Gamma has been dutifully bringing me one of the BOB Books every morning as of late, to read to me. Not because I’ve asked him too, because I’d long ago written them off as uninteresting to him and resolved that there must be a better way. (My attempts to find that “better way” hadn’t been terribly successful, and as you know, I’ve since taken a more relaxed approach to the subject.) And not because he enjoys them, because he does not. But he’s suddenly decided he wants to learn how to read, and I must have at some point told him that these were books that would help teach him.
A couple months ago, I would have rejoiced at this. And I do, in part. I’m so glad he’s suddenly got this desire to read for himself. I find him flipping through books, reading cereal boxes, store ads, etc. But seeing his emotionless face as he slogs through these early readers, as if they are the dues he has to pay before he can move on to “real” books, saddens my heart.
He has a few Bionicles books, just beyond his reading level, that he’s been skimming through. I pointed out that he could just as easily hone his reading skills on books like these, as there is nothing magical in the BOB Books. He looked hopeful, and I think he’s chewing on that idea. I’m hopeful, too.
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I remember the BOB books for Favorite Daughter, when I was going through the process you’re going through now. They didn’t hurt anything, and they might have even helped for all I know. Along with dozens of other influences.
Maybe next time he brings them to you you can laugh over them (with him) and then get the idea to see if some word from BOB is anywhere in a Bionicle book? And then look with him — or if he’s the type for a friendly competition, maybe you can each take a Bioncle book and have a race to find it somewhere? (and/or some other games that aren’t “reading instruction” and that you can really play without worrying whether it is “working” to teach the specified skill)
It’s always reassuring to me to hear the “been there, done that” stories from people who have come out the other end successfully!
I don’t mean it to sound like that all the time, honest. I am so empathetic and your posts really take me back. These are happy, amazing times for growth and I guess it’s no wonder there are some growing pains. For us it wasn’t reading but getting out of diapers, if you ever have a problem with that you’ll have to look elsewhere for ideas, we were miserable failures for years! In fact, you could argue that part of the reason for not sending them to preschool and school was that they couldn’t get in until they were reliably dry and clean — and they weren’t, sigh.
I didn’t mean that in a negative way — truly, I find it encouraging to hear! I wish your blog dated back to the early years — it would be a great source of insight and inspiration! (here I go, using those double hyphens again!)
As for diapers, it was a cinch with Gamma. At about two and a half, he decided one night to use the potty, and that was that. I’m hoping Epsilon does the same!
LOL, yep, that’s pretty much how reading seemed to us. The potty project was the opposite, more like OMG, how will they get drive and married in diapers??
I bought Bob books on the recommendation of another homeschooler who said the books give beginning readers a sense of accomplishment that other books may not. When I received the books by mail I thought I had made a mistake, but my daughter loved them. Go figure. Maybe there *is* something magical about them!
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