Raising Readers
Just prior to the latest lock-down we visited the local library and borrowed more books. Mr8 decided he didn't want anything, so I picked some for him which he refused to read. However many weeks on it is now, I have finally managed to get him to read most of them. Apparently most are merely "ok", but he did get enthusiastic about "Have Sword, Will Travel", so we've ordered the sequel for him. [1]
We have also supplemented his considerable personal library with some other online orders, but he devours them whole, re-reads a few times if they're good, and then complains he has nothing to read again.
A while back he discovered my old Garfield comic books, and happily worked his way through those about a dozen times. More recently he found Peanuts in the online book site his school uses for readers, and has apparently read all of those. He wanted more comics, preferably real books.
So I scoured our home library for some of the "Dead Tree" versions of online comics I bought back in the day. We started with Off The Mark, the cat ones went down well but those that required genre knowledge didn't work for him. Kevin and Kell was received better than expected and he wants more.
He was happily surprised when I mentioned it was still going, because that meant the author is still alive. Apparently he under the impression that authors of all the good books are dead. In some cases that might be for the best, but I shall have to introduce him to a few people when local conventions are a thing again.
He bounced off Dork Tower, but Order of the Stick is now a favourite (which he understands through his knowledge of computer games). We're already looking at buying more of those, having been reminded it exists and not really being up to reading through the online archives.
My remaining titles probably need him to be a bit older (Schlock Mercenary, Sluggy Freelance, Knights of the Dinner Table, User Friendly, a couple of old Dilbert). He seems less interested in Dad's superhero comics.
David proposes to give him the AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide next, on the grounds that at 400 pages even he should take a while to get through it, he'll like the stats, it will teach him maths and interesting new words, and tie in with his current interest in making his own fight-based card games.
(Tonight he introduced me to his latest, a sort of simplified Munchkin which involved fighting Greeks. Probably because I've also introduced the kids to Hercules and Xena episodes. Mr8 has a slight preference for Hercules because Xena is a bit too angry. Ms5 likes Xena better because she is a girl).
Meanwhile, Ms5 has got over her early anxieties at the start of the year and is now approaching her readers with confidence and enjoyment.
She was assessed for her reading and sight words yesterday, and today saw her get a bunch of new, higher-level books in her online reader app which she immediately had to take a look at.
Sometimes, she tells me, she stays in bed reading her books in the mornings before breakfast. Sometimes just looking at the pictures, but increasingly she will make an attempt at the words if she thinks she is unobserved. I'm sure it won't be long until I'm searching for suitable new challenges for her as well.
At the library she is still at the stage of being able to amass a large pile of books in space of 2 minutes, in a manner that appears random but she assures me it is not. We're just waiting now for restrictions to ease enough for us to go back again.
She is also writing her own books prolifically. Last week her class were asked to bring their favourite book to their online class chat. She decided to bring one she had just finished writing, and being a very decisive person she was not prepared to consider any other books. Fortunately her teacher is amazing and always manages to be super supportive of whatever her prep students find important. This volume was inspired by Ms5s recent safety studies and so included fairly random sentences involving 000, alongside her usual sentences on the nature of love.
[1] We're saving money on a lot of things while stuck at home, but seem to be spending those savings on books and puzzles.
We have also supplemented his considerable personal library with some other online orders, but he devours them whole, re-reads a few times if they're good, and then complains he has nothing to read again.
A while back he discovered my old Garfield comic books, and happily worked his way through those about a dozen times. More recently he found Peanuts in the online book site his school uses for readers, and has apparently read all of those. He wanted more comics, preferably real books.
So I scoured our home library for some of the "Dead Tree" versions of online comics I bought back in the day. We started with Off The Mark, the cat ones went down well but those that required genre knowledge didn't work for him. Kevin and Kell was received better than expected and he wants more.
He was happily surprised when I mentioned it was still going, because that meant the author is still alive. Apparently he under the impression that authors of all the good books are dead. In some cases that might be for the best, but I shall have to introduce him to a few people when local conventions are a thing again.
He bounced off Dork Tower, but Order of the Stick is now a favourite (which he understands through his knowledge of computer games). We're already looking at buying more of those, having been reminded it exists and not really being up to reading through the online archives.
My remaining titles probably need him to be a bit older (Schlock Mercenary, Sluggy Freelance, Knights of the Dinner Table, User Friendly, a couple of old Dilbert). He seems less interested in Dad's superhero comics.
David proposes to give him the AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide next, on the grounds that at 400 pages even he should take a while to get through it, he'll like the stats, it will teach him maths and interesting new words, and tie in with his current interest in making his own fight-based card games.
(Tonight he introduced me to his latest, a sort of simplified Munchkin which involved fighting Greeks. Probably because I've also introduced the kids to Hercules and Xena episodes. Mr8 has a slight preference for Hercules because Xena is a bit too angry. Ms5 likes Xena better because she is a girl).
Meanwhile, Ms5 has got over her early anxieties at the start of the year and is now approaching her readers with confidence and enjoyment.
She was assessed for her reading and sight words yesterday, and today saw her get a bunch of new, higher-level books in her online reader app which she immediately had to take a look at.
Sometimes, she tells me, she stays in bed reading her books in the mornings before breakfast. Sometimes just looking at the pictures, but increasingly she will make an attempt at the words if she thinks she is unobserved. I'm sure it won't be long until I'm searching for suitable new challenges for her as well.
At the library she is still at the stage of being able to amass a large pile of books in space of 2 minutes, in a manner that appears random but she assures me it is not. We're just waiting now for restrictions to ease enough for us to go back again.
She is also writing her own books prolifically. Last week her class were asked to bring their favourite book to their online class chat. She decided to bring one she had just finished writing, and being a very decisive person she was not prepared to consider any other books. Fortunately her teacher is amazing and always manages to be super supportive of whatever her prep students find important. This volume was inspired by Ms5s recent safety studies and so included fairly random sentences involving 000, alongside her usual sentences on the nature of love.
[1] We're saving money on a lot of things while stuck at home, but seem to be spending those savings on books and puzzles.