Morning Reading

Morning reading with the girls is a daily habit around here, and a cheerful one. If for some reason we miss there is great protesting, and reminders later that we still have not done our morning reading!

As soon as I finish feeding Baby we start Bible time. If Miss Pear is done she follows along in the first book and then colors and listens to the rest, otherwise she finishes eating. Baby eats Cheerios or some other finger food.

Bible Time

1. Everything a Child Should Know about God
   We read 2 or 3 pages in this book. It is basic Bible truths and doctrine, and when it gets to baptism, where churches handle this differently it tells about Jesus baptism and says to ask your parents about baptism in your church, so friends of many different denominations love this book. We have 2 copies of this, each girl has her own, so I read from Baby's copy and Miss Pear follows along in her copy.
   
2. The New Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes
   We call this Baby's Bible. We read one story and Miss Pear answers the questions for her.
3. A chapter of the Gospels. When we get to the end of John we go back to Matthew and start again.

Story Time
It is hard to read paper books to little ones, but we think it is important to introduce them to more "advanced" picture books early, so while Baby is still in her high chair we read paper books. Miss Pear pulls a chair around so she can see, and I pull my chair right up next to the high chair and hold the book so both can see. I read the same four books each day for a week, and then I switch all but the first book. We are reading:

1. God Knows My Name
   At the end when I read "I will give glory to the Lord for ever for He loves me so much" both girls put their hands up - so cute! I have lost count of how many copies of this book we have given as baby gifts!
2. God Gave Us Work (Rod and Staff)
3. Canada in Colours
4. If You Give a Pig a Pancake (If You Give...)
   

Read Aloud Time

We then leave the table, clearing it, starting a load of laundry or whatever just needs to be started without a large amount of time needed, and head to the living room for read aloud time. The girls play quietly while I read for anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on how much time we have before Baby's morning nap.

We just finished Anne of Green Gables (Unabridged Classics) which we enjoyed. It took us just over a month to read it because it was more advanced than anything we had read so far, so we went slowly so it would not be overwhelming, and Miss Pear enjoyed all the way through! Now we are reading Bunnies in the Bathroom. Miss Pear loves the Animal Ark series, and I love that she will beg for another chapter! We got our copy of this at PaperBackSwap.com

What are you reading? Do you have any excellent suggestions for us?