Haiku #6 Reading the Berenstain Bears

When I was a little girl, the one thing I could always get my parents to buy me was a book.  My Mom and Dad had a distinct passion for reading and I on the other hand, dragged my feet.  I liked reading but, it was kind of boring.  But, then I discovered the Berenstain Bear family and all their ridiculous adventures!  And since we frequented the book store and Book Mobile often, I ended up owning many bear books and reading the rest from the library.  It was brilliant.

Then, I had my own little girls and they fell in love with the Bear family too.  The books teach good morals, help me parent through things like "the gimmies," and now some of the newer ones focus on the Christian bible stories for Easter and Christmas. It has been a lovely opportunity to have my girls read some of my old books.

But the true joy has come when I get to watch my kindergartner read all by herself.  I was a Kindergarten teacher a long time ago, and I always loved that moment when my student would sound something out and then a spark would fly as a word was understood.  The sounds came together and like magic, there was the word!  I love seeing my daughter do the same thing.  And with how confusing the English language is, it is a miracle anyone can follow it and understand it at all.

Here is a haiku about reading with my daughter.

Learning to Read
by Kate Cowan

Her finger follows,
letters, rules, and sounds woven
like music played sweet.