Life Down Under

Somebody is learning how to read!

Taylor has had a steady interest in letters and phonics since, well, about the time she was 2 (Thanks to Leap Frog's "Letter Factory" DVD and fridge phonics ~ the absolute best toy ever). But the learning curve has risen sharply in the last couple of weeks, mostly in terms of learning how to write the letters of the alphabet. Every time I turn around, it seems that she has a pen or pencil or marker or crayon in hand, asking me how to spell a certain word, so that she can practice writing the letters. She can now write her name (very well, too, I might add).

The learning curve has also risen sharply when it comes to reading. I've read a bedtime story to Taylor every night before bed, since, well, long before she could even talk. Recently she's been into Curious George (like mother, like daughter. He was my favorite when I was a kid!). For Christmas this past year, Nana bought her a large hardcover Curious George collection, with all the original Curious George stories in it. So what have we been reading every night before bed for months? Curious George, of course! The last couple weeks, she has started pointing to words on the pages as I've been reading, trying to guess/sound out what word it was. So, what I started doing recently was being a bit more deliberate to focus her curiousity in words, and at the end of every page, I'll point to a word, have her sound it out, and see if she can figure out what it is. Tonight, she was doing amazing ~ sounding out and reading all sorts of 3-letter words, such as "hat", "man", "him", "his", "and", "bag", "big", "zoo", etc. She was so proud of herself ~ absolutely beaming with every new word that she was able to read. And of course, Mommy was proud, too!