With My Reading Buddy #2

I just realized as I set up the draft for this post that it is the last day of the month and I did the same for my first reading buddy post…completely unintentional.  But now that it has happened twice, well I guess I’ll have to keep doing it that way.

Since January 31, A and I have only read one book.  It took a few sessions, plus we did not meet last week due to school vacation.  We finished this book within the first few minutes of the reading session this week.

Magic Tree House #8: Midnight on the Moon, Mary Pope Osborne

As you can see, A wanted to stick with the Magic Tree House series.

I mentioned before that I’m on contract at my current job.  The contract ends at the end of March.  Is it wrong that I am sometimes more concerned about whether I’d be able to finish the reading program than the fact that I may not have a job?  But, some good news: I spoke with the program coordinator and she said that it would be great if I could continue with the program even after my contract is over.  I wasn’t sure if it was something that would be allowed since I would no longer be a part of the company, but she said it wouldn’t be a problem.

And other potential good news: I did find a job at the company (a full-time permanent employee position) and applied for it.  I have had a few interviews and I’m waiting for a response.  So fingers crossed for that!

That’s pretty much it as far as my reading buddy goes this month.  We don’t have a session next week because it is Super Tuesday (March 6) and the school is used as a voting station for the city.

With My Reading Buddy #1

I mentioned in my very first post that I participate in a volunteer program through my work.  Once a week, we visit a local elementary school and meet with a reading buddy.  It’s a one-on-one meeting where they get to eat their lunch and we read to them.

I wanted to talk about the books I’ve read with my buddy, whom I’ll call A.  He is in second grade and a real cute kid.  He likes to talk about video games and his siblings, but I think he enjoys the one-on-one time we have.  He has a few older siblings and I get the feeling that he probably doesn’t read too much at home.  January is/was National Mentor Month (or something like that) and the program coordinator had the students color thank you cards for us and write a little message inside.  A wrote “Thank you for letting me choose my own books.”  At least, that’s what I think he wrote, it was a little hard to read his writing.

I let A pick a book to read and then we go to our assigned room to sit down so I can read and he can eat.  Because we only have a half hour to read, the books we read usually carry over at least into the next week, though we have had a few last 3 weeks (and some are read in one meeting or less).

Since the beginning of the year, which, if I recall correctly was sometime in October, we have read about a half-dozen books together.  He seems to really enjoy the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne.  Here are the books we’ve read (in the order we’ve read them).

      

     

        

I’m a stickler for order and whatnot, but A doesn’t seem to mind reading the Magic Tree House books out-of-order.  It bugged me slightly in the beginning, and I asked if he wanted to start with the first one, but he said no.  I think he said he had read it before.  (I hadn’t though ! hehe… and there is a theme that runs through them, they’re all connected, but oh well…it’s what A wants to do!)

This is the first year I’m participating in this program (because I wasn’t working at the company at the start of the previous school year).  This is also A’s first year in the program.  A few weeks ago he told me that he wanted to tell his mom he wanted to sign up for it again next year.  He also said “Wouldn’t it be funny if it was the next school year – like, the summer went by and it’s September again – and we got paired up with the same reading buddies?…They probably don’t do that.”  (in fact, they DO try to keep pairs together if both are participating the following year…however, I am a contractor at the company and my contract ends soon,  so unless my contract is extended or I get hired, I won’t be doing the program again.)

What are some books you liked as a child or read to your children?

Do you have any suggestions for books I can read with an 8-year-old boy?