Little Reader

I am just so proud of our little guy. For over a year now, he's been able to sound out words and phrases. I knew he could read, but pages with too much print were overwhelming for him, and he wouldn't try. But ever since starting kindergarten, he's been very eager to read, and his confidence in his own abilities has soared! As a result of this (and his constant talking about sight words and the songs they learn in class), Maya has also started sounding out words, attempting to spell things on her own, and pointing out sight words when she sees them. AMAZING! They are both so motivated right now. So when I (half-jokingly?) told Niko to go read a bedtime story to his sister, they were both thrilled! They ran off to the bookcase to choose a book, and chose "Danny and the Dinosaur" (the "I Can Read" version, which ends up being 64 pages long). I left them on their own for a while before heading upstairs. Honestly, I wasn't sure if he would actually be reading, or if the two of them would be giggling and joking around. But nope! He read the entire thing, and Maya listened to it all. She even helped him figure out some of the harder words (I think based on context, not because she could necessarily read them). They'd talk about the pictures and everything as they went. I recorded just a few seconds of his reading before I snuggled on the bed next to them to listen to the rest of the book... So proud of him!!! And his sister. I can't believe what big kids I have. And such sweet ones, at that! :)

(Oh, and Maya is saying "That's not a crosswalk!" because the dinosaur's long tail is resting across the road in that picture, and people are walking on it)