and suddenly it all made sense

The child in this photo has been practicing letter sounds and symbols at school for over 2 years.

He's blended, rhymed, segmented, traced, matched...

I spent the last year searching for new ways to keep him interested and excited about language.

{Sometimes I get fired-up about something - like reading, and I have to remind myself, "Follow the child, Anne, follow the child!"}

Believe me, I was following this child!
He would drop everything to play a language game!
He would invite me to play language games!
{The kid loves to rhyme so much, he was named "The Rhyme-Master" at the end of the school year potluck.}

The pieces were all there, but they hadn't quite fit together yet...

Until today!!!!!!!!!!!!
He was like a word-building maniac!
{He told me he was going for the Guinness Book of World Records.}

The way he worked - with joy, pride, and purpose,
gave me goosebumps.

I just wanted to share this feeling, and to say,
{I'm sure you already know this!}
it is SO important to have patience with children...
you never know when or where they'll reveal their gifts!