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Read and Relax




Like most of the Midwest, Eastern Iowa has been blasted by cold weather for much of January and February.  This has caused quite a few school cancellations and even more 2-hour late start days.  I don't care much for school cancellations, but I have to admit that I kind of like the 2-hour delays.  Sometimes, they are a problem when I have a doctor appointment scheduled and have to leave the kids at home.  On those days, I have to trust them to walk to school on their own and get there on time.  I feel bad about sending them to walk to school in -20 wind chill, but they have survived it.
 
Much of the other days, I don't have morning plans, so the two hour delays are actually quite nice.  The kids still get up and get ready on time, but then they use the extra two hours to do the stuff we usually have to cram in after school.  Most particularly, they can get their reading done.  I have recently paired up Ricky and Andrew as reading partners.  Ricky should be reading out loud to me every day for at least 20-30 minutes, but I have had a hard time sitting and listening to him when there is often so much going on.  For a week, I tried having Ricky read to Andrew (while Andrew checked for accuracy) and then Andrew would read to Ricky.  Unfortunately, that plan hasn't worked well at all.  It's hard enough for the boys to sit through their own reading time let alone somebody else's.  We are still working out a plan.
 
Often, Andrew reads to Sean and Ricky reads to Brooklyn.  I love to see the kids reading to each other.




I love to see a child get excited about reading a particular book.  We are still working on getting Ricky really excited about reading, but one morning he had no trouble sticking to reading to me for a full 20 minutes (he usually stops every few minutes to ask how much longer he should read).

Brooklyn, young as she is, LOVES books.  She is very careful with them and will spend a long time with her little feet crossed flipping through the pages of all kind of books.  When she is quiet for a long time, I will often find her sitting by a pile of books.  Her favorite book last week was Andrew's library copy of the chapter book, Geronimo Stilton.  She rarely rips books now, so I knew I could trust her with Andrew's library book.  Somehow, she has learned that we take care of our books and I am glad because they are often littering the floor in easy reach.
 

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