Thursday, March 2, 2017

A Heart for Reading...

If you are a reader of this blog, then there is pretty good chance you know how I feel about reading. Reading is a huge part of my life. I read every single day and the books I fall into inspire me in so many ways. I probably buy more books than I do clothes- and for me, that's a lot! I never leave the house without a book. A few Sundays ago, Micah laughed because as we were all loading up to head to church, and I grabbed my book. I told him that I might decide to read a few pages on the way. The worst feeling is being somewhere and not having a book when you have a chance to read... so they always come with me.

Now that I am a mom, I pass my love of reading onto the boys every chance I get. At bedtime, we read.... lots and lots and lots of books. I love going to the shelf and deciding what we will read each night. I usually have them read at least one book to me, but I almost always do the majority of the reading.

So, you can image how I felt when Remi started 1st grade and I found out he was struggling in reading. I was completely unprepared. Of all things he could struggle with, my heart was sad that it was the one thing I do with him every single day. But, I had to get over it. It was what it was and we had work to do.

I bought flashcards, I bought reading blocks, I borrowed leveled readers from teachers and we read and we read and we read- and this momma prayed. Remi had already noticed that he was a lower reader than most of his classmates and it bothered him. I prayed that he would be like the Little Engine That Could and that he would just keep soaking up what his teacher put in front of him.

He does morning tutoring 3 times a week and gets pulled out of class to have more individualized help each day. We have had all hands of board to get him where he needs to be.

And you know what? A couple of weeks ago, I got some school test results back and that little boy not only made major improvements from his beginning of the year scores, but had the highest possible results in almost every single category. His words per minute reading is only about half of what it should be, but I can work with that!

But for me, the best thing that has come of all this, is his love for books. Not necessarily his love for reading, but his love for listening to the stories that I read to him. Last week, he pulled out a Magic Treehouse book and asked if I would read him a chapter every night. Most nights we read two or three because one chapter is just never quite enough. I love looking up at him as I read and see the words I say come to life in his imagination.... his little mind in a faraway place, his eyes staring out into space, falling into the depths of the book... and I think, we did it!! We finally climbed the mountain- together!!

So you better believe when he asked me for the set of Magic Treehouse books, I got on Amazon and bought that boy the whole set!

2 comments:

Cindy Rector said...

Way to go, Remi!!! Reading was never my favorite subject in school and the truth be told....I didn't develop a "like" for reading until we lived in Thailand and there was nothing on TV.
I'm proud that you didn't stick your head in the sand and say "oh well". Sounds like you do have all hands on deck and it's working. I'm not a teacher, but I believe with all my heart that this age is where the foundation is laid and it's got to be strong for these kids to keep building and survive!
I hope y'all enjoy the new Magic Treehouse books! Happy Reading!!
Love you all!

Unknown said...

Yay Remi!!! This makes my heart happy!!!