Gandalf taken by a Balrog in Moria surprised Smallsteps, as he had been a staple character through the Hobbit also. However, even at that point she was working out ways he may have survived and suspected he lived on. And book one ended with Frodo and Sam heading off alone toward Mordor, breaking the fellowship and leaving the others in relative safety.
We started book two the other night and based on "The Departure of Boromir" being the name of the first chapter, Smallsteps had predicted that he would head off to Minas Tirith in Gondor, as always was his intention. However, the attack from the orcs, the slaying of Boromir, and the taking of Pippin and Merry brought some distress. She calls it "scary", but I am trying to teach her to reframe this kind of fear as excitement, as there is nothing actually threatening her.
Book one took us almost five months to read.
Most of the reason it took so long is that we started off slowly and with lots of new words, we would spend time discussing it. It is still a challenge, so I am intentionally going slowly and reading a few pages every second night (as is our "put to bed" schedule) and then asking her if she wants to read on a few more, which she always does. After, we talk about our favourite bits in those sections and discuss what led into it, or where it might lead. She has a fantastic memory for what has happened so far and can even recall many of the Elven names and words used. I think that her memory for the story is because we are going so slowly and she is able to process it more completely, even with many missing meanings for words. As I tell her, it is about building the picture, even when there are missing components.
She has herself been going through a reading phase lately, churning through book after book in Finnish, with the odd smaller book in English. Her reading ability is far better in Finnish which is natural as it is stronger as a language, but it is also far easier to read since it is entirely phonetic. She is getting much better reading in English also, but it is slower and when writing her spelling is not great for the tricky words. She is now getting used to learning the spelling in the Finnish way, by sounding them out phonetically, which is not the way they are pronounced. It is why "Rally English" still happens in Finland, though it is getting much better these days.
I really enjoy putting Smallsteps to bed, as all through this time we have been singing, reading and talking for at least half an hour a night. It is a great way to end the day and I hope that she feels this also, remembers it and does it with her kids if she has any. It is an analogue opportunity to be present and really spend time together, and I think all parents should do this as often as possible with their children, as it is good for the parents also.
Reading for me is not what it used to be, since my brain no longer automatically creates the pictures on the fly. It isn't enjoyable, it is hard work. However, because I have such strong imagery from before the stroke for LotR, it is very easy to follow as it is in my memory already, and doesn't require world-building. And then of course, it is enjoyable because I can be part of Smallsteps' world-building activities and can even influence them at times by adding clarity in certain areas that she didn't quite understand.
When you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room.
Not understanding is a good thing. From what I have seen, a lot of parents will present content to their kids that they can understand, where the books for instance do not challenge their vocabulary, which means they can easily build the story. However, I think that the beauty of not knowing is that the world they build is not only unique based on the imagery they create, but also due to the holes in their understanding. And as they stretch into the unknown, it makes the unknown a familiar place, an area they can comfortably navigate and deal with. When we understand everything, we aren't growing.
Ambiguity gives room for curiosity.
Yet we are made to believe that we have to be uncomfortable, unless we know everything we need to know. Which is a losing strategy, because we can never know it all. We should get used to the discomfort of not knowing to ensure that we do not freeze, that it doesn't lock us back from the journey, that we can still act, even if we don't have perfect information. There is no perfect.
"I tried to take the Ring from Frodo. I am sorry. I have paid."
_Boromir
There is always better.
Taraz
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