On Reading

"No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance" -Townsend

"The man who does not read great books is no better than the man who can't" -Twain

Thanks to a suggestion by Peggy, I recently read The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller and have had "reading" on the brain. Miller is a school teacher and her philosophy is basically this...if you want to teach students to read, then make (or let) them read. I agree with her complaint that so much of school curriculum consists of teaching students how to read without ever letting them put it into action. The excerpts and short stories from standard reading books, read together as a class do little to get kids excited about reading. She requires her students to read 40 books during the school year. Most students come into her 6th grade classroom having read 2-3 books the previous year. I believe the best way to teach comprehension, spelling, vocabulary, and writing is to read, read, read. Each student must read some from several different genre and keep a reading journal. She corresponds with them in their journal, commenting, asking questions, giving future reading suggestions and taking suggestions from them. My kids have had a couple of teachers do this and it made the school year so exciting for them. It is similar to being in a book club. When you are going to discuss a book you pay better attention and it is so exciting to find someone who loves or hates a book as much as you do. She notes that a 2007 survey indicated that the average American adult reads only 4 books per year, in addition 25% of the adults surveyed did not read one book. She says "We have created a culture of reading poverty in which a vicious cycle of aliteracy has the potential to devolve into illiteracy for many students. By allowing students to pass through our classrooms without learning to love reading, we are creating adults (who then become parents and teachers) who don't read much. They may be capable of reading well enough to perform academic and informational reading, but they do not love to read and have few life reading habits to model for children." One of my kids favorite teachers, Mrs. Roland - 7th grade, has a reading day each week. She teaches the students for two periods each day and every Wednesday one period is devoted to reading. At first, I was so surprised by this, simply because my kids had never spent long periods of time reading in the classroom. And, I'm embarrassed to admit, I felt that maybe she wasn't doing her job, because to me, reading is a luxury. Maybe I was just jealous because they got a full hour every week devoted to uninterrupted reading. I would love to spend one hour a week, uninterrupted and reading...how about every day? True luxury! I don't think I was a great reader as a kid, but it is definitely something I've come to love and see great value in helping my kids read. My personal reading successes come from joining a book club. I have loved this group of women, simply because they are dear friends of mine and because we all love to read. Knowing that each month I'll get to talk about a book helps me actually think about and remember what I'm reading. Recently I transferred my book log to Goodreads and found that since August 2005 I've read 136 books, not counting church books or scriptures. I was absolutely tickled to see that I'm reading about 26 books per year. I think that as my kids get older I will have more time for reading and studying, something that gives me great pleasure. So, my purse holds a book and there's a stack of books on my nightstand. I'm going to follow the advise of Horace Mann, "Resolve to edge in a little reading every day, if it is but a single sentence. If you gain fifteen minutes a day, it will make itself felt at the end of the year." Do you think I can do 40 books by next October 1st?

What?

So Sunday night, knowing that I could sleep in on Monday I was settled into a deep, relaxing sleep. Emily had a little coughing fit and so I got up and checked on her and then just crashed on the couch. Sometime in the night when it was still very dark outside, our doorbell rang. I jumped off the couch so quickly I just about jumped out of my skin, my heart was racing and I was actually light-headed and dizzy. Like a fool I just opened the front door, it could totally have been a home invasion attack, but instead a police officer stood there. He asked, "Do you know what happened out here?" I thought maybe there had been a car accident or something. Instead he said, "You've been toilet-papered." Since when did I need to know that in the middle of the night? Could it not wait for self discovery in the morning? He walked me around the yard showing me all the items left in our driveway and on the the grass. Then he said, "Does a Scotty live here?" I was so light headed I actually had to consider the question. Then he showed me the whipped cream message....whoa....now that couldn't wait!!


By this time Matt had joined me, and the officer took down our personal information and asked us if we wanted to press charges. Seriously, this man does not have a teenager, especially a Mormon teenager. He kept referring to the "Costco job" of toilet papering we got. If only I knew his address, I'd show him what a real Costco job is.

The next morning, it took all of the boys, including Matt 30 feet up in the tree, 3 hours to clean everything up. In the end I hope Scotty considers his late night activities a little more carefully next weekend.

California Fires

Last week our family traveled to the Merced River near Yosemite just as the fires were burning near the park. We went through El Portal which had been evacuated the day before but was now reopening. It was fascinating to watch the helicopters fill their tanks in the Merced River. After watching the busy fire personnel for awhile we then went on to a picnic/swimming/fishing area where we enjoyed a day in the mountains.

Welcome to my Spa

Doug, Thomas and their friend Ben love to play in Black Rascal Creek that flows through the edge of our back yard. In the summertime they get in the blow-up rafts and paddle around, in the winter when the creek is fairly dry they dig secret caves and clubhouses. So in the fall when the water is beginning to drain out, here is what they do.

Book Review: Love is Eternal

Love Is Eternal by Irving Stone


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
For some reason this was a very slow book for me to read. I get frustrated with historical fiction sometimes because I like to have the historical parts separated from the authors ideas of what may have taken place or what may have been said. I think that I prefer David McCullogh when reading history. That said, however, I did make it through the book, and felt such sorrow for the Lincoln's through all of their lives and for the nation during the Civil War years. It is interesting to review all the hatred that was exhibited towards them and compare it to how Abraham is now regarded so highly by Americans. I think it's tough to not be popular.....don't we all want to be liked by others? It seems that it was very tough on Mary. I didn't realize that her life would continue to be so hard even after his assasination. It wasn't in the book but I was curious and so continued to find out what happened to her and their children. A very sad life. Finally, I was surprised at how emotional I became when discussing this book, the Civil War and the Book of Mormon with Scott. To realize that Abraham was where he needed to be at that time and even with all his shortcomings and "hypo's", played a crucial role in our nation, is a testimony to me that we all have a role to play and that God is watching over us.

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Sports Camp Anyone?

A mother in our Ward asked Scott if he would help her son and some of the other young boys in the Primary learn the basics of a few different sports. Gladly he accepted the challenge and so he and Doug worked together to make a Sports Camp. Last week they played baseketball, baseball and soccer. This week they'll host 3 more days of camp. Come and play!!