bob books

I have always been amazed at Halle's ability to learn new things. From a very young age she was talking, knew her shapes, animal sounds, colors, etc. She hit a point when she was about two when her imagination exploded. She was acting out movies, playing dress up, making up stories, and was immersed in a whole world of princesses, spooky things, and books. Her wild imagination is one of my favorite things about her, it is also a challenge I have had to learn to work around. As her imagination took off, she wanted nothing to do with learning things the way I was teaching her.

Our practice sessions with scissors and glue would end with her getting up from the table, saying, "I can't learn" and walking away to go play. This made me laugh, but I realized this girl became easily frustrated when it came to learning new things. My attempts to teach her letters and numbers would also end in frustration. I thought pure exposure would continue to work like it had before. I eventually decided to break it down very simply for her. I would try something as simple as showing her an "A" and saying "Halle this is the letter A" and then immediately ask her "What letter is this?" She would automatically say "T" or make up a crazy word which sounded something like "gagageigi." Obviously the girl did not even care to listen to what I was saying long enough to even repeat it back. She was having way too much fun in her own little head. I knew I had to come at her with a different approach now that her mind craved the fun, exciting, and creative things.

She absolutely loves books, but alphabet books are so overwhelming because they put the whole alphabet in it and by the time you get to the end it was all just a jumble of letters and you don't remember anything. While we were in Costco I found a set of BOB books, the pre-reading set to be exact. These are tiny books that teach two letters at a time broken down nice and easy with cute little sentences using the letter sounds. Like I said, Halle has always love to read. Before Lily entered the world, she and I would sit on my bed and read book after book after book. I knew other sets of these books were an effective way to teach children to read, so I took a chance and bought the pre-reading set hoping it would help her learn to recognize those darn letters. These short little books have slowly, but surely helped her to start to recognize letters. Everything is broken down short and sweet with silly sentences, perfect for her little mind and her silly side. I'm a believer.

If there is one thing I have learned from all this about Halle it is that we may have to do things a little different when it comes to learning. I recently came across this quote on pinterest and thought it perfectly described what I have been thinking about: "a lot of parents will do anything for their kids except let them be themselves." I need to let Halle be the way she is and accept the spirit and mind that came with her body. Her imagination is one of the most beautiful things about her and I would never want to diminish that or take it away from her just because that is not the way I think.

There may not always be a quick solution like there was with the letters, but at least I have learned to keep trying. I have so much to learn about my girls, but can't way to discover all the ways my children are different even if it means adjusting the way I think, the way I did things, or the way I want to do things. Sounds a little like making accommodations in the classroom for all learners just like they taught me in my elementary education program. Maybe I did learn something in college.