Belle has loved books since she was a wee little thing, and I will always cherish the countless hours we snuggled and read together. I thought if I taught her to read on her own, she would be in heaven, but it didn't happen right away. In fact, she often complained about it. She was definitely reading, but she was far from a being a bookworm in her own right. One of my goals for her kindergarten year was for her to learn to enjoy independent reading. Love can't be forced though, so what was my plan? Perseverance and patience. I simply required her to read to me each day, and I continued reading to her.
When she initially embarked on her reading journey, she struggled not with aptitude, but with interest and tenacity. Belle found most easy readers boring, and she begged me to read her real books instead. Although I felt her pain, I reminded her she had to crawl before she walked. I was challenged to find engaging material on her level. Thankfully, we found the ticket in Pathway Readers. Over the course of the first few months of the school year, her whining became minimal and eventually ended altogether. Reading was becoming easier, and she looked forward to the delightful little stories in the Pathway Readers.
Once sweet baby James came, we took a little break from our regular routine, and I implemented the book worm incentive. Every time she read aloud to John for at least 15 minutes, they each received a gummy worm. Both kids really looked forward to book worm time, and it encouraged Belle to read without me even though they normally selected familiar texts. In retrospect, I think it was an accidental but key step towards her becoming an independent reader.
One day shortly after the holidays, she picked up a new level book on the Titanic and without prompting read it silently. Afterwards, she excitedly told me all about the Titanic and proudly announced, "I can read!" This was not news to me, but I was thrilled she was finally starting to process the idea of independent reading. That day was truly a turning point in her road to reading. She began opening books just to see if she could read them. With her confidence growing, she began reading more and more until one day, I realized she was an unstoppable reading machine.
As Belle became a reader, our home life changed some. Instead of running out of her room at the crack of dawn to give me a morning hug, Belle now likes to read a few chapters before crawling out of bed. Instead of a reluctantly taking an afternoon rest, she is now eager for this quiet chance to read. Instead of talking my ear off in the car, we now often ride in silence because she has her nose in a book. If there was ever a bookworm, it is Miss Belle Elizabeth. She always wants to read "just one more chapter." She is officially a happy independent reader. Goal exceeded! I am proud and even the librarians are impressed with her reading list/load, but the accomplishment was unexpectedly bittersweet. Once her reading light switch went off, my baby seemed to grow up overnight. Knowledge truly is power...
Even though she is an avid reader now, I still want to experience books with her. Over the course of the past year, Belle and I read several American Girl books and the complete Little House on the Prairie series. Hamilton also read her the My Side of the Mountain trilogy. Often, bits and pieces of these stories and others will surface in her pretend play. Chairs are covered wagons, and trees are hideouts. On any given afternoon, she might be a dog trainer, an Indian, a pioneer, or a spy. I won't know every detail of what she is reading anymore, but I will always enjoy hearing her repeat a passage or act out one of her favorite characters! I love my little bookworm!
