Using time wisely...

So we are a week and a half into summer and I can't believe how these boys are testing me...

Like most kids their ages, they love video games, TV, and having friends over constantly. Because we are a large family, it is tough on the pocketbook to be putting them in camps...try 400 per week times three...oh, and I am off work...

It is my job to make sure we are active and engaged in things that don't have an on/off switch. It isn't easy.

I will admit, we have had days where they have snuck more electronics in than I would like. But I am not beaten down yet.

I could be, with the numbers against me, but I think about the staggering statistics of kids who are disengaging from learning...it's scary. Not only that, but they are disengaging from life in the sense that they are living in virtual worlds.

Now I realize that reading a book is also a solitary endeavor -- but it isn't in the sense that it connects the reader to the author -- a literary community. Also, books are a connecting activity -- it brings together emotions, experiences, and prior knowledge...not so sure Mario Bros. does that.

So when the going gets rough, stand firm. Yesterday I had to physically sit in the same room and read with them to make sure they were really reading. Some days are like that. Then again, some days are not...and I also need to remember that so I don't get frustrated.

I think we need to make a field trip to Book People this week...just to get some remotivation. I promise to keep it to one book per kid!