My first son showed up reading. Okay, fine, that’s a slight exaggeration, but as a parent I did what most of us do: I read to my baby and I read to my toddler. Until, suddenly, one day he began reading to me. The little guy went straight to chapter books, no sounding out or struggling with that tricky silent “e”.
My second boy picked up reading quickly, too. He didn’t fly into chapter books, but the idea that letters fit together to form words, and sentences, and stories clicked early. He got it down and he was off. A to Z Mysteries, look out!
And then my third little guy came along. I read to my baby and I read to my toddler. But a curious thing happened. He didn’t read back. I didn’t worry because I knew the other boys had just been naturally early readers. I wasn’t Teaching With Phonics or anything. They were just wired that way.
When my third son turned 5, we sent him to the “Spanish School.” We have an immersion program here that’s fantastic. We were amazed at how quickly he picked up a second language. And–lo–he began to read in spanish. Now, if you’re at all familiar with that language, you probably know that it’s extremely phonetic. “I” always sounds like “ee”–they just don’t have all of the if, ands, or buts that we have in english. What that means for beginning readers is that it’s easier because the letters always make the same sound.
When New Year’s rolled around that year, our son surprised us with his resolution: “I want to learn to read in english.” It nearly broke my heart. As we went up and down the grocery aisles and he tried to pronounce the words, he finally turned to me and said, “But mom, how do you know when it’s a silent ‘E’?” Ayyy, I don’t know, I never had to do this before!
So what did I do? I asked for help. Having never “taught” reading before, I spoke with my older sons’ first grade teacher (at the regular, english-teaching, non-immersion school). She smiled and suggested books with lots of repetition. I’m pretty sure she was thinking, “Welcome to the real world, sweetheart.” We tried these books, with some luck, but it still didn’t quite click. He would sound out a word, seem to get it, and three pages later struggle over the very same word. Plus, have you read those books? Talk about dumbing things down…
Finally at the little library where we spend our summers, I stumbled across an old copy of Dick and Jane. We tried it. Progress. He seemed to be retaining the words from page to page. They had a few others in the series, so we checked those out, too. And yes! He got it! Whatever the formula is in those books, it worked for my boy. He was finally able to put the pieces together. The books continue to use the same words that were previously introduced, as they add new vocabulary. Are the stories fascinating? Not so much. But the older boys did get a good chuckle out of the title.
And my little guy? Reading in english and spanish now, just fine.
Thanks, Dick. And Jane.
