Real Life Reading Inquiry

For my real life reading inquiry I observed a fourth grade student that I babysit. I knew this would be a great opportunity to observe a young reader my first day on the job. When I began to babysit the mother walked me through her child's nightly routine and I was interested to hear that reading is part of her routine. Every night her child, Sarah, reads alone or to her parents for 30 minutes. Her mother used to be a teacher so we had a conversation about the importance of reading and their family is passionate about reading.

The first night I babysat I prepared for our reading session. The book Sarah was reading was one of my childhood favorites, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. When she first began to read I was confused. Sarah started to read every other word on the page and but at a very quick pace. Her brother said that Sarah struggled with reading and they both began to giggle. Sarah then said she could only read in her reading spot which was in a comfy corner of her parent's room. We both situated ourselves in her reading spot and quickly discovered why the kids were laughing.
Sarah did not struggle with reading, in fact she was an impressive reader. I thought the novel was out of her reading level but I was mistaken. Sarah started to read the novel to me better than any fourth grader I have heard. What impressed me the most was her ability to use different voices for each character without hesitation. In a span of 30 minutes we had completed 3 chapters.

After our reading session I had to step back and think about what I had observed. Sarah was an excellent reader and I began to wonder if this was because of the reading friendly environment her parents had created at home. After Sarah went to sleep I began to talk to her 8th grade brother, John, about reading. I was not surprised that he was just as passionate about reading. He begin to list all of the books he had recently read and told me books that he thought I would love. I was so impressed with Sarah and John's passion for reading.

The next week the time came for our second reading session. Before we started to read Sarah began to tell me about her new reading level assigned by her teacher. She was so proud to say she could read on a 7th grade level and could not wait to climb another level. This session was different from the previous because Sarah wanted me to alternate reading with her. She said she wanted to hear how I read so she could try to achieve her new reading goal. I enjoyed hearing Sarah read because I could tell that she put herself in the story and had formed a mind movie. I asked her about the book after we finished the novel and she vividly described the scenes, characters, and main ideas of the books. I was again impressed with how fluent Sarah was at reading and how well she comprehended the material.

The more I observed both children the more I credited their skill and passion for reading to their reading environment at home. I have two younger siblings that attend the same schools as the children I babysit and they are not nearly as passionate as Sarah and John. Sarah and John's parents created a reading corner that provide a safe and comfortable place for them to read. They also gave their children access to reading material and encouraged them to read every night. I believe that their home reading environment has given them an opportunity to excel in school and instill a love for reading.

After my experience I found an interesting article on creating a reading environment at home that I will use in the future.

http://www.rif.org/us/literacy-resources/articles/creating-a-reading-environment-at-home.htm

Questions

• Do you think that creating a friendly reading environment at home is key to a child's reading success?
• Did you have a similar reading environment at home as a child?