not as scary as I thought

One of my biggest concerns regarding tackling homeschooling was in the area of reading. I don’t know why the idea of teaching a child to read seemed so daunting. It might be due to my oldest son’s kindergarten teacher – she was amazing. And fun. And made reading so appealing to the kids. The ability to read opens so many doors for a child, for an adult. The power of reading can change a life. It changes many lives.

Seeing my boys read still blows my mind on most days, especially my younger two boys. It is such an incredible experience to watch a child go from learning to recognize letters and sounds to being able to read those same symbols on a page all jumbled line after line. It is simply amazing. If you are a parent or a teacher, I am sure you know what I mean!

My oldest has a deep love for reading. He wrote a paper this week about his favorite activity, which of course is reading. In it he quoted Helen Keller, “Reading is my utopia.” Her words ring so true for him. He is paving the way for his younger siblings. They follow his lead and are slowly discovering the joys between the covers of a book. It has not been an easy road. In fact, there were many days I thought my fears were coming true – that I could not teach my kids how to read. We’ve pressed on, we are still pressing on through frustrations.

My boys piled together yesterday with knights and detectives and a pig in a wig…and a little sister. Every day doesn’t look like this, but I am thankful for the few that do…the good days help me press on during the rough days.

This picture makes me laugh.  My oldest couldn’t handle not knowing what was going on in his brother’s book. He would read his brother’s book quickly, then read his own book while waiting for his brother to turn the page.

She likes to pretend to read for a few minutes…then she likes to distract. She is so funny – and she only has a handful of words. I can’t wait until her communication skills catch up with her personality. When she saw me pull out my camera, she wrapped her arm around his neck. I pretty much never ask my kids to pose, so it is really funny that she decided she should do this for a picture. She likes him….and she promptly wanted to see these pictures when I was done.