Ella can't help but read

I was talking with Laura earlier this fall about possibly using The Writing Road to Reading because I was feeling a little discouraged about Ella's progress or lack thereof. Everyday reading was such an effort for Ella that she didn't really try when she didn't have to for school. But Laura told me that part of the effect of WRTR is that soon Ella wouldn't be able to help reading.

I was skeptical.

But, I can see now that the corner has been turned. Ella can't help reading. She got a new computer game, Barbie as the Island Princess, for Lightbulb Day, and in wandering around through it, she *just reads*. Not the long explanations, mind you, I guess they seem daunting, but everyday words and phrases and sentences that pop up now and again. They just seem to go into her head effortlessly. It's been a long time since Ella got a new game and so the difference in that is startling.

Of course, as with everything, it's impossible to tell whether this was just primarily "her time" or if this is the cause. But I'm really pleased. Thanks, Laura.

And Madison still can't help spelling, even more so in the last week. It's as though she can suddenly see the words broken apart in her head, and can relate them verbally. What was once just a picture on the page that she read effortlessly is something that now has logical (or illogical) parts. And I'm pretty sure that this is due to WRTR, as I've never heard of a magic "click" moment for spelling that happens naturally, and it didn't seem like Madison was primed for one of these moments, anyway. We deliberately took a right turn in spelling with WRTR, and it brought her brain some new skills that she wasn't heading toward on her own.