reading dog

On Friday afternoon, I spent so many hours at the library that I was still there when Joe E the reading dog arrived. At 2:00, I asked the librarian if the dog was coming that day (and if she wanted to go on vacation with me to swim with the dolphins - which, for a boy like me, is almost as exciting as being at the library). 3:30. So we made the big commitment to wait. and wait. and wait. Then I asked my mom every single minute that passed if the dog was there yet. Luckily, he arrived at 3:28.

Meeting the dog had been on my list of things to do for months but my schedule is often so full with picnics, lunch dates, or bike riding that the timing was just never quite right.

While the reading dog program is generally for children who read below level, I read way above level (remember, I am only 4!) but I am still a beginner. Joe E listened patiently as I read a book. Maybe he was a bit sleepy. He let me cuddle with him and he was so soft and freshly bathed. Because I get tired when I read aloud and I had the dog and his owner all to myself, I picked out book after book to have read to me once I finished my story.

I even told Joe E my favorite joke:
What do dogs eat for dessert?
pupcakes

foreman

After attending a party to celebrate the conclusion of another successful eight-week session of soccer, I stopped by my new campus to see how nicely things are unfolding. The construction of my new campus is a huge undertaking and there is no one better than a Montessori student to serve as a construction foreman. I only meant to stay five minutes but I was put to work, fed some pizza, compelled to share with the school's founder/director my brilliant ideas about strategies for transporting the classroom materials, and then asked to move tons of rocks. By hand. And, seriously, I mean tons.

I cannot even begin to tell you how spectacular my new campus is going to be. It sits on 12 mostly undeveloped acres and much of the focus is on the expansive natural playscapes and the nature education program. There are walking trails, wildflower meadows, a dry creek bed, and it's almost as if they were thinking of my perfect world when every minute detail of this campus was planned (and left unplanned). Our weekly assemblies will be enjoyed outdoors under the huge canopy of a Live Oak.

See this mountain of dirt behind me? Not only did I help secure this slide using stumps but I also got to take the inaugural run. best slide ever.

I'll be going back later in the week to do some painting and to check on the progress of my workers.