlikely and Firmly Believed-a smart, funny quickly paced book

I read Unproven, Unlikely and Firmly Believed, but didn’t get it. My wife normally reads books with a pastel or a spring-colored spine. Typically these books are about a cute young guy who manages a book store in Maine. There’ a generational corner store in town that’s about to be managed by a cute young girl. Both of their worlds will be upended when the data center or online warehouse open up its newest facility in the valley. My wife normally reads books like that, but apparently there was a disturbance in the love and missed-connections book force which meant that she had nothing to read. She looked over at Unproven, Unlikely and Firmly Believed and asked me what it’s about.

Don’t let the conspiracy nature of Unproven, Unlikely and Firmly Believed deceive you into thinking this isn’t smart or fun to read. It’s clever, fast paced, education and doesn’t drag you down the rabbit hole.

Smart, but not too smart in its take on conspiracies

The Declaration Decoded effortlessly explains the document for ages 10 & up

The Declaration Decoded: A Guide to the Document that Inspired Our Nation implies that everyone who reads it will be a citizen of the United States. Imply and infer are tricky concepts to master, aren’t they? We’ve read other books that explained the Declaration of Independence, but those books are aimed at young audiences. This is all a bit ironic because the shape of The Declaration Decoded is smaller and more rectangular. Its more compact, hand-held package that seemingly aims at a younger demographic. Young and younger are all relative, aren’t they?

Through its format and writing, The Declaration Decoded: A Guide to the Document that Inspired our Nation makes learning fun and effortless.

make history fun, and something I can understand. Hold my drink.

Lot and Lots of Ocelots make math students wish they had it earlier

Why do I need to remind our 14-year-old of his multiplication tables? He’s “on level”, got a B in eighth-grade math, but I’m still reminding him of what 8 x 8 or what 64 divided by 8 is. Something is amiss in the state of middle school mathematics. Lot and Lots of Ocelots: A Skip Counting Book does not have this problem. If anything, Lots and Lots of Ocelots is the pre-school and early-elementary school- kryptonite to a problem that could vex kids in four-to-seven years.

Lot and Lots of Ocelots: A Skip Counting Book is the fun, effortlessly educational book that delayed middle school math students secretly wish that they had seven years earlier.

I say skip, you say count, Skip, count, skip count

What Makes A Bird?, timeless STEM that crosses into enjoyment

Quite often, we’ll talk about all-age comic books. These are comic books that can be enjoyed by any age; but have the ability to serve as entertainment for young ages. Is there such a thing as an all-age reference book? There is, but to call them a ‘reference book’ could be a disservice to how entertaining some of them are. What Makes A Bird? An Illustrated Guide to the Bird World is a fun, entertaining ‘reference book’ that belies the dreaded boring label young ages might apply to something that’s not brain rot. The book has a classic, timeless vibe that can be attributed to its illustrations and presentation.

What Makes A Bird? is effortlessly enjoyable STEM on the ancestors of dinosaurs and their habitats and characteristics today.

Resistance (and ignorance) is futile

The Six Queens of Henry VIII, non-fiction content that sticks in your head

Herman’s Hermits did more for Henry VIII than most North American schools. I just asked a group of 25 high school juniors if they knew who Henry VII was, and two students raised their hands. They knew that he had many wives, but incorrectly said that he killed all of them. To be fair, when I was a child, if a teacher had said Henry VIII we would’ve echoed it with, Herery the eighth I am, I am. Set against this backdrop is what makes The Six Queens of Henry VIII all the more remarkable. It’s an illustrated book with graphic novel element that manages to entertain audiences in equal measure to its education.

The Six Queens of Henry VIII uses varied art and succinct text to make a non-fiction book on British royalty that’s effortless to enjoy.

hIS WIVES AND hENRY vii MEET STORYTELLING TARGETED AT MIDDLE SCHOOL AND UP

Ma: The Japanese Secret to Contemplation and Calm, 18 essays on pausing life

Tsundoku is the Japanese word for buying or collecting books, intending to read them later. In the meantime, they form paper based, scaled down mountains that range in colors and thickness. I use that word as more of an activity, or something I do, rather than an affliction. Ma is a much more subtle Japanese word. It can mean ‘negative space’, untapped potential, or any pause in life that you intentionally do. Ma: The Japanese Secret to Contemplation and Calm is a collection of 18 essays and photographs about the concept of what isn’t there.

Ma: The Japanese Secret to Contemplation and Calm: An Invitation to Awareness is 18 essays on intentional pauses, negative space, and stillness to makes action more powerful.

Essays that will help you see what isn’t there

Night Night Tyrannosaurus, board book cutes with big-kid STEM

Back in my day board books were just about caterpillars, shapes and colors. Babies, crawlers and toddlers have it so good today. Night Night Tyrannosaurus and Night Night Ladybug are board books that swim with today’s books for young demographics. Tyrannosaurus and Ladybug each have a different focus, with one being on shapes and the other on colors. It has the mandatory aspects of education, but wraps it in the pleasantries of dinosaurs or insects. My four-year-old self describes this as a win/win when it comes to board books.

Night Night Tyrannosaurus is a board book that uses some go-to elements for toddlers and crawlers, but adds a little STEM.

Night night toddlers, hello Stem curiosity