I can’t believe it. 1 month of Montessori school and Little Mister is reading! (That sounds a little like bragging. Sorry.) I am amazed at how different pace at which children choose to learn. Mini Mister has been interested in letters and the sounds they make before he spoke sentences. On the other hand my daughter who could care less about the ABC’s is almost 4 years old and just recited an entire book to me last night. And I am astounded at how flexible and porous the five year old mind truly is. When I taught literacy skills to inner-city adults, one of my students, who was in his 50s, took 9 months to master what Mini Mister did in 1 month.

So in this vein, we’ve started a new family tradition. Reading. I realize so many parents say, yeah, yeah. We’ve heard the experts say reading to your child 20 minutes a day is best. And we used to try to fit that in when we could. But the growth we’ve seen in our children from their school projects and just that little bit extra at home is outstanding, and it has upped our momentum for more.

We read as a family at night just after prayer and before bed. In Mama and Daddy’s bedroom. All five of us. The kids get to pick 1 or 2 books each and the parents get to pick one as well. Pie Pie joins us too. Sometimes Mini Mister will read. Sometimes Little Miss will recite. And sometimes the parent will just read.

I am looking forward to making reading more fun with some of the tidbits I am learning in the on-line course I’m taking presently called Playful Learning Spaces by Mariah Bruehl. Creating a fun, cozy, safe place to read is one of my goals. Supplying interesting and varied reading opportunities is another goal of mine. And encouraging the kids to use what they’ve read in their everyday life is yet another goal.

I’ve always read for pleasure, what ever genre was my interest at the time. I love biographies, crafting, cook books that give you a little portal into different cultures and cuisines, books about homesteading, and stories about being a Korean-American. I’ve always kept these little written treasures to myself. Now I hope to share my love of reading and inspire an interest in the written word in my children. It is my hope that reading will open the door to so much more learning than I am able to give them in this lifetime.