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As I read The Green Ember (we are now 8 chapters from the end!), both boys twist and turn their Rubic’s Cubes and lounge on the couch. Listening quietly and trying to figure out what is coming next.
The book wasn’t their favorite when we started, but now as we draw near the end of the book they certainly don’t mind the daily reading time and are really getting into the story – enough that we have already ordered the second book to read together.
Me – I’m nursing a cup of coffee and also listening to the crazy washer spinning in the background. Meanwhile the rest of the house is a wee bit of a disaster. Dishes are on the counter and books strewn all over the living room. Random pieces of laundry litter the floor and someone hasn’t bothered to pick up their breakfast bowls from the table.
But we are reading together and it’s a snapshot of what homeschooling is like: school woven in with our everyday life. The good, the messy, and well – LIFE.
Later in the day, we have the last of the ‘firsts’ in our house and it’s honestly a little bittersweet. Our youngest, the one who still has stuck in his head that he isn’t a good reader, sits down and started reading The Boxcar Children out loud to me. The last child to read through this particular book for the first time – an honest-to-goodness chapter book where you can’t really get reading clues from the pictures in the story.
And he does wonderfully.
He doesn’t quite fit on my lap like he used to, but he snuggles in, lets me wrap my arms around him, and kiss him on the cheek as he reads down the page. Meanwhile the other kids are walking in and out of the room, working on math, or grinning as they recognize the accomplishment in their brother’s hard work.
These are those moments in our homeschool time that I love – where life overflows into the nuances of our day. When we get a chance to relax together. Celebrate together. Learn together.
Living life together in all the little moments. ❤️
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I love your title of “Living Life Together!” I so want that for my family. My children are 2 and 4.5 and I’m so thankful that I get to be a SAHM and we do life together. My husband works long crazy hours and I love that we have freedom to be home when he’s home. I plan on starting a relaxed kindergarten with my 4.5 year old this fall and I already know that reading aloud is going to be a huge part of our “curriculum.”
I also think it’s great that your other children acknowledge the work that their sibling is putting in to reading. That must be encouraging to him and gratifying for you.
Read and read and read. :) Have MUCH fun as you start this fall and thank you for the sweet words, Krysten.
It took me a really long time to learn how to read, and even
longer to read with any shred of confidence. My siblings were great at reading,
which made me feel worse about it; I couldn’t just blame genetics. The hardest
thing about reading to me had nothing to do with the reading itself. It was the
small but persistent voice in the back of my head that kept saying, “You’ll
never get any better at this. Stop trying.” It’s an easy trap to fall into.
For me, the key to improving my reading had nothing to do
with more or less practice or effort. It had everything to do with me accepting
that while I may not be naturally good at something, that doesn’t mean that I
am hopeless.
Keep at it, youngest one! It does get easier!
Joey,
Thank you so much for the encouraging comment – this is one I will be reading to both of my sons. I so appreciate it!
Love this and living life together, I call ours a journey. :)
Colorful writing, Yoyo!! That’s quite a statement given my colorblindness. But, I put my “special glasses” on to read the post. Joey told me about it.
I miss you all. :)
What a lovely snapshot of a moment to remember. :)