Summer Reading

In this area, a Catholic school standard is the summer reading list. My son has to read two books from a list and the ones he has chosen are Mr. Popper's Penguins and Call of the Wild. I loved Mr . Popper when I was a kid, but never read Call of the Wild. My son, as you may have noted in earlier posts, is on the mild end of the autism spectrum. He learned to read easily and when he was in  in kindergarten and first grade he was one of the best readers in his class. However the older he got, the more his language and attention problems caused problems with his reading. Summers have always included weekly trips to the library but his chosen reading material has always been far below grade level. He got Mr. Popper today and started to read it. While it is somewhat below his level, the story is more about activity than relationship and that makes it more enjoyable for him.

My daughter brought home the same list this year that she got last year, and since it isn't mandatory, I'll just let her read what she wants. She has really become a reader this year. Right now she is reading Caddie Woodlawn which was one of my favorite childhood books. Not only did Caddie have spunk, she lived right down the road from my grandmother. She is also reading Bud Not Buddy .

I'm going to try to get both the big kids hooked on The Chronicals of Narnia this summer. I started reading The Magician's Nephew to them tonight, and when I finish it, I will go on to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Then if they want to hear "the rest of the story" they can read it themselves.