Haken is Reading

Haken flipping through the scriptures at 19 months

Haken has always loved books. From the time that he was about 18 months old I would find him flipping through each individual page of some of the biggest books we have in our house. He was always respectful and I never worried about him ripping them or throwing them all over the house. I couldn't wait until he could actually read what was inside those books as he was turning the pages. 

Haken at 3 reading a book in our closet.

Well, in the past 2 months it has actually happened! This year we put Haken into preschool. His teacher Carolyn Francom has been so great with him! I knew it was only a matter of time before he started to read, but I couldn't believe it when he started bringing home a bag full of flashcards and books only 3 months into the school year. He reads by sight and memorizes the words as well as using the phonics he already knows. He has always been so interested in letters and over the summer was obsessed with typing up books onto the computer (although he didn't even know what he was typing). I think he was really excited when it all started to click.

I haven't counted how many words he knows but it has to be close to 30 or 40, plus all of the ones he can easily sound out on his own. I love to see him get excited when he gets a word right. This last week he came home with sentence flashcards where his teacher put the words he knows into sentences. He goes through them like nothing and comes home everyday with new words or books for us to work on. As a family we have also been including him more in our scripture reading. We each read a scripture a night, with the exception of Jack, of course. We have done this before, but usually Haken just copies us as we say the words. In the past few weeks he has actually been READING the words on his own. He has learned so many new words! I guess I never noticed how often the scriptures repeat phrases like "and it came to pass." There are so many little words that he has learned just from reading one verse a night.   

He is definitely further than I was at his age. Our friends at church who watch him write his letters during sacrament meeting think he is some kind of a super genius for his age. I think I have to agree! It just seems so easy for him. I hope that his love for books and learning will keep increasing as he gets older. He has so much potential!