My Accelerating Reader

I just had the pleasure of sitting and listening to Isabel read to me. For Christmas my folks got her a childhood favorite Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman. My dad used to read it with a very distinct voice for the little bird and I remember it always being a very favorite story of mine. One cannot forget the "Snort" who saves the little baby bird and returns him to his nest. Well, I have only read it once to the kids since they got the book but Isabel has enjoyed reading it on her own a number of times. While I haven't used the same voice for the little bird as Pop did I have given him a little bird voice of his own. In listening to Isabel read to me this story this afternoon it was delightful to not only hear her read with such fluency and enjoyment but to also hear her own little voice for the baby bird as he desperately looked for his mother. She has come so far and even in the last three weeks of her Christmas break she is reading like I never thought she would, at least this year. She loves to read and will often ask if she can read to me instead of me reading to her.

Along those same lines, one of her teachers, Mrs. Lewis, wrote her a lovely little note which she received in the mail a couple of days ago. Isabel loves receiving mail, it makes her feel so special, and to receive a letter from her teacher...well what could be better!? Mrs. Lewis wrote a short note thanking Isabel for the Christmas gift we gave her before break. This is now on Isabel's preferred reading list. After reading her book to me this afternoon she went to her room to rest. I told her to close her door and turn off the light, which she did most willingly, after reading through Mrs. Lewis's letter once again. She anticipates more than ever now returning to school on Monday and getting to see Mrs. Lewis. Our thanks to Mrs. Lewis for making Isabel feel so special and encouraging her in her love for reading by writing her a letter. :)