Charlie reading

Charlie's reading skills are really taking off. I started teaching him to read last summer using "Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons", which is a great book for teaching kids to read. He was a reluctant learner and didn't really want to do lessons very often. We still have never made through all the lessons. I think it was when I started having him read in the Book of Mormon that he got more into reading. He knows his letter sounds really well and can sound things out, but as we all know, most words are not phonetic and can't be sounded out - there are letter combinations that are common, and knowing those helps, but really a lot of words are sight words. As we would read in the Book of Mormon I would just let him choose a verse and then we would go through, him sounding out the words that he could and me telling him the words he didn't know. It really didn't take too many times of the same word until he had it down and I didn't have to tell him any more. We would put a sticker by the verse he had read and then next time we read in the Book of Mormon he would read that same verse again. We haven't done this on a consistent basis at all, but still I'm amazed at his reading skills.

I figure if I'm bored reading the grade level readers he must be too - actually I remember feeling that way when I was a kid - who wants to read 3 letter words over and over and over and over. Kids can learn much more quickly than we give them credit for. Sure, there are foundational skills that they need, but on the other side they need books that are interesting to read - sentences that make sense and that are worth reading.

Today Charlie sat down with a "Magic Tree House" book, which is definately not a Kindergarten level book - maybe 3rd grade or something. He had to ask me quite a few words, but was able to read 8 pages. Again, he only had to ask for the same word a time or two and then started recognizing it on his own. It's so fun to watch the magic of reading come alive for Charlie. Like I said, he has been a reluctant reader, but is coming around and as his skill level develops he is loving it more and more. I think he is too much like me - he wants to do everything well - now, not in time through practice, just instantly do things well now.