Happily Ever After: The Start of Something New for Me!

Friday, May 18, 2018

The Start of Something New for Me!

Some of you know that Trevor recently took a job with a company called EDC. Some of you might be thinking, wait, I thought he started his own company, or wait, is this another new company? Well, the answer is YES and YES! Haha! That whole story is probably for another day! So, I'll start here.

Trevor now works for a company called EDC (Educational Development Corporation). They are the distributing company for Usborne Books and More. To be honest, I really had never heard much about Usborne Books and More. I associated them with Scholastic, but that's about the extent of my knowledge. For those of you that don't know, they have books for children of all ages. They have fiction and non-fiction and many are award-winning titles. Well, after Trevor started working there he brought home a couple of their books for Brooks. Brooks fell in LOVE with them! I am not kidding when I say that! He already loved books, but once we started reading those, they became the ones he ASKS US to read, even now.

So, initially I just kept asking Trevor to get us some new titles because we would read the same one 7 times every day! Haha! I then discovered that they have independent consultants that sell them. Now, I am not the direct salesperson type so, to be honest, I NEVER considered this an option for me. Trevor would hint around it, but I would blow him off and tell him I AM NOT A SALESPERSON! Then, we went to Florida....

Brooks and I read this book together all the time. It's called My First Word Book. It's an Usborne book that Trevor brought home right after he started working for EDC.

You can look into it here

It has tons of pictures with captions of what each item is. Brooks points out all the pictures he knows, names them and then each day I would add one or two more that he didn't know yet and we would practice them together. One of the picture/words is "Parachute." He has ONLY seen a parachute in this one book and we only talked about that picture a hand full of times. To be honest, I didn't think he would see one in the near future, so I didn't focus on that one a whole lot. Well, fast forward to us being in Florida on the beach. We are sitting in the sand having fun family time and then a boat drives by in the distance with a parasailor. Brooks looks up and starts yelling "parachute, parachute, parachute". Seriously, the coolest thing ever! I mean, I am a teacher, I know kids learn so much from books, but this was so cool. One picture in one book and Brooks was able to identify it in person! SOOOO COOL!

Well, that was when I decided that I wanted to look into being a part of Usborne Books and More. That was a SCARY thought (still is!) because I am no salesperson. But, I don't have to be! I am just a mom, passionate about books, passionate about literacy, wanting to be a part of something bigger than myself. When I was speaking with my Team Leader on the phone, she shared with me that her team (which I'm now a part of!!!) put together $33,000 worth of free books for children taken emergently into foster care! Truly, that is the story that made the decision for me. That is a story that I want to be a part of! It is so important for children to have books at their fingertips and to end the literacy crisis. I saw it at my school every day when I was a teacher. 6th graders would be on a kindergarten or 1st grade reading level. It really affects EVERY aspect of learning when a child is behind in reading. Try reading a math book (which is already like a foreign language for many) on a reading level that is 5 times above yours!

ALL OF THAT TO SAY...I am now a crazy book lady! AKA an independent consultant for Usborne Books and More!