A Hope of Reading

 My oldest little boy is five and a half. He can read words at a second grade level, but he has a habit that interrupts his fluency. When reading, he will often say, "What's this?" before reading the word. I find it quite cute, but I wonder how long the habit will last. 

My little girl is four months from her fourth birthday. She wants to read, but lacks concentration for any serious lessons. She will often answer my son's "What's this?" with a word she thinks should go next. Then, in a condescending childish way, say, "I told you that you need practice to read." 

My little five year old will read to my little three year old and my little nearly two year old whenever they ask. If he truly doesn't know how to read a word, he will ask me how to say it. 

Sometimes I get nervous about teaching my other two children how to read - do I really have the talent to teach children to read? I taught at least three of my younger siblings how to read. Yet, I still wonder. I think it is the possibility that they will not enjoy reading that actually bothers me. 

I can teach my children how to decode. I can even teach them how to comprehend. We read to our children daily, and many times a day. But, what will happen if they grow up not loving the process of reading? 

I remember when I first encountered someone who truly did not enjoy reading. I was surprised. With such a text-rich environment, one must read often. Yet, this is not the same as enjoying the process of reading. Then, I pondered, what would I even do with my life if I did not enjoy reading? 

My nephew, who is a year old, has a congenital heart defect that caused him to have an emergency surgery about a year ago. Something that my family chuckled at was while his mom was quickly packing things they would need to be confined to a hospital for several weeks, his dad gathered something like 14 books to bring with him. Both his parents are avid readers, but they did not get through all 14 books while he was hospitalized. 

I hope my nephew, and my children, enjoy the process of reading. I hope all my nieces and nephews love reading. I hope they are like my husband and me and my brother-in-law and sister. I hope they have well-loved books in every corner of the house. I hope that as they get older, they ask for more books. I hope they find the enjoyment of learning.