Little Jack's CornerThe Life & Times of Jack-Evan and Family

…why we just read and read til we were silly in the head!

But seriously though, I’ve been reading Dr. Seuss’s ABC to Jack at every nap and at bedtime since Maggie was born on May 15 (it was my way of spending some extra-snuggly mommy/son quality time with him while daddy handled the baby).

This book is awesome.  It’s one of his most famous ones and starts out with “Big A, Little a, what begins with A?  Aunt Annie’s Alligator, A…a…A!!”. My mom read it to me even as I approached teenhood (we always had a mutual fondness for the humor in Dr. Suess).

So imagine this… Jack is laying in his 3-sided-crib-turned-toddler-bed tucked under his blankie and I’m snuggled up beside him with a huge pile of books beside us.  The “night night light” lamp is casting a dim glow around his yellow nursery, and cozy darkness envelops the windows.  As I lay there reading, I always point to the words that I’m reading.

Speaking of….  I can’t imagine how a child would ever learn to read if the words he is hearing during a story isn’t being pointed out to him?  My mom did this when she read to me, and I’ve always done it for Jack.  It’s so simple – just place your finger under the sentence and move it along as you read the words.  Not hard at all, really.  Yet I’ve never seen anyone else do it.  Not even at reading circle!  But yeh.  I’m a pointer.  And the ABC book is a beloved favorite that we both enjoy pointing our way through and laughing over each night!  Who’s to say bedtime can’t be educational, even for a two year old?

And that’s what our bedtime routine looks like.  Right after bathtime and one last drink of milk, we snuggle up together, just us two, and we read the night away, typically 8-10 books in a sitting.  I love it, Jack loves it, and all is right with the world.

With my son, I have great great fun!  Great great fun when the day is done! (Ok, sorry, Dr. Suess I am not.)

Other than the ABC book, a few of the current books we read night after night include “Katie the Kitten”, “Green Eggs and Ham”, “The Foot Book”, “Hand, Hand, Fingers Thumb” (can you tell I <3 Dr. Suess???), “Maisy Makes Gingerbread”, “The Owl and the Pussycat” and “Beady the Bear” (which I HIGHLY recommend as a read aloud!).

But I digress…this post was supposed to be about teaching my toddler the alphabet… right??  Anywho.

Well, at the beginning of the ABC book, we sing the alphabet song twice (because the entire alphabet appears on the front inside cover) and then we sing it twice when we finish the book (we might as well because, yet again, those crazy ABC’s appear right there on the inside back cover too!)

While reading, I also casually go over letter sounds.  We never hit all of them as I must gauge his current interest and only do as many as he prefers.  For instance I may quickly go over the sounds for A, M, T, and S and nothing more.  He absolutely loves it though.  He’s always loved the “what does ____ say?” game, so translating it into the beginning stages of reading readiness works very well for us.  I began by simply saying “A says Ah ah ah!” and “B says buh buh buh” at the beginning of the book while pointing to the letter in question.  Once in a while I’ll slip in what a letter says after reading a random page (“Look!  P says Puh Puh Puh”).  We went through this for about a week before he began to show letter recognition.  Once his recognition kicked in though, I began to ask the question “What does A say?” first and then I would wait a second to see if he would reply, if not, then I would answer the question myself and then continue with the book.

During the mid-half of the 2nd week, he began excitedly voicing many answers himself while pointing to the correct letter.  (This really excited me!)

Later that same week, I began blending sounds into words to emphasize them too, such as this line from Dr. Suess that goes “Buh” “Barber, Baby” “BUH” “Bubbles, and a BUH Bumblebee”.  As I emphasize the sound, I point out the letter and run my finger across the word I’m reading. I also began pointing out letters in our other books and in print elsewhere – for instance, I would point out the “c”, “a”, and the “t” in Pussycat while reading “The Owl and the Pussycat”.   “Look Jack!  hey!  There’s the letter A!  What does A say?”  - and he would grin, bounce, and reply “Ah ah ah”.  To him it’s a fun fun game that (currently) has very little meaning behind it.  To me, however, it’s the first itty bitty baby steps in a life long love of literature (which is my goal).

Somewhere in the 4th week, he began to actually pick up the ABC book and point out letters by himself and say the correct sound.  (Now THIS really excites his Dada!).   Jack-Evan is absolutely thrilled that there is something new in his world that he can “recognize”.   Whoohoo! He’s making connections, people.  And isn’t that what growing up is all about?

As of today, a little over 6 weeks later, he can correctly recognize, point out by himself and make the sounds for A, B, C, and P anywhere we are.   He can make the sound for S, T, and M if I point them out for him.  He can also sight read the word “Papa” (his favorite person in the world- so that came pretty easily).  Sometimes he finds letters on his own without any prompting from us.  And in all truthfulness, outside of our nap and bedtime reading sessions, I spend no time working on the alphabet with him other than the occasional moments he brings it up himself.  So the ABC book has been a great tool in encouraging both me and Jack to not only spend a little time together but to work on the alphabet as well.

One last note…if anyone was wondering, I believe in teaching a mixture of phonics and sight reading.  Phonics teaches a person how to decode the written English language, and sight reading builds speed.  They go hand in hand.