See Me Eat

A new chapter has begun, literally, under the red tin roof.

My firstborn, my baby who will be five in just a few months began to read today. My heart swells with pride at his accomplishment.

For months, he's been identifying his letters, practicing them on a dry erase board, picking them out as we run errands, "Look, Momma, it says C-V-S." Or "What does S-T-O-P spell?"

His sense of urgency has gotten greater the past month. He's asking for his school lessons non-stop. Weekly trips to the library are exciting to him. Curled up next to me under the a warm blanket, we read all sorts of books. We laugh over the Olivia series. We both learn new (for Momma forgotten) vocabulary about space, one of his great passions. We venture through Mr. Wonka's famous chocolate factory, anticipating as each of the children, one by one, get their consequences for naughty behavior and bad habits. 

We'd not been so vigilant with our structured school lessons for the past few months; we were just going with the flow. Following the lesson plans some days, and on others, we just went where the mood and his curiosity took us. He's been begging to learn to read, so I pulled out Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons again. It's not part of the structured curriculum I bought, but, he's wanting to learn NOW!

So, as I'm trying to teach my by-the-book, but-Momma-you-said-child, I'm going with the flow. It's not part of the curriculum I purchased, but so what? We'll get to that. I'm going with the flow. He wants to learn to read, and I am willing to teach.

And tonight, a whole new world opened up to him. He sounded out the words me, see, seed, seat, sat, ram, eat- just to name a few.

The pride in his eyes from his accomplishments and the excitement that bubbled as he realized that the letters said something and that he read those letters that made words was priceless. His daddy sat and watched in amazement as our baby read aloud to us.....See me eat.

The first sentence that he ever read. And we were both there to share this moment with him. Teaching is something I am passionate about. I loved teaching other people's children, but to say I love teaching my own child, well, that just seems like a gross understatement. To say I love teaching my own child doesn't seem to scratch the surface of the sense of wonder, amazement, and excitement that comes from watching him learn. Teaching my own child is a humbling experience.

I told my husband one time that if we can teach our kids to read, we have given them the world, and that is true. But our goal is far much more than that.

If we teach our children how to read, we have given them the world- there is nothing they can't learn about, but if we teach our children their need for Jesus and to love Him, we have showed them eternity.