our little bookworm.

And when I say bookworm, let me explain what I mean. Silas reads (yes, reads) books for several hours every day. With all of his challenges in other areas, reading is something he is especially good at and extremely interested in. It is wonderful to see him gain mastery over something that will serve him well throughout his life. 

Silas has always been interested in letters. Even before he could talk very well, he could identify most letters of the alphabet. When he was two and we lived in our little Louisville apartment, his favorite game was to go out in the parking lot and point at all the letters on the license plate for me to identify. He knew all the sounds by three, and at four he was finally understanding how to string sounds together to make words. This is not something I slaved over with him for hours and hours, it just happened naturally. Some boys like Superman or baseball or dinosaurs or trucks. Our kid likes letters.

Once things clicked for him, it didn't take long for Silas's reading level to increase to the point where he can read any book on the kids' shelf. When it became clear he was ready, I made one trip to the library for easy reader books (Level 1 or lower), and he cut his teeth on those. After that, he wanted to read every book...and just started tackling them one by one on his own. He can remember phonics patterns without having ever been formally taught. He only needs to read a word a few times before he will remember it forever. His ability to recognize sight words is exceptional. If I'm in the room, he often asks me about words he doesn't recognize. If I'm not there, he sounds them out the best he can and waits for the next time I can sit down and read a book to him to figure it out.

A few weeks ago, Silas stopped reading aloud. He no longer needs to. He can read silently to himself. I checked him with comprehension questions, because I couldn't believe it at first.

I'm not even sure what books to give my child, because his ability to read is far more advanced than his ability to grasp abstract concepts. Any suggestions would be welcome. :)