Somehow, I realized just this week that Sophie is really shaping up to be a good student. She is perhaps the only kid I know that is her age and doesn't go to preschool (more on that subject another day, & no I don't plan to homeschool), but she's becoming addicted to letters. She asks for the cereal box so that she can "practice" her letters, and I have overheard her spelling words like "G-R-A-I-N" as we're getting lunch ready. I actually think she started this whole obsession with letters when I let her watch LeapFrog, so I'm a big fan of that show these days, of course.
Basically she's been requesting all her books that review the ABC's, so we're reading these same three books over and over, and there is a crazy amount of letter progress being made:
2. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom... you think we've read it a few times? Yes, we could definitely use it in a hardcover. :)
3.Sophie's Amazing Alphabet Adventures.
Okay, so I have to take a few minutes to review and tell you about this amazing book. I mean, perhaps we're making our child a narcissist, but perhaps it's just good, clean fun and absolutely hilarious. Basically you go to the Shutterfly site and fill in the information about your child. Add a photo of their face, order the book, and be prepared to be amazed. Every page is a different letter, and every letter has a paragraph full of alliterations that are also illustrated on the page. Each letter is written as a capital, lowercase, in both print and cursive in the corners of the page... BUT most importantly, Sophie's face is on every page doing some crazy things: kayaking, chillin' with elephants, speed ice-skating. I mean... it's the best tool for teaching letters I've ever seen. I'm no teacher so maybe I'm an easy crowd, but seriously, I'm impressed. It was one of the best gifts ever.
You know when you have your first child and they're about 18 months and you think to yourself, "gosh, they should be a lot further along in their talking..." or something, and you start to get really nervous that they'll be slow through all their classes in their future? Maybe it's just me, but I've definitely had moments of thinking that my kids may be behind in school because of this or that. This week, I could not be more encouraged about the whole learning process... and by all means, if you can learn with a hat and ballet slippers, even better!
Love,
Kate