Our Family of Readers

Justin and I have always been big fans of reading.  And while I will admit that he reads WAY faster than I do, that doesn't mean he enjoys it more.  Growing up I had this big comfy chair, like the kind that would come with a living room set, in my bedroom.  I would curl up in it and read all day long on the weekends and during the summers.  I wish I had such a chair now.  Someday we will have a room devoted to books and being comfy while reading them.    Regardless, we find plenty of places to do our reading.  

My reading goals for 2012:

-Participate in From Left to Write Book Club by reading and writing a blog post on one or both books every month.  This is easier said than done.  I tend to stick with a few authors that I love and have a hard time going outside of them to find books I enjoy.  I also only tend to read fiction and this will make me read at least a few non-fiction books.  Actually the first book I am doing for the club happens to be a non-fiction book titled Quiet by Susan Cain.  It is about being an introvert in an extroverted world.  I am really enjoying it, but it is a slow read in order to actually retain what I have read.

-Read 2 other new to me Fiction books each month.

-Update my blog with every book I finish.  

Um, yeah, that's it really.  And when you add it up that comes to at least 36 books for the year.  I hope I can do it.

On to Adam.  He received two books for Christmas and blazed through both like you wouldn't believe!  It took him all of 1 hour to read a Pokemon Manga that was given to him by his Papa and Mama M.  This was in the car Christmas afternoon.  I think it's safe to say he liked it a lot.  "Santa" gave him the first title in the How to Train Your Dragon series in his stocking.  If I remember right it took him about 3 hours to finish it.  Justin decided to go ahead and have him try something a little longer and harder, Eragon.  I figured since he was getting ready to start his 3 week off-track, and therefor wouldn't have any required reading, it was a perfect time for it.  He read 2 chapters in the first night over about 25 minutes.  Success!!  He is now at page 69.  He has always had great comprehension, so no worries there.  I think he might be mispronouncing a few words/names in the book, but since I don;t know how they are supposed to be said I am just letting it go.  I'm sure Justin will catch it and correct him at some point.

What a HUGE book for such a small boy!

Noelle is just starting to learn to read.  She and I have been working on Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss.  Adam used this same book to learn on.  The bold capitalized words, repetition, and rhyming make it a perfect first book for a child learning to read phonetically.  (I am NOT a believer in starting out with sight words, then learning phonetics.)  Plus, I can reinforce what she reads by reading the simple sentences to her at this point.  She is really enjoying learning to read, but is such a busy body during the process!!  Adam started reading right about Christmas the year before he started Kindergarten, just like Noelle is now doing.  I'm excited to give her the head start that he had.  I do have to give kudos to her teacher at daycare though, he has done an amazing job of prepping her these last 6 months.

Reading Clifford with Justin.

I'm excited to keep you all updated on our reading progress throughout the year!!