Sound it Out

Max is learning to read! We just started a simple reading program that takes about 15 minutes a day, and he has really been enjoying it. So far, he has learned the sounds for 'm', 's', 't', 'a', and 'e'. His favorite part, though, is the writing practice at the end of each lesson. I think it probably has to do with the fact that we use the whiteboard. Whiteboard markers are so much more fun than pencils!

A couple of days ago, after practicing some individual letters, he asked me if I could teach him how to write some words. Using the letters he's been working on, I first came up with "mat", then "sat". He sounded out the words after I wrote them and then did his best to copy them himself. Then suddenly a light bulb went off in my head! I carefully wrote the letters "m...a....s...t" on the board and asked him to sound them out.

"Mmmmaaaaasssssst," he said. "Ok, now say it fast." "Mast." then his eyes lit up as he realized what he had just said. "Mast! MAST!!" He had just learned to read his first pirate word!

If that's not motivation to learn to read more, I don't know what is. Now he's itching to learn all of the letter sounds so that he can read "sail" and "pirate" and "shark" and "eyepatch". I think this may have been his first glimpse into the power that reading will give him. I can't wait until he can start reading to me!