I am pulling books off the shelves in preparation of Jesse's school year. I wish I had kept a more detailed list of which books were read by which children. Books I read aloud to sons #1-2 were sometimes forgotten about for sons #3-4. I had assumed they were listening when I read aloud!
And maybe they were, but comprehension for The Last of the Mohicans probably wasn't real strong when they were 4 and 2 years.
So now I have this HUGE pile of classics that need to be read by Jesse in the next couple of years. And alas, he is a slooooowwwww reader.
Not only is he a slow reader, but the size of the font in the book is terribly important to him. Jesse is mildly dyslexic- very functional- would never have known this was the problem except that if affected his love to read. If his eyes start to water then the text is too small. Too much strain. They tear up. Even within one or two sentences. Large print is too big and his little man ego would probably prevent him from reading something in the large print edition. Hmmph. Men.
Spacing between lines is also another issue I have to deal with. There needs to be some spacing between the lines.
So even the books I have on the shelf, and oh boy, do I have books- these aren't going to work for him. I considered the Kindle so that he could adjust the size of the font. He is really not too keen on the idea and I am not sure I want to share. I love my Kindle. I won't share it with anybody. And I am never more than 10 feet from mine. So this is an issue.
I had bought a new The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis last year and the sizing and spacing will be perfect. So that will go to the front of the reading list. My Side of the Mountain is also adequate. The Yearling, however, is not.
Robinson Crusoe is not.
The Deerslayer is not.
The House of Seven Gables is not.
I have to go book shopping. I can't even shop on my beloved Amazon because I need to see the books and decide if they will work for him. Jesse will need to go with me and test out a few sentences. I could go by myself. I know what will work. But I want to train him to make these decisions for himself in a book store.
Dyslexics who are understanding how their eye-to-brain function works have to learn how to learn. And that includes understanding how they are designed. Just different. Acknowledging design is liberating for us. A little more costly for me, but I would much rather have two copies of these books on the shelf and them both read by all the sons than one copy and one not able to read it.
This is why I need more bookshelves!
