It's amazing seeing your child progress and learn to read. I remember very vividly when my #2 read his first sign from inside the car. We were driving home from church and he looked out his window and pointed and said, "Mom.... what is Hooters?" I totally freaked out!!! First, I was shocked that he could read... then I was horrified at what he might be able to read next.
Every child learns to read in his/her own way. There are things you can do to encourage the "love of reading" but it's ultimately up to them. My oldest is a bookworm and LOVES to read. He reads about a book a day and sometimes he can't wait to finish one before he starts another and so I often find him reading multiple books at one time. I was like that at his age. It's exciting to see him grow and to see his books mature. He loves reading historical fictions about war. (He got that from his dad.) He also loves Harry Potter and other books of that type. I tried reading those and never could get into them. I know... I am definitely in the minority.
My #2 was special in the sense that I actually taught him to read. I had taken him out of public school and decided to home school. I noticed he already had the foundation for reading, but I was the one that helped him put it all together. It was so much fun watching his excitement as he learned to put sounds and words together. His first sentence he wanted to write was "I love mom." That was priceless.
My #3 is in kindergarten and loves to read. She started the year by knowing a few sight words and knowing the sounds of some of the consonants. Now she is learning blends and is able to sound out words that she doesn't know. It has been fun reading books with her because they are all about princesses, or puppies, kittens, anything pink. If the book is pink she is going to read it! Recently, my father-in-law was here visiting and he got the scriptures out and asked Sarah to sit beside him and read some passages. I was shocked when I saw her reading from the scriptures! When she got to a word she didn't know, she asked him and he told her. The next time she saw the word, she remembered it!! Amazing! I had heard of a literacy program that uses the scriptures and thought it was a neat idea. Now I see why it works. I think that where there is a will, you will be blessed. If any of you have problems with literacy you should consider using the scriptures.
My baby is so cute! He is only three and so doesn't read yet. However, he does recognize some letters and loves to count. That is definitely a start. I recently purchased some DVDs that I wanted to share with you because I have seen a difference!!! They are called: "Let's Talk! with Puppy Dog" and I got the ABC's and All About Animals. I wish I would have known about them before now. They are designed for ages infant to 4 years! I have had them for only about 2 months now and he already knows more vocabulary, knows more letters and sounds, AND the best part is that it encourages talking! The DVD will ask questions and he will respond. It's really neat. They say that speech and reading usually correspond and I can see that.
Make sure that you read to your child no matter how old they are. Even if your baby can't talk or respond in words they are absorbing all the information and wiring their brain in ways we will never know. I read to my children at least once a day and perhaps that is why they love reading so much. I don't have as much time to read as I used to for my own pleasure... so I have to take what I can, right? For me it's more than just actually reading... it's a bonding time I have with my kids. I can be silly, funny, and even scary at times. It's fun making up stories and sometimes I do that. My oldest loves it when I take a totally serious book and change the words to make it funny. Since I can't clone myself I have to divide my time among them and usually it's not even. The younger ones demand more time. At least at night they get my undivided attention and it's another way to show them how much they are loved.
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Open your mind to endless
possibilities by reading a book.
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