Reading with Beelee and Ashelly

I'm tutoring a little girl name Ashley. She lives in Spanish Fork with her parents and her little brother. Ashley's family is from Mexico so they speak Spanish and English. Ashley is very smart and reads really well but needs some help with reading comprehension.

That's where I come in. Twice a week I drive down to Spanish Fork to read with Ashley.

I love it.

When I get there, Maria, Ashley's mom, has hot, Mexican food ready for dinner. She is an amazing cook! I love Mexican food but Maria's food is better than anything. I've tried a lot of new things and I always eat sooo much. Plus, she always has dessert, you know, nothing big, just some fried banana or homemade flan.

After Maria and I eat dinner I head downstairs with the kids.

Ashley is 9 and Billy is 6 and he is the cutest little kid ever. His accent is my favorite: he says his name like "Beelee" and Ashley's name gets a third syllable "Ashelley". He always comes downstairs with us because who wouldn't wanted to miss an opportunity to get read to. Out of a fairy tale book. Also, the dog, Chispa, comes downstairs sometimes. That little dog is HYPER. If you even act like you're going to play with her, the dog will immediately begin running in circles around the room as fast as those big cats on Planet Earth until she realizes you are still standing in the same place.

It's really funny to watch Ashley and Billy with Chispa because they kind of treat her like a stuffed animal. They drag her around, throw her off the couch, wrestle her into the cushions. We've even had a dog-on-pillow sandwich served to us by Billy.

After we finally settle down, Ashley and I take turns reading and summarizing and learning new words. It's so fun to see her progress. She is really smart and fun to teach. Right now we are reading short stories out of her 100 Magical Stories book that she got for Christmas. After the first story she usually has a hard time sitting still but I let her stand up and walk around while she summarizes each page for me.

The past few times I've been there we play a game after we read. They just got an Xbox and Kinect (with a dancing game) so how could I say no to that. Then I leave and sometimes I'm sent home with more food (like Mexican bread, fruit, or a giant turkey leg).

I'm loving it. Maria takes great care of me and those kids are awesome. I just hope they love it as much as I do!