Learning to read in the modern era.

[rivka]

Alex decided that she wanted to read one of her bedtime books herself, tonight. She studied the cover very carefully. Then she pointed at a word.

"This has a B and a K. It says 'Becky.' " (Becky is our Director of Religious Education at church, and Alex absolutely worships her.)

"B-O-O-K, it says 'book,'" I told her.

"Starts with a B, like Becky," she said.

"It sure does," I said.

"This is an E for 'Alex',"[1] she went on, "And this is a G... for 'Google.' "




[1] (She does know that 'Alex' doesn't start with E, but she persistently identifies all of the letters in her name as being most famous for their role in that word. It's L for 'Alex' and X for 'Alex' too.)

Comments

[patgreene.livejournal.com]

That's just *priceless.*

[melebeth]

G is for Google, that's good enough for me!

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

See, I'd like to know the story behind how she knows what google is. :-)

-J

[rivka.livejournal.com]

It's my home page, so she sees it any time she sits on my lap at the computer to look at pictures on Flickr or play online games.

When she started being all excited by letters, as soon as I brought up a browser window she'd point and say "G!" Then I would tell her, "Yes, that says 'Google.' "

I don't think she actually knows what Google is, more's the pity.

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

I don't think she actually knows what Google is, more's the pity.

Oh, she will. Sooner than you think! ;-)

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

She's going to blogging in her own right within a year, I reckon.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

Cool!

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

She makes me ovulate. I swear.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

Are you SURE that she just turned 2?

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

Oh, dear ghods.

That's definitely better than one of my early reading experiments, where I looked at the handle on the toilet and carefully spelled out "E-L-J-E-R, spells flush!"

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

Elena has wooden letters on her wall that spell out her name, so those were the first letters she knew, and she's been able to recognize her name forever as a result.

Nearly every time I pull up the page for my gmail account, she announces "Big G!"

[bibliotrope.livejournal.com]

"And this is a G... for 'Google.' "

Ah, literacy in the 21st Century!

I think I learned to read largely -- maybe even mostly -- from TV, though, so I believe it's totally possible that she knows "G for Google" even at 2, even if all she knows *about* Google is that it's a funny word on Mama's computer screen.

She is totally adorable.

[tavella.livejournal.com]

That's really quite impressive, getting from B and K to Becky; I bet she's not that far from starting to read for real. I was only 2 or 3 when I started reading, myself, and I learned much the same way.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

She asks us to write down people's names a lot. She can mostly sight-read Alex, Alexandra, Mama, Papa, Becky, Zoe, and Dorian. But I think that, as in B-O-O-K spells 'Becky,' she's attending to a few features of each word rather than really knowing the whole word. (Not that I'm being critical! She's only two, after all.)

[dragon3.livejournal.com]

One of the things we repeatedly notice about our best students is that we can do little to help them besides being enthusiastic while they exceed our expectations, while we have enormous opportunities to hurt them. I don't think this is unique to university teaching, except that universities provide a rich environment almost by default.

Keep on turning Alex loose and letting her choose her own enthusiasms in a rich environment. She'll be just fine...

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

E is for Alex

Aren't you _glad_ you didn't name her Berengaria? That would be, like, a quarter of the alphabet sown up...

Love this. She's beyond cute.

[minnaleigh.livejournal.com]

So cute!

And this: she persistently identifies all of the letters in her name as being most famous for their role in that word cracks me up.

[kip-w.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of a favorite exchange in POGO. Porky's Uncle Baldwin has gotten hold of the idea that Churchy has a million dollars, and pitches him a scheme to get rich selling something every housewife needs on washday: a secret detergent ingrediment! "I'll whisper it ----- It's --- dirt ---- get it? D-I-R-T. Dirt."

A few days later, Baldwin is complaining, so Churchy generously says, "I'll give you back the name of the secret ingrediment ---- Listen close now, it's dirt ---- get it? Hello, Uncle Baldwin, are you there? It's DIRT --- D like in DIRT--- I like in DIRT--- R like in DIRT--- T like in Orange Pekoe."

[columbina.livejournal.com]

Ah, I thought I'd be the only person who was reminded of that!

[(Anonymous)]

The part about all of the letters A-L-E-X being "for Alex" is a priceless example of the importance and wonderfulness of listening to and (attempting to) understand the child's reality and not telling them all the time that they are wrong.

It totally bugs me when I overhear parents of small children correcting them and telling them what is "right."

I don't know if she thinks those letters are "for Alex" or "for 'Alex'" or something else that we adults probably don't grok but I do know that being loved and respected and listened to and heard is one of the greatest gifts you can give a child.

Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful tale.

Grandma Susan

[silmaril.livejournal.com]

"And this is a G... for 'Google.' "

Wow, there.