Day 276

2/16/23

Reading with our first graders today was such an amazing experience! We had a real variety of reading levels, but all seemed to love the experience!

One little girl was very hesitant to approach our big golden boy. I always assure the readers that he is gentle, but they need not pet or even get close. As soon as the reader sits down, Ranger finds a way to snuggle up to their feet and turns on the charm. They may start reading to me, but they end up with a furry audience of one! I have yet to meet the child who doesn't fall in love with him by the time the story is over.

These young readers range from fluent readers to hesitantly emerging into the printed word. We celebrate everyone at the level they are currently at. From technical books on scientific findings to folk tales utilizing basic sight words and rhymes, the reader is engaged and one can almost see the wheels turn!

I often ask our guests how they learned to read and the responses are mostly nebulous in nature. It is not easy for young readers to grasp how the words gradually had meaning. To most...it just magically happened.

Back in the day (circa 1960's), we had sight word cards, worksheets galore and stories that were less than engaging. Yet, we learned to read in spite of "Dick and Jane." Today's early literature is full of humor, engaging information and wonderful illustrations/photos. I would have loved those types of books when I was a young reader, but my brain embraced the words and meanings in spite of the lack of entertaining offerings.

When I look back on all of the reading curriculums and experiences offered to children in the past decades, no matter what, they still learned to read. Even when the pendulum swung wildly towards comprehension or phonics, readers were born. The human brain is fascinating. It seems to hunger for knowledge and reading is an extremely motivating way to feed that need.

As a parent, teacher, professor and volunteer, my one constant belief for young readers has always been to read OFTEN with children and surround them with good books. Their brains will do the rest.

Having a Therapy Dog at your feet doesn't hurt either!