The Reading Hump

I used to hold my breath a lot when I listened to H read. Deep breath before the the word know, exhale, I can't believe she knows that word. Quick inhale before the word measure..wow, how did she know not to make the -ea into a long vowel sound?

There is a hump in learning to read I think. Some kids climb up and over the hump easily. Some struggle. H has made it over the hump. The hump is enough language, word and spelling awareness to decode. From an early age, teachers emphasize phonetic sounds and my little H dutifully learned the short and long vowel sounds. But phonetic sounds aren't sophisticated enough for the English language so about 1 in every 5 words (an estimate) breaks the phonetic rules. And then a reader just has to know. H struggled last year, and for the first quarter of this year with reading. In her smart school, she was lagging behind her friends who could already tackle the annoying Junie B. A little time, a switch to leveled reading groups, and some phonetic maturity and H actually likes to read a little. She gets it, but a game of chase will probably always be more appealing.

I am relieved-- though I still hold my breath too much. I always knew she would get it, that it would be fine, at least that's the confidence I verbalized. But my English teacher, arrogant, academic-self harbored a secret fear that she wouldn't. Why wasn't my kid an early reader? What if all the parts of reading never came together? What if I had to pull her out of her smart school? What if she was the worst reader in her class and it forever scarred her? Wow, can my mind travel. And it traveled even as I reassured another mom, who somehow found out I having a reading endorsement, that every kid learns to read at a different pace. And I believed my words--about that other kid.

Today I just want to say, that H is a reader and I am not as confident as my words indicate (who is?). I am so proud for H. She no longer shies away from trying to read signs, cereal boxes, and labels. She regularly asks questions about words she can't figure out and no longer throws books on the floor, having reached a peak in her patience level. She proudly reads words like nectar (on the honey jar) and then announces,"Mom, I can spell nectar." She can read, and I was privileged to watch the process. It's amazing.