“Do You Wonder About God” is an accessible and engaging picture filled book for younger readers and older readers. The cited scriptures are written at a 5th to 7th-grade reading level with the story written on 2nd grade level. The book is organized in a way that is easy to follow, with alternating pages of story and supporting scriptures.
Wisdom is gained from asking questions. We are never more ignorant than when we think we have all of the answers.
For example, some Christians have ongoing disagreements about a concept they call 'predestined'
and 'foreknowlege.' However, when we break the words down, it becomes much easier to understand.
'pre' and 'fore' both mean 'first' or 'before something else. 'Destined' is a form of the verb 'destine'
and 'destiny' is the noun we use to label what we are destined to do or be at the end. So, before we
leave or go on our destiny, we know that someone, somehow determined where we would be going.(God)
'Fore' also means 'first' or 'before' 'Knowledge' is a noun label for what we know. 'Foreknowledge'
is something we know BEFORE something else happens. You might know, or have a pretty good
idea about many events before they occur. For example, when we see clouds and smell rain in the air,
we might predict it is going to rain and sure enough, it rains shortly after that. You did not cause the
rain, but you knew it would rain because of the indicators that you observed. You had 'foreknowledge.'
With 'predestination' you may know someone who keeps making straight A's on tests. The individual
has solid study skills, gets A's all of the time and is well liked. Since you know that 'pre' indicates 'first' or
'before' then you know something came first. As we continue we note that 'destiny' is in the word 'destination'.
Your friend with straight A's would appear to be 'destined' for something. Since you have some
experiences and have observed what happens to others who make straight A's on tests, then you
likely know there is a high likelihood that this student will be successful in their career later in life.
We used the vocabulary from the verses to draw conclusions.
Next we look at the sentence forms used when 'foreknowledge' and 'predestination' are put within
the same sentence.
Romans chapter 8 and verse 28 states:
For whom He foreknew, [Because God knew who, before or first, even before they were born]
He also predestined to be conformed [God caused the person to have a specific destiny]
to the image of His Son, [that destiny is to be conformed to looking like Jesus, God's Son]
that He might be the firstborn [do is the first of many --brethren -- related to each other like brothers]
among many brethren.
This verse indicates that God knows ahead of time what people will choose to do
before [they do it] they perform the action of selecting Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
foreknows] This thought also matches other statements such as Ephesians chapter 1
and verse 11 "In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according
to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will," Verse 28
tells us that God knew 'before' which people would accept Jesus as their living Lord
and savior. Then it also tells us that the people He knew would choose Jesus to be
their Lord, then they would become like Jesus ['conformed to the image'], and that is their destiny;
When we use this line of thought, and look at the phrase 'phonemic training,' we can draw some logical conclusions.
First, we need to know what a phoneme is. The word phoneme is the term used when referring to a unit of sound within a word.
Note that a phoneme is a specific type of sound. It is a sound within a word.
Why is Phonemic Training Important or Even Useful?
We know that words, when written, appear as a sequence of letters on paper. BUT, before there were words on paper, there were spoken words. AND spoken words are composed of sounds. Spoken words are comprised of strands of phonemes in a specific order to create multitudes of words.
There are 44 sounds [phonemes] in the English language.
When we pick and choose between phonemes and line them up in different ways, we can create any word in the language. When speaking, we don't think about letters or phonics rules. We are only thinking about sounds. HOWEVER, as in any language, some phonemes do not 'sit' beside each other.
What do I mean by that?
Well, can YOU name a word that begins with "LW" or "BS"? It is simply not easy, nor practical, to say these sounds together and in that order.
Did you ever think about how a foreign language sounds to the unfamiliar listener?
When we hear a foreign language, the words and sentences all run together. It isn't easy, if we can at all, to determine where one word ends and the next one begins when we hear a speaker fluently speaking in a language we do not know.
When children are born, their auditory nervous systems are immature. Babies, of course, do not talk. Infants begin to coo and smile when only a few weeks old, but it takes time for them to develop precision in reaching, grasping, or even visual acuity because the nervous system is maturing. Just as the abilities to grasp and see clearly are developing, so is the ability to hear individual words and phonemes within words. The areas of the brain that process, interpret, and assign meaning to sound waves delivered through the ears and the auditory nerve are gradually learning to process the patterns of phonemes received. Meaning is attached to these patterns. Rules about which phonemes are allowed to 'sit next to each other', how words are assembled into sentences, and grammar rules [when to use 'is' or 'are', etc.] are all learned as the brain processes the auditory signals delivered through the ears by the auditory nerve. When the nervous system fails to recognize phonemes in words, then phonemic training is beneficial.
"Repeated Reading" is what it states – reading the same passage repeatedly.
Fluent reading is essential for developing comprehension. When kids take a while to sound out words, by the time they have figured the word out, they forget much of what the rest of the sentence was about. They may recall a portion of the information, but forget or miss subtle words like 'not', 'before', or 'after', which can change the entire meaning of a sentence or paragraph!
Phonics is a sound-to-letter-based rule system. Before learning phonics rules, children must first know the letters of the alphabet by name and by the most common sound each represents. Phonic rule letter patterns rely on other sounds in the words.
Phonemic awareness, the understanding that words are made up of connected sounds called ‘phonemes’, is a crucial foundation for reading development.
cat, cut, cub, cob, rob, rub, sub, tub, tab, tap, top, etc.
so matching the correct vowel letter or letters to the correct vowel tone is difficult without memorizing word spelling.You may not distinguish between voiced and voiceless consonant sounds, which may cause you to confuse the sounds of */p/ and /b/, /t/ and /d/, /k/ and /g/, /sh/ and /ch/, /th/ as in think and /th/ as in /that/, and/or /s/ and /z/. *[/ / indicates a sound, ' ' indicates a letter.]
WHEN we do not follow the rules, then we do not win or lose the game. Instead, we simply play until the players tire of the game. Rules establish the way we play and how to know when we are finished. Rules help us know who wins and who loses. When the rules are not followed, who wins the game?
Sierra was a typical, struggling 3rd-grade reader. She was reading at a late first-grade reading level in the middle of 3rd grade. She did not have a diagnosis of dyslexia or a history of speech or language problems. She loved to write stories. Her sentences were good, but her spelling was poor. She struggled to write many words because she could not spell them. So, she tried only to write words she could spell, which limited her word choices when writing. Anyone reading her stories found it hard to read some of her writing. She avoided homework with her parents. [wait…can I do it later?...you’re not doing it right [to her parent] …. why…I already did it...I don’t have to do it…I forgot…]
Wisdom has foresight and distinguishes truth from falsehood. It enables one to distinguish between what is genuine and what is fake. Intellect enables us to accumulate a wealth of knowledge; however, unless we can connect our knowledge to various situations and problems, and use it to its full value in avoiding problems or finding solutions, then knowledge is merely a collection of facts. What purpose will knowledge achieve if we can't use it for judging what is true from false, genuine from fake, objective from biased? How can knowledge be applied to decision-making without these discerning factors?
"Repeated Reading" is what it states – reading the same passage repeatedly.
Fluent reading is essential for developing comprehension. When kids take a while to sound out words, by the time they have figured the word out, they forget much of what the rest of the sentence was about. They may recall a portion of the information, but forget or miss subtle words like 'not', 'before', or 'after', which can change the entire meaning of a sentence or paragraph!
Phonics is a sound-to-letter-based rule system. Before learning phonics rules, children must first know the letters of the alphabet by name and by the most common sound each represents. Phonic rule letter patterns rely on other sounds in the words.
Phonemic awareness, the understanding that words are made up of connected sounds called ‘phonemes’, is a crucial foundation for reading development.
cat, cut, cub, cob, rob, rub, sub, tub, tab, tap, top, etc.
so matching the correct vowel letter or letters to the correct vowel tone is difficult without memorizing word spelling.You may not distinguish between voiced and voiceless consonant sounds, which may cause you to confuse the sounds of */p/ and /b/, /t/ and /d/, /k/ and /g/, /sh/ and /ch/, /th/ as in think and /th/ as in /that/, and/or /s/ and /z/. *[/ / indicates a sound, ' ' indicates a letter.]
WHEN we do not follow the rules, then we do not win or lose the game. Instead, we simply play until the players tire of the game. Rules establish the way we play and how to know when we are finished. Rules help us know who wins and who loses. When the rules are not followed, who wins the game?
Sierra was a typical, struggling 3rd-grade reader. She was reading at a late first-grade reading level in the middle of 3rd grade. She did not have a diagnosis of dyslexia or a history of speech or language problems. She loved to write stories. Her sentences were good, but her spelling was poor. She struggled to write many words because she could not spell them. So, she tried only to write words she could spell, which limited her word choices when writing. Anyone reading her stories found it hard to read some of her writing. She avoided homework with her parents. [wait…can I do it later?...you’re not doing it right [to her parent] …. why…I already did it...I don’t have to do it…I forgot…]
