Interview with my son about reading

Today I am sharing an interview I did with my oldest son TJ.  He was telling us all about his thoughts on reading, so I asked he would mind sharing that with you all.

So TJ the other night you were talking about reading with Daddy and I was just wondering, what did you used to think about reading?

I personally love reading because I can read at a lot of different places and times. I can read in the car and at bed time.  A couple of days ago I even read to myself in the doctor’s office.  When I first was being taught to read I thought there was probably not much point to this, I thought they are only trying to teach me.  But now I really like it, because I can read in most places and most times.  It is fun! And I also love reading to my two younger brothers.

Like I said when I first stared reading I thought people had to read because they need to read and understand things.  It was just something grown-up did. But now I understand why, because I’m actually reading quite a few books and it is really fun. I can figure things out by myself without having to ask an adult all the time.

What I’d like to know is how do you feel you learned to read?

Well I actually sort of taught myself.  With Mommy and Daddy’s help they kind of taught me the words and I remembered them.  Over time I’ve become a better reader. It actually wasn’t that hard.  Also I find I’ve been reading quite quickly.  I remember a few years ago I was reading books that only had one sentence per page, and now I’m reading books that have chapters in them.  So I find that it isn’t that hard once you learn to read.

What advice do you have for parents that might have a kid that hasn’t quite learned to read, or gets frustrated when they are trying to read.  What would you tell parents?

Well you see if they are having problems, or don’t like to read, or they feel like they are being pushed hard, I started off with these really easy books called “Biscuit” books, that only have one or two sentences per page.  I tried to read them and Mommy and Daddy showed me the words (told him what they said or helped him sound out the words) and I kind of caught on and have been memorizing the word and what they mean.  Like one time I was reading a book that had the word ALL in it.  I said “Mommy what is this word?” And she told me.  So the next time I saw that word I said, “Hey doesn’t that spell ALL?”, because I remembered what I had learned.  So that is kind of my way of looking at things.

How to help start encouraging reading is in a small way, like not too dramatic. I saw a word and memorized it! I started small and now I’m reading books with chapters in them. Actually a few different books and now that I know the words it is really fun.  They are also books about things that I am interested in.

So basically TJ you’re telling us to relax, let a kids start reading when they are interested, and just help them along and they will catch up.  We don’t need to worry but know that they will catch on in their own time?

Yes I agree totally to that.

What advice would you have for a kid, maybe your brother or one of your friends, who wants to start reading? What would be your encouragement or suggestions for them?

If I had some advice I would say that mommy and daddy were teaching me words so the next time I saw the word in the book I remembered that I had just seen that word.  So over time I got practicing words they taught me. I just started memorizing the words and now I can read! It’s really not that hard to read once you know some of the words then you can start to read books.

My next question is the way you learned to read, naturally on your own and just asking for help when you need it, have you taken this and used it to learn other subjects like math, or writing or other topics you are interested in?

Well I’ve actually taken the very same way that I learned to read into my writing.  I’ve been memorizing words, not as many as with my reading since the words are already written out, but I know lots of words.  They aren’t long words, but I could fill a whole page of a notebook with all the words I know how to write. I found that it was quite the same as with reading (he asks us how to write a word when he needs help).

Any final thoughts?

Well like I said before, I like that I can read now in many different places.  It’s fun on long car rides when I’ve played all my games and stuff.  Also I enjoy reading different stuff, I’ve read fiction, non-fiction, I’m also good at reading my bible.  I’m excited that I figured out how to read!

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