After The Rain

We have had torrential rains bringing humid air which is good for the garden and promotes the growth of strange but beautiful mushrooms!

The first sunflower has flowered and shows it's lovely face to the morning sun.

Of course, the weeds have tripled in size since yesterday. Drew and I will have to try to do some weeding in the garden today!

Happy Wednesday!
Mai

Summer Reading

My goal this summer is to get Drew reading above his grade level. He reads well and is at his grade level but I would like to see him reading  above his grade level.

I still read to him almost every night. He seems to really enjoy adventure stories and we have been reading the Stranded series by Jeff Probst. There was excitement when the second book in the series, Trial by Fire: Stranded Book Two, arrived in the mail from Amazon.

I am trying to get him to read a minimum of one hour daily this summer.  So, what do boys like to read about. Tough question since he's still "developing his taste" for books. If I tell him to have a seat and read for thirty minutes, he worries that I might forget to let him know when his thirty minutes are up and...heaven forbid...he may end up reading for 32 minutes!

That said, he does have very good comprehension since he's able to tell me what he has read. So, I'm guessing that I just need to hang in there and hope I find some books that really "grab" him. I know we can do this!

He recently read a book by Kate DiCamillo which had a profound effect on him. He asked for his own copy. The book is The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane and yes, it brought tears to his eyes. For that matter, it brought tears to my eyes. So, I ended up granting his request and I also got him Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie. I think both of these stories address  the importance of good character for all ages.

Anyone old enough to remember these?

 The books that got me hooked on reading were in the second grade. I pulled a Nancy Drew mystery off the library shelf and couldn't seem to get enough of Nancy Drew after that. I think I just dated myself too. But those are definitely "girlie" books. There were the Hardy Boys Mystery series for boys...do they still have them available?

Maybe I'll start a list of books for Drew. "Old Yeller" might be a good one...or maybe some Hardy boy's mysteries.  Anyone with grandson's have a recommendation?

Happy reading!
Mai

Wordless Wednesday - Spring!