keeping up with Chloe

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.