"Reading"

I have been avoiding my blog because I feel pressure for it to be interesting, have pictures etc.  I have decided I am just going to blog for me and not worry about what I am saying or if it is a "good" blog.

Everly is simply blossoming and I am realizing that I really have to start talking to her and treating her differently.  She seems to understand SO much and I think I have been underestimating her.

We dropped the doing a theme for each week and I have just been really mindful of using language that will help her learn.  For example I try to constantly mention colours, how things work, what season it is etc.  This approach is working beautifully.  The week we did the letter A and the colour green she learned orange, and purple, and started recognizing several letters that did not include A.  Thus the end to any sort of structured approach.

During that week I noticed that she is able to match letters with ease.  So I thought I would just see if she could match words.  I wrote Mommy, Daddy, Everly and Nanny (her grandma) each on 2 pieces of paper.  I told her what they said and she matched them with ease.  Of course I was really proud and she seemed to enjoy it so we played word matching with other words.  The next time we did it, she didn't want to match... she wanted to "read" all the words to me.  I couldn't believe that she could remember all the words!!  She doesn't even recognize all the letters of the alphabet.  She does have a harder time deciphering words that start with the same letter but she can do it with a bit of thought.

For my own record she can now recognize:

1. Nanny
   
2. Mommy
   
3. Daddy
   
4. Everly
   
5. Amelia
   
6. Siri
   
7. Kathy
   
8. Faraz
   
9. Grampy
   
10. Nanny
    
11. Batman
12. Bum Bum (sometimes)
13. Ballet (sometimes)
14. Baby (sometimes)
15. Madelyn

She now brings me blank cue cards and asks me to write words on them.  I write whatever she wants (that is where Bum Bum) came from. :P  Then we decorate them with stickers and she writes on them and finally she will cut them all up. 

I guess for now I will just keep writing words on cue cards for her if she wants, and I also thought she might benefit from my pointing out environmental text, like STOP on stop signs etc.

I found a leap frog Fridge Phonics and Word Whammer for $20 on craigslist.  I am going to pick them up tomorrow.  I thought it might help her learn the sounds of the letters, in a way that is fun.

This has also renewed my interest in Starfall which I think I will let her do a few times a week.

I don't want to be some pushy mom, but at the same time I want to make sure I am creating a rich environment for her.  I know I always mention this but it is something I am always worrying about.

OPPS! I uploaded the wrong video.. and after waiting 15 minutes it is going to stay right here. 

Here she is dancing.  She is totally obsessed.