On Becoming a Reader

Matthew and Stephen worked on their letters this morning. Every day I print out worksheets for them with one letter on each, printed in a dotted font for them to trace. Today they worked on capital and lowercase U.

After they practiced their writing, we had our "reading lesson." We're up to Lesson 14 in a book called Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Siegfried Engelmann. Easy the lessons may be, but they are pretty boring, at least in the early stages. Fortunately, the twins seem to be enjoying it. They are now sounding out words like "rat" and "seed" and "me" and reading three word sentences. They are proud of themselves, and they especially enjoy having some special one-on-one time with me.

This book has received rave reviews by parents on Amazon.com and on homeschooling sites. Since the twins will not have had any preschool experience I want them to be prepared for kindergarten. If they actually learn to read before kindergarten starts, that would be great, but even if they don't, they will be starting with a pretty good grasp of letter sounds and how they are put together to make words.

Reading has always been such an important part of my life. I was blessed with a mother who read to me often when I was little. I still remember some of my favorite books from when I was the twin's age. Dorrie and the Blue Witch by Patricia Coombs was a library book that we must have checked out dozens of times. Timothy Tiger by Marjorie Barrows was another favorite. Suzie, a story about a kitten, was illustrated with photographs instead of drawings. It was one of the few childhood books of mine to survive the depredations of my younger sisters and nieces and nephews.

One day when I was five, my friend Mary Beth picked up one of my books and read it out loud. I was amazed that this girl who was only a year older than me could read, just like the grownups. After that I couldn't wait to learn to read, too.

I don't remember actually learning to read. My memories of first grade are pretty hazy, but it must have been a painless process, because very soon I started reading...and never stopped. My mother used to have to make me put my book away and go outside to play.

Books have been my friends in lonely times. They have made me laugh and made me cry. They have taught me about the natural world and about the human experience. Falling into a good book is like entering another existence. It makes me feel good to know I'm giving my sons that gift.

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