Reading!

Like the other big exciting milestones - potty training, walking, talking, riding a bike, swimming, weaning - I have to write about this one!  Reading!  Gabe is reading!  Perhaps I won't feel compelled to write about all of my children's Firsts, but until then, I will write on.

Now, before I start, I have to write a disclaimer.  I started reading when I was 10 years old.  If you've been reading my blog since Gabe was a baby, you know that I believe that reading is a developmental milestone like talking.  Children (without special needs) who are raised by parents who read to them will learn to read.  Children who are spoken to will speak.  Children whose parents swim with them will swim.

So how did I discover that Gabe can read?  He read a book to me.  A whole book.  It was just The Foot Book, but it was still a whole book, front to back.  I read it to him one time and then asked him to read it to me because I didn't feel like reading it again.  And he did.  He sounded out the words he did not know.  I'm amazed at how well he can sound out words and how well he remembers words that aren't phonetic.  Kids are so cool.


They just started doing it is generally how things happen around here.  For 4 years and 6 months, Gabe listened to me read.  I made posters with letters to put on the wall for him when he was learning the names and sounds of the letters last winter.  I often recited the alphabet and the sounds of all the letters.  I sounded out words sometimes when I read to him.  I let him play on starfall.com when I put Susanna down for a nap.  (He has since lost interest in that.)  He has a letter of the week in his homeschool co-op class.  For the past 14 weeks, he has come out of that class every Tuesday informing me what the letter of the week was.  On our way to class each week, he tells me what letter he will be on that day.  He is still confused about why he skipped the letter B.  It is because he was sick that day, but he can't seem to remember that even though I've told him.

In the world of People Who Think They Know How Kids Should Learn to Read, there is much controversy. My philosophy is read to them, tell them the names of the letters, let them see you write the letters (he can write, too), tell them what sounds the letters make, and spell words for them.  On the see-saw today, Gabe said, "Mommy, let's spell things."  He associates being on the see-saw with spelling because I was bored one day while see-sawing (for the 100th time) and said, "Hey Gabe, I have a new game.  Do you know how to spell RED?"  And then we spelled all the colors.  Today we spelled parts of the house and yard.  I think it's funny when he starts TREE with "ch" because he really thinks that is how you say tree, chree.

I've never planned a reading lesson.  They just sort of happen throughout the day, usually when I'm bored.  I remember being about 11 years old and playing a game I called Subject Predicate with whichever of my friends would play.  We played on my trampoline.  One person came up with the subject of a sentence and the other came up with the predicate.  Then we put the subject and predicate together to create an always hilariously funny sentence.  Certain movements were required as part of the game but I don't remember the details now.  I recall trying to get Ryan to play that game when we started dating, and it has crossed my mind to teach it to Gabe.

I told Ryan before he left that Gabe would be reading when he got back.  Today I sent Ryan a video of his little boy reading.  He was a proud Daddy.