Jaden sat at the kitchen table, swinging his feet while his iPad waited in front of him. His reading lesson waited on the screen. But Jaden wasn’t feeling ready for it yet.
He scrunched his nose. “Dad… this is too hard.” Dad pulled up a chair beside him. “Let’s take it one step at a time,” he said.
Jaden tapped the next word. It popped up in big, friendly letters. But the letters still felt wiggly and confusing.
“I wish the words would just read themselves,” Jaden muttered. Dad chuckled. “If only they could.”
Jaden leaned back in his chair and stared at the iPad. He looked at Dad. Then back at the iPad. “Nope. Still too hard.”
Dad thought for a moment. “Do you want to try a trick?” he asked. Jaden’s eyes lit up—he loved tricks. “What kind?”
“Let’s make this word a little adventure,” Dad said. “You read it, and I’ll follow along.” Jaden nodded slowly.
He tapped the word again. The word appeared: hop. Jaden puffed out his cheeks and read it in the silliest voice ever invented.
Dad burst into a laugh. “There you go!” Jaden giggled. “That wasn’t so bad.”
“Try the next one,” Dad encouraged. Another word popped up: sun. Jaden read it slowly, “S…un.”
His smile grew a little. Dad nudged him. “See? You’re doing it.” Jaden felt a warm spark of pride grow in his chest.
Then came a bigger word. Jaden froze. “I can’t,” he whispered.
Dad leaned closer. “It’s okay to feel stuck. Let’s just try.” The letters looked less scary now—more like they were waiting for him.
Jaden tried once and stumbled. He tried again with Dad pointing to the sounds. This time, he read the whole word.
“I DID IT!” Jaden shouted. Dad grinned. “You didn’t give up.”
The rest of the lesson went faster. Some words were easy, some were tricky. But Jaden kept trying.
When he finished, he leaned back with a proud sigh. Dad ruffled his hair. “I knew you could do it, buddy!”
Jaden tapped the iPad off. “Reading is kind of like a game,” he said. “A hard game. But a fun one.”
Dad nodded. “And every time you don’t give up, you get better.” Jaden smiled and said, "Yup, I know. Soon I'll be ready better than you Papa!"
The end