Reading Time!

We really enjoy the night time routine which ends with story time. I know it is a special time for many families at the end of a busy day. Our time together is even more special now as both boys read a story to us. Or two, or three. Tonight Pit wanted to read all of his story books from the Hooked On Phonics Kindergarten series. So we heard about a rat on rats and wondered if cats can have caps and saw Jan and Stan who ran, ran, ran. We giggled too when Pit sometimes made some funny mistakes. I am really proud at how he loves to read.

And then it was Frunty's turn. Frunty has become such an excellent reader. Remember that he had to switch gears quite quickly from French to English when we arrived in Singapore. It was stressful for him to do homework before we arrived while we were in camping in Provence and Corsica. He had a hard time sitting still long enough to read a sentence! He has really grown into a great reader now due to maturity and practise.

Last year, he started to get very lazy though with his pronunciation to the point where I could not understand what he was reading. He would mumble and was clearly influenced by Singlish. So we worked at remembering to read well and Frunty has improved a great deal. He read the book of prayers tonight and it was very nice. I like this book because it has prayers from many different religions and from all over the world.

Then it was my turn. I read the Beautiful Butterfly story from an inspiring book which encourages children to imagine different scenarios. This story was about "friendship". At the end of each story, there are several affirmations and Frunty and Pit like to repeat them. I am hoping that they fall asleep with cheerful and inspiring ideas in their minds.

Although I may be very tired at the end of the day, I am never too tired to hear my children read to me and I get a lot of joy when sharing stories with them. I don't always have the energy to make up stories like Grampa does. He has a special gift. But hopefully spending that time together, surrounded by lovely books, will be a lasting gift too.