My Love

I love reading. I have loved reading since I was a wee lass (my current read is based in 18th century Scotland!). I have memories of my dad taking me to the library when I was probably only three or four. I remember the enormous steps leading to the entrance. I remember rows and rows of books at my disposal. Libraries are wonderfully magic places. The books are free and the entertainment is endless.

I actually can't remember a time when I didn't love reading. My biggest role model was my father. He is an avid reader and can almost always be found reading (and/or listening to)a book. I remember when he was reading David Copperfield. I am not sure why I recall this particular title, but I do and I think it shows I was fairly interested in what my dad was doing at an early age. If my dad was doing it, then I was going to do it too. Unfortunately, my mom's love of makeup and accessorizing did not rub off on me! She surely spent as much timing getting pretty as my dad did reading. :)

As a child I always had a book in my hands. If we had indoor recess at school I read. I read during mealtimes- and usually was reprimanded. I read before bed. I read until my arms ached and my eyes were too tired to read another word. And then I read some more.

In 20 or so odd years not much has changed. I still prefer reading over pretty much everything. I read while eating, while riding in the car, at the beach, at the pool, in a box and with a fox, well you know how it goes. I usually spend about two hours a day reading (if not more). I stay up later than I should because I just can't stop. I can frequently be found curled up under the covers with a book light and E sleeping soundly next to me.

In many ways I feel blessed that I find such enjoyment from reading. It is a gift,one I am not quite sure how I acquired. Was it nature, nurture, or a combination of both. My brother grew up in the same house as me but didn't read as much when he was younger; however, I think he reads fairly often now.

Regardless, I want to share this gift with my daughter.

I want my love to share my love.

and for those interested I am currently reading the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon

What E's Learning

E's interest in the alphabet has made me think more about what she can learn. I don't formally school E, but i definitely focus on teaching her certain things throughout our day.

Some things I focus on are...

• upper & lower case letters




• numbers




• colors




• shapes




• animals & animal sounds




• food




• identifying the words: yes, no and me

All pretty standard stuff. Eliza knows the entire upper case alphabet. However, depending on her mood she may pretend she doesn't know any letters. hee hee I have been reading her Chicka Chicka ABC and she seems to be picking up the lowercase letters. Other than that I point them out at the store, on boxes, in books and magazines and clothing etc. I use what she is interested in and go from there.

I know a lot of people like to do a letter of the week with their little ones- and this is often done in many schools. I NEVER did this when I taught Kindergarten because I think it is an ineffective and unnatural way to learn letters . Much research supports my conclusion. I never saw the point in spending an entire week around a letter. It bored me to tears! I will say people come up with many creative activities to go with letters but it just isn't for me- and I think the activities would be better served if used during a theme. I base what I teach E around what interests her at the moment. In K I taught one kid the alphabet using super heroes. That is what he loved and it worked. Another student, who started out with no knowledge of the alphabet- not even his own name- quickly moved to the top of the class after we started learning about sharks and the ocean! You have to use what kids love if you want them to learn.

One of my favorite teaching resources is a book called Words Their Way.


and here is what E is reading these days...