Last week, my son who is four years old read us his first book all by himself !  As a parent, it was such an amazing moment that I will cherish in my heart forever.  He was so excited and we were so excited for him.  My eyes were all watery as he read his short little book because all the time & effort we invested in him finally came together, by God’s grace.

Reading is definitely an acquired skill and like anything else you have to build on it until finally one day everything comes together.  At around 2.5 he was identifying letters & currently my 2 year old daughter is identifying letters & sounds too.  As the progression went on he learned sounds, blending sounds, writing, sight words & small sentences.

It’s so important for parents to be involved in the education of their children because we cannot rely on the school system.  I realized that unless you are going to a really academic-based school then most of their focus is socializing your children through play and group activities.  Don’t get me wrong socialization is super important too, but I feel like my kids get a ton of socialization thank God.  We have a lot of family & friends which allow for play dates galore (thank God).

I have definitely noticed a difference in his reading after consistently working with him every day, and it doesn’t have to be long it can be five minutes, ten minutes, or even twenty minutes.  It just depends on how interested he is that day, I don’t want to burn him out.  You can make it fun by making weekly trips to the library, have them pick out books.  Take flashcards with you to places and pop them out when they are starting to act out to divert their attention.  Use your mommy tricks!

It’s a work in progress, but I definitely recommend reading to your child every night and challenging their brains.  You will be surprised at how smart they really are and what they are capable of.