I am thankful that my children
grew up to be readers.
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| Wally in his younger days reading a book from the library. |
Some people like to read and some people do not. There are many reasons for this difference, but I'm glad I have a family who enjoys it. Ward and I both enjoy reading, and Ward comes from a family that especially likes to read. The kind of reading that leaves no book unopened, the kind of reading that makes them miss planes, and the kind of reading that had Ward reading every book in his school library. I am thankful that my children have inherited this love of reading. It will serve them well for the rest of their lives.
I'm sure you know that this is a subject close to my heart! My husband and I both are readers--he is more the "science journal" type while I love historical fiction and good-quality children's literature. I think you tend to pass on your loves to your kids, so it's not surprising to me that your boys both love to read (or that mine do, too!). Since education is so much about reading skills, it really makes it easier for me to parent my kids through the educational process with their strong reading skills ... but that's not necessarily why I encouraged it so much with them. I wanted them to love reading for the sake of reading. It gives me a great sense of pleasure to have them regularly discuss what they are reading and what they think about it.
ReplyDeleteI realize that we were lucky that my kids didn't have any learning disabilities as far as reading was concerned so it was easy to pass on our love of reading. When Theo was little he was a very busy boy. The only time he was still is when I was reading to him, so he got read to a lot. Later, when he could read for himself, he used reading to calm himself. Reading served him (and me) in a lot of different ways.
DeleteI agree. My nephew had a visual perceptual disability and reading was a struggle for him when he was young. His parents were able to get the right kind of help for him and it made a huge difference. He is now an elementary school teacher and I think his disability has helped make him more sensitive to learning struggles the students have.
DeleteBoth of my kids use reading as a self-soothing method. It's also a way for them to connect with each other. My son introduced my daughter to a book series last summer and it became a focal point for their play together. My daughter's teacher has been having her class read the abridged version of classics such as Alice in Wonderland, which in turn has encouraged my son to read the original version of these books. They have conversations about the books they have in common.
I'm reading a non-fiction book, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy right now. It's about four women during the Civil War who served on different sides of the conflict in different ways. True stories, all of them. The author is Karen Abbott and it's interesting reading.
I'm reading "I'll Shall Be Near to You" by Erin Lindsay McCabe. It as a novel about a woman who signed up, disguised as a man, to be a soldier during the civil war. While not a true story, it is a compilation of many women who did the same thing. You might want to read it after you finish the book you're on now if you want more on the subject.
DeleteI already read it and I loved it--which is why I checked out the Karen Abbott book. :)
DeleteCongratulations on raising readers! All my sons are huge readers, but so are my husband and I. Nothing is better than passing around the same book, having everyone read it and then having dinner table discussions!
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't happen so much any more, but it used to fun when everyone in Ward's family was reading the same series and they would talk about it during family gatherings.
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