chloe is seven and growing up in ways that constantly amaze me. sometimes i look at my children and am forced to recognize that they are no longer toddlers or even preschoolers... they are becoming, well,... people. part of letting children become people, i'm learning, is allowing them to make choices while still, very subtly, guiding those choices. sure, dictating their every move is still possible, but i don't think that is the wisest option in the long run.
recently, i spoke with chloe about choosing some good books to read. she was not making inappropriate choices, but i felt that she wasn't really choosing anything. being an avid and very good reader at such a young age has its challenges, believe it or not. the books that are written for K-2 are typically easy readers. since she had read those in preK, finding something that was challenging and yet age-appropriate has not been easy. i don't feel the need to completely censor everything, but i also don't want my 7 year old daughter only reading books about teenage girls and dating. we'll have enough of that. some day.
so, i decided to try a different approach. patrick and chuck have enjoyed reading the same books and then discussing them for some time. (patrick, of course, is another story. presently that boy is reading his second book by Tolkien. he's a machine.) doing this allows chuck a good starting point for discussion with patrick, as well as allowing him a window into what he's reading. so, in similar fashion, i told chloe that if she would read the Little House books, i'd read them with her. she gladly accepted the challenge and has enjoyed trying to stay ahead of me and talking about the parts that have caught her attention. interestingly enough, i never read these books as a child, so now i get to enjoy them as well. her added bonus is that we are also renting the tv series from the library, one disc at a time. the kids are all loving them. and, truly, it's nice to be able to return to something that is just a bit simpler... and safer.
We're still reading the Wonder Pets books.
ReplyDeleteProbably not appropriate, but Laura can't read yet - we read my Entertainment Weekly with me on Fridays. She likes to flip through the pages. Each first paragraph of each article starts with one big letter. She likes picking out the big letters and identifying some of them. Plus, there are countdowns and numbers throughout for her to identify. It's neat to see her recognize letters and numbers.
Can't wait until she's old enough to read some of the classics I've put aside for her to read or for us to read together. I bought Charlotte's Web and The Trumpet of the Swan for her when she was 6 months old. Not to mention the Anne of Green Gables series (my friend bought her the movie last Christmas, too).
i'm waiting for when chloe and lucy will read all of my l.m.montgomery. soon, i hope!
ReplyDeleteI started reading the Little House books. I got distracted with Lucy somewhere in all that. I was fascinated reading them. I would stop and tell Dave how they built a house in a couple of days--cutting down their own trees and everything. It was crazy! I think I was reading Farmer Boy the last time I picked one up. I may need to revisit them!
ReplyDeletethat's crazy - i was just telling chuck the other day about how he built that house!
ReplyDeletethose books are GREAT! Have you ever read the Elsie Dinsmore series? Those are great, too - I still enjoy them, lol. And, the Mandie series? She's a "detective." Those are my recommendations. Not that you asked ;)
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