The Wonder of Learning to Read

I have a six-year old granddaughter who started kindergarten in September. It was fun during those pre-school years to watch her learn the alphablet, her numbers, colors, shapes, and on and on. However, the most rewarding experience has occured over the past few months as she has started to develop reading skills. I suppose part of my enthusiasm for listening to her read stems from my own love of books, but I can't help but feel that the whole world is slowly opening up to this bright young mind as I listen to her read out loud.

I, myself, have been reminded of basic things I learned all those years ago about insects, birds, fish, and all sorts of other living things just by listening to my granddaughter read elementary books about them. If you want to learn about a subject for a WIP, go to the library and check out the children's section. You usually obtain the general information you need in very simple terms.

Two years or so ago, I saw an anthology of the old Dick and Jane books and snapped it up to give to my granddaughter for Christmas. It is a book of 100+ pages, and when she recently read it over the course of just a few days, she thought she had achieved something wonderful. Well, she did. She learned new words, gained self-confidence with her reading skills, and earned bragging rights that she had read a book much longer than any her mom read at that age!

I don't recall at what age I learned to read, but I'm sure it wasn't in kindergarten. I definitely know my kids learned in the first grade. In fact, the teacher who instilled a love of reading in their young hearts is still a substitute teacher today, although very seldom anymore. Small wonder, since she taught my husband in first grade as well almost 60 years ago.

I was a parent volunteer in her class when my son had her for a teacher. I remember she had the "crown" reward system. A student received a crown made of construction paper for every 25 books they read. This included books read to them by their parents until the student was able to read on their own. I helped make the crowns and they became more elaborate with each step that was achieved. I recall each crown had the representative number written in magic marker in the center of the crown, "25" "50" "75" "100", and so on. The "25" crown was kind of plain, but the higher the number, the more design, glitter and color appeared on the crown. I can't recall the highest number attained, but I know it was a huge incentive for my kids. They would come home beaming with pride each time they received a new crown.

The incentive is a bit different in school today. My granddaughter is part of the AR - accelerated reader- program. I like the fact that for every book she brings home, there is a computerized test she takes the next day to test her reading comprehension. This is a good thing since several people, myself included, may read a lot but not necessarily retain what they read. (OK, at my age, I suppose part of this is senility!). The AR students get special privileges, such as "AR night". The last AR night, which I had the privilege to attend, consisted of a pizza party, games, and a movie. The next one will be a trip to Chucky Cheese - quite an exciting outing for kids who live three hours away from the closest one.

Today, my daughter, granddaughter, and I had some errands to take care of in Pueblo. We stopped at Barnes and Noble to pick up a book for a friend of my daughter's. My granddaughter was like a kid in a candy store. Her mom had told her she could buy two books this trip. It was quite a time of decision-making for her. She considered her options, made choices, and changed her mind about four times before coming up with her final purchases. My daughter and I had the pleasure of listening to her read both of her books on the trip home.

If a grandparent was limited to doing only one thing for a grandchild, I know my choice would be to listen to that child read, even if I end up listening to the same story a hundred times in a week. I would praise him or her for each new word they learn, and challenge them to higher levels of reading. I'm pleased that my granddaughter has a wide range of reading material, from such staples as Dr. Seuss to inspirational children's books by Max Lucado. I look forward to the day when I can pass on some of my tried and true favorites to her.

Reading can take us anywhere, stimulate our desire to learn, and help us achieve goals beyond our wildest dreams. Do everything you can to help the children in your life fall in love with reading!

Thanks for reading my blog.