Reading

I am often struck by how quickly Alex's reading is progressing. Actually, I am usually surprised by the breadth of his knowledge, often wondering how the heck he came across certain things. Well, today I figured it out. He reads way more than I thought he did. I have stocked up our home library with a lot of nonfiction books. Subjects on everything from nocturnal animals, medieval knights to the solar system and famous architects. Turns out Alex is reading these...all the time. He gets frustrated with long books. He can read early chapter books, like the Magic Tree House Series, very easily but he doesn't want to. He prefers to hear them read aloud. Also, since he got started on comic books, has has a hard time stopping himself from skipping pages and jumping all over the place.

This explains another aspect of how and why Alex jumped to the reading level he is currently at. I tend to buy these nonfiction books around the 3rd through 5th grade reading levels. These books have been popping up all over the house and it seems to solve the mystery of how Alex started reading at a 4th grade level so quickly. All of the unofficial testing I have done with him all points to a serious grasp of language at just those grades. Turns out that stack of books on his bed wasn't just there to make a ramp for his hotwheels cars.

As happy as I am seeing him progress so well on his own, I have to say I am even more thrilled with the independence that comes with it. It makes my life a heck of a lot easier.