Shane is beginning to read!!!

Shane is quite good with his letters and can sound out words with my help, but today he did it all by himself and quickly. He said he wanted to watch Olivia earlier in the day, but it was not on. So he spent 2 hours doing his "homework", which is just a Kindergarten workbook. Then he told me he wanted to watch tv, so I thought he earned it. I was switching through the guide on tv when Olivia popped up. I did not even notice until Shane shouted, "Look Mom Olivia is on now". Mind you, there was no picture, just the word Olivia. Shocked I said, "How did you know it says Olivia?" His response, "Ahh, Mom it has O - L - I, you know O-l-i (sounding it out) via. See Olivia." I about fell out of the chair. I would say it is just a sight word, but come on, Olivia is not your normal sight word. My boy is learning to read, I am so proud. The whole Olivia thing was weird since we have only ever watched the show once before. I am assuming they must read the book at school because I have only read the book to them once as well.

On a side note, I once read that children love to hear them being praised indirectly, like overhearing you brag about them to someone else. So I try to do this often with Brian or the grandparents. Tonight when Brian came home, I told him about Shane reading while Shane was sitting on a chair nearby. I saw Shane turn and overhear me and then smile very proud. It really is effective.