Kara tries to read with the children every day. She gets help from all of us in meeting this goal. Matt enjoys reading chapter books to Bentley. Kara favors board books especially those by Sandra Boynton. In the past month I've added two dragon books, a castle book, and two animal books to my collection of board books for the grandchildren. Bentley really likes the touch and feel dragon book and he has already learned all the names of the animals in "Panda Bear, Panda Bear What Do You See?". Grandma Vicki recently sent the little ones some really cool books she found for them on her vacation in Maine.
Reading to Bentley has always been easy. Even when he was just an infant, he loved to read books with us. He likes short books, long books, little books, big books, picture books, chapter books--any and all books! If you ask him if he wants to read, he will bring you six or ten or twenty or more books. And, if you've the stamina, he will sit next to you or on your lap while you read every last one of them with him. I shudder when he brings me Dr. Seuss's "The Cat In the Hat". That book is way too long. I cheat and skip pages when reading it to him.
The twins are not easy to read to. It's hard to keep them interested for more than a few minutes. They try to wrestle the book away from you or they turn the pages before you've finished reading the words on that page. Fortunately most board books are short on words. They chew on the books. They wander off to a new activity mid-page. Reading an entire book with them is unusual. When Bentley was their age, he didn't always finish books either, but it was a lot easier to out smart one pair of little hands than it is to out smart two pairs.
Here is Kara's latest solution to reading with the twins.
Strap them into the high chair and give them a snack during reading time. Hey, it works. They are paying attention. Kara can even finish three books in one sitting. That's amazing.
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