Friday, October 23, 2009
Real interest in reading!
Livy is finally really truly interested in words and in learning to read. She is spelling out every sign we see on the road and asking what it says. She is asking me to show her how to spell new words. It just rocks. I know it is absolutely neurotic that I was worried because my just now turned 6 year old child wasn't interested in reading, but I was worried. Even though I knew my worry was ridiculous, I just couldn't get rid of it. But I am proud that I didn't push her. I sat on my hands, bit my tongue, and accepted her interests. I didn't try sneaky ways to manipulate her into reading, and I didn't show her my irrational feelings of disappointment or frustration. And now she wants to read, and I know it is all her own interest. So glad I respected her timeline. Joy, joy.
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6 comments:
That's bloody marvelous news!
Well done, lass.
I imagine that kids much younger than 6 may not realize that reading is something they could do if they wanted. of course there is evidence available to them, but kids that age have a hard time putting together the evidence and seeing that it applies to them.
I think it makes sense to show a child that they are capable of reading. Somewhere before the age of three would be a typical age when they're ready. Otherwise one is keeping a secret from them.
She's not a doofus. She sees us reading; we read to her; her friends read; and we have computer games with reading skills. She just didn't want to learn. In my experience, there is no need to show a child they are capable of anything. They just want to do things independently, and unless parents and other squelch that feeling of "I do it myself!", children will want to do the things they see adults doing.
Also, I'd like to see some research saying that most children are ready to read before age 3. I would guess that very very few are ready that early.
Arg. Left a comment last night that didn't go through. Must've been the wine.... :o)
First of all, YAY LIVY!!!! And I know just how you feel about wondering/worrying if she would ever read. For some reason, it was easier for me to be confident that Livy would read than it was that Ryan would.
It's interesting how each kid has a different timetable to reading and other skills, isn't it? Ryan began to be interested in reading just before he turned 6, same as Livy, and now is doing fine. And of course Morgan was the one reading just before she turned 3, and she's doing just fine, too.
I think it isn't so much that Ryan wasn't aware that he was capable of reading before he finally did. He understood the mechanics of it, the letter sounds, etc. He just didn't want to put forth the time and effort--he was too interested in other things. When he was ready--and I wonder if there is a maturation of the brain component--he learned fairly quickly, and of course is happy that this has opened up so many other things to him.
For Morgan, a child always interested in puzzles of any sort--you remember!--I think letters and words were just another sort of puzzle to solve. She learned reading because she enjoyed the puzzle-solving process.
I wonder how and when Sean will get there? Even though Ryan did not read early (but rather, right on time as far as I can tell), I'm glad I didn't push him. Given his personality, he could easily have decided that reading is something he ought to battle with us over. :o)
I'm glad to hear it worked out despite a little worry on your part. We are in a similar boat with my 5.5 year old, who is brilliant (if I do say so myself!) but has never shown interest in learning to read until very recently. I try to see it as parallel to learning to walk: many kids "can" do it much earlier, but it's ALL about motivation. Until they desperately want to do it for their own private and selfish "reasons", it won't happen ... but they *will* want to eventually because that inner drive is human nature.
People kept telling me to take Calculus, but I wouldn't do it until I was good and ready. When I finally took Calc II and III, it was really easy! I was so shocked!
Maybe it took me a while to outgrow my fear of failure, or maybe I was just afraid of those freaky integral signs. I'm sure kids must be afraid of some things, especially the things Mum's already really really really good at. More than half the parenting battle is helping kids overcome their fears- rational and irrational!
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