Yay Bella!!!

Bella asked me shortly after she woke up this morning if we could play her fishing game. I told her after the babies went to bed. When the babies were in bed for the night we got the box out. Bella looked at it and said let's go fishin'...then she said is that what it really says? I looked at her a little surprised and said yes, it does!

As a rule when my kids officially start their first year of school I don't actually teach reading. We work on letter sounds and I read them lots of books. Sometimes we make words out of letter stickers or paint sight words. I dictate the spelling of words on grocery lists that they write for me. I try to make words and letters fun. I wait until they really show interest and a true readiness. If you ask a child to read before they are able, reading can be viewed as a really treacherous task. Just ask me, I (unfortunately) have experience in this department. When Bella read the box of the game to me, I thought I'd get out a book and give it a try. She had the same thought and was asking for a book just as I was reaching for one! She sat down and carefully sounded out the words, some words she was able to recognize and read by sight. The book had a lot of repetition in it so as she read a word a few time she no longer needed to sound it out. She ended up reading the entire book, all 32 pages of it! We are SO PROUD of her!

After Tristin saw his sister reading he decided that he wanted to give it a try and asked Kait to listen to him. He read the same book. He also finished the whole thing! Even though it seems he might be at lower level we are still very proud of him. It is no small feat for him to work his way through written words.

There is no greater reward for me in homeschooling my children than being the person that gets to watch my children read their first words!!!