Wednesday 27 January 2010

Reading to herself

Imogen has always loved books, she was introduced to them from a very early age as we read to her and showed her the pictures. We got a library card from a young age too and are regular visitors to two local libraries and go to a couple of larger ones in nearby towns when visiting.

Auntie (and Daddy) reading to Imogen
aged about 4 months


She learnt her letters and numbers a long long time ago, and has been interested in words and how they look and sound for a long time too, picking up some in books and on signs and car names too! She always loves to look at leaflets or books on days out too. Writing is something she has also done for a long time, she can write her letters really well - occasionally backwards but hey she's 4.

"reading" the Tollymore Forest leaflet
after a long day walking

"reading" the Restormel Castle
guide book on holiday


Then one day just after Christmas she talked about learning to read for herself so we went with her desire to have a go and picked up a couple of early reading books from the library. We picked up "There was a crooked man" and "Chicken Licken" and she was able to read the words really well from the first time of looking at them, only occasionally seeking some help on sounds of words. This was obviously just the right time for her learning and you really can't miss the cues, can you?
concentrating on reading
(excuse messy hair - literally just out of bed!)

Happy smiles -
pleased with herself for reading

We've borrowed a few more since and then I picked up a great set of books from the charity shop for £2, and she is just loving reading them. Almost every day without fail, it is the first thing she wants to do on waking up. She gets so excited about her success, and is really pleased with herself - it's a joy to watch.

Children are just fascinating when learning, leave them to learn at their own pace and they know when they are ready to try something new.

There will be a follow up post to this as to what happened on Saturday whilst Mommy was on the phone to Nanny and Grandad. Another fascinating development, she amazes me some days.

2 comments:

  1. Fascinating is the best word to describe their learning process!! I always knew this journey would be wonderful--but even I had no clue it was going to be this fascinating! They never fail to amaze me!

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  2. Wow she is an early learner - like you say when a child shows a spark for something it is best to roll with it as that is when you will get the best outcomes. Loving her name too - I have a child with the same name - great choice :-)

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