SQUIRMY KIDS!

Have you ever wondered why a kid that is reading something, stops reading and starts playing with a pencil? Or sits there and is bored? Or is squirmy one way or the other?

My experience is one with a kid that was throwing his pencil in the air. He was doing it for a few minutes, so I went over to see what was going on with him.

I got the book he was reading, and went over the last page he read. The page read: "Ann can get wet." I had him read it out loud to me. After he read it, I asked him, "What is the definition of 'Ann'?" He told me, "It's a girl. " I said, " That is correct." Then I asked him, "What is the definition of, 'can'?" He said, " That is something food comes in. " I said, "Yes" but I told him there is another definition to "can."

I got a children's dictionary and let him look at all the definitions to "can." After he found the correct definition to "can" he went back and read, "Ann can get wet" and he understood it and drew a picture of Ann getting wet and he was good as gold for the next hour of reading and enjoying.

This boy was 4 years old at the time and the book has the child draw what they just read, so you know they understand it. This is where I got the idea for all my books that I have written.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to see kids really know what they are learning and enjoy it?