Reading Lessons

About a week or so ago I began using the 100 EZ Lessons book with Tobin (Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is the actual title). We just finished lesson 8, and I'm finding that we really need to keep whizzing through these first few lessons so that he doesn't get bored. The boy is already reading words like "mat," "sat," "am," and "seat!" I was getting ready to have him point under the letters and sound out the words when he rattled them off, just like that! Obviously he has been picking up a LOT from our reading times together and of course the ever-popular Starfall web site, of which I am now a huge fan. :-)

I told Tobin I would get him his very own set of readers when he reaches lesson 100. He's loving his sticker chart that we made for him. He gets a smiley sticker after completing each lesson. We did two lessons today, and though he begged for more, I don't want it to be a race! I doubled up with Charis when we went through the book last summer/early fall, and I don't mind doing that with Tobin, as long as I'm comfortable that he's at a level where we can do that and not make him feel bored or resentful of the activities. I'm already combining and skipping a lot--I told Ted last night that I'm so glad I've done this once so that I have a feel for what the purpose of each exercise is and don't feel obligated to do EVERY SINGLE (boring) THING!! What freedom it is for a home schooling mom to realize that we're not tied down to what anyone else thinks we should do for our children! ;-)

Anyway, I'm very proud of Tobin and am confident that he'll be reading on his own before long. The boy just turned 4! But Charis learned quickly and is now reading long books with words such as "jealousy," "enraged," "snarled," and "growled." (We just read Snow White & the Seven Dwarves, the 64-page Disney version from the library!)

Speaking of which, after reading/hearing the story of Snow White for years and years now, it finally occurred to me today that there are some interesting spiritual parallels in that fairy tale. Think about it...

Wicked Queen = Satan
Snow White = Eve in her innocent state
Poisoned Apple = Adam and Eve's sin
Prince Charming = Christ

I'm sure some deep theological discourse could be written at this point, but I will quit here. ;-)

One more comment: I was impressed with the comparison Charis drew between Snow White and Cinderella. She noted that both princesses were forced to do chores (or at least it's implied at the beginning of the Disney version of Snow White...she is doing chores when the prince comes and they begin singing at each other, a rather odd beginning for a relationship, if you ask me!) And though they had to do a lot of work, Charis noticed that they both did so sweetly and without complaints. What a GREAT lesson! I commented that it must be the mark of a true princess to be able to work without whining! Something for both Charis AND Mom to remember. :-)