Happy Book Reading Day

Lately I have been in the mode of "get it done, we have to finish these textbooks, don't skip a subject" etc. Every September and January I do this. Hit hard the "master plan" for S-C-H-O-O-L!!! Then the kids and I start to dread each day, things get frustrating, and I dig in my heals even harder that we must STICK TO THE SCHEDULE! My son jolted me back into reality last Sunday when I overheard him telling his SS teacher, "Yes, we homeschool but I don't like school". Ouch. Big fat Ouch. So I have taken a breath, stepped back and rethought the week. I know how to do this - Im the one who tells new homeschoolers all the time to make sure their children learn to love learning, not just learn to go through the motions of school. So Monday we did the "basics" of reading and math early in the morning before our friends came to play. Then the children just played. Knights, spies, kings and queens, race car drivers, mothers and fathers, Bible heroes and astronauts were all play-acted. Lessons were learned in getting along with others, being courteous of babies, sharing, listening. Who has to have textbooks?

Tuesday I dubbed "Happy Book Reading Day". Since the time to read all the books I want to share with my children never seems to appear out of thin air like I wish, I decided to make this day a day when the children could share their reading skills with each other, as well as being read to by me. We made a library run (checked out 42 books!!!), and began to have a book celebration. I checked out numerous old picture book favorites like "Blueberries for Sal", "Moon Bear", "Joseph Had a Little Overcoat", "Harry the Dirty Dog", "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters", "Lyle the Crocodile", "The Story about Ping", and numerous others. We checked out small chapter books like three of the Trailblazer books by Dave & Netta Jackson and "Treasures of the Snow" by Patricia St. John. My favorite poem collection "Who Has Seen the Wind" as well as non-fiction books about robotics, jets, and Italian art are resting among the mound of books. Of course we won't get to read them all this week, but we will share many of them. And hopefully we will, in the process, get past the "I don't like school" phase and back to "This is MY favorite book". Happy Book Reading Day (Week/Month/Year/Lifetime)!!