What We Are Reading

A few weeks ago, as Theme Thursday was coming to a close, my friend from The Obnoxious Wall Flower sent me this amazing article. I invite you to take a few minutes to read this:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming

My mind raced as I read this. With so many thoughts and ideas.

Anyone that knows me well, knows I love to read. Books have been some of my best friends for as long as I can remember. I spend almost all my class budget as well as my own money to have as many books as possible available to my class and for my son. I have been building a library for my "someday" child(ren) since I was 18. I constantly buy books for myself and when I go to the library I come home with more than I can possibly get through in 6 weeks and that was after much deliberation and sadly leaving some books behind.

I was so lucky that my parents nurtured that love. Rarely censoring any book I chose. Getting me a library card at an early age, taking me regularly and allowing me to take my sister on my own when they thought I was responsible enough to walk the few blocks from our house to the public library. I dreamed (dream) of sharing that same love with my son.

I've been reading to him since he was a few weeks old, but as soon as he got mobile he refused to listen to even the shortest stories. I literally fought back tears as he rejected book after book. This went on for months. I refused to give up, not for any noble patient reason. I just couldn't handle the truth, I was in denial. My son hated story time.

One day though, the unexpected happened. He brought me a book. After I read it, he wanted it again. We were both really happy. Soon I picked up a book called "MY CAR", by Byron Barton. Animal loved it, we read it 10 times that night, and 10 the next night and the night after that. It's all Animal wanted to read, but I didn't care. He found a book he loved and that's all it takes.

Now we read everyday. Animal is a very high energy boy, he doesn't hold still for much. Now I find him sometimes quietly sitting in his room with a pile of books around him. He "reads" to himself when we're on the road and he brings me books to read him several times a day. I couldn't be happier because I know how important it is to fuel a child's imagination. I may never be able to afford to take him around the world, I certainly wont ever take him in a time machine or into space. In a book,  he can do that and more. He can be anyone, in any situation and it's an incredible way to become an empathetic human.

Starting this week, I'll be starting a weekly series called, What we are reading. Some weeks I'll share a book we are loving at home, some weeks I might share something I'm loving. Other weeks I'll be sharing ideas on planning your own at home curriculum to add to the reading fun or about other reading concerns.


WEEK 1 

WEEK 2

WEEK 3

WEEK 4

WEEK 5

WEEK 6

WEEK 7