Little Reader

When I was younger, I used to babysit some kids that lived across the street from me. I can't remember their exact ages at the time of babysitting them, but the youngest, a little girl was about 4-5 during that time. They moved away while I was in Junior High, but my mom stayed friends with their mom. We ended up meeting for a vacation to Disney World while I was in 7th or 8th grade. They hadn't been gone too long, but I can distinctly remember standing in line for a show, the Muppet's show to be exact, and I was playing with the little girl. All of a sudden, she just started reading the sign next to us. I was shocked. How did she learn how to read so fast, because it felt like just yesterday that they moved away. I don't know why this moment has stuck with me and stood out in my mind for all this time, but I feel like I'm currently reliving it!

Ethan has known his letters, letter sounds, how to spell his name, and basic sight words for a couple of years now. He was reading phonics readers last summer, which I was definitely amazed by and excited about. But recently, he has started reading EVERYTHING! He reads signs, he reads clothing, he reads books, captions on the TV, and more! It seemed to happen overnight, about 3 weeks ago. We've been working hard on his reading this summer and I think he has just taken off with it. It is such a cool thing to see him blossoming into a little man instead, but equally sad. It kind of begins to be a problem when your child can read everything too because they ask things like "What's Toby's, have I ever eaten there?" (Local strip club across from New River) and "What does adult videos mean?" It seems that a child learning to read is a double edged sword because now they can learn about everything in this world and now they can learn about everything in this world. And Ethan takes everything in! If you don't think he's listening, he is. If you think he missed something, he didn't.

So as the child enters into first grade in less than 3 weeks, it is time to continue supporting him to blossom into the smart little boy that he is, but I feel the need to protect him now more than ever! I am proud of him nonetheless and can't wait to see what else he accomplishes!