Those A Beka Book DVD teachers – you’d better watch out! Mrs. Pintar just taught a lesson in Language Development on Firemen and the Stop-Drop-and-Roll directives for putting out a fire. AbiNoelle, of course, was quick to demonstrate! Little did we know that just a few lessons away would come a much bigger fire – a fire that we couldn’t put out with a Stop-Drop-and-Roll!

It was Phonics time with Mrs. Pintar. The vowel chart was sung, the consonants reviewed, and blend ladders recited. Next, it was time to practice sounding out words – but wait! Today was different. The words were neatly lined up on the board with the first word having a capital letter and the last word followed by a period. With fun motions, Mrs. Pintar taught the class that  “A sentence begins with a capital letter and usually ends with a period.” A sentence was like reading a story, and if you could read a sentence, then you could read a whole book – a story!” How exciting! Instantly, the teacher sparked a fire. At Mrs. Pintar’s directions, AbiNoelle stood and sounded out the words on the board. Without help she read, “Bob can run. Get the jug.”

“I did it, Mommy! I read a sentence!”
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The sparks flew and it was ablaze in Phonics Class. The fire roared as Mommy presented AbiNoelle with her own FIRST little book that we made from notecards. With gasps, giggles, and some serious concentration, she read the first sentence, flipped to the next card and read that sentence, and continued until all four cards/book were read! (CLICK HERE to watch AbiNoelle read her first “book.”)

“I did it, Mommy! I read my very first book! Can I read it to Bunny? I can’t wait to show Daddy!”
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This magnificent fire was unstoppable. Learning is such fun! Reading is so exciting. This is one fire that we intend to fan the flames and watch the sparks fly, because, as both Mrs. Pintar and Mrs. Wasser have explained, soon they will be able to read the very Words of God!

I will never get over the thrill of seeing the excitement in a child’s eyes when they read their first word…sentence…book! What a joy to have taught phonics (sparked a fire) to kindergarteners, foster children, tutor students and see them all excel to the point of reading books. And now, to teach my own child to read – what a pleasure – a special blessing from the Lord. For, as someone once said, “To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark!”

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K4 is full of learning! It’s always great to start the day off with AbiNoelle bouncing into the schoolroom, and, upon seeing the chalkboard, clasping her hands together and saying, “It’s going to be an exciting day in K4!”

Everyday, we have opportunity to refill our frames on the refrigerator with new paperwork from K4!
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Little “f” was a fantastic letter to learn to write in cursive. After tracing, AbiNoelle tried writing it on her own, and it came out pretty good.image

We continue to check under the yellow paper each morning for reminders of what God has given to us, and we’re having fun adding leaves to our Thanksgiving tree!
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The temperature dropped quickly one day in Phonics time as AbiNoelle practiced her blends with a snowman..
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….that “cold” lesson made it perfect timing to start a fire!….and may it keep burning!