he's got the bug...

...the reading bug that is.

It has been a long time coming, so long in fact that I never thought it would happen.

B2 has been able to read quite well for some time, but he never seemed to actually want to read, and whenever I tried to make him he would complain of headaches and the print going small.

So about eighteen months ago I took him to see a behavioural optometrist.

Now he has worn glasses for a strabismus since he was two, but the optometrist actually said that the strabismus is not muscular but is from the nerves in his eyes.

She also diagnosed some tracking problems and while we did a program with her she also said that he would probably only ever be able to read for short periods of time.

So I have continued to encourage him to read, but would only give him short chapter books so he wasn't too overwhelmed, because it would take so long to read them.

I made up a chart with a list of books that I wanted B1 and B2 to read over the summer holidays, mainly to encourage B2 to perhaps get into some of the books that B1 and his friends are into such as Bush Boys, Redwall, Ranger's Apprentice, and the Narnia Books, so I wrote down the first one in each series hoping to pique his interest.

Well after he finished the Hardy Boys books he got for Christmas, he decided to read the First Ranger's Apprentice book Ruins of Gorlan.

Well he couldn't put it down, we even found him during B5's birthday party on my bed reading!

After his camping trip he quickly finished the first, second and is now onto the third book in the series.

Well I think the summer reading list just flew out the window, but I don't care he is reading for pleasure at last and loving it.

And it seems his other problems have disappeared he can now read for long periods without headaches etc.