Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Age or Ability Specific Forums Pre-school She's starting to read

LOL, yeah, I had the same comment. Four or earlier IS indeed very early to be reading at all!

Before my daughter was first starting to read, she would do a pretend read. She was very good at it becuase she would make up stories. I just went right along with this. Then she began to memorize the books. My favorite memory is Silly Sally went to town. That was so cute. She was able to read before K. Now she is reading 2yrs up in 1st Grade. I'm so proud of her. Reading just opens up a whole new world to kids!

It neat how kids can be so different. My son could sit thru Dr. Suess books as an infant. My DD would not. My DD would make up stories about pictures in books but my son really had a hard time with it. I'm enjoying the flashback. Thanks for sharing.

These stories are so cute!

I can't wait for DS1 to start reading so I don't have to spend 1 hour a night reading to him!

I have to admit though, reading is a great bonding time for the two of us.

Oh, you don't stop reading to them when they start reading for themselves. My DD will sit down and read a book, front to cover, without mistakes, and then bring it over to me & ask me to read it to her. I'll be very sad when she doesn't want me to read to her anymore.

I couldn't agree more. DS8 was an early reader and reads several years above level. A few weeks ago, he brought me Misty of Chincoteague and asked me to read it to him because he couldn't understand the dialects used in the conversations of the book. (His description: it didn't make pictures in his mind, so he knew he needed help.)It had been a LONG time since he'd had the patience to read a book 30 minutes a day with me. Usually, when we start a book together, he can't wait to finish it and devours it during the day. I was in heaven to read a book with him cover-to-cover! I need to find more books that are above-level even for him AND of interest to keep this up! We had wonderful discussions about the book. (Sweet book, by the way.)

My DS9 stopped reading with us for a little while and stopped his bed time routine. He wanted to read faster than I was reading. Then we decided together we needed to get back to it. Sometimes we read Calvin and Hobbs which is fun to share. It's a great way of making sure you spend enough one on one together. It's also a great time for them to talk to you about their day or any troubles. I plan on doing this until my kids leave for college if they will go along with it.

At age 9 he still like me to read some picture books. He thinks all books should have picture. I love that. just got an idea - he should do his own illustrations for books that don't have enough.

The author of the Read Aloud Handbook makes an impassioned argument that you should continue to read to your kids throughout adolescence, even if you're just reading interesting newspaper articles out loud while your teenager loads the dishwasher. There are a lot of good suggestions in that book for reading aloud to older children. The website is good, too: http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/

I was about to post a similar thing Ms. Friz. Have you seen his latest, Read All About It?
http://www.trelease-on-reading.com/aai.html

In a similar vein, there is a college student at our church who impresses me with his character and passion for noble causes. I asked his dad what advice he had for raising kids and he said "I read to him every night." Looks like we'll be in the read aloud phase for the long haul.

If your young child is wearing you out wanting to be read to all the time, audio books can be a great help. I found many at my local library and would give DD's the books to read along with too.

Yeah DD definitly still loves to be read to and probably will for a long time.

Today she read "We see a duck. We can sit in the sun with that duck. It is fun in the sun." And read it very smoothly and quickly, only had to sound out one word. I was shocked at how smooth it was.

Funny thing today-
She wanted to read one of her library books all by herself and she told me "I don't want you to handle my book. I am going to hold it and read it myself. Go sit on the other couch." LOL

Too funny amazedmom. You have your hands full! Don't you love their independence?

My DD is always barking orders at me and I just take them in stride. Her Grandmother on her Dad's side isn't around her much and is always shocked at her commands. I see it as independence. DD has great manners and is well behaved but when she wants something the way she wants it she lets us know.