The light bulb moment of reading!

It happened!  She turned five in early November, and has been bemoaning that she is not a reader for at least three years.  Yes, that is pretty much since she was speaking in complete sentences.  I suppose that is what happens when you have a big sister and you want to do everything she can do.



Suddenly, in the process of working on this early childhood music CD with my friend Dave, it all has come together.  She can read!

I wrote a song inspired by her, "I can't read!" complaints.  It is called, I Wanna' Read. It is the ode to the small child surrounded by print, in book, signs, cereal and needing to know right now what they all say. 

The song goes on to teach the concept of sound blends to help children feel successful applying their knowledge of sounds to blending together similar words.  We would call these CVC words, consonant, vowel, consonant words.  Of course, we don't live in a CVC only world, but all in time.  

Even though I  experienced these magic moments with my oldest daughter, and then in my classroom many times over the past 14 years, something about the timing of this young reader gets me at the core.  

The world is opening up to her, and not just books, signs and cereal.  Putting it all together and connecting to life in print is such a milestone. 

What a lucky little girl, and what a lucky mom I am, to get to watch it all unfold.

Congratulations, my littlest one!  You are a reader now!