Today, John finished reading Fun With Dick and Jane. Smidge was so proud of him that we all got hugs. Then we got ice cream. (I love Cerrone Cones - wheat free ice cream cones! As you can tell from John's face, he's not accustomed to eating from an ice cream cone. Obviously, he views this as some type of edible makeup applicator.)
The ice cream wasn't a reward for finishing a book; the excitement of finishing a book, of knowing a story, of meeting the characters, is reward enough for that. The ice cream was a big pat on the back for the hard work John has put into his reading skills so far this term. By the last chapter of Dick and Jane, he'd added character voices, made up jokes and puns on the reading as he went along, and generally had a delightful time of it. Since the second chapter of the book, he's been reading it to Smidge, and that's become their special time each day.
What cracks me up is that he thought that was his reading "lesson" each day, yet all the while he's been reading aloud to me, Among the Forest People, by Clara Dillingham Pierson. Yeah, check it out. Not quite Dick, or Jane. He has worked his furry little forest tail off on these. He works hard to put the story out there, to absorb it into his mind, and to put into practice all he's learning along the way. He enjoys them, but he knows they're Work. And while he doesn't read these with the silly, completely fluent inflection he's able to apply to the basic readers, he is gaining invaluable skills along the way. He's improving his decoding and comprehension skills in a way that allows him to read the brain candy for fun, and to know it's fun. To read the more challenging material, and know that it, too, is good.
It's like that with everything we try. The things worth achieving and perfecting, are worth the effort it takes to attain them. Sometimes it's pure fun.
Sometimes you have to stretch yourself to reach your goal.
This Spring has been John's season to soar, to stretch his wings and see what he can do on his own. He's doing so beautifully (if a bit stickily), and I couldn't be more proud of him. This is why we do what we do.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
8 comments:
I can't believe that is the same little kid that laughed SO hard at paper airplanes when you guys came to Mom & Dad's! They are growing up so fast!
WAY TO GO JOHN!!
Wow. And again, Wow! T. enjoyed Dick and Jane, but The Forest People is really impressive for a new reader! I didn't read more than a few paragraphs, so I have to ask, is it better than the Old Mother West Wind books? Great way to celebrate a top notch effort!
That is a great shot at the bottom of this post!
Oh, and TAG, you're it!
Emily, he still laughs that hard at paper airplanes. LOL! They do grow up so fast. W is now the size Q was when we were there - and I always have to do a double-take when you post pics of Q b/c I'm trying to figure out which cousin that is! LOL!
Melora, you know, I may have to post about that. The boys don't really get into Burgess as much as you'd think they would from all the CM/Ambleside hype about him. But, I really like the approach. There are several authors who write similar animal-style tales, and I've found the children respond to them very differently. Now, I have no idea why this is, because if you were to put a sample of each in front of me, I couldn't tell the difference. They all look the same to me. But to the boys, there's a huge difference. I printed off three different authors for John, and Pierson's writing "grabbed" him moreso than the other. The Burgess book, he had no interest in. I don't have any idea why, but there ya go. :-)
Jenni, Oh, ok, coming from you, that is a high compliment. Thank you. :-) I like the composition of it, although if I'm being honest, I had no idea it would turn out that way. I was just looking at John. lol.
Dy
Wow. What a fine young man John is becoming! I agree with Jenni, I love that last picture. He is so focused and intentional about what he is doing.
Loved the look on Smidge's face in the ice cream photo, too.
Hugs,
LB
Oh DY I LOVE the ice cream picture! They are so SWEET and growing so fast. John really has soared hasn't he? It's been a great year for him! You've got to be enjoying this year of more focused schooling again after rebuilding the forever home. I'm enjoying reading about it!
They are getting so big, Dy! Big and handsoome!
I love the look on John's face in the ice cream picture. It's like he's thinking, "I'm watching you, Smidge. Touch my cone with those sticky fingers and it's curtains. Curtains, I tell ya!" LOL
Thanks for sharing about the growth of your littles! I love the last picture of John with his intent look and the glow of the light.
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