Reading, Reading All Day Long!

One of the best parts about our relaxed summer schedule has been all the reading the girls do.  I find them reading everywhere together - even when one goes to the bathroom, the others follow with a book!

I am so glad Paprika has a love of reading - and that Ginger and Violet both seem to share that love.  All day long Ginger and Violet bring me and Paprika books to read aloud to them. 





I don't think it's anything I've done as a parent to make them love reading.  I realized a long time ago that children come with their own interests and passions.  I didn't make Paprika a selective eater and Violet an adventurous one.  I didn't make Paprika a swimmer and Ginger a fan of dry land...

So, I have no idea why these girls all love reading so much - but I am crossing my fingers that it sticks.  Reading opens up an entire world of imagination and wonder. I'm so grateful that they get to experience that joy even/especially at their young ages.





Anyhoo- these are just some photos of the girls at bedtime reading to one another.  Paprika and Ginger usually take turns. 




Ginger (newly 4) can read beginning books - but the books she enjoys reading are all a bit more advanced (Level 2 or higher).  So, of course, she has memorized those books and fakes the reading pretty well. ;-)  Occasionally, she'll ask us this or that word - or she'll paraphrase.   We encourage her...it's just about having fun!



I test Paprika's reading from time to time using various tests I've found online.  She ranges from 5th grade to 9th grade reading level, depending on the test (and how tired/hungry/interested she is - ha!)

Even so, books at this point are more about the illustrations for Paprika.  She loves the "Elephant and Piggy" books by Mo Willems.  She once checked every single one out of the library...and she never gets tired of them!

She really loves anything by Mo Willems - there's one called Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs that she thinks is fantastic. 






Well, that's all I wanted to say about that.  Now, I'm off to read some books.  I'm a Kindle reader, myself...and I have so many books to read and never ever enough time!  Ha!  ;-)

She Did It!

(Photo: Paprika at the Mall, moments after picking out her Lotso Bear!)

On the 4th of July, Paprika (age 5) finished her 100 Book Challenge!

The 100 Book Challenge was a deal we made that if she read me 100 different books outloud, she could go to the Disney store and pick out her very own Lotso Bear.

I am not sure exactly the date that we started the challenge, but I think it was mid-May because that's the last time we were at Disneyland...and she started talking about wanting Lotso Bear after that trip.

Prior to the challenge, Paprika had been a very reluctant and not a confident reader. I wanted her to get comfortable reading, and so that's why I decided to incentivize her a bit. I chose some books that were easy for her (to build confidence) and some books that were challenging (to build skill).

I let her choose many of the books, but I had to be careful to make sure they were "in range" for her reading abilities. I didn't want her to get discouraged by choosing books that were too far over level. By the same token, I didn't want her picking books that were "too easy" just to add up more books read. So, I cleared out a bunch of books and made available books that I knew she would enjoy reading outloud.



I made a little list that we call Secret Chart - basically, it's a list that I hide in our secret hiding place (the top of her closet) when we're not reading. It's "secret" so that Ginger doesn't take it and destroy it! ;-)

I always read a few stories to her every night at bedtime (we just don't count those on the list). And she would be reading me stories anyway. But this just sort of got her excited about reading, so that she was pushing herself to read more than I was pushing her.



I had figured we might finish this weekend, but on Wednesday (July 4th), she was only 6 books from finishing, so she decided to power through and go get Lotso on the holiday!

We had originally planned to take her to Disneyland to get Lotso, but because it's summer and soooo hot and crowded there, we opted for the Disney Store. She was so excited about that. She's been to Disneyland one hundred times, but this was her very first trip to the Disney Store! She was beyond excited...I think even more so than if she'd gone to Disneyland. Ha!



When we got to the store, we wanted to include Ginger but didn't want to overshadow Paprika's accomplishment. Paprika really wanted Ginger to get something, too, so we ended up getting Ginger a cute Little Mermaid sippy cup. Both the girls were dancing on clouds when we left - all for a little bear and a sippy cup.

Paprika was so proud of herself. I know that when she looks at that Bear, she feels very proud of herself and how far she has come.

She started out an insecure reader before the challenge. In the past almost two months, she has become quite confident and she really enjoys reading. Her fluency has improved so much, and she has started reading books just for fun to Ginger and Violet.



The funny thing is that I think she began to enjoy the challenge even more than me. When we were at the Disney Store, she saw this nightgown that she really wanted (from the movie Brave) - and when we got home, she asked if we could do Secret Chart again to earn that nightgown.

So, now we have a new Secret Chart to start! Except this time, I am mixing it up. We are going to still keep reading outloud for fun (obviously) - but I want her to work on her writing/penmanship skills. So, this secret chart will be about writing books. Paprika has always loved writing her own stories. So, she has decided to write 50 books (written and illustrated)- and once she completes that, she can go get a Brave nightgown.

She actually wanted to write 100 books, but that seemed a little over the top, considering it takes a lot of work for her to write and illustrate each book. I want it to be fun and the right length of time.

I figured 50 books is going to be enough of a challenge for now...especially because she really takes her time writing her books. I will do a post on that later (how we make the books) - it's quite easy and super fun. She's been writing books on her own since last summer, so this is just a way to get her excited about working on her writing skills and using her creative mind to illustrate her stories.

Here are a few videos of her reading on the last day of the challenge. These videos are mostly for the grandparents (Haha!) - they are a little long, but so precious to me. If you watch them, you can hear Paprika reading in her "voices" - it seriously cracks me up!

Here she is reading Book #100 - Are You My Mother?:



Reading Frog and Toad, Cookies:




Reading Frog and Toad, Dragons and Giants:




Reading Mouse Tales - Very Tall Mouse and Very Short Mouse:



So, that's it! I am so proud of Paprika and so happy that she has developed such a love of reading...one that hopefully we can continue to nurture in her as she grows. I hope her newfound confidence in reading helps her in school, especially as she starts Kindergarten this fall! :-)

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Summer Is Here!

Happy June!

Paprika still has three more weeks of school left, if you can believe that! It seems like everyone else is out for summer and we are left with a month more. But we don't go back to school until September, so it all works out somehow.

It feels like a second ago the school year started and I was so nervous about Paprika going to "real" school. Now we are old pros. Haha.

Paprika will do "Senior Kindergarten" next year (that's what we're calling it around this house). Since this year was also Kindergarten, it's good to differentiate. This year had its ups and downs for sure - both good and bad parts - and overall, I am glad that we decided to give her this "extra" year to grow and mature. Next year she'll only go 1/2 days again, which will be great. I don't think either one of us is ready for her to be in school all day long.

I think what I am most nervous about for next year is that Paprika is going to be BORED. Yup, very bored. There, I said it. I know I sound like I am bragging, but it's my blog and I'm documenting this for our family, so I've gotta be straight about it.

Paprika is reading something fierce now. The other day she was doing a reading game on the IPad and I set the level to "Third Grade - Fast" (as opposed to medium or slow) - and she got every problem right. She can read anything and everything...and she does!

She can count and recognize numbers to 1000. She can add and subtract really well...two columns now without carrying (so like: 96-43=?) I will probably teach her to carry over the summer, and maybe start on multiplication/division, if she's ready.

We started a book challenge a few weeks ago where if she reads me 100 different books, she gets to get a stuffed animal from a store at Disneyland (she wants the $20 Lotso Bear from Toy Story 3). We are working on earning things around here - so anyway, in just a few weeks, she has already read me over 50 books aloud.

If I had it to do over again, I would have just set the challenge to 50 books because some of these books are LONG (so we can only read one or two/day)...and I don't want to be headed to Disneyland in the middle of summer to get that bear (because it will be HOT and crowded then - two conditions that don't mix well with this mama).

I have also learned what motivates Paprika. Haha. She is very motivated by earning money. Yesterday I offered her $1 to help me clean the house, and I have never seen her jump up so fast. Then she got to spend her earned money at Target, and she had a difficult lesson in economics and the value of a dollar. She ended up getting some sidewalk chalk and was happy. All's well that ends well.



For the summer, both of the big girls are signed up for swim lessons Monday - Thursday. You have to be three years old to take lessons at the pool, and so it is GREAT that Ginger turns three years old five days before the summer session starts. She is excited about it, but we'll see how it goes when she has to actually get in the water. ;-) She is kinda attached to her floaties and they don't allow those at swim lessons. Ginger has a mind of her own and I pity the fool who separates her from her floatie. It should be interesting!



Baby Violet is six months old now and has two big chompers (teeth) right on the bottom. She can push herself up and can almost crawl. She is really good about getting where she wants to go all by herself. She loves to be held...and is pretty vocal about not being happy whenever she is put down. She only sleeps when she is touching someone (truly). So any naps she gets are in the Ergo or if I am holding her. She is nursing great and weighs a little over 20 pounds now!

She is just now starting to sample foods - I am trying to expose her to a lot of different tastes and textures. So far, she seems pretty happily surprised with what she's tasting. As if to say, "Oh, the novelty!" One of these days soon I'll be able to leave the house for more than an hour - right now that's about all I get because when she's hungry, it's a frantic cry of "Where are you, Mama!!!"

I have about a gazillion things on the To Do list - and they are very slowly getting done. One big project I have got to do is get our main computer up and running so I can transfer photos from my "big camera" (digital SLR) onto the blog. For the past few months, I've only had my ancient little laptop to work from, and it can only handle pictures from my little camera (point and shoot). So, I have literally thousands of photos from the big camera to transfer and edit. Eeek! I can't wait to do that because it's going to feel like Christmas for me seeing all those photos for the very first time all at once.

And, of course, I also have a gazillion other things to do, too. One thing I've actually been working hard on is going through all the clothes and organizing everything. It is a pretty big feat - I look at how many clothes the girls have and am a little embarrassed about it, honestly. So, I have been donating a lot of stuff that we don't need anymore. I have to keep a lot because it gets passed down - but wow, it is kind of crazy to manage. First world problems, I know! It's a good problem to have.

Mr. M has one more week working up in Santa Barbara (for now...he will have to go back up again for awhile in a few months). Next week he starts working on Top Gear, which is a car show he cut the pilot for a few years ago. He's locked that down for the summer, which kind of puts a damper on our travel plans as a family, although I hopefully will be taking a trip with Baby Violet to Indiana in July! :-)

Yes, this post is long-winded, so I should wrap it up. I am just amazed that SUMMER IS HERE. It's always my favorite time of year, although where I live it's kinda always summer...but still, the Indiana part of me just rejoices at the thought of June - the month I always looked forward to as a kid!



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May I Please Have A Cookie?

I'm trying to take more videos...it's on my to-do list. I am forever taking tons of pictures, but videos are a whole other level of memories. Am I right?!

So, here is Paprika reading a book at bedtime to me a week or two ago. Paprika is five years old and will be starting Kindergarten this September.

I am so proud of her!

Oh, and at one point in the video, Mr. M, Violet, and Ginger all came in the room and were being very distracting...that's the point where you see Paprika get a little sidetracked. ;-)



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Learnin' Games!

Ever since I made that Candyland Sight Words game from Pinterest, I have been on the hunt for other board games to make. I wanted to figure out a clever spin on Chutes and Ladders, but it turns out that doesn't really exist (at least not that I could find).

With Paprika having all last week off school, and Winter Break coming up, I wanted to figure out some other fun, educational board games to try. I scoured the internet (okay, mostly just Amazon) and found some really cute games. I thought I'd buy them for the girls for Christmas, but who can wait that long? Plus, with Mr. M off work this month, this is a rare opportunity for us all to play together. So, I dove in and bought a few...

(And in case anyone's wondering, I didn't get paid to write this and I bought these games myself! Although, if people want to send me free stuff, I am not opposed. Ha!)



The first one I bought is Sum Swamp! It's a Math Game- basically, it helps kids with Addition and Subtraction. Paprika does not like Math, but LOVES this game. Already she is really improving with her mental addition and subtraction after just a few times playing it. A definite recommend. (But if you buy it, make sure to keep your two year old away from it or else half the pieces might get lost before the second day of ownership...I'm just sayin'!)





Paprika was having a hard time figuring out fractions and the difference between one half, one third, one fourth, etc. I realized that what she needed were some pizzas (or pies) cut up for her to visualize it better. But I didn't feel like buying a gazillion pizzas, so I thankfully stumbled across this game called The Pizza Fraction Game instead. It was a hit (even with 2 year old Ginger!)

It actually has a bunch of games you can play with the pieces, so it's the kind of game that can grow with your child. Right now we're still working on halfs through one sixths...but it can go all the way up to more complex fractions.



The third game I bought I haven't actually opened yet (will probably save it for Christmas, since we are still playing the other games a lot). It's called Money Bags and helps kids learn about money (the difference between dimes, quarters, pennies, nickels, how to make change, etc.) We hardly ever handle real money anymore...so I think that's why it's been harder for Paprika to grasp the different coin values. Hopefully this will help. I'll keep you updated!



Finally, I am considering buying this game called POP for Sight Words to help Paprika with her sight words recognition. It looks kinda simple, but gets really good reviews. I am not quite sure what the point of it is, but to a five year old it is probably fun, right? I might have to add it to the Christmas wish list.

Have you tried out any of these games? What did you think? :-)

Video Games!

Paprika started summer school this week. It's a Pre-K program at her same co-op preschool she's been attending for a year. So far, it's going really well. There are only about 10 kids in the class, so that helps!

At home, she has discovered Starfall and Nick Jr. Boost games. She is a computer nut, and loves video games (just like her daddy!)

Starfall is a free, learn to read program available online. It focuses on phonics, and she loves it.

We tried out Ticket to Read, which is another Phonics-based reading program. You can get a free 14 day trial on their website. I had heard really great things about it, but Paprika did not like it at all. I sat with her while she was playing it, and have to admit, it was a lot like watching paint dry. Super repetitive, not very challenging, and the buttons were unresponsive (so she would get the answer right but the game would register the answer as wrong). Thumbs down.

Our library has video games (which is how Paprika got introduced to video games in the first place). One day the library closed early, and Paprika didn't get to use the computer...so we found the same games they have at the library at the Nick Jr. games website for free. Those games are like crack to Paprika, and she loves them...but I didn't really feel like there was anything educational about them.

So, I checked out the educational sister site to Nick Jr. Games, which is Nick Jr. Boost. All the games on Boost are educational- they have math games, reading, art, patterns, and Spanish games. You can get a free trial for a week...but it works out costing more in the long run if you use their free trial (tricky, tricky). I bought the 3 month plan for $21, which I figured was the least risky option, since if Paprika didn't like it, I was just out $20.

She does love Boost, but the thing I don't really love about it is that she can navigate the site so easily. So, when she plays the Boost games, she just focuses on what is easy for her...Art and pattern relationships. She never does the Math games, for example...and if I set them up for her, she can change back to what is easy for her within seconds of me leaving the computer. They also have videos kids can watch, so it's easy for her to switch to the videos instead of doing the learning games...and I am not a fan of that, either!

The plus side of Boost is that it has different levels- from Kindergarten to grade 2...so you can tailor the difficulty of the problems your child is presented with.

So far, I think my favorite program is Starfall. I really like the pace of it, and I love that Paprika loves it, too. It's not commercial- so your child isn't being hit over the head with Dora or Diego. I am still not a huge fan of video games, but overall, Starfall seems to be the most innocuous of all the programs I've seen online.

I have thought of ordering some learning games for her- but am not sure where to start with that. I was this close to getting Hooked on Phonics and Hooked on Spanish, but haven't taken the plunge.

Anyone have suggestions for fun, educational video games or software? I am all ears!

xoxo,
Erika

P.S. I know young kids playing video games is controversial. We got rid of our television years ago and we're very responsible about what and how much media our kids encounter on a daily basis. Paprika really responds to computer-based learning...much more so than other kinds of learning. We are just trying to find a way to connect with her and help her learn all that she can in the ways that she enjoys most. So this is just one avenue of many we are pursuing (and no, she does not just sit in front of a computer screen all day). I just had to get that out there! Whew!