Learning to read, learning to trust

Ya know...this unschooling thing really works. And every so often, I get truly blown away by the wonder within the process and the creative brilliance within children!

Since my son was an infant, he loved books. First he loved to chew on them. Once he turned 1, he loved to make paper mache' out of them(That was hard for me actually, before I knew what had happened he'd ripped up 3 of my favorite brand new books. Good lesson though, try to buy used, and once thy are older, go to the library!) What's been constant is he's always loved to be read to. So, we read to him all the time. This may sound odd, but I began to get concerned about how much he liked us to read to him. Literally, my 1 1/2 year old could sit through hours of reading, take a break and then want more. I was concerned he wasn't doing enough creative play. He loved to be outside and played hard when we were, but inside, he wasn't interested in his toys at all, just books. I went out and bought a bunch of toys that I felt would inspire him to "play" more. He took no interest. Only wanted books. His deep fixation on books began to lessen a bit, and come closer to my range of comfort, but he has, up to the present been having a real love affair with books.

Fast forward a bit to about 3 months ago, he started taking interest in the alphabet. Up until this time, I "allowed" my son to regulate his own T.V. And he was able (for the most part) to stay within the parameters of my comfort level. I began to notice he started wanting more T.V., I also began to notice discussions with my husband about regulating it. I was really triggered by the frequency of his desire to watch it(still am if I'm honest.)and the length of time he could sit there if I "let him." I noticed that his one time favorite show, Curious George, began to take the back burner to shows which focused on learning to read like, Super Why, Word World and most recently, Between the lions.

I noticed initially he would just watch the shows intently. I would sit and watch with him and try to get him to watch less passively, but to no avail. I was starting to get unnerved by it. I mean he would, in my mind, get sucked in.

At the same time Sage began to create games that taught him the alphabet. For instance, we have a Dr. Seuss Alphabet book and some alphabet magnets on the fridge. While someone reads to him each letter out of the book, he goes and picks the corresponding letter off of the Fridge. Another game was "Scrabble" He found the board and letters, dumped the letters on the floor and would ask me to spell things. To my utter amazement, he began to sound out the letters as I put them on the scrabble board.

I started noticing that he stopped watching the t.v. as passively and began to answer the questions posed on Super Why or would shout out what certain letters spelled on Word World. He's recently been watching Between the Lions and I notice he watches that show much more intently as he used to watch the others (That show is a bit more complicated.)

My son is teaching himself to read, his way. It is truly a wonder to watch. It has been really hard to allow him to watch t.v without regulating it. I've been going back and forth a lot on it. When I think about the entirety of Sage's day, he spends hours playing outside. He enjoys doing some sort of art project each day and loves to put together puzzles (particularly with his Noni or Uncle Jay). He adores trains and plays with them all the time. We go to museums, the beach, festivals, and farms. He loves to pick strawberries, study beetles he finds in the back yard and swing on his swing in the backyard while asking "Mom, what bird is making that sound?" Or "Mom, can you hear lizards! (We have lots of lizards in our backyard and they scurry around through the leaves on the ground.).) In the fullness that is his life, t.v. is but a small (yet significant) part. It isn't like he spends hours in school and then plunks himself in front of the boob tube to veg out. Sage is using t.v. as a tool. And I have to really look at my triggers and ask myself if concern is really warranted or if he is doing exactly what he needs to to nourish himself.

I am still battling this one. So is my husband. Currently we regulate the t.v. I notice he asks for it more now. I want try to not regulate it and see how it plays out, but I am fearful of it and while my husband supports my desire try, I don't think he agrees with me. This is where it's at right now. So hard letting go of this one. but I am trying to mindfully work my way through.