Supriya is Reading!

We were in Orlando over Thanksgiving for a mini-reunion of Manisha's IIT batchmates. We also did several visits to the theme parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and Sea World). Supriya was in heaven - she got to hang out with the kids of our friends; She had 3 sleeovers and she also went to EPCOT Center with them.

There was another unexpected side-effect. Kailas, who is 11, was reading his Calvin and Hobbes collection, and that turned Supriya on to reading the series! It turned out that we had a copy of the same book at home. She had a good time reading about Spaceman Spiff and the evil Mom Lady. Supriya was developmentally ready to read, and now that there was a context to reading, she just took off. It was just like the Chinese proverb: "When the pupil is ready the teacher appears."

In the last 6 weeks or so Supriya has zoomed ahead. First she finished Calvin and Hobbes. Then we bought her a collection of Peanuts, which she enjoyed very much as well and ate it up. She had been a fan of Captain Underpants books. She read them all by herself this time. Now she is attempting to read chapter-books.

Manisha and I were just amazed at the speed at which this "phase transition" happened. It reinforced something which we already knew - learning is nonlinear and unpredictable. An alternate path was available to us all this time - keep forcing Supriya to read by drilling her & making her do worksheets etc. We chose to let her learn to read at her own speed. Now that she can, she owns that skill and she enjoys reading. There is a big lesson in there.