This is the question I get asked the most as a reading specialist. As a parent and educator, I have a fairly easy time picking appropriately leveled books for my 9 and 6 year old. But I am quickly realizing that there is a GINORMOUS need for a tool, or blog, or service that helps parents pick books their own kids can read. If you aren't an educator, you may find yourself walking into a bookstore, or local library, or even perusing book lists on Amazon and find yourself wondering "What are some good fit books for my kid to read?" Parents hear from teachers that their child is a certain level (A-Z) depending on what grade they are in. If you are a parent in a non-educational field, I can see how this could be totally overwhelming! It is second nature to me! I can pick up a book and within 20 min or less, have a good idea of a specific level.
I have been getting requests. Many requests from parents, colleagues who don't teach reading, and random people I meet. They all have one question. What should my kid read this summer? So I've decided to refocus this blog to fulfill a great need that I see. I will become a resource to parents who need help finding book lists for their kids to read. This idea came to me over the course of 4 days, when I had 3 different people ask me for book recommendations for their children-all different aged kids. I realized that I absolutely love organizing lists of books that are the appropriate level for readers in kindergarten through sixth grade. I have already compiled 3 of these lists for parents. My goal is to start blogging lists of good fit books by level/grade level/genre, so parents have a place to come to get ideas to help foster a love of reading in their children.
Unfortunately, the "uncorked" part of this blog may have taken a back seat. I love wine. I love helping people find wine they love. I love getting asked to help people find wine. But I have found that I love helping parents help their children more! When I handed over my first book list packet, complete with decoding/comprehension strategies to a parent, she hugged me. I am not a huggy person, but I was so happy that I could help her. I'm hoping to do more of that here. And maybe eventually change the name of my blog to focus more on my reading background. Stay tuned...
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Update and New Focus
Wowza, it has been a long time since I have updated this blog! I had named this blog mommy uncorked to play on the two most important things in my life. My life as a mom, and of course, my love of wine! I have in the past only focused on the mom part of my life. Lately, my current job as a reading specialist has made me really stop and think about what I want to do with my professional life. Call it an existential crisis, if you will.
I am 35 years old, married to my high school sweetheart. We have three amazing kids. The third child was a complete surprise. Having three kids was never in our plan. But now that we are a seasoned family of five, I have begun to question my professional life. I absolutely love teaching reading, but I have three kids! I love helping kids grow and progress, but now that my kids are 9, 5, and 2 things seem as busy as when they were infants. But in a totally different way.
My eldest son is currently involved in select baseball, basketball, and guitar lessons. My daughter started gymnastics in August and absolutely loves it. I am so excited that they have found activities that they love, but that means we have practice four nights a week...AND on Saturdays. I have had a hard time adjusting to this new busy schedule. I used to pick up my kids from daycare and come home for the evening. Now we are constantly running around like crazy people after school. My van is literally packed for a zombie apocalypse. I have changes of clothes, snacks, drinks, books, toys, cricket bats, you name it stashed away in my van. It is about impossible to make dinner. The crock pot is my new BFF. But even still we don't eat as a family on most nights like we used to. My husband and I are quickly finding that life is super hard with three kids, no family to help out, and busy busy schedules. So to say that I've been having an existential crisis might be an understatement.
I am at a point in my career where I need a change from my current building. Now I just have to decide what I should do. Do I transfer to another building and risk running into the same problems that I'm dealing with now? The city I teach in is a total small town. Super annoying. Do I apply to another district and try to learn a new job in a new district where I would be teaching adults instead of kids (most likely as an instructional coach), but be more on my kids' schedule? Do I quit altogether and finally just be a mom? Do I even like working with kids?! Am I content doing the same job for the rest of my career? What will happen with the new presidential administration? Is public education too focused on test scores? Can I handle staying home full time? Will I go crazy with worry and anxiety when I have more time to think about things? Should I give up an amazing daycare for Finn? Again? Would I eventually be able to volunteer in my kids' school with my reading master's degree? Should I start back to school for another master's degree? Do I need to just say fuck it? I mean, plans change, right? Three kids was never in the plan. Three kids has made me nuts, that is for sure. Is it time to just be a mom? Will that be enough for me?
I already know that life will be much easier if I don't work. Working part time would be ideal, but unfortunately in my field it isn't a possibility. Plus it wouldn't save on the daycare bill, as I would still have to pay daycare for my school-age kids as well as for my 2 year old. Which brings me back to quitting. For good. Or for a few years. Finn is 2. So I have another three years of daycare for him. The thought of completely quitting used to scare me, but now, I totally think I could. I have been teaching for 14 years. I have been a full time working parent for 9 years. For the first time in my life, I think I could totally just walk away from my job. Walk away from my tenure. Walk away from my years of service. Did I mention that I'm possibly 6 years away from an early retirement buyout? Is that a smart thing to do? Lots of things to consider. Which brings me to the second part of my blog title....uncorked....Stay tuned for more!!
I am 35 years old, married to my high school sweetheart. We have three amazing kids. The third child was a complete surprise. Having three kids was never in our plan. But now that we are a seasoned family of five, I have begun to question my professional life. I absolutely love teaching reading, but I have three kids! I love helping kids grow and progress, but now that my kids are 9, 5, and 2 things seem as busy as when they were infants. But in a totally different way.
My eldest son is currently involved in select baseball, basketball, and guitar lessons. My daughter started gymnastics in August and absolutely loves it. I am so excited that they have found activities that they love, but that means we have practice four nights a week...AND on Saturdays. I have had a hard time adjusting to this new busy schedule. I used to pick up my kids from daycare and come home for the evening. Now we are constantly running around like crazy people after school. My van is literally packed for a zombie apocalypse. I have changes of clothes, snacks, drinks, books, toys, cricket bats, you name it stashed away in my van. It is about impossible to make dinner. The crock pot is my new BFF. But even still we don't eat as a family on most nights like we used to. My husband and I are quickly finding that life is super hard with three kids, no family to help out, and busy busy schedules. So to say that I've been having an existential crisis might be an understatement.
I am at a point in my career where I need a change from my current building. Now I just have to decide what I should do. Do I transfer to another building and risk running into the same problems that I'm dealing with now? The city I teach in is a total small town. Super annoying. Do I apply to another district and try to learn a new job in a new district where I would be teaching adults instead of kids (most likely as an instructional coach), but be more on my kids' schedule? Do I quit altogether and finally just be a mom? Do I even like working with kids?! Am I content doing the same job for the rest of my career? What will happen with the new presidential administration? Is public education too focused on test scores? Can I handle staying home full time? Will I go crazy with worry and anxiety when I have more time to think about things? Should I give up an amazing daycare for Finn? Again? Would I eventually be able to volunteer in my kids' school with my reading master's degree? Should I start back to school for another master's degree? Do I need to just say fuck it? I mean, plans change, right? Three kids was never in the plan. Three kids has made me nuts, that is for sure. Is it time to just be a mom? Will that be enough for me?
I already know that life will be much easier if I don't work. Working part time would be ideal, but unfortunately in my field it isn't a possibility. Plus it wouldn't save on the daycare bill, as I would still have to pay daycare for my school-age kids as well as for my 2 year old. Which brings me back to quitting. For good. Or for a few years. Finn is 2. So I have another three years of daycare for him. The thought of completely quitting used to scare me, but now, I totally think I could. I have been teaching for 14 years. I have been a full time working parent for 9 years. For the first time in my life, I think I could totally just walk away from my job. Walk away from my tenure. Walk away from my years of service. Did I mention that I'm possibly 6 years away from an early retirement buyout? Is that a smart thing to do? Lots of things to consider. Which brings me to the second part of my blog title....uncorked....Stay tuned for more!!
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