Learning to Read!

One of the greatest joys I get in homeschooling my kids is that I get to teach them to read!  I LOVE READING!  I would spend all my waking hours reading if I didn’t have anything else to do!  I would read instead of eat!  I have been know to stay up all night because I am engrossed in an incredible book that I just can’t put down! 

I love reading and have made it my goal to help my kids love to read as well.  Matt enjoys reading – not loves – but he does read an occasional book not related to school and has a couple of favorite series.  He likes being read to more than reading himself. 

Sarah is becoming an avid reader.  Something I thought would NEVER happen.  She couldn’t sit still long enough to learn how to read until she was in the second grade!  I panicked with that girl!  I thought for sure she was going to grow up illiterate!  But she came along and caught the reading bug.  She still prefers to “do” things rather than sit down and read for long stretches – but she does read at night and has amassed quite a list for her reading log.

Now it’s Daniel’s turn.  After teaching two kids to read I have learned to relax a bit and watch for the signs that he is ready to read.  Sometimes I feel so much pressure to have my kids “perform” at or above level – forgetting that they have their own timetable and that the wonderful thing about homeschooling is that you can cater to that time table!  So, I waited for Daniel to be ready.  He turned 5 last July and that little niggling in my head kept saying “TIME TO LEARN TO READ!” but my heart kept saying “BE PATIENT - IT WILL COME!”  Well, the past month – the light turned on!  He is a reading maniac!  He is looking everywhere for things to try and read.  He is also LOVING being read to – something he wasn’t incredibly fond of just a few months ago.  His favorite series to read now is Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant.  I love Henry and Mudge – such a great boy friendly series!  And Daniel is in love with them too!  He is really excited about using Fun Tales to help him strengthen his reading skills.  He loves reading them to Andy when he gets home from work! 

One thing I am extremely thankful for is my new laminator!  Andy got it for me for Christmas!  I am a bit of a perfectionist and really hated making word cards on index cards as they would soon be all crumpled up and a mess.  Now I can use my computer to create the word cards (because I also hate my handwriting!) and them laminate them to stay sturdy!  Daniel likes them, too!  He often pulls them out to practice reading his words!  I love this kid!!! 

Pray for all three kids as they start to wind up their school year – 11 weeks left!  We have testing next week – always a stressful time for mommy!  Pray they will do well and show what they truly know and what they need work on for the coming year!