THE IMPORTANCE OF READING

There has been a lot of reading going on in our house lately.  Between school books and pleasure books and extra books for school (reading race) we haven't done much of anything else.  Most of my reading has been my novel rewrites, but it is still reading.

As I was getting married and planning a family I always wondered if my kids would be avid readers like their father and I. I sure hoped so because I derive so much pleasure out of it.

 When The senior was born I had high hopes...only to have them dashed when she seemed to have no interest in books whatsoever. We would try to read to her and before the first page was through she would be gone, off playing somewhere.  She would never bring us a book we would always have to coax her over to try to read one to her. When she started school her interest in reading did not increase at all.  By the time she was in the second half of first grade we knew there was a problem. She could not read well at all and when we tried to make her it resulted in meltdowns that almost matched her little sister's. She struggled for years and in 6th grade she was in danger of failing her reading class because she refused to read the extra books required, the ones she had to choose herself.  I was at a complete loss, she needed to be able to read properly to get good grades and I believe to succeed. And then one day I suggested she read funny, crazy books that I liked, I figured they might finally spark her interest.  And you know what, it worked!!! I actually recommended Janet Evanovich to an 11 year old.  Yes, I know, not the best parenting move, but damn it it worked! She started to read and slowly moved onto other books and other interests.  She is rarely without a pleasure book these days even when she has more important school books to read for her AP classes.

The Freshman was the exact opposite. From the time she could grab one off the bottom shelf herself, she was never without a book.  She slept with them, she ate with them and she took them everywhere with her.  If I wanted to read to her she was there with a smile on and would sit through book after book.  If I didn't want to read, she was there asking to be read to. But it still came as a shock to me when at the end of her Kindergarten year, she came home with books from school and read them to me.  These were starter books with simple words and I thought that maybe she had memorized them when her teacher read them to her.  I called the teacher...come to find out that they were just learning their sounds and just starting to do a technique with learning to sound out words with these books. Freshman had never seen them until five minutes before class let out.  She had literally taught herself to read. By the second grade she was reading the same books as her fifth grade sister. And to this day she is an avid reader although she will only read specific kinds of books. She also is very rarely without a pleasure book even with all of the school work she has with honors classes.

It makes me very happy that my kids love to read (and not just because I have free proofreaders for my writing!) I think it makes their life richer and they will always have a way to escape the everyday if they need to.

I truly do believe that reading to children is important. Whether it is done at home or at school, it doesn't matter. There is a whole list of reasons why and I won't bore you with them (but Google is a great place to find them). I wish I had continued to force the issue with The Senior so maybe she wouldn't have had so many problems early in school.

 I read to the other three kids now, even if they wander off, I continue to read.  And they always see someone in the house with a book in their hands. I truly hope this helps them in some way.

 What is really exciting for me is to see Miss Crazy in action.  It is so thrilling to sit here and listen to her read Junie B Jones to me when just last year she could only read words like the fat cat sat on the rat (haha).

Until next time...Read to your kids and let them see you read even if it is just magazines or newspapers. There are varying opinions on the subject, but I believe it helps them have the foundation to succeed.