Elijah and Reading

Elijah has never enjoyed reading. I thought he was a struggling reader forever. Finally Dr. Bryan at the College, who is over the Literacy Clinic told me Elijah CAN read, he just don't WANT to.
I'd thought I'd never see him reading for pleasure.

Over the past few months he has been researching stuff online and reading about it. Mostly about animals he would like to own or sometimes something he saw on TV and wants to know more about it. I've been happy to see him doing that.

Just this month I made him a calendar reading chart. I told him each night if he reads a book or some of a book if it's a chapter book he can put a sticker on the chart. At the end of the month we will see how much he read and decide on a prize. It'll probably be something Lego. So far he has made 11 out of 14 days!

A while back Elijah bought a book, with his own money because I wouldn't buy it, A Practical Guide to Dragons. He said he read it, but I wasn't sure if he REALLY read it. I never looked at the book. I'm not into dragons and don't care to know anything about dragons.


The other night while in Books A Million Elijah found another dragon book he wanted. I looked at the book, pages and pages of sentences, 146 pages to be exact, very few pictures. I said "Elijah, you won't read this." He assured me he would read it. I went a head and bought the book because it was only $2.97, but I had my doubts about him reading it.

Once in the van he got his book out of the bag. A few minutes later I noticed he was using the light from his cell phone to read. I motioned for Dakota to look, we were both shocked. We made our way over to the grocery store and Elijah didn't want to get out because "I just got to a good part!" My heart was smiling so big! Elijah was finally reading for pleasure. For the record I did make him get out and go in with us.

Here is a snippet I found online about the book Elijah is reading.
Seventeen short selections that will appeal to lovers of dragons, fantasy, and folktales. A broad range of writing styles and plot twists are pulled together to provide readers with something fresh in each tale. Excerpts from classic novels such as J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, C.S. Lewis's Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and short stories such as Kenneth Grahame's "The Reluctant Dragon" are included. In addition, there are folktales from China, Italy, and Germany. Most of the heroes are men, but occasionally children are the only ones who can outsmart the dragon. In "Li Chi Slays the Serpent," it is a young girl who conquers the beast. Hague's beautiful full-page watercolors reflect the different moods of the stories and the temperaments of the dragons depicted. A pen-and-ink drawing of a dragon announces each new selection; delicately detailed line drawings appear throughout. The combination of well-selected stories and excerpts and dramatic artwork make The Book of Dragons a fine addition to library collections.?


Elijah also has this Dragonology book that he enjoys pouring over.

Like I said, I'm not into dragons, don't even care to read about dragons, but sometimes we do stuff for our kids even though we don't enjoy it. Elijah has a high interest in them right now so I'm creating a lapbook for him about dragons. I hope to get it done so he can make his lapbook next week. Stay tuned for lapbook pictures.