Learning to Read

Few things have been more fun for me than teaching my boys to read. I don't mean fun as in relaxing, challenge-free, the highlight of everyone's day. I mean the kind of fun that comes from seeing their eyes open to the words around them.

I love the random questions like, "Mom, what is Con Agra?" from the boy reading the ketchup bottle.

I love it when they realize that public places are full of written words and they start to decode their world.

It's alarming when they come in to ask you a question and you realize they are reading your personal e-mail over your shoulder.

Yesterday, Elijah was checking Brian's texts.

The boys have learned to read quite differently. Joseph was always very serious and threw himself completely into it. He was all or nothing. Total focus and intensity. Still is. Elijah tends to stand on his head, roll off the couch, stare at the ceiling, moan dramatically in despair, or just turn into a complete goofball. He wants to get it over with, so he reads as fast as possible with as little effort as possible. Often, the results are less than accurate.

Here is an example of what he read aloud to me yesterday:

"We have them to rent as we stagger in love at the pastor."

Confused? Here's the real sentence:

"We have time to rest as we stand in line at the plane."

Here is a sample dialogue with him from reading time:

E: Hell ran to the dog.

Me: Honey, do you really think your book says the word hell?

E: Oh, yeah. Ummm....He ran to the bog.

Me: Elijah, you just read that word. Was it bog the first time around?

E: Oh, yeah. He ran to the dog. The dog bikudoed.

Me: Does bikudoed sound like a real word to you?

E: Oh. The dog barked. Then the puh-hah rang.

Me: Do you remember the sound p and h make when they are together?

E: (no reply, he is upside-down)

Me: Elijah? (still no reply) Try the f sound. Ffffff.

E: Ffffffff.

Me: O.

E: O.

Me: OK, so what does the n say?

E: Oh! Phone! Then the phone rang.

It was at this point yesterday that I realized his eyes had been shut and he wasn't even looking at the book. He was just waiting for me to hand him the word. Smart kid.

And so on....