Dear Parents and Guardians:

I encourage you to spend time focusing on a single animal—the rhino—as you read this month’s issue of Ranger Rick Jr. with your child.

Ask your child to name the animal on this month’s cover. It’s a rhinoceros, or rhino, for short. Tell her that the name means “animal with horns on its nose” from the Greek words for nose and horn.

Turn to page 6 and read the “Rhino Roundup” article to your child. After reading, go back and discuss some of rhino facts with your child.

Fact 2: Rhinos are huge animals. An adult rhino weighs as much as a pickup truck. In human terms, a single rhino weighs more than 25 adult men combined.

Fact 4: A rhino’s horns are made of keratin, the same stuff as your fingernails. Ask your child what happens when she trims her fingernails. They grow back. A rhino’s horn will grow back, as well, if it breaks off.

Fact 8: A rhino uses mud as a sunscreen and insect repellant. Ask your child how she protects her skin from sunburns and insect bites. Would she rather use mud?

Fact 10: Rhinos are surprisingly fast. A rhino can run up to 35 miles per hour for a short distance. An Olympic champion can’t run that fast. The fastest human can only run 27 miles per hour in a 100-meter sprint.

Turn to pages 24–25 and play the board game with your child. All you will need is a coin and two game markers. Let your child choose which rhino to be—Regina or Robert. Then let him start by flipping the coin and moving one or two spaces. By alternating coin flips, the first to reach the water is the WINNER!

Enjoy Ranger Rick Jr. magazine with your whole family.

 

Mike Wilson, Founder
Prekindergarten Reading Encouragement Project
PREP – Helping childhood literacy one family at a time.
facebook.com/PREPDelaware