The Reading Record
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This is Simon's weekly Reading Record from last week.
Most weeks it's missing a few days. Most weeks the minutes read is somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes with a bunch of stopping to look at the clock and ask how much more time? Most weeks it's a challenge to get him to do his daily reading. Most weeks I have to decide if it's the battle I want to fight that night.
I want him to want to do it and I don't want it to be a battle. I want him to love it in that "this can change your world buddy" kind of way.
Last week the Edwards' household did some major celebrating as Simon finally found a book he wanted to devour.
It came in his Easter basket and it was very unassuming at first.
He actually got a bunch of books in his basket (including The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, The Boxcar Children, and The Wizard of Oz). This particular one happened to come in a bucket via a special Easter scavenger hunt set up by our Katie (babysitter/nanny/caregiver - I never know what to call her but man do we love her so maybe I'll just call her "our Katie").
It's a chapter book based on a movie he likes and already knows the story called How To Train Your Dragon: The Chapter Book. Familiar things are a "happy place" for Simon - stories, foods, places, events, etc. He started reading and he didn't want to stop. He was excited. The looks on his face as the words connected with the movie in his head were so awesome. Glee. Joy. Excitement. Happiness.
One night he read for two hours straight and another night for an entire hour.
Tonight we're currently searching high and low for this book. It's gotten misplaced in the upstairs/downstairs shuffle of clothes, books, toys, etc. He's almost done - maybe just a couple pages left.
Here's to hoping he'll connect with another book he wants to devour very soon.
Go Simon go.
UPDATE |He found the book (it was on the bench near the front door). He finished it tonight and came in and told me "I finished the book. And the last word was sunshine."
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108 comments
Go Simon!!!!!
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Your update to the post made me tear up! Thanks for sharing these special moments with us.
Maybe some day Simon will read one of my childhoods favourite book: Michael Endes "The Neverending Story". Or any other book... So lovely Simon likes reading!
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'The last word was sunshine"! Oh my, I have tears in my eyes!!! That was unexpected. So true how reading makes impacts in ways we never plan.
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How exciting! What a wonderful post. I hope Simon continues to find the joy in reading.
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One of the best series that LOCKS kids in is the Magic Tree House Series. There are over 30 books in the series and it has been a lifesaver to many of my students that need to be hooked-My daughter is in the 4th Grade and this is the first year she has enjoyed reading...I was so stressed about it, but it just clicked. Congrats Simon!!
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Wonderful! So glad Simon found a book to devour and I hope he finds many more. As for what to call Katie -- I like "our Katie". My daughter was given a teddy bear by her much loved babysitter from when she was Anna's age and we all still call it" My Katie's Teddy". My daughter always called Katie -- "MY KATIE!"
~Beth
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ahhh it makes me want to cry. My son who is now 8 loves to read and can struggle with getting started on a book, but once he does he doesn't want to put it down! So exciting to watch it grow. My daughter who is 5 is just learning and I can't wait for her to fall in love with reading.
P.S. My son loved the Treehouse series, he is now just getting into the Goosebump books...
GOOD LUCK!
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My Logan is at about this stage too. He just finished his first chapter book in school, and he loves books, but reading is an uphill battle for him. We tried "Dragon", but not with as much success as you had. Still working on finding that right one. Congrats on finding it for Simon! There's a whole series of those too, yay!
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Love: "the last word was sunshine." love, love it.
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I was going to leave that exact same comment...love that life sometimes packagages these little memorable moments in the most unexpexted places.
Simon - I am so happy you really liked that book. I hope there were others in your Easter basket that you enjoy just as much. Thanks for sharing your reading record. IT'S AWESOME!
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Allie - so awesome for you and for Simon. My son devours books. He gets so caught up in them that he can't hardly concentrate on other things so sometimes we have to limit his time with a book, but my daughter doesn't seem to be as interested in them. She is doing it her own time. As many of the different movies, etc. Simon enjoys are parts of a series he may ultimately get into the series types of books. These are what have truly done it for our son. He has read all 15 of the Wizard of Oz books and loves each one of them. If Simon likes one and it is part of a series, I would definitely grab the next one and see if he goes for it. Knowing the characters, etc. fuels my son. He rereads some of the books over and over again. There are a lot of the series, both old and new that you can get for the Kindle or on an iPod with the Kindle app. We use this method for probably half of the books our son reads now. Congratulations!
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Great story!
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Awesome! There's an entire series of these books. My kids (elementary and middle school) adore them.
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I've found a lot of good suggestions for reluctant readers in How to Get Your Child to Love Reading by Esme Raji Codell. It's a great book and has many wonderful suggestions. She also has a blog where she reviews books.
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I actually teared up when I read the last line of your post..."the last word was sunshine". What a great thing it is when things in our lives end in sunshine! What a great thing for Simon to remember! What a great thing for you to share his attention to this little (HUGE!) detail! Thanks Ali!
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My 8yo DD has loved HTTYD for about a year now. It also inspired her to read. The power of finding a topic that interests a child who isn't interested in reading is AMAZING. (And just so you know: WalMart has exclusive rights to all HTTYD toys/merchandise so you won't find it at ToysRUs, etc.).
CONGRATULATIONS!!! :-D
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That's so awesome! I know reading was a bear for me until I was in Middle School and now it's rare when I don't have a book in my purse and two or three on my nightstand so you really never know!
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I love the sunshine quote! I'll second what someone else recommended--the 39 Clues series by Rick Riordan and a series of authors. The first book is Maze of Bones. My 7 and 9 year olds love them. They have hidden clues to decipher and history is woven into the plot.
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That is so cool. Has he read the Harry Potter books? I know he has seen the movies so maybe the connections will be the same? Esp. with the first three - the movies follow the books so closely.
And Boxcar Children - LOVE those.
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Way to go Simon! I am a school librarian and I see my share of reluctant readers. Simon might like the "Dragon Slayers' Academy " series by Kate McMullan. Very popular at my school.
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I hope he'll find many more books he'll like this much, because it's the best feeling in the world to escape into the magical worlds that can be found inside of books!
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