My baby.
When we first decided to homeschool, my concerns were mostly for her. In spite of all of the warnings that I wouldn't be able to give my intelligent son all he needs, I knew I could just get my hands on some great books and he would soar. I figured we would worry about high school sciences when we got there and if we had to do something different we would, but that was no reason to not bring him home now. But he taught himself to read when he was three. He went to school knowing most of what he needed to know, and he came home to school knowing most of what he needed to know. The rest is gravy.
But my little girl is a regular four-year-old. She didn't teach herself to read when she was three. She is incredibly creative and intelligent in her own right, and we celebrate her accomplishments every bit as much as we celebrate those of the one who bears the heavy and often burdening label of "gifted" (one that we, coincidentally, don't use often in his earshot).
I feared teaching from the beginning, from scratch. What if I shortchanged her? What if she was twelve and couldn't read because I did something dreadfully wrong?
Well, we started with a kindergarten curriculum this year, after hearing several times last year, "Mommy, teach me to read!" We have thus far covered the short and long vowel sounds, the sounds that each consonant makes, and the one and two vowel rules. She is blending well and knows 28 sight words. SO... I pulled out the first Abeka reader yesterday (we don't use Abeka but a friend gave us some old readers and these are as good as any others when it comes to sounding out short words and controlled vocabulary), Tim Can, just to see what she did with it. I sat with her and helped make letter sounds and reminded her of her rules, but she mostly did it on her own.
You know what?
Addie can! She can read a short reader! Now, I'm not saying she can read her Bible or any book, but that baby can sound out short words. My heart is swollen with love and excitement for her. She has come farther faster than I thought she would be able to. It's been hard work, but she loves to work hard, and she loves to measure her progress.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Addie Can!
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6 comments:
Way to go, Addie! That is so exciting for all of you!!!
Isn't it wonderful to watch the light bulb come on and share in their accomplishment? It just makes a Mama's heart full, doesn't it?
Thanks, Grace! And I am also so thankful that you warned me not to switch in the middle of something that was going so well. I wish I had known how close she was to simple reading at that point. This is so exciting for her...
Jennifer, it does. I didn't know I could get so excited for her, but I did. It's reading, you know? Everyone does it, it seems so normal. But I guess since she is mine and I was worried about it, it just made me all the more excited. This is one thing I LOVE about homeschooling is being there as they learn new things and being excited with and for them...
Yeah Addie!!! (and mommy!). You are not alone in your fears, concerns, worries, etc. We all feel them! Glad she reached a BIG milestone and YOU were THERE to see it and be a part of it.
OH! How wonderful! Addie is really coming along. It's impressive to learn how to read at four. Just so you know, Myles was a good bit older than Addie when he sounded out a book on his own. And we were doing all of the "right tings". Yea, Addie! I'm impressed :)
The power of internal motivation! It is a gift of God to have a child that is so motivated! When the accomplishment of the task is its own reward or even better yet, being able to engage in the process is its own reward!
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