S is for ...

for the longest time, susanna has shown no interest whatsoever in learning to read.  which is totally fine with me; liam read early, but only because he wanted to.  neither chris nor i ever really taught him how to read -- he just figured it out on his own -- so we're still learning what activities and methods are effective for helping children develop reading skills.

at the kindergarten open house last week, the literacy specialist made a brief presentation to the parents, and just in that two-minute talk, i gleaned some insightful tips.  she explained how important rhyming is in terms of whole word recognition, and suggested that while we're in the car, we point out objects we see and then try to come up with words with our kids that rhyme.  she also encouraged us to sometimes point to the words in a story as we read them out loud, so that while our child hears them, she's simultaneously seeing them.  and she also recommended emphasizing the first letter in words as we say them, and then brainstorming with our child a list of other words that start with that same letter.

i realize that none of this is earth-shattering, but it wasn't anything we've been doing, so those three points in particular struck me as helpful. i took them to heart and have been trying to implement them into our everyday life when i can.

just a few days into it, and susanna is already picking up on my new approach.  she's often the first one to want to play the rhyming game, and has started to sound out short words as my finger reaches them on the page in one of her princess stories.  but the first-letter list is probably her favorite.  "i know another word that starts with P!" she'll exclaim.  or, "when D is the letter of the week at school, i'm going to bring in my doll!"

as we were winding down bedtime last night, we finished our prayers and i sang my nightly "oh susanna" to her.  but before i could turn off the light, she sat up in her bed.  "we forgot something!" she told me.  she smiled.  "and it starts with the letter S."

i retraced the steps in our nighttime routine.  she had gone to the bathroom, brushed her teeth, and put on her pajamas.  she'd placed her dirty clothes in the hamper and cleaned her room.  we'd said our prayers and sung our song.  i couldn't think of anything left -- especially something that began with S.  i told her that she was going to have to help me out on this one.

"oh mommy," she sighed.  "right there, behind you."  i turned around to see her daily allowance chart, full of magnets for the tasks she has to complete.  we call it her responsibility chart.

"that's it!" said susanna.  "my Sponsilibity Chart!"

you gotta Spect her for that one.