Yesterday I had a celebration with some of my reading buddies. It of course involved reading, eating and a little horse play! First the reading...It all started with an Accelerated Reader challenge at the beginning of each year. (More on my feelings about AR at the end of this post!) I let my
monsters owlets know that if they are able to earn 100 points in AR they will be invited to my house for lunch during the summer. They get to choose a friend from the class to bring along and yesterday was the day for two wild and crazy boys.
I have several different foods that I specialize in. The winning student chooses between hot dogs, chocolate chip pancakes, or grilled cheese! What a choice, eh? Because the thermometer was reading close to 90 degrees in the house, I offered a fourth choice...Lunch at an air conditioned McDonalds! What would you choose? Me, too, but of course they chose chocolate chip pancakes! Last year my ladies were so dainty, but I wasn't going to put knives on the table with these guys! They didn't need knives...They have sharp teeth. I did set the table with my mother's finest china! Did they notice the fancy plates and tea cups? YES!! I heard the two whispering about how fancy the plates were while I was bringing in the first of many stacks of pancakes. My mother would be tickled...I hope!
 |
These boys ate a total of 23 pancakes! I had to tell my own kids FHB...They know that means family hold back for
the company! |
So after lunch we headed down to the basement which is the coolest room in the house. I had gotten some of the new Perler Biggie beads. We played a game to put together two dragons. The boys would take turns rolling the dice and putting the number of beads rolled onto the grid. There were two winners...The highest sum of all dice rolled and the last roller were both winners. We made two dragons, had four winners and had too much fun!
Of course my son tried to steal the show. Kids love him...me too! He is a lot of fun. He enjoyed showing the boys some things he was working on on his computer.
 |
| I have to have my husband show me how to run his trains. The boys really wanted to see them go...Next time! |
We ended our time together with jumping on the mattress that my girls had dragged down the stairs to sleep on during these hot nights. They probably enjoyed this more than any thing else I had planned. They'd name each move before landing on the mattress with a thud!
Now back to the subject of AR! Do you use it? I encourage its use but don't require or push it. Some kids LOVE it. I find my students who are very goal driven love it. They set goals for themselves and make it! I have others who just love to read...which is what I'd much rather have. They don't use it much, but they don't need to either.
My son said he doesn't read any more because he doesn't get points for it. My first thought was that AR may have taken away his love for reading. Then I think about how during high school he was so busy reading required literature and was really left no time for choice reading that he got out of the habit. Now his days are filled with working, friends and in his choice time he chooses computer time. I really don't think it was AR that took his love for reading away. He stopped carving out time for reading and for this season in his life he hasn't made it important. I believe that one day he will once again take great joy in books. I too go through seasons when I just can't spend enough time reading. This summer I've had a hard time carving out reading time. I know this is just a season and as my family falls into new routines in new places I too will find myself drawn to find new friends inside the cover of a book.
Thank you
Barbara for introducing me to this new friend! I love Scaredy Squirrel and so did my lunch guests! They can't wait to go on more adventures with him in the fall!
