Spicy Dragons & Dinosaurs

We began Julia’s Summer Reading Journal last Thursday.  She was home sick but she was also a little bored, so why not?  Relatively the same format as last year but this year she is reading easy chapter books.  We started with Judy Moody.  Chapters are about 10 pages and there are a few pictures.  I prepare the chapter with sticky notes with questions to be answered a the end of most pages.  She will have help with the reading and questions from either me or her therapists although it is not hard to imagine her reading to herself and answering the questions.  When she finishes the chapter, she draws a pictures in the journal about the chapter and writes a sentence.  She checks on the spelling in the book and in the questions as she writes.  Big change, or a potential big change -- Julia is drawing pictures of the real characters and not their dinosaur counterparts.  Also, she decorated the cover of the book and it has cats, dogs, sun, sky, and grass.  No dinosaurs.  I am sure dinosaurs will make an appearance but this is an interesting beginning.  

Muta is finally able to join us for most of our day.  He was such a fierce little one last week when we brought him home, that I couldn’t let him alone with the dog.  I kept them separated for a few days, gradually exposing them to each other.  Muta stopped arching his back and hissing at Latkah, Latkah stopped barking, and the last two days have been hot and possibly it has not been worth it to fight.  Right now, they are both napping in the same room.  I feel highly successful introducing this new family member.