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A threenager of letters
By hissychick | April 20, 2008
As I have mentioned more than once in passing, I harbour no aspirations to be a writer. There is the matter of a lack of talent, as well as an unwillingness to turn my gaze inwards and search for the right words to convey my feelings in a profound manner. I freely admit that as a person susceptible to anxiety I have found a certain degree of liberation in focusing on the humorous side of the human condition in order to keep the fiend at bay.
I digress.
What I am is a passionate reader. You name it, I’ll devour it. From blogs to trashy mags, from chick lit to literature, from newspapers to weighty peer reviewed scientific journals, I am a shameless whore for poetry and prose, ideas, facts and beautifully written pieces by others that capture emotion and aspects of this funny thing called life.
Which is why I am so very excited to report that A is at the beginning of her journey towards what I hope is the discovery of the sheer joy of reading. Of late she has been fixated with letters. It started with whole word recognition of her beloved numbers, and she can readily recognise one through to ten. It then moved into asking what individual letters are, and has now progressed to the spelling of words. There is almost an audible hum of energy in the air from the creation of new neural pathways in her brain as A attempts to find the patterns in the letters and sounds underpinning the words that she so desperately wants to read and understand.
Being the perfectionist that she is- nothing to do with her genetic heritage or her own mother’s modelled behaviours, ahem- A has started with simple baby Spot books, ones which have a single word on each page and are based around a common theme such as colours or animals. Her sense of achievement as she recognises letters that she has seen previously is immense, as is mine. Most exciting of all she is starting to use the sounding out of words to deduce which letters are forming the word she is focusing on. It is, not so slowly but ever so surely, starting to click for my girl.
One day, when A is ready, the puzzle will be complete and she will read. I hope that I am there to witness her miraculous induction into Club Literate and the world that this opens up for her, a magical place where the written word can convey all manner of ideas, give flight to imagination, a sense of connection with others through their writing and what it means to be alive and human.
But there’s no rush or pressure. For now I simply want to share the joy of discovery with my clever daughter, and quietly rejoice in the fact that A is undertaking this huge developmental leap in her own way and of her own volition.
Crackle. Snap.
Topics: I'm a Mum, hi ho A is on the go | 7 Comments »
I think that is just great! Totally superb.
As for your writing….it’s pretty “inward” given the ones you have written in your blog…
Ann’s last blog post..A heartbreak….unfinished
Posted by: Ann on April 21st, 2008 at 2:13 amPoint taken Ann. I just don’t want to take myself too seriously, hence the plethora of silly little rants and amusing anecdotes too.
I wonder what A and E will make of it all in the future…
Posted by: hissychick on April 21st, 2008 at 5:13 amI am loving the learning to read stage as well. We’ve not found it so much as a cataclysmic bang; a trip and “ooer I can read!” sort of journey, but lots of stumbling baby steps. The excitement though and sense of achievement is awesome.
Posted by: Jenn on April 21st, 2008 at 5:43 amYou’ve summed it up beautifully Jenn. As you always do of course!
Posted by: hissychick on April 21st, 2008 at 6:27 amMy little cousin is just beginning to read. She is around four years old. She gets excited when she recognizes a word or letter also. This is an exciting time I’m sure.
Crystal’s last blog post..Praying for a better week
Posted by: Crystal on April 21st, 2008 at 11:32 amWonderful!!
Micah recognizes letters but usually just wants Mommy to read because he has not the patience to try figure it out yet…but a day will come when there will be that “cataclysmic bang” as Jenn said, so we are also waiting with anticipation to see that magic happen!
Moomykin’s last blog post..Tricky B&B Qs
Posted by: Moomykin on April 22nd, 2008 at 8:48 amThat’s great!
My 3yr+5mth Caitlin started preschooling this year. They are only up to letter ‘g’ at the moment, but she is still having trouble remembering letters ‘a’ and ‘b’ sometimes…
What does “banana” start with?
Hmm?
“Buuhhhh”.. Buh-nana….. what letter starts like this: Buhhh…?
errr… ‘a’?
JLow’s last blog post..Mind your p’s and q’s, young lady!
Posted by: JLow on April 22nd, 2008 at 1:27 pm