It's amazing. I'm so excited for her. I have always loved to read. I used to spend whole weekends doing nothing but (I used to read the whole Little House on the Prairie set over the course of a weekend for fun). I would find a book in a series and then read them all (hello, Agatha Christie, Sweet Valley High, etc). I could not wait for Shelagh to start reading. I had thought it would happen earlier, but I didn't seem to make time for it the summer before K started.
She'd been working on Phonics all school year and both enjoying and doing well at it. However, Joe and I were wondering why she wasn't reading yet. It's a fine line trying not to judge, have her be on my timeline and be one of those crazy moms that measures against friends doing things at different paces. She was happy plugging along at her pace, so I've been more focused on that. At a conference with her teacher last month, I asked about the general reading timeline. She indicated that once phonics finished, they would be put into reading groups and given books to work on. She said it would be amazing how fast they read after that and she was RIGHT! Within 2-3 weeks she read a book by herself and REALLY WELL. I went out and got her a few Biscuit early reader books from the library (she doesn't like dogs AT ALL, but the K teacher said all the girls like Biscuit books about this cute little puppy). She likes them and is working hard at her reading every day now.
Every night she sits in her mini-rocking chair and reads a book to me and Rory now and is SO proud of herself. I seriously well up sitting there. Joe got home to listen last night and we were both all choked up. Then, of course, Rory decided to give it a try. He took his formal seat in the rocking chair and read a whole Biscuit book himself (memorized, of course). He took great pride in reading the page and then showing "the class" the picture before proceeding. It was way cute.
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3 comments:
Congratulations, Shelagh! Reading is a big step. I was just wondering today if I'm doing the right things to instill my love of reading in my kids (I LOVED the Sweet Valley High series!!). Mine are both reading, but they still prefer to be read to instead of sitting down to read on their own. I'm hoping the independent love of reading comes later.
We are very proud of you Shelagh! What a big girl! Now you can read to the other 3 (yes, I know I already said 3!) kids!
Love to all......we miss you,
Aunt Harlee & Uncle Chris
Way to go Shalegh! It really is amazing when it just clicks and they are really reading on their own. You should also check out a series of books from High Noon called Sound Out Chapter Books. They are hard to find (not at BN or Borders) but you could probably find them at an educational based bookstore. Nice work Shalegh!
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