Well, friends, it has happened! Patrick can read. Yup, he can read. He read to me last night!
Ok, not really read, but he wanted to read to me last night. Now that I'm thinking about it, he read to Shannon last week. I guess my job as a reading teacher/mother is complete! Just kidding...It was interesting when Patrick picked up a book yesterday and said, "I read to you, Mommy." And, I let him. It was a book all about farm animals. I meant to steal it out of his room to take a picture to put up here because I love the book, but I forgot. I will post it later. So, his reading consisted of pointing to pictures and asking me questions like - What color is the duck? What does the duck say? Where is the tractor going? His reading was asking me questions, just like when I read him the same exact book I ask him similar questions.
Nationwide schools are trying to bolster their nonfiction libraries. Boys tend to love nonfiction, and there is rarely enough in the classrooms. I have found even at age 2 Patrick prefers nonfiction books about animals, farms, towns etc. He likes to learn and these books create experiences for him. `
Shannon also likes nonfiction books - while she can not communicate as efficiently as Patrick yet, she can point to animals. In fact, in the doctor's office today we were reading a book about sea creatures together. Shannon was pointing to animals, I was naming the animal (dolphin, fish), and Patrick was giving a description (This one is blue, look at the water, I see 2 fisheees, Wow look at this) Shannon is making so much progress just by focusing on a page longer, or pointing to a picture. Nonfiction books are great for 1 year olds because there are many different pictures on a page, which allows her to point to plenty of objects and learn about them.
Your challenge - Read some nonfiction with your child today. Notice the drastic differences between a fiction and nonfiction story. Point out the differences to your child, and ask questions as you read. Then, let your child "read" to you!
This is so cute! I agree that those non-fiction are such big hits, at least with my little boy! He loves to learn all about the different kinds of fire trucks, parts of the body, fruits, things at the beach, etc. . . it was a few months ago that he blew my mind though. We had read countless amounts of those non-fictions (so many that I often forget what is in some of them). Dominick had eaten pineapple many times, but it was always small sweet yellow chunks of fruit. I had bought an actual pineapple and left it on the counter, and when he woke up from his nap he said "mommy, Pineapple!!!" and pointed to it! I couldnt even figure out how he equated those little yellow chunks to this thing, but alas, he learned it from my books. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteMelissa - this is a great story! I am shocked every day by little things that Patrick picks up from books, conversation, and television shows. Thanks for replying!
ReplyDelete