Nick Takes the Lead at Storytime

Nick has been learning to read more and more this year. He struggles with low frustration tolerance, but just recently I've seen him reading (and even sounding out words) on his own.

Nick even brought a book into the bagel shop the other day!

Tonight he actually volunteered to read a book to Henry for storytime. Here's Nick reading. He knows the story well, but he was finger tracking, self-correcting, and really reading.  I'm so proud of him.  :)



After he read us this story (I love Mo Willems), I read him an old favorite, The Little House, by Virginia Lee Burton. Henry was pretty tired and passed out right away, but Nick stayed up reading and rereading The Little House. He read mostly from memory I stayed upstairs on the futon (reading a book myself), and every few minutes Nick would spell a word and ask for help with it from up in his bunk bed. "Mom, what word is s-t-r-o-n-g?"

I know the battle isn't over, and I'm sure there will be more battles to come whenever Nick isn't "in the mood" to read, but it was such a relief to see him reading (and enjoying) a great book of his own volition. I'm a die hard bibliophile. To be honest, I read 4-8 books a week, and more than that in the summer. While I don't need my kids to be just like me, I've worried as I watched Nick struggle with reading this last year. It felt really good to listen to Nick up in his bed, sneaking in a few extra minutes of reading. I think I'm going to go out and buy every Mo Willems book ever published.