I’ve waited a couple weeks to post this development because it is kindof unbelievable, but Tommy is reading by himself. In the past month, he’s gone from reading short vowel sound words to real books. We had only reached consonant blends in phonics, but his cool new birthday books motivated him to finish up on his own, I guess. I’d noticed he was “reading” to his sisters a lot more, but I thought he was just reciting books that he had memorized. But then, impatient with Daddy for not finishing My Father’s Dragon fast enough, he started reading that aloud to himself. I wondered if he was just guessing, so I got some new “I Can Read” type books out of the library a couple weeks ago, and he just sat down and read them to me, sounding out unfamiliar words. As I type, he’s reading Hansel and Gretel aloud to himself.
We’ve tried to create an atmosphere that encourages reading by surrounding the kids with quality books, limiting TV, reading aloud until hoarse, and letting Tommy start phonics when he expressed interest instead of holding him back until kindergarten. But of course, none of those things can guarantee that a child will want to learn how to read; in Tommy’s case, I think something just clicked for him this month. It’s fun to have another real reader in the house!
How awesome!!!! I look forward to this day in our home!
Like father like son! Derek was reading by age 4!! It is a fun time!! Good for Tommy!!
Awesome job, Tommy! How exciting to have a little reader…I bet this next year is going to be FULL of fun reading for you guys. 🙂