Reading Is Such An Extraordinary Gift

One of the most amazing things to witness on this planet is when your little kid (or any little kid. I'm sure it's the same for teachers too!) magically understand phonics, words, word families, etc. Basically, learns how to read. 

I homeschool my youngest son because he is most likely in need of some dental surgeries and he is very self-conscious about this as well as his cleft scar and nose from his surgery. It's heartbreaking to know that a small child can feel this way. It's bad enough anybody can. So, he's super duper reserved and is just starting to "come out of his shell" around people he doesn't know. (Another amazing thing to watch!)

But, we use a few different reading programs and he is great with sight words and all of the basics. He excels at math but, cannot stand reading. Until today. 

He started school around 9am this morning and worked straight through until about 5pm. 
Around 10am this morning, something clicked and Deegan just started reading everything on the page lol. He said, lol, "My brain just told me that he understands these sounds now!" (LOL he always has messages from his brain which is awesome since, when I was pregnant with him, he was missing a section of his brain but amazingly, a few months later, at another ultrasound, it started reappearing. Long story but he's perfectly fine and only had a cleft lip and club foot when he was born.) 

Anyway, he went crazy and just started reading and that was that. He didn't even work on any math today because he didn't want to stop learning words. Actually, he learned 46 new words today and took 2 tests and had a 93% and a 100% so, he's a badass. 

😊
If you can ever witness the exact time that something clicks inside of a little one's brain that makes reading an easy task, you will find that it is very hard to top! 

I was only able to witness this once before when my 11-year-old daughter had that light go off and all of a sudden, she ran to the 1 bookshelf and just started tearing books out. (Apparently, my other 2 had this happen during school lol!)

Reading is the most important and most fascinating gift that we have!

I wish I would have recorded both of these times because the looks on their faces when they have that "click" is such a rewarding and memorable experience. They are so grateful for this gift and so excited when they hone those skills. Both of these days will be 2 of my most favorite memories of my children growing up. (Of course, there are many more!) 

We have been using Reading Eggs, ABC Mouse, as well as several different books, flashcards, the old school way of learning to read. If you have any other ideas or tips for teaching your little ones to read, please let me know in the comments! The possibilities are endless and I want to be able to offer as many options as possible for him to really get as much as he can!