Moments that make me smile

I absolutely LOVE being around kids...well, during certain moments. :) ...and today was one of those moments.

I went downstairs to the After-School Academy to get some footage of the mural the kids designed, drew, and are now painting. (I'll put it together in a post soon). As I stood watching three of the kids paint, one of the other kids stood beside me. Quite honestly, I wasn't paying him any attention whatsoever. I was focused on the mural painting for one, but I've also learned to ignore his antics at times when he decides to act out. So I guess I was unconsciously tuning him out.

I can't quite explain my brain, but I could hear him talking, but it was little one or two word phrases so I guess I thought he was just talking to himself figuring someone would notice and tell him to be quiet or something (that's the way he often gets the attention he desires). Something in my brain told me what he was saying was familiar, but I guess I was just too focused on other things to pay him any mind.

"Hey. Who?"

"Oh?"

"Me?"

"You."

"Yo.Yes."

His words somehow soaked in to my brain and I realized what he was doing! I turned on my heel and faced him with a big smile on my face. He looked at me with a big grin and said, "I saw it."

See, on our After-School Academy blog I post a Story Time section that I or someone else has read to our Flip video camera and I have posted on YouTube. I started it thinking of Reading Rainbow and thought we could use our technology to re-create something similar. I didn't know if it would catch on, but I figured it couldn't hurt and it doesn't take a lot of effort.

Yo! Yes! has been up quite a while. I'd never heard any kids comment on the story so I didn't know if they were listening to it. Evidently some are. ...so much so that they've memorized the words to it. This particular little guy has, at times, been one of our biggest challenges. Either the book, the readers, the computer, or all of the above drew him in. It doesn't matter what it was that drew him in. We all know that reading books leads to improvement in all areas. Since he started with us last summer, I've seen all kinds of improvement in him. This is just one more moment to add to the list. :)

Yo! Yes! is one of my favorite children's books. I'm sure you'll love it, too. You can listen to it here: