In Which Dyslexia Has, Ironically, Made My Son More "Well-Read"

If you're old enough to remember when Alanis Morissette's song "Isn't It Ironic" was a hit, you  may also remember that the large majority of things referenced in the song are not, in fact, ironic but merely unfortunate. The definition of the word irony is frequently stretched in popular culture, and I can't say with absolute certainty that what I'm posting about is true irony or just a somewhat unexpected turn of events, but I decided that, if a hit singer/songwriter can misuse the word with impunity, I can take the risk :).

I was blessed to have a wonderful model in a mother who read to us frequently, well past the age when many parents stop reading to their children. In fact, in the case of my younger brother, who has no official diagnosis but fits all the criteria for dyslexia, she read nearly all his school material out loud to him all the way through 8th grade. I'm not sure whether he switched over on his own in high or she decreed it, since I wasn't living at home during his high school years. Even my typical older brother and I benefited from many years of listening to great books. This includes a readaloud of The Swiss Family Robinson, which I speculate she may have edited, because I discovered upon reading it as an adult that it is in the running for most boring book in the history of boring books.

When it became clear that it would be a long time before Squirrelboy was reading independently, I doubled down on my commitment to read aloud to him. I read him most of the Magic Treehouse books that were out at that point (seriously, how does Mary Pope Osborne keep cranking those things out?), and I have to confess I actually enjoyed them. I read him quite a few other silly, easy series books that his peers were reading. However, I also read him books that a child of his age who was only reading on his own would be unlikely to encounter. When Tonight on the Titanic led Squirrelboy into a Titanic obsession, for instance, we read our way through most of the Titanic books in our library's collection, including a few from the adult section.

Squirrelboy also discovered the pleasure of listening to audiobooks. He started devouring the Percy Jackson series via audiobook the summer after 3rd grade, and also listened to the follow up Heroes of  Olympus series, though, to my chagrin, he never really got into the books about Egyptian or Norse myths.

I had the opportunity to fully indulge in my readaloud obsession during the three years I was homeschooling Squirrelboy. In November of his 6th grade year we put our regular history curriculum aside and spent a month doing a unit study on the Pilgrims (whom we learned, as an aside, did not actually call themselves that). If he had been a typical kid who was reading well by second grade and had gotten used to doing most reading independently, I might have stuck with the curriculum, had him read a chapter book about Squanto, read aloud a few picture books, and called it good. However, because I had accustomed him to hearing books officially "above his level," I was able to add in a lot of nonfiction that gave a more balanced and nuanced view of the Plymouth colony and the Native Americans with whom they forged a tentative and, ultimately, temporary peace.

Most recently, Squirrelboy has been listening his way through most of the work of Agatha Christie via the Libby app on his phone. I went through a brief Agatha Christie phase in high school, but I only made my way through about half a dozen of her books before I turned away to other interests. I also continue to read aloud to him when we can fit it into our busy schedule, occasionally something for school but most often something for pleasure. Just last night I introduced him to one of my favorite, and, sadly, little known, books: L.M. Montgomery's The Blue Castle, my copy of which is pictured below in all of the glory of the early 1990's editions of the author's work.

Not very many teenage boys would be interested in a love story taking place in early 20th century Canada, but, because I have conditioned Squirrelboy to enjoy good books of all kinds, he's eating it up.

Of course, all of this is possible if your kid isn't dyslexic. However, I can testify from my experience so far with Kittygirl that it's more difficult. Because she reads well, she's more likely to want to read on her own in the evening than to have me read to her. She does love listening to audiobooks in the care, however (we just finished the Harry Potter series, which we started over the summer), so all hope is not lost.