Every Letter Makes a Sound...

This little boy is reading. Yes. Reading.

He hasn't graduated to Shakespeare quite yet - or even to Mommy's favorite, Stephen King - but he is most certainly in the beginnings of learning to read. WOW.

We owe a big thank you to Mia & Maverick's Mommy, Miss Leann, for telling us about the Leap Frog Letter Factory video. What a brilliant and amazing learning tool! After watching it only a few times, Jack not only reinforced his knowledge of the alphabet, but had also learned the sounds that each letter makes (and everybody knows that's the hard part).

Now, he recognizes letters everywhere. Even when we talk he will stop and sound out words and can tell me which letters start and end the word based on the sound they make. Just the other day, he was looking up at his bedroom wall where his name is spelled out in big letters. He knows that is spells his name, but for the first time he said, "Juh, Juh...Ah, Ah...KK...Mommy, that spells Jack!". I was sort of taken aback, so I got a pencil and wrote the word MOM. He sound out, "Mmm...Aah...Mmm." It took a couple times of sounding it out, but all of a sudden he said "Mom!". He then sounded out DAD in the same way. He was so proud. I was bursting!

Last night, we took him up to see the horses at the Agricultural Center close to our house. He just loves the horses - loves to pet them and talk softly to them. But last night, he noticed the letters above each door which spell each horse's name. To our complete amazement, he sounded out the names "Horse" and "Skipper". Again, unbelievable.

And lastly - This morning, I was brushing his hair before school. He was being unusually cooperative and still. I noticed him looking at the shirt I was wearing (which just so happened to be one of his Daddy's) and he began sounding out the word A-L-A-B-A-M-A. I had to help him a little at the end because the second and last A's make more of a U sound, but he got it. I just can't begin to express how proud of him I am! He wants to read all of the time now, which couldn't make me happier.

What an incredible feeling it is to watch your child achieve. It's so overwhelming to see the pride in their smile when they learn something new. I feel so blessed that I am one of the people who gets to teach Jack so many things and watch his eyes light up as he succeeds. Being a mom really is the greatest, most rewarding job in the world. Especially when you work for this little guy!