Reading

I always took my literacy for granted. English was my favorite subject in high school and my major in college. It was never difficult for me until I tried to teach English to a 14-year-old Korean girl (Noah's foster sister). She had lots of questions about grammar rules and phonics that I couldn't answer. I suddenly realized that English is a very complicated and, at times, inexplicable language. When I asked her the same kinds of questions about Korean, she couldn't answer me either. She told me I sounded like a Korean child, making all the same mistakes as little kids when they're first learning the language.

Noah started reading when he was five years old, and as I listen to him read now, I still marvel that young children can break the code. When he was beginning to read, I had to mask my frustration and boredom as he painstakingly sounded out new words and slowly strung them together in a monotone blur. Now he is faster and has a little more intonation.

Sarah is starting to show signs that she's getting ready to read, so it's all starting over again. It's amazing to see her starting to make connections and figure out how the letters combine to make words, and words combine to make sentences. Soon she'll realize that sentences make paragraphs, and paragraphs make whole books.

Frustrating as it is, I do love watching my kids learn how to do something that will benefit them for the rest of their lives. It's rather like watching a flower blossom. The bud is not very attractive, but with a little nurturing, it turns into a beautiful bloom.