Bye, Bye, Arthur!

Now that our homeschool is officially out for the summer, our mornings are free for, well, kind of the same thing we did during the school year-- reading!

We used the Five in a Row curriculum for Gavin's kindergarten. We've had the opportunity to read lots of wonderful books that we may have never picked up had they not been recommended. There are three volumes of Five in a Row in print and we made it half-way through the second one so I assumed we would continue this series in first grade. However, I have to admit I am a little tired of it and ready for a change. I talked to Gavin about it and he echoed my feelings so we've decided to move on to something else next year.

So, now that we have all this summer reading time, I've decided to check some of the remaining FIAR books from the library and simply enjoy them (with no pressure to "do" anything with them). I am thoroughly loving reading these excellent quality books! (Sorry, kids, I've had it up to here with Dora, Clifford, and Arthur books.) Our favorite so far has been Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Pollaco-- a terrific story about a Jewish woman, her black neighbor, and a cat!

We're not limiting ourselves to the Five in a Row list either! We have brought home several of the books recommended by Elise on Children's Book Monday. A favorite has been The Serpent Came to Gloucester by Matthew Tobin Anderson which I picked especially for my reptile-loving daughter.

This month we are also working our way through When We Were Very Young by A. A. Milne. This collection of poems has been perfect for the oldest two kids! Such well-written, classic poetry, yet right on their level. What kid doesn't like poems about pretending and going to the zoo.

We have three more books on hold for us at the library so I'll continue to recommend any treasures we discover!