Fun with Dick and Jane

I was raised in a family of readers. I would read anything and everything. My kids still laugh at me when I tell them I would even read Children's encyclopedias because I loved to read. I think it is very important to be able to read and read well. I have been spending a lot of time with a couple of my grands and have had concerns about their reading skills.
    The older of the two (10) has been shuffled to many different schools and missed the essentials of reading. I knew he could do it because he is a very smart boy. He just didn't know how. I would sit  down and read with him and he would go slow and stumble over the words and point to each word he read. He was so slow and unable to finish a book so would loose interest. I decided to try something with him. I first of all told him he was not to use his finger any more.  I then told him I would read a page and he could read one. So off we went. I would read fast and with expression. He would  read his slower and more careful. Soon he was starting to skim over the words and gaining a lot of confidence. Several times he would start to point to the words again so I started holding his hand while we read. It didn't take him long. He was so excited to show everyone how fast he could read. He just finished a book in about a week. It is not a hard book but he FINISHED IT. He then asked me if I would get him more books. Yesterday we went and picked some out together. He then threw his arms around me and said "Thank you for buying me some books Granny." This morning he read out loud to me and he is fast  and proud as a peacock with himself.
  The other grand (6) is just learning to read but not interested. I had no idea how to interest him. I was thinking about it one day and thought maybe he needed a book that he can "finish" and read on his own. A few years ago out of nostalgia I bought a couple of books. Stories about Dick and Jane. Now some of us of a certain generation are very familiar with Dick, Jane, Baby Sally, Puff and Spot.  I thought "why not?"  I took out my two books that contain many short stories in the Dick and Jane series.  He just loves them.  Every day he wants to read to me. He can read most of the words on his own. Sometimes he likes to have a little help but gets pretty concerned if he can't have the time to figure them out on his own. He is about half done with the first book having read 75 pages. He told me this morning he "gets to read the purple one next."  He is getting it. I think by the time the school year is over he will be reading well too.  We have had help with their reading fundamentals. They both get help at school. The little one's teacher even spends time with him in the morning before school reading.   I have shared this with you to lead into something that we each need to realize.
   If you are reading my blog you are concerned about your own health journey. I have many people ask me, "What did you do?" "What should I do?" I want to say that you each need to keep trying and trying new different approaches to find your success. These boy's each needed to have small steps of success to see the big picture. They needed to be given some of the tools that would make it easier for them. They needed to find a hunger for what they were learning. They needed to have self pride that they are "doing it." They needed others to help them with some of the hard parts.  I can share with you, give you hope, encouragement, high-fives, hugs, and "great job." You have given me hope, encouragement, high-fives, hugs, and "great job." That is what keeps me going strong. After all ,"We all need a little help from our friends."