Most Alive Monday: Love Notes

A lot of people have asked me if a/o how I taught Satch to read and write. I didn't teach him. He sort of figured it out on his own.

One day during a drive, he started calling out letter sounds that he recognized in words. He would say things like, "I hear two M's in mom". However, he wasn't making a connection visually...he was just sorting things out in his head. So, when we went to a family wedding in KC, MO last year I decided to get one of those Leap Frog vids as back-up entertainment, if needed, during the long drive. Well, he loved it and immediately made the connection. Then I started leaving him "secret messages" on his magnet board for him to "de-code"... simple words like "hug" etc. It wasn't long before he started leaving me a secret word. His interest in reading quickly grew so I introduced BOB books. He LOVES these books and he was very excited to be able to read by himself so we began exploring word puzzles and word games to further nurture his interest.

One Autumn weekend he told us that he wanted to pick apples, and see how a tarantula eats. So, I said, "OK, lets make a list" and I helped his sound out and write the words "apple" and "spider". Then we went to visit Ramona and we sussed out a swell orchard! Afterward, we crossed them off our to-do list!

On my birthday, three days later, he left me this message on the magnet board!

Soon after, he began writing his messages of one or two words and now he's writing simple sentences. That is how it happened...no lessons...no flashcards...no fancy computer programs. It's truly his accomplishment, not mine. I had very little to do with it.

Can I tell you that I love the way he uses a lower case i ( like my favorite poet of all time ) and how I just adore his fancy E!!!

I also love that the little Fairy Orb necklaces that I made for my favorite kidlets was featured on One Pretty Thing!

*Postscript - Two days after I wrote this diary entry, an article entitled "Children Teach Themselves to Read" appeared on the Psychology Today blog!

*About Most Alive Monday: I've decided to make at least one "most alive choice" each day and post my favorite each Monday. This, of course, is to motivate me to consciously "live juicy"! I hope you'll join me and share your "most alive moment" in the comments section so we may inspire each other.