Reading lessons with bebe

Every Wednesday since the beginning of this school year I've gone to bebe's school to help her class with reading. bebe has been a really, really good memorizer and word recognizer since pre-school, but I have seen her blossom so much over the past few months that I am blown away.

Books have always been part of her life. During the lo-o-ong nights as a newborn I would read or sing with her to settle her down.

She carried around those board-books with a picture and single word on the pages so long they started to fall apart and we had to buy new ones.

We have early reader books in our house and phonics books and (what's left of) two of those single-word board books. Her two favorite days at school are Monday and Friday - because those are the days she gets Library Time at school.

What all this learning to read has taught me is the difference between recognizing words like 'the' or 'boy' or 'play' and understanding that all of those words together have meaning - the boy wanted to play baseball - and that meaning can be the basis of a story.

As I'm watching her learn how an exclamation point means anger but a question mark needs an answer and seeing comprehension dawn in her eyes, she is also teaching me. She is teaching me to fall back in love with words and sentences and punctuation. She is teaching me to take a bit more time to get the emotion of a scene exactly right. And she is encouraging me to understand what my characters are saying, what they need.

Turns out, I'm having reading lessons while she is learning to read.

Comments

  1. Oh, I love this.Good for you and bebe both.

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  2. thanks, Liz! It's been a fun time, for sure.

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  3. I love this. My favorite memories include reading with my children. And picture books and early readers--while they seem easy--are some of the hardest books to write. Every word is vital.

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