Humble Pie

I thought I was just really good at it. 

Kai was speaking full sentences with crystal clear English within 2 weeks of coming home. He was two and a half years old.

Noah learned his alphabet at 18 months and was reading 1st grade books at age four.

I admit to my pride. And now, I humbly repent.

Because for 15 months (has it really been that long?), I have been trying to teach the girls that the alphabet is pronounced A B C D E F G--not A P D D Key Ep Chee. 

Well, that's not really true. For the first year, we sang the full alphabet. Slow enunciation, forming my letters with exaggerated lip shapes. Thank you, Lord, that you are all not flies on my walls. I am sure I look like a lunatic.

Recently, I decided that since my full alphabet approach was not working, we would work on A through G. Today, we hit a break through. One out of at least five times, the girls are able to pronounce all seven letters correctly. 

Kind of. 

(If you don't count how long they hold the "FFF" sound in F and how far their teeth protrude over their bottom lips when they say it. Also, if you ignore the extra sounds they insert into the letter C. Their most common is SSSSSS...Tee! Followed by sssssss....Pee! Fifty percent of the time, they just give up and say "D." Way easier.

So while learning to pronounce the letters, we are also learning how to recognize the letters. And yes, sometimes we trace and draw them and when I am feeling REALLY ambitious (say, once a month), I even let them glue cheerios onto the letters. 

But mostly, we practice recognizing them. 

A piece of our conversation today. Note: I am holding up a big card with a cow on it and the letter C.

"What is this letter?"

Aaliyah: sssssssssssssssssss.........TEE!

Rayne: ssssssssssssssssss.....CHEE!

[insert a minute of practicing the sound "see"]

"And what does C say?"

Aaliyah: sssssssssss

Rayne: B

"Hmmm. Well, what animal is this?"

Aaliyah: cow!

"Yes. And what does the beginning of C-ow say? What sound do you hear in C-ow?" (emphasizing the hard c sound)

Aaliyah: MOOOOOOO!

"Well, that is what a cow says with his mouth, but what sound do you hear at the beginning of the word Cow? C-ow."

Blank stares.

"What sound do you make when you want to say C-ow?'

Rayne: "Hello, cow!"

Thus was the end of learning time today. You can guess why I do not do this every day. Well, that's just one excuse. The other is that four kids is harder than two. Our bigger house take longer to clean than our first little townhouse. There is so much more fun to be had than learning letters. I have discovered a new-found zest for napping. I could go on and on.

The point is, while I prided myself for having sent two strong readers into kindergarten, I am eating my humble pie. I will be thrilled if by next year they can write their first names in all capital letters and recognize the letters of the alphabet. Maybe I will just strive for sending them both to school with good hair. Most days.