Reading with Max

Our kids read. They read a lot. Every night Tom reads the boys stores, and has done so since they were born. Max actually got stores in-utero as well. Max is now going into Third grade and reads everything he can get his hands on - the morning paper, the Sunday ads, magazines lying around (he seems to avoid my scrapbooking magazines though), and books. At one conference in First Grade the teacher mentioned that Max reads so fast that he was missing a lot of the story, and his reading comprehension was quite low for the amount that he was reading. So, we told him to slow down, and we started asking him questions about what he was reading. He hasn't looked back since.

Several weeks ago Max asked if he could go see the Prince Caspian move in the theater. After a bit of research I said "Sure, after you read the book, and after you see the first movie." You see, he had already finished the first book, and had started on the second - Prince Caspian. But I realized that it has been a bajllon years since I read those books (he was reading my old copy) and I had no idea what the story lines were or who the heck Prince Caspian was in the first place. So, in a moment of pure insanity I said to Max "I'll read it behind you and we can talk about our books together." He was so excited.

The problem is - I have barely enough time to read the morning paper let alone several books. So, I threw the second book in my purse and went about my business. What I've discovered is that I wait around a lot. I wait at the doctor's office, I wait at the gym. I wait for the kids to finish up this activity or that, and I have tons of time to read. So now I am about halfway through Prince Caspian. As soon as I finish it Max and I will head off to the movies to watch the movie (after we rent the first one, of course). Who knew that plugging into his reading effort would be so rewarding to me. Watch out Harry Potter - I think you are next. But we're going to need to find some paperback versions as I don't think you'll fit in my purse quite as easily...