Reading is Fun!

I created a sticker sheet for Ethan a few weeks ago to track his reading progress. We titled it 'Race into Reading' and we plan on attending the races in September to really have fun with this theme. So far he is really enjoying it and I am amazed at how fast his skills are advancing.

Today, we practiced reading short sentences with a little comprehension checking. He did amazing! He is finally putting it all together and starting to sound like he is reading!!

These are a few of the activities we completed today. He really liked reading the sentences and deciding what sentence described the picture.



I plan on making more of the sentence activities so he can continue to practice. He is very excited that he is learning to read! Tonight he plans on reading one of his BOB Books to Everett before bed! I'm sure Everett will find it very interesting!!

Strawberry Shortcake

Today, while Everett was taking his nap, Ethan and I decided to make strawberry shortcake. Hy-Vee had a great deal on a huge 4lb. box of strawberries and who can resist making shortcake?




Ethan has been very helpful lately and has been preparing his own snacks. The plastic flatware I purchased from IKEA has been great with learning to cut. The knives are not sharp, but rigid enough for him to cut soft items.

I cleaned the fruit and removed the tops and cut them on my cutting board while he cut his on his small cutting board. He was so excited to be helping and couldn't wait for the shortcake to finish cooking so we could enjoy a slice! It was very yummy! (Sorry I didn't get a picture of the finished product, we ended up having Derrick's family over for dinner and it was gone before I could grab the camera!)

Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients
• 3 pints fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 cups whipped heavy cream or already prepared whipped cream

Directions
1. Slice the strawberries and toss them with 1/2 cup of white sugar. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Butter and flour one 8-inch round cake pan.
3. In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking powder, white sugar and the salt. With a pastry blender cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and add the beaten egg and milk. Stir until just combined. (it will be lumpy and thick)
4. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with a small amount of sugar. Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes or until slightly golden. Let cool partially in pan on wire rack.
5. Slice partially cooled cake in half, making two layers. Place half of the strawberries on one layer covering with whipped cream then top with the other layer. Top with remaining strawberries and cover with the whipped cream.