Worked Like a Charm

Noah is a good little reader, but if given the choice to do nothing or read, he'll probably pick nothing.  He just isn't excited about reading and I know that is pretty normal for most boys.  The only reason it's a little concerning is because MUCH of the curriculum we will be using next year is real heavy on the reading ... together, me reading aloud, him reading, reading, reading.  Given the book choices that are involved in the coming year, my hope is that he will enjoy it more than he expects to, but I wanted to get a head start on his reading so I made a plan to get started with my student. :}

Know what DOES motivate my boy?  Video games.  Over the summer he gets to play an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon and it's all he can do to wait out the purgatory between those two sessions.  But I decided this week to make that afternoon hour contingent upon the number of minutes he spends reading and on how well he treats his sister all day. :}

So over the past two days, we have set down together and read through The Bears on Hemlock Mountain, which I found recommended on a blog I follow.  I read the long pages and he read the shorter pages. By the end of the book he was enjoying the story, just like I hoped he would.  And, bonus, Anna was sitting along with us and was all about it.  We had such good conversations and the kids had some good connections to make to the story as well as some good questions for us to google. And I made sure to brag on Noah for finishing a chapter book in only two days.  (He doesn't have to know that it was a really easy, really short one.)

The reason I say all this is because I am pleased to report that the time spent reading worked like a charm to build his interest and motivation to read more.  So much so, that by the time I came downstairs this morning, I found the kids had turned the TV off and Noah was finishing reading aloud the entire first chapter of the next chapter book he picked out, Stone Fox, to Anna while she colored on the floor in front of him.

He did that!  All on his own initiative! Proud moment for this momma.  Here's hoping the reading trend continues...