Developing a Reader

For the past few weeks, I have noticed that Ciara has become an avid reader.  Every night before bed she reads for over an hour on her own!  Only 6 months ago, I struggled to get Ciara to read anything.  She used to be a reluctant reader and needed constant encouragement to complete her reading assignments for school.

This change from reluctant to avid reader did not happen overnight.  Last Spring, I decided to read with  Ciara every night before bed.  We would take turns reading a couple of pages each.  This was beneficial for several reasons: Ciara and I got to spend one on one time together; we got an opportunity to discuss what was going on in the book; we were able to finish all her reading assignments; and her reading fluency increased as well.

The other challenge was to find grade level books that she wanted to read.  Fortunately, Ciara enjoyed many of the books that were recommended reading by her 5th grade teacher.  While we were homeschooling we studied a lot about Greek mythology because she was really interested in the stories about the Greek gods.  So I found a series of books called Goddess Girls and she loves them.  Today we just got book 9 and she has finished the first 10 chapters already.

Nathan has been an avid reader now for a few years and has helped get the other kids excited about reading as well.  Just recently Rylan has decided that he wants to read something other than the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid."  He read "James and the Giant Peach" at school and really enjoyed it.  Now he wants to read every Roald Dahl book he can get his hands on.  This is when I really miss having a big public library (with English books) close by.