GO JACK GO! by (mommy!) ~and #1 fan
somewhere near the top of my favorite memories list, for both of my children, is the joy i experience attending their sporting events. my daughter, #11, with nick name "dare devil" printed on the back of her dark blue/light blue jersey; playing for the first time this year on the girls softball team, crushers. (until she fractured her wrist rollerblading) and my son, #23, participating eagerly in his 2nd year of baseball with the owls, a team coached by his father. [and do notice, how my lucky numbers are scrambled between their two jerseys]the sports park where the majority of their games are played, is one of the nicest sports parks in the bay area i think. huge, well manicured, with plenty of green fields and playgrounds, a variety of healthy gorgeous trees, a wide inviting walking/running/biking/skating path, plus a skateboard park and tons of picnic areas.
and we fill the stands.. me, my sister, her children, grandma, grandpas, friends, neighbors to show our support through attendance, applause and personalized cheers
and too bad, i was thinkin' , this same team spirit, environment and audience support isn't provided for reading.
everyone gathers for a baseball game, but reading gets accomplished indoors mostly, and with little to no audience
no colorful uniform. no "team" -no friendly competition. no family/friend gathering place.
and i can already hear my children moaning... "oh no! mommy.. don't! no! forget it! no way!"
but it was the sweetest, most precious, wonderful thing last week, when my son voluntarily read to our 4 year old neighbor, his reading homework book. -and i could see how much more fun that was for him.. to read to someone (besides his mommy), and to have an audience; and to be outdoors
and so i'll work on that this summer; making reading a fun sport
* photograph by taryn/lions wayside park
posted by SHE @ 9:35 AM
6 Comments:
What a great idea....a live read-in maybe? I think I will suggest this to the PTO, if you don't mind!!
bbf: ~don't mind at all/would love it.
i sent out an email to the parents in jack's class yesterday with an invitation to join us this summer
at a local park/1 hr/mon-thurs for 6 weeks
and i'll see what happens, but put it out there that we could either take turns reading aloud, or bring books to read on our own; but together in the park, and play afterwards
and, if turn out is good/consensus is favorable.. maybe some matching t-shirts & visors -team spirit.
and.. haven't yet checked out what our library's reading program is this summer for the children, but may coordinate in some way with that
-will post our results and hope you will too
Oh the gift of reading, teach it well.....
For in solitude, they will find team spirit, in words they will swim with dolphins, they will be free....
singleton: thanks my friend, and i agree
amazing the places words can take us
each book a stamp in the passport of our mind
-or in the case of my reading what you and your sister write
each blog post a stamp...
LOL, Reading should be more fun as a kid! It's one of the most empowering, if not THE most empowering skills taught in school.
When we were trying to teach little Joseph to read, I would take words and write them on individual sheets of paper & scatter them about the kitchen floor. If he could read the word, he could step on the paper & make his way around the room. I'd have little peanut butter sandwich triangles in one spot, pineapple slices in another, milk in yet another. We called it 'lunch.' :)
I wish you great luck with the summer program that you are starting up. It sounds like a great idea.
slb: thank you for your support, encouraging words -and that great idea
i can just about taste those triangle peanut butter sandwiches
was picturing a trail of words in your kitchen...
want
some
smashed
peanuts
all
creamy
and
spread
on
soft
bread
no
crust
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