Twin M has been making some leaps in his reading ability and he's decided to start sharing those leaps a bit by reading books aloud. We've tried to encourage his reading and sharing, so when he said he wanted a reading party, we agreed. So we invited some of their friends over.
We weren't really sure what to expect from a reading party (I've never been to one). Some reading happened, including the picture above, and then things shifted a bit to a more traditional five year old party. We played and laughed, ate pizza, and had cupcakes with frightening blue frosting with sprinkles. It ended with a good run through the sprinkler.
All three boys love reading more than I did at their age. My mother said how much she wished she could have read more to me, but I wouldn't sit still. I hope the boys maintain their love of reading and I plan to do what I can to encourage it.
Here's a little research on the benefits of reading to small children.
Here are some resources from the University of Michigan about reading. But really, as I suspect you all know, simply reading to children is the key.
As the boys learn to read, I realized that I will be able to do less and less of it. I can see their independence growing daily and I suspect that will happen with reading as well. And I hope my love of reading to the boys will grow into of love of reading with the boys, sitting around the breakfast table reading the paper as I did with my parents. Or simply sitting in the living room or on the back deck sharing funny passages from books or graphic novels or magazines.
