Bedtime Learning

The other day, I went upstairs to take Little Bro to bed.  I laid down with him with his new book from school.  He had just completed their phonics series, and was given his first beginning reader to take home from the Scholastic Reader series.  It was quite a jump from the short, simple books he had been reading.  I opened it up and asked if he wanted to read to me.  He said he was tired and the book was long, and asked if I could read it to him.  I said, "Sure."  These are the situations where I don't like to push too hard.  I want reading to be fun - not stressful.

As I started to read, I could hear Dad downstairs talking to Big Bro.  Dad had added a new fish to one of his many aquariums that day, and was talking with our son about it.  Big Bro takes an interest in Dad's fish, and likes to help out when he can.  Dad's an environmental scientist and knows a whole lot about water chemistry, biology and such.  He has lots to share with our kids, but is great at assessing their level of interest and not going overboard.  I was pleased to hear them engaged downstairs, and didn't mind that Big Bro was staying up a little later to share this moment with Dad.

As I read the first few pages of Little Bro's book, he told me more about the story and the pictures, laughing at the racing animals.  After a few pages, he said, "I got this, Mom," and took over.  He read a few pages, got tired and asked me to read again, then jumped back in after a few more pages.  We finished the book, then he quickly dozed off.