Proud Momma!

My morning began with a boost of happiness in seeing my little guy receive a great handful of awards this morning at school.  Noah's always been a good student and he's done especially well this year as a big 5th grader.  Today he received awards for honor roll and CATS testing and an assortment of others, in which he scored high marks.  He was especially proud of his Distinguished scores in reading and math.

Math was no big surprise to me, as that is his favorite subject; however, I was a very proud Mom to hear of his reading scores.  This is the area we've worked the most with him on.  As a boy, in a world filled with technology, instilling a love for reading, from an actual turn the pages book, isn't an easy task.  Thankfully, he has a wonderful teacher who was able to give us great feedback and ideas this year and we've seen huge growth in just a few short weeks.

When I was a kid, reading was just natural.  I spent my free time reading and was happy to do so.  That love, which I give credit to my mother for instilling, has carried with me throughout my life.  It's nothing to find a book I'm reading in every room of my house.  It's a past time I enjoy and one that I've tried to pass down to Noah as well.

I read to both my boys from the beginning.  I remember sitting in my Grandmother's rocking chair, which she gave me on my first pregnancy, and reading to my belly.  I could tell a difference in how both boys reacted as I read and we continued story time throughout their childhood.  When Noah began to learn to read, we enjoyed the series of books, "you read to me, I read to you," which rewrote popular fairy tales in two different colors so that the parents could read a few verses and then hear from the child.  Hearing each sentence come out of his little mouth was such a joy to me. Now, reading to Noah is a treat he gets after reading a few chapters on his own.  He catches me up on the story, which lets me know he's retaining the information, and I'll reward him by reading a chapter to him.  My reward of course, is having him snuggled in beside me as I read.

 

While I was very proud of his awards today, what brought a smile to my face was his expression and in knowing that he shared that pride.  He's at such an important age to boost self confidence and I'm glad he got a mega dose today.  As hard as he's worked, he certainly deserves all that recognition.

His sweet smile and proud little pose was the greatest joy I could imagine today!