On To Phrases

We're reading short phrases now.

It's only been four months since we started with the YBCR video and already we're down to the fourth dvd. Technically, this is the last in the series because the fifth one is just a review dvd. We're not supposed to proceed to dvd 4 until the end of this month but the impatient Miguel wanted to watch the "green" one already.

I'm very happy with how this program is working for him. In the beginning, I actually focused on getting him to watch regularly and insisted he reads the flashcards. Later on, I don't exert any effort at all and we're not even watching the videos or reading the cards regularly and yet he continues to learn new words--and he learns really fast. I've stopped counting but I can guess he knows about 70 to 80 words already.

I know some parents would say there is no point in rushing the kids to read and that is exactly what I thought when I first saw this program. No doubt, kids will learn how to read in time. But what convinced me to introduce early reading to Miguel is the fact that it doesn't only teach reading, it promotes better comprehension (which is the whole point of reading!).

To this day, I'm still not sure if Miguel will actually "love" reading someday. Parents are quick to conclude their kids love to read based on several ocassions when they spend more than a minute turning the pages of a book. I am guilty of that. I think I might have said in the past how Miguel adores books when in fact he adores anything he can chew or tear--books, shoes, hairbrush included.

Recently, he's showing signs of interest in independent reading. He points to billboards and posters whenever we're out and would say "mommy, that's S" (the only letter he can recognize). Of course, he's right cause he's pointing to the word 'sale' hehe. It's already a given fact that he likes to listen to stories--either read or told. Even when he's all sleepy, he would insist we read a poem or I tell him about Joseph the Dreamer or The Night Before Christmas, and with droopy eyes, exerting every ounce of effort to control himself, he would resist falling asleep until the long story ends.