Learning to Read

My son decided to learn how to read over the weekend.  This was incredibly exciting news to me since, as you might have guessed, I love to read!  I have to explain a little about how my son operates.

He's a very cautious learner.  He tends to assume he can't do something until he's convinced he can do it well.  The most notable example of this was when he was learning to walk.  He was sure that he couldn't do it, even when he was, and as a result wouldn't let go of my finger while walking for at least two months beyond the point he could have been doing it on his own.  Even though my finger was offering him nothing more than moral support.

Likewise with reading.  He's been playing spelling games with me for months, spelling out words as a game we play in the car.  However, looking at those same letters on a page meant nothing to him because he was convinced he couldn't read.

This weekend, however, he decided he wanted to learn, so I gave him an old Dick and Jane reader I had.  Since Sunday, he has read halfway through this collection of stories, almost entirely without help.  He just decided he could, and therefore he can.  Despite the fact that these traditional readers don't pussy-foot about with phonics, or starting with 2-3 letter words, or leaving out all but the most basic punctuation.

I am most impressed with his progress.  More importantly, I am impressed with the traditional readers we grew up with, versus the crappy way that kids are being taught to read now.  Sometime soon I'll have to bore you with my theory of why one method is better than the other.  I bet you can't wait for that!