Learning to read... alongside my kids.

My kids are 4, so letters (and pre reading) are high on their list of interests. I love this about my children, for the record. I love reading time, beyond words. I revel in the fact that my kids now ignore the phone when it rings during our reading/cuddle time. They used to look up, but they quickly learned that mommy doesn’t interrupt that precious time unless there is an urgent call expected. That’s why we have an answering machine. They even took to saying “Don’t worry. Mommy will call them later” when the ringing began.

Sometimes my kids will bring me book after book, and demand that I read it to them. I could not ask for a more wonderful chore.  They, being so active these days, don’t let me cuddle them nearly often enough for my tastes. When we read, however, they never complain. (Insert happy sigh here)

Those of you that follow my blog will know that I have been studying Korean. I’m a language geek, so taking up a new language is completely consistent with who I am. The fact that I have, for the most part, studied romance languages in the past didn’t put me off. Neither did the fact that Korean requires mastery of a different alphabet. I figured, hey… what the hell? It’s an adventure. Right?

Wow. It’s not easy. Like, really not easy.  I’m not complaining. I’m just saying. My brain is getting a workout. 

So, last week… picture the scene. 

I’m sitting at my kitchen table, studying. My Korean books are spread out in front of me. My kids, no longer taking consistent naps, have been thwarting my study time. Humph.  Sitting across the table from me, they are busy with their coloring books. They are happily devouring page after page with the help of a little crayola magic. It’s learning time for everyone. 

So, there I am, practicing reading, when I realize my kids are repeating what I’m saying. And they’re not bad. My daughter, curious, leans over to see my book. 

Her: “Mommy, what are you reading?

Me: “I’m reading my school book.”

Her: (with a quizzical expression). “Mommy, what are those letters?”

Me: (amused) “They are Korean letters”.

Him (my son): “Korean letters?”

Me: “yes, Korean letters. The letters for people who speak Korean”

Her: (pointing to the word search page in her activity coloring book)”What kind of letters are my letters?”

Me: (impressed)” They are English letters”

Her:  “oh”

Her: (after another moment of thought) “mommy, who speaks Korean?”
Me:  “There is a place called Korea, far away. People there speak Korean. “

I also commented on the Korean friends we have, explaining that their families used to live there, so they still speak like the people who still live there.

Her and him: “oh, ok”. 

She then proceeded to ask me what every letter was, alternating between my book and hers. My son, less inclined to question, listened and watched intently and repeated everything I said gleefully. I thought the whole event was pretty darn cool and I was very glad that it happened. For two very different reasons.

First, I love that both my kids are interested in books and learning. I am thrilled that they see the world around them, are invested in understanding it, and see books as a connection to that learning process. It’s awesome. While a more peaceful study session might have been nice, on one level, do I really want them to not care? Of course not. I may even raise linguists. 

Second, and equally importantly, is that I really GET what it’s like for them to learn to read. Letters, and the sounds they make, are totally arbitrary. The fact that I, an English speaker, see the A and hear “aaaaaahhhhh” is due to the fact that the culture I live in told me so. In Korean, the shape that resembles the capital letter E actually sounds like “T”. And why shouldn’t it? Is there anything about that combination and shape of lines that sounds like E? Nope, not really. Totally random, except for the fact that a bunch of us, in one place, agree on using it that way. 

I must remember this as my kids approach the reading phase, as they struggle to sound out words. I must remind myself to be patient, to not hurry them. To allow them to the processing time they need to say the words that are encoded on the paper before them. 

And I can’t wait for them to love reading on their own as they get older.