Reading Realized

We signed up for the public library's summer reading program again.  This requires the children to have 25 books read to them.  My kids, I mean "I", was up to the challenge.  We have been trying to move books into our daily lives, not just at bedtime, lately.

Something we did different this year was not just reading the books but making the experience more vivid.

For instance, we read Hey, Pancakes! a few times and then one morning when we had fresh blueberries for the farmer's market, we made pancakes.  In the book, the kids get big stacks so this time I made them smaller and we stacked the cakes.  The kids had fun counting the pancakes.  I read it a couple more times during breakfast. It has a lot of cute rhyme to it and great illustrations.  Later, the kids dressed in aprons and made pancakes for me at the play kitchen. They pretended to flip the cakes in the pan.  I am too big a coward and just use a spatula in real life.

Flipping with gusto

Counting pancakes in the stack

Cleaning the dishes

On another day we opened Eric Carle's Little Cloud.  We talked about the different types of clouds and went out side to see what we could find.  Then we laid out a blanket and just looked up at the sky and tried to see what shapes the clouds made.  The kids imagined they saw a clam, dragon, fish, and duck. I must say clouds are quite conducive to making animal forms.

I also pulled an oldie but a goodie that Grandma Sue used to do with Neal and Kira when they were kids. I let them touch a fluffy cloud by spraying shaving cream on the table.  This was good sensory play and Sophie got to practice writing letters in it.

We also read excerpts from The Magic Crocodile and Other Folktales from Indonesia told by Alice M. Terada.  We tried to pick short and simple stories that our children would appreciate even if they did not catch the moral.

We gave the kids a chance to see Indonesia on a map and then we showed them pictures of Marie, Neal's paternal Oma (grandma), who was born there.  We explained that she was from that country and told stories about her.  She is in her 80s and quite a character and a woman.  We love her very much and want our kids to know her too.

Marie with her son, Rudy (Neal's father) on our wedding day.

Another time we read The Big Brown Box by Marisabina Russo.  It is a good story about using your imagination and learning to respect and interact with others during play.  There is an older brother who does not want his little brother to ruin the fun he's created in his box.

We saved up a few boxes of our own for this one.  We had fun making windows and coloring them and making them into something new, some of which were not even mentioned in the story.

Also, now that the summer Olympic games are underway, we have been referring to Hello World! Greetings in 42 languages Around the Globe! by Manya Stojic.  On occasion we see an athlete or team playing and look up how they would say "hello."  Obviously, not all languages are available but sometimes we get lucky.

The kids brought their reading logs back this week.  Sophie practiced her writing throughout summer by writing words from the title of her reading books for the log.  She was motivated because she knew the library would give her a prize when she turned in the list.  And that they did.

Both Sophie and Rhys received certificates of completion and got to pick out a free book from the library for keeps!  Also, they are pretty excited for the treat coupons they earned.  Good job, kiddos!