Reading Rainbow

Getting the girls ready for school in the mornings has historically been a challenge. If our morning routine had a theme song it would probably be "Flight of the Bumblebee". In fact, there have been moments that I could swear I have heard the song playing in the background as we hustle through breakfast, teeth brushing, getting dressed, hair, packing up and racing to the car.

Just as we got a great routine going and I was no longer raising my voice and clapping my hands (shameful, I know) a new element was introduced into our arsenal of distractions: chapter books.

Rewind a minute: September-ish of 2010, Logan started reading. She was 4 and a half. First it was limited to the 3 and 4 letter words I would write down for her. Then I heard about BOB books so we test drove those and OH. MY. She took to those like a pig to mud. Here is her first attempt at a BOB book:

Confession: I have not been a stellar model when it comes to reading for pleasure. I haven't considered myself a "reader" for easily over 10 years, if not more. I used to love reading. I devoured books. I was one of 2 kids who could read entering kindergarten. I was a reader all the way through middle school (V.C. Andrews books being a favorite) but somewhere between middle and high school my fire went out. I have no idea why.

In spite of my poor example, Logan has become a reader. Her Kindergarten conference was eye opening. Her teacher (who I deem The Kinder Whisperer and a bit of a teacher 'Messiah') gave her a solid report which I was thrilled to hear. Her one concern was that Logan wouldn't be challenged enough by the reading they were doing in class. She looked me right in the eye and all but made me 'pinky swear' that I would provide Logan with challenging reading material at home and to really make this a part of our every day lives.

When Mrs. Schuldheisz tells me to do something, I do it. She mentioned the "Junie B. Jones" series by Barbara Park so I got right on Amazon and ordered one for Logan for Christmas. When she opened it I told her it was her very first chapter book and that Mrs. Schuldheisz recommended it for her (instant street cred). She didn't pick it up right away so I read her the first chapter out loud. After that it was GAME ON.

Once she started reading Junie B she couldn't put it down. We read that first one together with me reading some and her reading some but she finished her first chapter book, all by herself on February 2 - a Junie B. that she checked out from the school library She returned it back to the school library that next Wednesday and brought home a new Junie B. She started reading that book at 3:30 and by 5:00, with several interruptions, had finished that one! She returned that one the next day but didn't get library time for another week so we had to go to the Mid Columbia Library to get MORE books. I am having to really push her to read books other than Junie B so she checked out 4 and I checked out a Clementine book by Pennypacker per the first grade teacher, Mrs. Stiles' recommendation.

Since Thursday, Feb 9, Logan has finished another Junie B, a Cam Jansen chapterbook, and has started on Clementine... which is proving to be much more of a challenge than the others... and she has only been at home, awake, for a total of 9 hours! She can be found with her nose in a book nearly every spare moment she has. Yesterday morning, I got out of the shower and found her in the hall outside my bathroom door using the bathroom light to read at 6:30a.m.

Logan is participating in a reading challenge for kids K-8 called the Countdown Club. If she reads for 10 hours during the month of February she will earn a free pass to Silverwood Theme Park. As of the time of this post, Logan has tallied 8 hours and it's not even the middle of February yet!

I think a big part of what sparked this new found obsession was our new bed time routine. I hadn't been consistent with our 20 minutes a day even though I am fully aware of how crucial that is for my kids' development as readers and thinkers. After the visit with Mrs. Schuldheisz (and after the 4+ weeks of kids being sick) we instituted a new bed time ritual. Here's how it goes:

• 6:30p - both girls go in for pjams, teeth brushed, potty, drink, snuggle buddies


• 6:45p - free reading time = reader's choice. Must be done while in bed.


• 7:00p - Mom comes in and reads until 7:15-ish


• 7:15ishp - lights out

This has guaranteed the girls both a minimum of 30 minutes of reading per day between their personal reading and hearing me read (which I believe is one of the biggest links to literacy later in life). It also provides a 'winding down' time for them. They must be laying down under covers while I read to them which has been most helpful at getting them settled and sleepy.

Even Ellis (who was resistant to even learning her letters and their sounds) is now fake reading much more frequently and actually sitting still to listen to me read.

I encouraged Logan to try some of the Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew books but she did the proverbial 'Judge a book by it's cover' and opted out of those. I think that will be my next bed time read to them after we finish Clementine. It would tickle my toes to see her reading the big kid Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys mysteries some day. For now, I will just let her live vicariously through Junie B's naughtiness and enjoy every minute she has a book in her hand. She has reminded me how much freedom reading provides and has inspired me to try to rekindle (no pun intended) my love affair with literacy that fizzled so many years ago. Step one: The Help. I bought it :)