Itty Bitty Bookworm Review & Giveaway

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THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED, THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO ENTERED AND CONGRATULATIONS TO KERI, WINNER OF THE BAILEY CURRICULUM!

I've had a link on my personal blog to the Itty Bitty Bookworm since I first started blogging, because they have great free resources with printable booklets, thematic writing paper, classroom management forms, coloring pages. They are also working on adding monthly links to other online resources that enhance their curriculum.

So I already thought it was a great resource, and THEN we were contacted by Tara, the founder of Itty Bitty Bookworm and asked if we wanted to do a review of their literature based curriculum for preschoolers AND host a giveaway! We jumped at the chance!

The Itty Bitty Bookworm is a literature based program, with each week in Bo's or every two weeks in the Bailey curriculum centered on a particular book. There are two levels to the curriculum Bailey's is for 18-36 months and Bo's is for 3-5 year olds. We had the pleasure of reviewing the Year 1 April units for both levels and split them up according to the ages of our own children.

Bailey's Curriculum Review

This is Katie from Katie's Nesting Spot, my daughter is two and a half, so we've been having fun using the Bailey Curriculum for 18-36 month olds. I am so thankful to Tara for letting us have the opportunity to share it with you!

You get a very detailed and complete unit, that comes with a lot of theory behind child development. You won't just get ideas, you'll learn the why and how to teach your child. The long term goals of the program laid out in developmental stages will be of particular interest.

There are scheduling suggestions, including how to incorporate a picture schedule and suggestions for songs to start your day with. Learning centers are discussed at length with many examples and suggestions given. Motor skills, both fine and gross are also covered.

As a former teacher, I especially appreciated the forms already created to help record student progress, especially the writing portfolio milestones sheet, and the parent handouts detailing the program and for each two week period. How nice to be able to just copy and send home, a real time saver!

Speaking of time savers, if I had one suggestion, it would be that the animal cards for the sounds and felt board activities be provided in both color, so that you don't have to color them in before using them with your students, and black and white, so you still have a version for the kids to color in and use for your own extension activities.

The program is centered around storybooks, with shared reading a big component. I was happy to see that there is an in depth daily break down to the implementation schedule. It is very clearly written and easy to follow. It is the foundation for using the program. Every day there is a detailed shared reading, group activity, and creative arts activity.

For this month the focus books were:
~What Will You Wear, Jesse Bear?
~Clap Your Hands

Some of the shared reading activities were:
~Discussing the parts of the book
~Asking her what she remembers
~Chorally rereading the book
~Discuss favorite parts of the book
~Sing and practice a poem of the week
~Act out parts of the book
~Reread for fun

Each day there are also book related activities that also incorporate learning the color and shape of the month.

Some Activity Highlights Were:

~Making a character puppet, she enjoyed this so much we had to make more than one.

~Acting out the book and taking pictures, here she is clapping her hands and stomping her feet.

~Playing with her paper plate tambourine and water bottle maracas

~Getting to be the leader, when playing follow the leader
~Talking about feelings and making silly faces
~Singing an animals sounds song and doing a coordinating felt board activity
~Making animal sounds and finding the corresponding picture card, she made some of the cards and was proud of herself. Those are her favorites and when we play, she always chooses to make those animal sounds first.

~Yellow Handprint Flowers, I didn't make ours as directed but it's similar to the described activity and one of the things I liked about the program is how you can change things and make it work for you.


I found the activities easily adaptable to use items you have on hand. For instance, we did not make craft stick picture frames. We decorated inexpenisve frames I already had. I really liked using the program, it takes all the guess work out of planning and the books it uses are readily available, in fact we own fifteen of them already. I also would like to add that I agree with the other Katie, and many of the points she uses to describe the Bailey curriculum below, would also apply to the Bo curriculum.

I'd love to have the whole program, and I know you would to! Keep reading to find out how you can WIN it!

Bo Curriculum Review

I, the list making Katie, had the privilege of reviewing Itty Bitty Bookworm’s Bo Curriculum for children ages 3-5 (Year 1).

What a fantastic, comprehensive program for use in ANY school setting.

In typically list maker fashion, I’d love to share some of the many highlights of Itty Bitty Bookworm in general & specifically the Bo Curriculum.

Itty Bitty Bookworm
~ Lessons & activities foster the natural curiosity evident in all preschoolers.
~ Easy to implement
~ Very organized & detailed lay out
~ Creative thematic units
~ Helpful printables provided for easy management: daily reports, daily schedules, graphics, song posters, parent communication, and observation/record keeping forms.

Bo Curriculum
~The layout & format is incredibly “friendly” for busy moms and teachers.
~The curriculum includes a detailed daily schedule, weekly format, and monthly theme suggestion.
~Center activities are provided with set up explanations.
~The curriculum includes many opportunities for authentic assessment to monitor children’s progress as they move through the themes.
~Each theme includes a detailed supply list
~Each month’s skill objectives are clearly stated

Interesting Fact for Educators & Parents
Throughout the monthly themes the letters of the ABC are taught in order of printing complexity.

My kids & I specifically explored the unit “Bugs, Bugs, Bugs!”

We read the following buggy books:
~Bugs, Bugs, Bugs
~The Very Hungry Caterpillar
~The Grouchy Ladybug
~Miss Spider’s Tea Party

Some of the projects we enjoyed included:
~Ants on a Stump cooking project
~The Counting Bug Book math project
~Shared Reading & Response
~Fingerprint Bugs art project
~Play dough Bugs
~Bug “Guess Who”

Excited about giving the Itty Bitty Bookworm a try? Here are some options.
~Check out their site now for great ideas, lesson previews, and free printables.
~Purchase pieces of either the Bailey or Bo Curriculum that will be useful for your child’s specific needs.
~WIN an entire year of Itty Bitty Bookworm curriculum (a $300 value)!!!
To Be Entered in the Giveaway Drawing:

~Visit the Itty Bitty Bookworm. Take a look at the Bailey and Bo curriculum. When you come back comment on which curriculum you would prefer to win & which theme you are most excited to try! (This must be done to be entered)

Additional Entries may be Earned by Doing Any (or all) of the Following:
Leave a separate comment letting us know about each thing you have done.

~Twitter about this giveaway and leave a link to your tweet
~Follow ABC & 123: A Learning Cooperative
~Purchase & download any piece of the curriculum and let us know
~Add our button to your sidebar
~Add our link to your link list
~Blog about this giveaway and provide a link back

Good Luck! We will be choosing a winner one week from today, on May 7th!

Head back over to the Give it Away Now! Blog Giveaway Carnival at Mom Most Traveled for more great giveaways!

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