And, today for the first time, we took turns reading!
Alexander has become more confident in his reading ability and is now willing to tackle books above his reading level. This is a wonderful change from a few months ago where reading books out loud could quickly deteriorate from great fun to big frustration in a single sentence. I used to organize books according to reading level and directed his progression through him. Now when faced with a book-any book-he just plows ahead and tries to figure out all the words that come his way. He even tackled a few pages of a chapter book I was reading to him the other night. I love to see him exhilarated by a challenge rather than overwhelmed by one. It is amazing what a little self-efficacy can do! And, my goodness, it is SO fun to have him be such an active part of reading together.
Avery has also started reading. She can sound out *very* simple 3 letter words and has memorized a few common sight words (the, and). The looks of "wow!" on her face when she realizes that the sounds she is saying turn into a real word ("cah! ah! tah! (repeat 10 or so times) ...... CAT!") is priceless and her thrill in seeing a word she knows is so exciting to see ("that says and!"). I feel so privileged and so lucky to see them making these discoveries about their world. It is truly one of the best parts about being a stay at home mom for me.