literacy, arriving slowly.
Yesterday a lovely package arrived (a thankyou note is forthcoming, BookLady!) for us, containing, among other things, the very same set of books with which I learned to read, 30 years ago. Looking at those books, I remembered vividly how thrilling it was to learn to read, how those (totally inane) stories unfolded magically in my brain.
Dutch has a pretty solid base of pre-literacy skills, and she's managed to read a few words, but she's just not much interested right now in learning to read, though she loves books and loves being read to. We haven't pushed it at all, because we're lazy and don't see any point to dragging her somewhere she'll eventually go on her own. Today she was looking at her new books, and I asked her if she could sound out the title of one of them. "J-E-T-space-B-E-D" she said (she's got capital letters down, along with their most-used sounds) and then looked thoughtfully at the cover. "What does that spell out? Sound it out." I said. "Hmm.... it says... space boy!" she said triumphantly.*
Reading has been such a powerful source of joy and excitement in my life** that I'm really looking forward to experiencing vicariously Dutch's experience of even a shadow of that passion. I'm guessing she'll hatch into a reader, since she's an avid lover of story and narrative,*** but even if she's not as voracious as I am, I'll still get great pleasure out of watching her world expand.
*She did successfully read it, after that.
** This may seem like a sign of how boring my Real Life is, but I don't care. You can have your Real Life Adventures, and I'll look forward to reading about them.
*** Right now she's running around telling a story to herself about a European girl who lives in a teapot and must escape from The Black Bunny of Death. This is what happens when you read a kid fairy tales and let her watch the "Watership Down" movie. (Cook's responsible for that choice - I was out of the house all day.)
Dutch has a pretty solid base of pre-literacy skills, and she's managed to read a few words, but she's just not much interested right now in learning to read, though she loves books and loves being read to. We haven't pushed it at all, because we're lazy and don't see any point to dragging her somewhere she'll eventually go on her own. Today she was looking at her new books, and I asked her if she could sound out the title of one of them. "J-E-T-space-B-E-D" she said (she's got capital letters down, along with their most-used sounds) and then looked thoughtfully at the cover. "What does that spell out? Sound it out." I said. "Hmm.... it says... space boy!" she said triumphantly.*
Reading has been such a powerful source of joy and excitement in my life** that I'm really looking forward to experiencing vicariously Dutch's experience of even a shadow of that passion. I'm guessing she'll hatch into a reader, since she's an avid lover of story and narrative,*** but even if she's not as voracious as I am, I'll still get great pleasure out of watching her world expand.
*She did successfully read it, after that.
** This may seem like a sign of how boring my Real Life is, but I don't care. You can have your Real Life Adventures, and I'll look forward to reading about them.
*** Right now she's running around telling a story to herself about a European girl who lives in a teapot and must escape from The Black Bunny of Death. This is what happens when you read a kid fairy tales and let her watch the "Watership Down" movie. (Cook's responsible for that choice - I was out of the house all day.)
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