Literacy Update

That was the very first time he saw that word list, as I had just composed it.

As I've mentioned recently, these days I'm trying to get my son improved in the *word* department, with some emphasis on spelling. So when I am idle at the park or the library - while other parents and guardians socialize, thumb-type, or mouth-breathe - I take out paper and scribble down 25-word lists that I figure to be on the fringe of his capabilities. Then each day I have him transcribe a different list into his notebook. Only he has to do this my way. First he reads the entire list. Then, he has to write the words out 3 or 4 letters at a time, while sounding each group out. Otherwise, he'd just mindlessly copy the word one letter at a time - wasting a whole lot of time and energy. I've found this to be a great exercise because he learns words, spelling, and handwriting all at once. My son's memory is staggering. All he has to do is see a word once or twice and he just about owns it.

While I know that my 4.80 year old son is on about a 4th grade math level now, I have no idea what *level* he's reading at. And since my wife does the reading with him at night, I had no idea that he'd become so literate.

As for my daughter, the 3.25 year old Princess....she can spell her name (all 9 letters); and she can spell "mom", "dad", her brother's name, and "cat" at the moment. I've just now got her typing out *rhyming lists* like "at, bat, cat, fat, hat....all, ball, call, fall, mall, tall." They say that girls are far more precocious than boys in the beginning. And we see some real evidence thereof in our daughter so it will be interesting to compare her progress against the Prince's at similar ages.

I just can't imagine that she'll take a higher trajectory - but one never knows.