It is that passion for reading that needs to endure.
I couldn't agree more! A love of reading is a beautiful, lifelong gift. Thanks so much for the commiseration, ellemenope. I love hearing about your DD.
I can relate to every word in your post because it sounds like DS has similar preferences to your DD. The minute DS wakes in the morning, he scans the room for a book, then shouts out the title and "read it!"...no joke. Quite honestly, if he's asking, I'm happy to oblige, even if it means we don't get moving for the day until noon.
Like your DD, DS really caught onto books when he was an infant. DH and I had gotten in the habit of reading our own books out loud to him when I was pregnant, so I wonder if he's come to associate stories and discussion with nurturing.
We have books EVERHWHERE on low shelves that DS can access so he has constant access, and we probably have a good 75-100 library books checked out at any given time, in addition to several hundred books of our own. That might sound like a lot to some folks, but we read every book a few times each week, so the rotation is in constant use! (I think DH may wonder if the books spawn new ones overnight...)
More than anything, I try to make reading a game. I adore books. We act the stories out in character, read in silly voices, do a lot of dialogic reading, add embellished sound effects, etc. It's not so much that we're reading the books as living them, I feel. If we're not laughing or excited to read, then something is wrong.
As you say, the decoding is secondary to enjoyment. That will come in its own time. I'm not particularly convinced there's a need to sit down and teach c-a-t, etc. I read when I was 2 after my parents explained letter sounds, and DS is ahead of where I was because he already sought out the alphabet and phonetics himself. He's putting the pieces together...I'll leave it to him to set his own schedule.
