Have you read Cushla and her Books? It is about a disabled child who was read to by her parents and overcame some significant limitations through her relationship with books. The author’s depiction of Cushla’s response to different books at different developmental levels is perceptive and thought-provoking. (I think it was her grandmother, a reading specialist, who wrote the book). There is an interesting article here by Jim Trelease with this Plato quotation, which doesn’t have much to do with what I’m writing about, but I like it and want to remember it!
“Avoid compulsion and let early education be a matter of amusement. Young children learn by games; compulsory education cannot remain in the soul.”
I’ve always kept on and off records of what my kids are reading and their reaction to it. It gives insight into what interests them. But now I’m experimenting with keeping a particular journal for Paddy’s reading.
Right now I am listing the date, the stories I read him, and what times of the day we read. My hope is to have this journal eventually branch out a bit into notes on his reactions to the books and eventually, into narrations. But right now, I want to keep it small and simple, until it’s an established habit. Things go so much better when I let them grow naturally!
Before I started keeping this Paddy-journal, I was writing down his books along with Aidan’s in my spiral notebook. But Aidan has a different reading pattern than Paddy. He reads and rereads a few favorites, memorizing them and carrying them around like his favorite toys, and so Paddy’s list was starting to dwarf his and also the older kids’ (since they read chapter books, sometimes a couple a day, but never TEN in a day). Having a separate log for his reading is working really nicely right now. We will see where it goes.
