A priority for me, as a mom, is to raise a child who loves books, loves to read, and will in fact want to read any printed word placed in front of her. It is the reason I don't have cable TV and often encourage Zoey, after a really long day, to grab a book and bring it to the dinner table so we can both chew and skim in comfortable quiet. I have a cozy 'reading spot' set up in the living room, just for mornings like these, where I wake before dawn hoping to accomplish a little writing all alone, only to be joined at 6:20 by my small little sidekick.
And anyone who follows my Goodreads site is at first amazed that I have nearly 400 books listed in my library, until they realize that the vast majority of these books are children's books, and they also have an alarmingly high turnover rate. Sometimes we go to the library three times in a week. That's right. Three. Because if you ask Zoey where she wants to go today, she's quite likely to answer 'to the library! and the park!' It's a beautiful thing.
All of this explains my total joy on Sunday when Zoey asked me to please, Mommy, stop vacuuming and come read with me. She had selected some of her favorites: Rolie Polie Olie, Olivia, and No, David! We snuggled up on the couch and I swear, if a preschooler can have an Oprah 'Aha!' moment, this was one of Zoey's. Halfway through Rolie Polie Olie (the first time), she stopped me to point out a word with a 'Z' in it. Then, the light bulb: 'Mommy! That word has an 'H' in it! What is that 'H' word? What's that word? That word says N-O, what does that mean?'
It finally dawned on her that Mommy is reading the WORDS, not the pictures, in all these books. WORDS MEAN SOMETHING. She was in awe.
We read Rolie Polie Olie three times, slowly, with me tracing her little pointer finger under the words as the story flowed along.
Since Sunday, her love of books has kicked in to overdrive. She wants a variety of books from the library, instead of sticking with only her favorite Maisy/Curious George/Clifford rotation. Instead of picking out her books and getting out the door, she wants to curl up on the floor of the library and read her selection RIGHT NOW, only to get up and wander down another aisle when we're done. She wants me to read to her, then she wants to 'read' to me, a funny recounting of the story that is often quite close to the written words on the page.
Are you tired of me gushing about my child yet?
I know, I know. It's not like she's ACTUALLY READING at the tender age of three, but WOW, she's well on her way. I am fostering a (hopefully) lifelong love of reading, a skill that will carry my child far in the world.
DAMN, I'm good.
5 comments:
You are good!! I think I would start a phonics program with her, you know like put all the letters on cards and make their sounds and then push them closer together until they make the word. That is what Olivia's preschool does and she is reading all sorts of things now.
That's wonderful! Nothing beats a child that loves reading. I was that kind of kid who would devour a Ramona Quimby book in a Saturday and I want my boys to love reading just as much.
yes, you are good. dang. :D
I love that feeling, watching them GET IT. And I wish I put all of Camper's books on Goodreads, too. I should try to do that...
By the way, he loves the books Zoey shared with him. He loves the ones with the cutout puzzle type pieces, and he SUPER LOVES the one about the BB going to the moon. We read that a couple of times and that's when he pointed at the moon OUTSIDE and said, "MOOM."
Pretty awesome.
No, darlin', you are awesome! And so is Zoey!
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