It’s interesting to watch Kiera as she journeys through Kindergarten. She went in to Kindergarten with a great knowledge of her alphabet and the sounds the letters make but she is now starting to try and put them together to read.
Usually she doesn’t have any trouble recognizing letters and will often spell a word out as we pass by a sign in the truck. It’s just amazing watching as she soaks everything in from school and learns to process it.
There are a couple of “fun” parts that come with her learning to read. The first one is her independent and stubborn streak. Don’t get me wrong. We want her to be independent and stubborn. We want her to be strong and accomplish her goals. It’s just sometimes… well, let me give you an example.
The day of Kiera’s birthday, I wished her a happy birthday on Facebook. No, she doesn’t have a Facebook. It was more, this Mommy reminiscing over the last six years. Anyways, several of our friends commented on my post and wished Kiera a happy birthday. That night, before her bedtime, I sat with her and read her each individual message. She was thrilled by all the well wishes.After she went to bed, she continued to get a few more comments. I waited until the next day when we were in the truck to mention them.
“Honey, more people told you happy birthday on Facebook last night.” I turned slightly in my seat so I could see her in the back seat. “Would you like me to read them to you?”
“No. I want to read them.” She answered, holding her hand out for my phone.
Confused, I handed my phone over to her, making sure the page was open to the birthday comments.
“Where did you read to last night?” She asked, sliding her finger across the phone screen.
“Ummm… I think I stopped before Mimi Sherry’s comments.” I said as I continued to watch her, wondering how this would play out.
“I see her picture,” she replied. “What is S-h-e-r-r-y?”
“That spells Sherry,” I explained.
“Okay.” She acknowledged and began to spell the rest of Mimi Sherry’s name. I patiently waited until she was done spelling out Mimi Sherry’s full name before I pronounced it for her.
“Want me to read you what she said?” I asked.
“I will read it.” She replied emphatically, without looking in my direction.
I turned back towards the front of the truck so she could not see my smile.
She began, “What does h-a-p-p-y space b-i-r…”
Aaron interrupted, “That spells happy birthday…”
Kiera continued on, as if he had never spoken. “t-h-d-a-y.”
I swallowed my laughter, before replying, “Those two words are happy birthday.”
She took a breath and continued on, “b-e-a-u-t-i…”
“Beautiful.” Aaron piped up.
“…f-u-l,” she continued. “Space g-i-r-l space upside down i.”
Aaron tried again. “Beautiful girl. And the upside down i is an exclamation point,” he explained.
“Oh…” she paused while Aaron and I held our breath. “What is M-i-m-i space S-h…”
We glanced at each other and grinned. “Mimi Sherry,” Aaron said.
Once again, she ignored his help and continued on. “…e-r-r-y….”
I watched and stifled a laugh as Aaron dropped his head backwards on the seat rest in exasperation.
“Oh! I know this word!” she announced excitedly. “loves!” She glanced up with a grin on her face.
“Good job!” I smiled back and watched as she dropped her gaze back to the phone.
“Y-o-u.” She stopped and looked at me.
“Sound it out,” I replied. After a couple of minutes, she had successfully sounded out the word you and we, thankfully, were at our destination. I feel fairly confident she would have spelled out the rest of Sherry’s comment along with the other five comments that were below Sherry’s.
The other fun part of her learning to read is how she has become more and more of a back seat driver. When she was smaller, she would grumble every now and then about the bumps that Daddy drove over or how he had to suddenly stop when something happened in front of him.
Now, it is even better. She has learned to read road signs. Every single day, she pipes up from the back seat and addresses the driver, which is usually her Daddy.
“30. The speed is 30,” she states matter-of-factly. “Are you going 30?”
A few miles further down the road, we can be discussing her day and suddenly, “40! The speed is 40.”
It’s priceless! Especially since I am not the one driving!
Although, she hasn’t differentiated between the highway markers and the speed limit signs yet. This has caused a small amount of confusion. Our favorite was when she saw the Highway 84 sign and we were driving in town.
Her little voice rose slightly in concern, “84? 84 speed?”
Aaron quickly attempted to correct her…especially since the rest of the sign read 377.
