Jacob, the Director

It is always a happy time whenever Ed picks Jacob from his school and he stays with us until his dad gets him. Yesterday was one of those days. We thought he was asleep but as Ed started to lay him down on the sofa he got loose from Ed's hold and jerkily stood up and declared: "I"m hungry!" I just got tagged by Rachel as one of the nominees for The Thinking Blogger Awards and was really looking forward to choosing and writing about my own list. (one of the commitment I have to make is to nominate 5 bloggers more). That had to be postponed. As I was cutting up his apple - a prelude to his dinner, I heard him talking to himself. I peeked and what I saw brought a big smile to my face. He was teaching himself to read! He had already memorized how each letter sounds and was now combining the sounds of three letters together - by himself!!! After his reading moment, he suddenly shifted to being a director. It is amazing to note that he has almost memorized the conversations in the tapes that he views at home! This time, he wanted me to play the role of Jonah and he of Khalil. When I teasingly called him by his name, he would correct me emphatically: "No, Jonah! I am Khalil!" Then I pretended to be falling asleep, and right away he would nudge me saying: "Wake up, Jonah! We have to go." He even had a dialogue for me to follow. He would say a sentence and I had to repeat it exactly as he said it or he would say: "No, Jonah, you have to say......" complete with facial expression and all. He finished his dinner but our drama continued until his dad arrived. This episode reminded me of a paragraph in one of the articles I was reading this morning:

If you display an effort in learning instead of waiting for someone to teach you, you will always be ahead of the curve, especially in recognizing and determining your own future.

Harry Brockwell, VP, ACF