Thank you, Dick and Jane

In teaching both Strider and now Rayna to read, I have to say I'm starting to really love Dick and Jane. With both kids, they reached a point where they could almost read, but we did a lot of this:

Me: What's this word? Sound it out.

Rayna: lllll--ooooooo----kkkkkk..... Luke!

Me: Well, actually, it's "Look."

Rayna: Oh! Look. Ok.

[And about 1 line later...]

Me: What's this word? You just saw it. You don't remember? Sound it out.

Rayna: lllll--ooooooo----kkkkkk..... Luke!

Me: No.... remember -- it's "Look." We just did this word.

Rayna: Oh! Look. Ok.

[This scene repeats about 16 times until I am so insane I start babbling senselessly.]

And both Rayna and I end up hating our reading sessions.

I kept trying to find books that would keep her interest, and inspire her to read a little faster, but to no avail. We've tried reading some of the more modern "early reader" books -- books about Dora, Biscuit, etc., But she didn't like any of them.

Then I remembered "Fun With Us." This was a Dick and Jane book that was the first book I ever learned to read -- and my mom kept it for all my siblings to learn on also. Then, when Strider was struggling to learn to read, we got it -- and he sat right down and read it! It was his first official book.

So I thought of that recently and found a more sturdy version at the library. (Our paperback copy has lost it's cover, gotten pretty dogeared and is pretty close to falling apart after all the triumphant readers using it!)

And she sat down and read it! After a couple pages, she turned to me and said, "Look how fast I'm reading!" And she was.

There's just something about Dick and Jane, and their towheaded sister Sally, that provides this wonderful breakthrough. Even though the plot lines and dialogue leave much to be desired, this series is rapidly becoming my favorite one of all time. :)