For a read aloud at night, I read Farmer Boy to the boys. Harry likes it--we talk about how Almanzo had to walk further to school than he does, which doesn't stop the whining, but makes him wonder why Almanzo's parents were so mean. It also gets him excited about snow in a way only a kid from Southern California could be!
Harry is still into the Magic Tree House series. They are totally predictable books, but that's okay--he's five, he doesn't need to read Tolstoy yet. And really adults read that kind of book all of the time (cough, cough, Michael Crichton, cough, cough). Actually, I'm just thrilled that he reads at all, so that's cool.
Both boys like to look through their Children's Encyclopedia. They spend hours on it looking stuff up and reading about it. Sam listens to Harry read or just makes up the words himself. Annika isn't quite so much into the big books yet, but she does love them. She is in the tearing books up stage, so anything that's her level is in danger. There are a few she likes to carry around though.
I'm teaching Sam the letter sounds in preparation for him to read (I have to annoy the school somehow) using The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. I like it because he has to focus on saying the letters correctly before we move on. It's complements his speech work really nicely. Harry gets quick lessons out of First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind. He started out getting grumpy whenever he saw the book, but decided that he loves it now.
Okay, that's all for now. I hope to have pictures and interesting things from these studies and books in the near future, but 'near' is relative, so we'll have to see.
