Read-at-Home Kids Report, June 2019

Summer Reading So Far 

Though we no longer participate in the public library's summer reading program, I still wanted to keep track of what the girls are reading this summer. So I printed out a bunch of copies of this reading log from Real Life at Home, and I've been keeping a list for each of them since June 3rd. As June winds down, Little Miss Muffet (age 5 years, 7 months) has read or listened to about 80 different books (including audiobooks and books we're using for homeschool), Little Bo Peep (3 years, 9 months) has heard around 50, and Little Jumping Joan (20 months) is approaching 40. Considering the public library's "bonus level" asks for kids to read 12 books for the entire summer,  it's clear that doing our own thing is definitely the right choice. Miss Muffet and Bo Peep are also rating their books with stars on a scale from 1 to 5, which has been really fun. It's especially interesting to see which books they give one or two stars. 

The other thing we're doing this summer is hosting some friends for a story time in our living room on Friday mornings. The girls are enjoying have friends around to listen to books with them, and it's been fun for me to get back into performing story time after a 2-year hiatus.

Family Read-Alouds

Our first lunchtime read-aloud this month was Babe The Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith. This was an excellent choice for both of the older two girls, and it was a pleasure to read aloud. I even got a little choked up at the end! I'm planning to find some more Dick King-Smith books at the library for Miss Muffet to read on her own, since she is a big fan of talking animal stories. My husband also finished reading aloud The Little Circus by Jeanette C. Shirk, and then proposed that we get rid of the book, as it was not that impressive. He also selected the audiobooks for our road trip to North Carolina: Heidi (which I did not enjoy, but which the girls seemed to like) and Mary Poppins (which I enjoyed, but most of which the girls slept through.) At lunch, we are now reading The Happy Hollisters and the Sea Turtle Mystery, and my husband just started reading Wolf Story by William McCleery at dinner.

Little Miss Muffet (5 years, 7 months)

This month, Miss Muffet has gotten really into the Something Queer series by Elizabeth Levy and Mordecai Gerstein. These are mysteries in picture book format for early elementary readers that I loved when I was just a little bit older than she is now, and I'm thrilled to see her enjoying them. She also liked reading Two Times the Fun by Beverly Cleary on Open Library, 

During school time, we've been reading ebooks about materials and their properties as well as How to Build a House and How to Build a Car by Martin Sodomka and Saskia Lacey. We also finally finished reading about all the paintings in Famous Paintings: An Introduction to Art by Alice Elizabeth Chase and now we're working on finishing up The Caves of the Great Hunters and Grammarland. Her assigned independent read at the moment is The Phoenix and the Carpet by E. Nesbit, and on deck is Schoolhouse in the Woods by Rebecca Caudill. She also read a biography of Nathan Hale, and, of her own volition, researched cannibalism (of all things) in the Golden Encyclopedia. 

Little Bo Peep (3 years, 9 months)

Bo Peep continues to make progress on her letter sounds, and she even read a couple of words ("bad" and "mad") the other day!  She's enjoying her first foray into The Happy Hollisters series, and she's also enjoyed listening to the entire Beatrix Potter collection on audio (though she did make me skip any stories that mentioned Peter Rabbit for some unknown reason). I also introduced her to a few of the Mr. Putter and Tabby books (also on audio) and I'm hoping to get a few of those from the library for her. There were also a couple of Alfie books by Shirley Hughes on Open Library that she hadn't heard, so we read through those, and she loves our unbound review copy of One Fox: A Counting Book Thriller by Kate Read, which comes out in October. 

Little Jumping Joan (20 months)

The closer she gets to her second birthday, the more Jumping Joan loves books. Now that she's really starting to talk, she frequently says, "Books. Read." and then plops down and waits for a story. I've started introducing her to the Gossie series, and she's also been interested in B is for Baby by Atinuke and in our collection of Babylit books. Other favorites this month were the Hairy Maclary books by Lynley Dodd and the Big Box of Books by Natalie Marshall.