Around the Corner

There is no way to deny it.  The first day of school is just
around the corner.   I have my first inservice on Friday.
This summer I basically disappeared.

It was something I needed to do.
Now it is time to rejoin the world;

it will be good to see familiar faces and catch up.

After a tutoring session this morning, I stopped and picked up

a few things for my classroom.  Just browsing the store excited 

me about a new school year with beginnings and so many possibilities.

I have been doing a little bit of tutoring.  Tutoring is probably
not the correct word.  We do a lot of playing.  I am working
with a child who is changing schools this year.  The new school
sent home a list of sight words to be mastered.
I am helping with a little catching up
and reviewing.

Her mom told me she was doing well the first of the summer,
but seemed to be regressing.  She is concerned she is going to
begin to dislike reading and school.
Mom was not happy with the 100 plus flash cards
and neither was I.  We agreed the cards needed to be
put away and some fun needed to be added.
We both want her to find success.

Over the weekend, with a plan in my head,  I went in search of
some tools to put a little joy back in learning.
First item on my list was Dr. Seuss (you just gotta love Dr. Seuss).
I picked up I Can Read With My Eyes Shut.
Next I needed something we could do together.
I found a book with short silly stories
followed by a few activities.  Last on my list....a tiara.



Each morning, we are together, my little friend earns
the crown by reading a few pages from Dr. Seuss.
She wears it while we are together.
We read, we talk, we giggle,
we write and give lots of "high fives.
Today we learned to jump up and click our heels.
At the end of our session she takes off  her tiara
and puts it back in my bag.

She doing a great job!  Her eyes sparkle every time
I say....perfect!
At the end of our time
together she will take the tiara home
to be her own "reading crown".
Don't you have one?

(I do!)

Learning should be an adventure not a chore. 

To encourage a love of reading is dear to my heart, because I
find such enjoyment.   If you can read you can go anywhere
and do anything.

Last week I read The Paris Wife by Paula McLain, and loved it.
It is the love story between Hadley Richardson
and Ernest Hemingway.   Hadley was Hemingway's first and
 least known wife.  As in A Movable Feast,
we encounter many familiar names
such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein and Ezra Pound.
We travel from St. Louis to the salons of Paris,
and on to the bullfights in Madrid and Pamplona.
These are the experiences Hemingway writes about
in his novel, The Sun Also Rises.
We know, in the end,  there will be deception, betrayal and heartache.
And we learn Hadley was Hemingway's true love.

I've always thought Hemingway to be a little larger than life, and
his bravado unappealing.  In The Paris Wife, I found
Ernest Hemingway to be almost
sympathetic and rather needy.

I loved all the comments and emails regarding Moby Dick.
I am "shelving" the idea of reading it once again.
The movie was......so, so.
I still feel like it is something I should plod through....
not today though.   I am currently reading 

The Sisters ("a saga of the Mitford family).
This is my summer of
memoirs and biographies.

With the temperatures soaring (113 right now) I hope you have

a good read to melt into.  (Don't forget to grab your tiara.)