A book, a bean bag, and a blanket {Read-Aloud Update}

I think I've finally stumbled on the perfect formula for successful read-aloud time in our school day.

Great Books

Right now, I'm reading American Girl books to Lauren. We're on the second book in the Kit series -- Kit Learns a Lesson. I have an old compilation version of all the Kit stories that we're using.

Brennan and I are still reading The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt. I like reading on the nook, but it's sometimes a bit deceiving when I see it tell me how many pages are left in the (very long) chapter. We've been reading for nearly an hour most mornings lately.

A Comfortable Bean Bag

At our house, we call this our "fluffy pillow of awesomeness." It works for independent reading or for read-alouds.

Brennan's not an early riser. I changed our read-aloud time to help accommodate his need to spend a little more time waking up in the mornings. After doing a bit of schoolwork with Lauren, I wake Brennan up. He grabs breakfast (usually a glass of chocolate milk) and snuggles back under a blanket to hear our story.

A blanket

I'll admit it -- I'm addicted to multi-tasking. My mind wanders, even when I'm reading aloud. A few years ago, I realized that I could knit and crochet while I read. The repetitive motions of working along with an easy pattern helps me block out other distractions and focus on the reading material.

This winter I read enough that I could finish a Fisherman Afghan. It's about 6 feet long and 4-and-a-half feet wide, plenty big enough to curl up under next winter.

I'm sharing my read-aloud update with Debra at Footprints in the Butter. I try to share our latest read-alouds every week or so, even if it's just saying that we're still continuing to make progress in the same books. Read-alouds take a long time when we're reading chapter books and anthologies.

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