4-year-old boy becomes quite a little page turner
Most 4-year-old boys are focused on getting dirty and playing with trucks — not reading 1,000 books.
But Walter Kanzenbach isn’t most 4-year-olds.
When he began reading at age 3, parents Sarah and Paul figured they’d let Walter take the lead and see where it went. Never did they think their son would read 1,000 books in just under 365 days.
“We were already reading. I always incorporated books into his nap time and bedtime routine, and we just started incorporating with him reading to us at bedtime,” Sarah said.
Walter began reading after attending Kristyn Haberkorn’s day care in Cannon Falls, Minn. One day, after some day care children were standing around the table, the former first-grade teacher decided they were intelligent enough to be taught how to read. That was nine years ago. “From age 1 (at my day care), they start using markers, coloring and scribbling, and sometime after they turn 2, they work on writing their names and writing,” said Haberkorn, an early literacy consultant behind the Learning to Read by Reading program. “Originally, (the reading program) started with 5year-olds, and next thing you know the younger kids were catching on to the older kids. So now, when kids turned 3, they start the reading program.”
When Haberkorn’s son was getting ready to go into kindergarten, she began to write down every book he read. There was never the idea that her son might reach 1,000 books — but he did. So from there on out, every single book independently read by her day care kids was written down.
Each child reads a single book anywhere from eight to 12 times, which slowly begins to decrease the more they advance. Each time a book is read, it counts toward the overall total.
Sarah and Paul were cautious with Walter’s reading. They didn’t want to push him into reading, but instead foster his love for it.
“We just let him take the lead,” Sarah said. “He has this huge appetite to read, and he wants to just read (the book) over and over and over again, and he reads it at least four times and keeps asking.”
The parents have to put a limit on three books at nap time and bedtime or, Sarah said, they would be up all night.
Paul said he wouldn’t have cared if Walter only made it to 300 books. He considers the number arbitrary, as the experience and knowledge of reading are the most important aspect.
“As an educator, I see on a daily basis the importance of reading in the overall education process,” Paul said. “His (Walter’s) experiences with early reading will set him up well for a lifetime of enjoying reading and learning.”
Despite being the 31st child of Haberkorn’s day care to accomplish such a feat, Sarah said Walter doesn’t find it to be too big of a deal.
“When he hit the 1,000 mark, we were excited and I asked him if he wanted to do something special, and he told me he wanted a big lollipop,” Sarah said. “He doesn’t think this is a big deal, this is what he does. This is just normal to him.”
Walter said he is “Happy! Happy! Happy” about his accomplishment. In addition to the lollipop, he got a trip to the candy store with Sarah and some jelly beans, because “that’s what I wanted,” he said.
Even after moving from Cannon Falls to Milwaukee, Walter’s appetite doesn’t seem to be waning.
As he continues to receive books from Haberkorn’s Learning to Read by Reading program and work toward 2,000 books, Walter will continue to read to Paul any book that deals with dump trucks — his favorite things.