Whether I’m wearing my teacher or parent hat, I find one of the most exciting things about child development is their acquisition of language.
At the end of June, Little Ironman was barely reading. He was only 5 1/2 and showed very little interest in books. One of my summer goals was to get him to an early grade 1 level by the time school started in September.
Now in November, LI loves to read and sounds out or reads everything he can. One of his favorite treats has become a trip to Chapters. With hours of report card writing on my horizon, I took him there last Saturday night, hoping that he would find a thick book that would distract him for the rest of the weekend (and, yes, when we have the perfect book, he will get lost in it for hours). While waiting for big brother, Skipper, to pick out his own book, I listened to LI as he read book titles at the store entrance.
“Siiiix On The Moon,” he sounded out. One day, he’ll learn that there isn’t an ‘e’ in six.
And sure enough, as LI’s reading is improving, so is his vocabulary. Today after school, he was a tad impatient and wanted me to hurry. “Hurry, Mom,” he said. “Hurry like you’re a marathon.”
Once again, it wasn’t worth clarifying but he sure made me smile.
