School Days and Reading Out Loud



Maddy the 4th Grader in her classroom



Happy to report the first week of school went very well -- even though it was very hot and there is no AC at Maddy's school.  Yikes! 

That made for a couple of toasty days!

But just like that -- we're back into the school days groove of pop quizzes, real quizzes, a math test coming up and nightly reading.  Nightly reading is about my favorite time of the day!  Yes, for real, I mean that!  Since Maddy is just a 4th grader, she and I read together . . . out loud.  And truthfully, I hope we're still doing that in 8th grade!  Yes, I am one of those moms who is trying to enjoy my youngest at every single age and school year.  So, anyhoo, back to reading.



Maddy -- Reading in 2008!



     We (Maddy and I) have discovered that we get so much more out of books when we read aloud to each other.  During the summer, we read Shiloh.  It started off slowly, but as we read it  out loud, it came to life. At school now, they are reading A Dog Named Kitty -- another one that started off a bit slowly. Truth be told, at first we both thought it was more of a "boy's" book.  But we are enjoying it too and talking about what we think might happen next, why did the character act that way?  I loved reading when I was young and hope that  by reading aloud she develops that same love for reading and books.  These days (gah -- I sound like an old hag  now, don't I) kids just don't read enough and everything is electronic and fast-paced.  I say, it's time to sit back and take turns reading out loud before lights out!

Look What She's Reading!

My little cutie and such a beautiful book -- even though it just arrived in the mail (for me!),

she nabbed it and started flipping through the pages.

It is such a great little book! I've been a big fan of Nicole's "A Little Sussy" blog for some time and am so excited that she wrote this incredibly helpful book. Plus, she has just started an on-line class for those of us who don't live even remotely close to San Francisco or any of the other cool locations where she teaches. I'm hoping to get into the on-line class when registration starts this week.

I took some photography courses a few years ago at my local community college, but it seems that work and life in general kept me from practicing what I learned, so I've all but forgotten most of it. Sometimes I'll get a photo I really like, but there's definitely room for improvement!I'm hoping Nicole's class gets me away from my point & shoot camera and back to my dslr more. Keep your fingers crossed that I get into the class!

I was kind of on the fence about signing up for it or not, but then I read Jeanne's blog the other day and a little light bulb went off. Of course, I keep dreaming and hoping to improve my picture-taking, but if I don't practice and work at it, it just won't happen, will it? So, I'm going to adopt her motto -- "Training is the Opposite of Hoping" and get busy!

Maddy G. Meets Junie B.

One of Miss M's favorite gifts from Santa is a book about Junie B. Jones. Santa generally tries to bring one thing to play with, one thing to read and one thing to wear. This year, Santa brought Junie B., First Grader (at last!). In this book, Junie B. has just started first grade and has all kinds of things going on. Her bestest friend from kindergarten has a new best friend, her bus friend won't sit with her and Junie B. can't see the board and ends up with glasses. It's such a fun book and at just the right level for Maddy -- it keeps her interest and she can read most of it herself! Truth be told, Junie B. has a little bit of snark thrown in, but that's ok with me as Maddy is fairly quiet and maybe Junie B. will help her realize it's ok to speak up for yourself. Maddy and I took turns reading pages of the book and got through a couple chapters that way. Then we decided to read it a bit more at bedtime. At the end of each chapter, we both wanted to read one more and so we read the rest of the book and finished it one night.

Learning to read and having my kids enjoy reading is one of my absolute favorite parts of being a Mom. It's so sweet when the little light bulb goes off in their head and they figure out they can read all by themselves!!! I remember when I learned to read (about a million years ago actually), and I hope Maddy loves reading as much as I do.

Oh, and Maddy's middle initial is not really "G", but part of her Chinese name begins with G and Mr. Tennis usually calls her Maddy G! Of course, Maddy G. rhymes better with Junie B. than Maddy M. (her real middle initial and another part of her Chinese name), and I am all about rhyming blog titles! :)

Anyway, we are now planning on heading to our local bookstore and library to pick up some more Junie B. books. She's headed to the library tomorrow and we just practiced asking the librarian for Junie B. books. Can't wait to see what she finds!

Calling All Readers!

Every single summer when I was a little girl, my Mom would take us kids (and there were 6 of us, and yes, my mother was a saint!) to the library and we joined the summer reading club. Did you too? Wasn't that fun? Really, I loved it! It was such a treat to go to our city's big downtown library, find some books, check them out and get a sticker or pencil or whatever they gave out at that time for reading 10 books during the summertime. I still love reading. . . though I don't do near enough of it just for me. I'm generally reading to or with Maddy. Last night we read Amelia Bedelia -- what a fun book! Though I don't think that Maddy really got it and thought it was funny (and it does lose a bit when you have to explain it). Now, I've got Maddy in the summer reading club and she loves it too -- maybe more for the stickers and stuff, but someday I hope she'll remember it fondly like I do.


Anyway, the real reason for this post is this bookmark that I found recently . . . on the sale rack, no less!! Don't you love it!! It's a Brighton bookmark. My Mom and I chat every day (and I don't think that's excessive, do you??), I immediately thought of her when I saw these bookmarks since we often talk about what book we're reading, if it's any good, etc. So, even though her birthday isn't until November -- I bought her a bookmark, had it wrapped and sent to her. Of course, I bought myself one too. It is just too darn cute to not have one. Don't you love it?? I think it's time to use some cool bookmarks instead of dog-earring pages, using post-its or random scraps of paper -- don't you agree??