Monday, October 19, 2009

Reading the Bible Alone

This morning during some "down time" during school... Anna pulls out her little New Testament NIV Bible. At the moment it was fine but we were about to start working on her reading text.... so I was afraid that having her Bible out would be a distraction.... but I let her look through it while I gathered the remaining supplies.

All of a sudden I hear my little girl reading a passage from Matthew 25.... yes, out of her Bible. Sure she stumbled over a few words... but she was READING from a BIBLE!!!!

I'm not sure why I was soo surprised. She reads books that we get from the library (or the words she can) and she'll read the papers that she gets in SS class and her AWANA book.

But the Bible just seems like a harder read.... I guess it's not! She was soo excited that she asked if she could read her Bible duirng her reading time.... LOL.. of course I answered "YES!!"

Reading is such a fundamental skill in life for soo many reasons!!! But one of the greatest reasons is to be able to learn about God and the life of Christ by oneself! What a wonderful skill to already be doing and like doing at 5 yrs old!!

Brian and I were talking last night about how hard it was to begin to teach Anna how to read... oh, it was a struggle... balancing her age, obedience, not pushing too hard or getting frustrated with her... and there were many times when we both had to face the fact that we had BAD attitudes.....

So to see her enjoy reading and then to hear her reading her Bible is a sweet blessing indeed... I think she said she might even read to me this afternoon... I can't wait!!

7 comments:

Meg said...

Oh how sweet! What a blessing- it must be so rewarding to know you taught your child to read and to see her using that knowledge to read God's word! I look forward to teaching Harrison to read!

Ashley said...

Wow that's amazing! Can I ask what method you used to teach her to read?

Bunch of Barrons said...

That is so precious! I can't wait for that...:)

In Everything said...

It is such a sweet sound to hear her reading, especially the Bible!! Like Anna will tell you, "learning to read is hard work!"

In Everything said...

Ashley - wish I could have emailed or let a message on your blog... but I'm blocked:)

Anyway, here's the answer to your question!

We started using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy lessons (http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Your-Child-Read-Lessons/dp/0671631985)!! But it was AWFUL!! Just not logically put together... we really struggled through the book b/c Anna didn't like it and I constantly questioned whether it was "right for us".

Then I started looking to the Well-Trained Mind method of homeschooling and I flipped through The Ordinary Parents Guide to teaching Reading (http://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-Parents-Guide-Teaching-Reading/dp/0972860312/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256007326&sr=1-1).... oh, it is soo much better... logically put together, although it is a little dry.... but very good... my husband said that Anna has been quoting him phonics rules when they are reading together and she gets stuck on a word!!

Let me also say that some methods that work for some don't work for others... I'd suggest looking through different methods (maybe a friend's copy or going to a homeschool consignment store and flipping through).

I am very lucky to have a friend who has children with similiar personalities as mine and similiar goals as me... who is a year or two a head of me in this homeschooling journey:)

Starfall.com has also been a great resources as well as LeapFrog's Letter Factory DVD... super or learning letters and phonics:)

Jenny said...

That must have made your day! It's awesome that Anna is reading already.

Ashley said...

Thank you for sharing! Because of your recommendation of Letter Factory a few months back, both my 4 year old and 2 year old know their letters and their sounds. My son is starting to sound out simple words and I have been really wondering where to go from here. Thank you so much for sharing some resources. What a blessing to be such an important part of your child's learning! I can't wait.