A long long time ago, in a land not too far away, Daddy-O once told his oldest daughter (and probably his youngest too) that if she learned to read she could simply pick up a book and go anywhere she could dream of and be anything she could think of. It was one of those parenting revelations that really stuck. Flash forward thirty some odd years and I found myself recounting verbatim those words of wisdom to my very own strong willed, determined and bright little boy.
Since school started, we’ve moved from Bob Books to Amelia Bedelia’s (Ah…some of my favorites back in the day. I still keep my Peggy Parish signed hard back book high on a shelf in the baby’s room.) He can sound out nearly anything and seems to take pleasure in reading everything from a pretty scientific book all about bats (who knew they pollinate flowers?!?) to the fronts of our one bazillion Pokemon cards to all sorts of street signs and billboards around town. Beginning back in September, Mrs. B asked her class to read and log one book in his reading folder each school night. About a week in, the PCP asked if we thought he could read one hundred books before Kindergarten was over. We replied that it would take a lot of hard work but that if he stuck with it there would be a big reward at the end. To visually track his tremendous trek, we added a link to a paper chain every time he mastered a book.
And last week he met his goal – ONE HUNDRED BOOKS!
We couldn’t be prouder of him. WAY TO GO JOHN!!
Stay tuned for the big book reading celebration…
xoxo
Wonderful! Congratulations to him for reading 100 books in such a short time and to you for encouraging him! You've made literacy fun for him, and that's a huge gift.
Liz
Congrats John! And such a cute idea to do the links…you think of everything! Regarding the Fels Naptha soap, I got mine at the supermarket. Have a nice weekend!
-Shelley
Congratulations to that sweet little man….and congratulations to YOU for encouraging the love of reading in him at such a young age. xo Diana
Great idea, and such a beautiful look of pride in Johns eyes! Way to go you two!! Lori
Your dad's revelation is one of the best advice a parent can give.
Like that second picture…. a real milestone and look at that smile.
That's a gift that will last a lifetime! Great job.
What a great idea, I'm going to do this with my son when he progresses from throwing books to actually reading them :-) xxx
First of all, I LOVE that you're instilling in him a love of reading. I think that's so important for kids. Secondly what a fantastic visual way to keep track of it. He did such a super good jov!
COngratulations! This is amazing :)