For Craig, the notion of “reading for pleasure” is an oxymoron.
He’s a solid reader — comfortably reading aloud in chapter books above his grade level — but he usually responds to my reading reminders with complaints and excuses.
You’d think I was forcing him to eat a tofu sandwich with a side of lutefisk.
He hasn’t become interested in any of the reading series that Darla devoured in third grade — in fact nothing has really sparked him to read anything on his own since Scooby-Doo. But my husband recognizes that Craig is much like him, and he likes to learn about real things, rather than fictional ones.
So when we visited the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge during our visit to Sanibel Island, Craig noticed a shell-identification book, A Beachcomber’s Guide to Florida Seashells
We wandered for several more minutes in the gift shop, and as we were about to leave, I watched Craig walk straight back to the bookshelf and bring his book to the counter. Dad paid half, and Craig bought himself an awesome souvenir.
He spent the rest of he week, flipping back and forth in the book, scrutinizing photos and descriptions, and identifying and classifying our shark’s eyes, conches, whelks, and banded tulips.
Money well spent.
Sanibel series:
Surfing Dolphins
Beach Writing
Fishing off Captiva Island
Sanibel Historical Museum Dollhouse
Cayo Costa Shells
Passing the Torch with Seashells
Four-Seat Surrey
Sanibel Island School
Sanibel Historical Village and Museum
Sandbar at Low-Tide
Guess where I’ve been?
You can join me each week, and pass the torch. Just share a simple or stupendous time kids make you proud, or a way adults passing the torch. Blog your story or share it in comments. My comment plugin will leave your link automatically. Former PTT posts.
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Tags: Florida, Fort Myers, Sanibel Island
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12:29 pm
[...] of my good blogging friends started a weekly writing project for Tuesdays called “Pass the Torch Tuesday” in which we take a moment to pause and share something our kids did while we caught them being [...]
8:49 pm
[...] Passing the torch with seashells [...]
11:05 pm
The kid is so curious. Most kids would enjoy the hunt and the collection. The identification – now that is a step up.
11:34 pm
what a nice story.
My son is 4 and every day there are little things he does that I am so proud of. I try to encourage him to be a thinker, to take what he learns and take it another step.
What a total joy it is be a parent. (even with all the work)
6:50 pm
[...] Passing the torch with seashells [...]
8:21 pm
[...] Beach Writing Fishing off Captiva Island Sanibel Historical Museum Dollhouse Cayo Costa Shells Passing the Torch with Seashells Four-Seat Surrey Sanibel Island School Sanibel Historical Village and Museum Sandbar at Low-Tide [...]
12:13 pm
[...] Island Series: Sanibel Sandbar at Low-Tide Four-Seat Surrey Passing the Torch with Seashells Sanibel Historical Village and Museum Sanibel Island School Sanibel Museum [...]