Read To Me

 Who's the scary monster now, with a red eye and a bloody nose?  Yikes!

Freestone is a 3rd grade reading machine!  Since the beginning of the school year, he has read every Roald Dahl book and a few others for good measure.  We even got him the alternate ending of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Boy, an autobiography of Roald Dahl, I think.  He now orders me to get books at the library that he can read to Ptolemy.  The only problem is, he is supposed to read a mystery for his October book report.  He claims, "I don't read mysteries," but he won't do the report on any of the books he has read because they're not mysteries, and that's the assignment.  It's like a "Who's on First" conversation every time we talk about it.  Basically, he is planning on not doing the book report.  I tried to convince him that any book is a mystery because you don't know what's going to happen, but he's not buying it.

He also refuses to fill out his reading log.  He told me imperiously, "I don't have time to fill that out.  I'm too busy reading."  As far as I'm concerned, everything the reading homework is trying to teach him has already been accomplished if he's reading for pleasure.  Except the part about being responsible for completing his work the way he is supposed to.  I bought an R.L. Stine mystery at the used book store today and Freestone will have to interrupt his regularly scheduled reading to finish it.  That's the assignment, kid.  You know how to read, now learn how to play by the rules!