A mini Book Club...

“Can we join your book club?”  I had heard that question from the neighbor’s children down the road when they found out that I hosted an after-school book club for the elementary school students in the next town.  I had to tell those kids that I could not allow them to join... the four children are home-schooled by their mother (an ex-teacher) and I could not bring them into the school with me.

When this term’s Book Club had to end with such short notice, I brought all the packages of snacks down the road to that neighbor for her children. The kids were happy to get the bag of cookies and Little Debbie cakes, and the two older girls asked about the book club again. The youngest girl ran into the house to get the book she had just learned to read. Their mother asked if I would be interested in doing a book club just for her kids... three girls and a boy, ranging in age from five to twelve.

I told her that I would have to give it some thought, being that the ages of her kids were so scattered, which would make a less cohesive club. I spent a week thinking about lesson plans, book-crafts they could all make, and I made a Book Bingo game that all four kids could play. Within a few days, I knew it could be done, with all four kids able to participate and not feel left out of the reading or activities.

We decided on Monday afternoons, every week... from 45 minutes to an hour. The kids will walk from their house up the hill to mine... their mother will watch them walking from their driveway and I will watch them walking from here as they go back down the hill.  We don’t get many cars on this road, except for the people who live here, and the neighbors are used to seeing those kids going back and forth on bicycles and scooters, and occasionally in a wagon being pulled by a small tractor. The kids also like to take walks up and down the road on rainy days with their colorful umbrellas.

So I now have a Mini Book Club for the summer... if it works out for the next few months, I’m sure we can continue once the school term begins. The three girls were very excited, but their brother was more interested in knowing if there would be snacks.  Their mother suggested I withhold the snacks because they can get those at home. If the young boy doesn’t like the Book Club idea, then we will have an all-girl club.

I told the kids they have to come to my house in clean clothes.... not covered with sand... their father recently built them a huge sandbox in the backyard. I laughed and told them my dining room chairs didn’t need to be sprinkled with sand every Monday afternoon.  I told their mother that I would ask the kids to leave their shoes on the porch, just in case.

I have everything ready for Monday... age-appropriate books for each kid, the Book Bingo game, Book Club buttons, and book journals with stickers so they can all keep a list of the books they read. I have craft supplies so they can make their own bookmarks, and very small scrapbooks so they can each make their own story book before the summer ends.

The Book Lady is looking forward to the summer....

Saying goodbye....

The Spring term for my after-school book club ended this past Friday. A rather abrupt ending due to the scheduling of the latest series of tests given by the state of Texas. Makes me wonder if this state is more interested in test results than actual teaching and learning.

The students were very disappointed because they expected to have book club meetings until the end of the term, which would have been mid-May. I explained that the testing had priority over the after-school programs. The students asked Why.... I had no answer for them other than I have to follow orders from the school’s principal.

I gave out reading certificates and Best Reader medals, plus all the kids received books for summer reading. We all hugged goodbye and the fifth graders promised to see me next year when they return for sixth grade. The sixth graders will go on to seventh grade in another building, so I won’t see them again unless I run into them in town.

This was my second year with the Book Club... it was better than the first... and next year’s club will most likely be better still. It’s only been a few days, and I miss all of those kids already. I hope they keep reading.

We had reading games this term... one game that I found on the Internet, and one game that I made up on my own... Book Bingo. I printed up game cards filled with titles and authors and characters, and names of libraries and bookstores.... the kids loved it, and even took turns calling out the squares and identifying which characters belonged to which books. Every single student this term overcame their reluctance to read out loud in front of the group. That was the best part for me this term... the disappearance of their lack of confidence.

Read. Just read! And wash your hands before you pick up the books so the pages stay clean. All of ‘my’ kids learned that rule. They laughed about it, but they understood and followed through.