I usually write about books that I think are outstanding or books that are favorites in our house. After reading this book that Liam picked out at the library I knew I had to write about it. It is THE WORST book I have ever read to one of my kids and I have read a LOT of books. I am assuming that some adult besides the author read the book before it was published. How did so many people read this book and decide that it was worthy of publication? Baffling.
Archive for June 2007
All last school year I went to class one night a week. There were about six other women in my class and almost all of them are reading specialists. What that means is that they work with struggling readers all day long every day of the week. These women were awesome! The things they knew, the strategies they used with their students amazed me. They were always going to conferences and workshops. These women were definitely professionals! They also intimidated me. Here I am at home with my kiddos all day while the world of education continues on without me. Which is fine, but I definitely am not the expert these women were in the field of struggling readers, especially the youngest students. Going to class was always a bit intimidating. Here these women are getting their degrees so they can have a degree that matches the job title they already have. 90% of what we were learning they already knew because it is what they did all day at school and most of them could have taught the class. Then this week I saw a mom of a student I worked with last fall. She said she had been meaning to call me and tell me how much her child has improved and she wanted to thank me for everything I did for him. She said they had been using some of the ideas I gave them to work on at home and she could tell they were really working. That made me feel so good. I know I know what I am doing. I also know I don’t know half of what those other teachers know, but I am getting there.
Over the past few weeks, Colm has discovered the world of board games and card games. He LOVES to play Go Fish, it definitely ranks up there among his favorites. Thomas the Train dominoes is a favorite, too. It is so much fun now that Colm and Liam can play games together. On a side note, who in the *%$& created Candyland? Really. I have never seen a game that can cause such crying and fighting. You get all the way to the top and then, BAM, you get the wrong card and now you are back to the start. That is NOT fun…games are supposed to be fun.
We were out on the town today with a trip to Union Station to see The Hare and the Tortoise Musical. The boys really enjoyed it and Liam even got some of the humor. Colm liked it when everyone clapped after each musical number. We then headed over to Zoom and then onto Fritz’s when our tummies started to grumble. It was a good outing for a rainy day.
Whoever is leading Little Angels tomorrow…I want to see THIS kind of enthusiasm! 🙂
There are some books out there that my kids love that are oldies but goodies. Millions of Cats was published in 1928. It is a great book not only for the storyline, but also because of the repetition to the storyline as well. Kids can begin to predict what is going to happen pretty quickly and can also start to read along even it they can’t really read. It also has a good moral and a happy ending. Caps for Sale, published in 1940, is another favorite around here. Again, it is another book that has enough repetition in it that kids can read along and participate in the story. It is also elicits some belly laughing when the monkeys start to throw the hats at the peddler. Lastly, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (1956) is the story of how an outdated steamshovel and her loyal owner take on the challenge of digging the new town hall after being shunned because of their lack of modern technology. Even though we have read it many times, there is still the suspense as they dig. Will they get it done in time? It is just a good story. Enjoy!
Today we were at Little Angels at church making our nametags that were in the shape of angels. Oh, what sweet little children with their sweet little name tags. (Insert screeching brake sounds here.) I look over and Liam has taken red and green markers and drawn huge X’s through his angel. He informs me that his is a Sith and then Colm overhears and pipes in that his is Darth Sidious. (Insert heavy sigh.) Boys.
My great-grandma died today at the age of 95. She had a stroke about a month ago. It is hard to recover from something like that when you are 95. My great-grandma was a pistol. You didn’t want to mess with her. She did not tolerate whining or weakness from anyone. She had an opinion about everything, too. One of my favorite most recent stories about her took place about 5 years ago when I last saw her. We went to visit her on Memorial Day and she wanted to go visit the graves of her parents. My mom and step-dad, Sean and I drove all over looking for the right graveyard. Then, when we finally got to the graveyard that she thought was the right one, she said that she remembered the graves were under a big tree. Do you know how many big trees there were in this HUGE graveyard???? Oh, my! But you don’t tell a 90-year-old woman who is looking for her parents’ graves no, so we searched all over that cemetary…in the rain! We never did find them. That same day we took her out to lunch. We were at the restaurant and there was a woman there at the next table who lived in the same retirement home as my great-grandma. My great-grandma knew her, they were across-the-hall- neighbors at their retirement home, but my great-grandma would not acknowledge her. Apparently, this other woman was not in the same retirment home clique. Too funny!
I love this time of year when there are TONS of fresh fruits at the store. Today I picked up two new fruits we have never tried before. I got an orange flesh melon and a camouflage melon. The orange flesh melon looks like a canteloupe on the inside and is really sweet. The camouflage has kind of a weird consistency. I am not sure if the one I got is too ripe or if that is just the way they come. It also didn’t seem to have a lot of fruit on the inside…mostly seeds…hmmm…I think it is too ripe.
They have stopped making my favorite milk. I went to get some today and the whole section where that milk usually is was empty. It came in glass bottles that you took back to the store so they could reuse them AND they would give you $1.50 when you brought it back. It cost less than $3.00 to buy, so once you got the refund for the bottle…that’s pretty cheap milk, especially organic milk. It was from a local farm, so I felt good about buying it and it tasted SO good. It was really great milk. The grocery store said they were looking for another kind of milk that was comparable. We’ll see…