Reading with kids

From a very young age, I've been reading to my kids. Evalina's favorite book for about 6 months was Dr. Seuss' I Had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew. I read the 60+ page book nightly for most of that time, and have it memorized to this day. It's a fantastic book, which I never read as a child, amazingly. It's all about how you can't run away from your troubles, and it's better to meet them head on and prepared. I love it, and wish that Philip would get a similar obsession, because I miss reading it.

Philip's favorites have been anything that involves letters and numbers. The boy is obsessed. He's not yet 3, and I don't doubt he'll be reading before he's 4. His favorites are Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Chicka Chicka 1,2,3, and Dr. Seuss' ABC Book.

Evalina began to read (very very well) all of a sudden right before she started kindergarten. Now, we are reading together. I still read to her most of the time, but when we read books like The Magic Schoolbus series (I'll get into this more later), I have her read 1-2 paragraphs a page on her own. I'm constantly amazed at how well she does. She understands hyphens, and is very interested in making sure that she gets the emphasis right on words, depending on punctuation. We are astounded by her reading.

This blog will be my way of keeping track of the books we are reading. I will focus on the chapter books that I read to her, or that she reads with me. When Philip gets to reading more, I'll include his favorite books.

We always read before bed, even if it's really late getting there. Even if it's just a couple of pages. We never take away reading as a punishment if the kids have been less than stellar in their behavior. Sometimes we'll read for over half and hour, sometimes just a couple of minutes. It's one of my favorite times of the day.

Evalina's teacher asked if we had done a lot of teaching her how to read at home. We have done a little, but mostly it's just been absorbed through our reading to and with her.

I am an avid reader, and hope that my children grow up to be the same way. They are certainly off to a good start.

(Here is the bookshelf in the kid's room. Yes, it's insane. I couldn't be happier)