June Fail

I think I read less to my kids in the month of June than I EVER have any month before.
We got started on Harry Potter 3 and read some of our old favorite picture books at bedtime but literacy-wise is was not a great month.  Between finals week, my sister visiting, and an 4 day camping trip to the Redwood National Forest, reading to the kids kind of got left behind.  Today is actually July 8 and I have read more to the kids in the past 8 days than the entire month of June.

We did read one great picture book that we all enjoyed -- Pete the Cat: I Love My White Shoes.

Cute book with a nice message.

Ike's school finished on Monday of my finals week so he had to commute with me 3 days. We did listen to the audio book Little Britches, the Home Ranch by Ralph Moody. It is probably my favorite of the 3 Little Britches I have read. but they are all fantastic.  Ike was really in to it. I am going to borrow the first book in the series for him to listen to as well.

May Reading

This has been a really hard month. I have been sick with about 3 different viruses not to mention a horrible case of food poisoning. I am just BARELY keeping ahead at work and this is having its toll on how much I have been reading to the kids. Luckily we only have 1 WEEK to go until the term is OVER!!!!

In May we finished Where the Red Fern Grows. Everyone cried. A lot.  However the next night when it was time to choose a new book Simon said he wanted to read that one again so I guess it didn't overly traumatize him.  We read Ramona and her Mother again instead. The boys love that book, probably because Ramona is so naughty.  We were supposed to be reading the next Ramona in the series but Simon saw the cover of that one and decided we had to read it again.

We tried to read a book from The Imagination Station Series called Voyage with Vikings but it was terrible. We read probably 5 chapters and none of us wanted to continue. We decided to start Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban instead.  The Harry Potter books are a little difficult for Simon but Ike absolutely LOVES them.

We have also been reading from the Jesus Storybook Bible in the mornings. Its is the nicest children's bible I have EVER read. The stories are told so well, the kids absolutely love it and so do I.   
 


My standout storybook this month is Tumford the Terrible.  Fantastic story about a cat who won't say he's sorry. Boy, that description sounds really lame but its a great book, with a great message without being preachy.


As far as the boys' reading, Simon finished reading all 26 books in the level 1 Reading for all Learners series. He has read the first book of the second level but I just haven't made it to the library recently so we are rereading some of his scholastic phonics readers.

Ike is enjoying the Rotten Ralph books. They are actually at pretty good level for him so we'll stick with them for now.

April Reading

This month we did read The Giraffe, the Pelly, and Me by Roald Dahl and it was actually not too bad.  We have been working on Where the Red Fern Grows but still have a couple chapters left.  I never thought I would be the censoring kind of mom but I just couldn't bring myself to read the part where the Pritchet boy falls on his hatchet.  Dogs dying is sad, boys dying is not something I want to discuss yet with the goons.

We also did manage to squeeze in simultaneously Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets.  Whew, I would HATE to have a month without Captain Underpants.
 
I've actually discovered  that the author Dav Pilkey definitely knows how to write for my boys. The Hallo-Weiner is easily one of the boys' favorite Halloween books.  They also really like the Dumb-Bunnies series.  So I may request some of his other books for the library.

As for the boys' reading practice, Simon is moving right along and doing great. He is up to the 20th book in the 1st level of the phonic readers we use.  We did books 10-20 twice for extra practice.

Ike is at a weird spot in reading. All the "I Can Read" books are really easy for him now.  I do borrow them for him to read at night to himself but I am looking for a few more books that will challenge him just enough but not too much.  I think 'Magic Treehouse' is about the right level but I am just so sick of those books. Annie gets on my nerves.

My standout story book for this month is The Fire Cat. Simon actually got his for Christmas but has been addicted to it lately. We've read it almost every day for the last week.