Little Reader

My sweet princess Isabelle is a reading up a storm and we are sooo very proud, she is doing awesome. It is amazing how they wake up from a good nights sleep and everything seems to have clicked with them over night. We are so very proud of her. She is a VERY quick learner which is great!

We always find it so very funny that when we get them from school and ask them how their day was & what did they do today all we get is "Nothing". So you often wonder what goes on at school all day, are they even learning anything & is school like this "Secret Society"? LOL  But apparently given Isabelle's outstanding reading skills they actually do stuff at this place called "School". I love that she is so excited to read a book or that she wants to venture to the library or to Chapters to get a book that she was read at school or that she really enjoys. It is amazing, my 6 year old is reading what an accomplishment. It does suck that when you  drive past places that have signs like "The Love Shop" or "Aren't We Naughty" you have to explain that? gone are the days of spelling stuff out like "Park" or "Bed"... LOL Now she can read bumper stickers which is even scarier because now you have to start explaining what things mean.. Ekks!! Really don't feel like going there just yet.

I think the thing that Tom and I have alittle bit of a challenge with is remembering the way we were taught in school to read or do math! To us now it just comes and just flows naturally, but to them it is a whole new world of learning & all of it is new! So going to teach someone else especially your child is alittle bit hard. It is hard enough to train an Adult to do our jobs at the office, let alone a beginner at everything. The English language has too be the most difficult one to teach, each letter has 2 sounds so you need to teach them that and so on which makes it a challenge. We also have to remember that we are not teachers so our patience level is not quite that of a Teacher who teaches day in an day out. You have to teach them in a way so that they don't feel like they are doing it wrong & then have that discourage them from wanting to learn. We also need to take into consideration their age and the capacity they learn at. The worse feeling is getting discouraged & feeling like a failure and  you will never get it.

In school, I was alright I was not a scholar by any means, I tried my best as my mom always said!  Both parents worked so alot of the time homework was done when I got home from school with a babysitter or alone! I remembering having the timetable for multiplication attached to our fridge at home or having flashcards. I struggled with Math (To this day it is not my favorite thing to do), reading was good but at a younger age I made up my own little stories according to the pictures, over time it came as does everything else.   My best school marks were in College, I graduated with a 98% average which was awesome. I think because you are with a bunch of adults an you work together rather then against, there was no competition and everyone was treated the same! The little doo gooders that were in school growing up were not there as adults. The little do gooder know it alls just irritated me & made your average kid feel like their were stupid because teachers always tried to compare you to the other kids which was wrong! I always hated being paired up with them, they always took over projects and it was always their way, I am sure they were not excited about being with an "Average" student, cause we just brought them down!

 I would have to say that my BEST teacher ever was my Grade 5 Teacher, he was awesome, he had the patience to teach, took the time for each individual student... Made learning FUN, which is so important, Thanks Mr. Riddell for the best year ever! By far the best school memory, there is always going to be that one teacher that stays in your memory forever!     I don't want my kids to be little Miss Know it alls or make others feel like there are less then important because they may not top of their class. Just be you, be the wonderful caring person we raised them to be. Be thoughtful of others feelings and treat them all equal. We are all the same regardless of how we look, think or dress! I want my girls to be happy & vibrant and not be told they can't do something or are not good at something! Make learning FUN, and enjoy school! There is always going to be that one teacher that actually does care and takes the time to teach & does not look at it as a place to collect a pay cheque & actually does care.

 And remember you are never alone if you have a good book!