Frustrations of an Beginning Reader

I think this is just one of those days when Jamie woke up on the wrong side of the bed. This morning he was mad about his pants. After school he wanted to read me a book. We sat down on the couch and he read to me, but he's a very beginning reader. He doesn't even have his lower case letters down pat yet. He writes exclusively in upper case.

As he read, there were many words that he did not know. He became so frustrated and angry. I would tell him the word and sound it out for him, which just made him more angry. I finally made him take a few minutes to calm down. He cried the whole time. I came back and sat down with him and he finished the rest of the book, mostly calm.

It must be so hard to be on the cusp of knowing how to read and write. There's an amazing world that you can almost touch, but not quite. You're proud of your budding abilities, but upset and frustrated by what you are still lacking. I don't know how to make this any easier for him. I don't know if every child gets as frustrated as he does. I don't remember the girls experiencing this, but I don't remember the girls ever having a love of books like he does. I know neither of them were reading at his age, but they didn't have anyone there to read to them on a daily basis. Brianna learned in first grade and Dynisha learned in Kindergarten. I think Jamie is going to really blossom over the summer.