Last year at this time, I sent a very shy, uncooperative, crazy girl off to preschool. She wanted to play but didn’t want to do any work!
Today I sent a social butterfly, a helper, a “big kid” in her class – a child who loves drawing, painting, glueing, cutting, and most of all – FRIENDS!
A year ago Sophie wasn’t a big talker and had some trouble making herself understood. This year, I sometimes want to duct tape her mouth shut 🙂 in a good way, ha ha! And she has no trouble communicating effectively.
She was so excited to go to school today! She had her backpack on 20 minutes before it was time to leave. She was delighted to see her friends and teachers. She didn’t even look back at me as I dropped her off. I had to call her back for a hug!
I could not possibly be any more proud of her!! As I left her there without a qualm, I was happy for her, and happy for me. I know we’ll both have a great year!
Last week I told you what I learned on my summer “vacation” – how to French braid Sophie’s hair! Well, I wasn’t the only Rapson who wanted to learn something this summer. For a long time, Sophie has been able to recognize a lot of words and in the spring I noticed several times that she was really trying to read. Not just books, but road signs, cereal boxes, what I was looking at on Facebook *ahem* – you know, anything with words.
So, at the beginning of summer when I received a pitch from School Zone Publishing asking if I’d like to review their “Start to Read” series of phonics readers, I was all, “Why not?” They arrived just as summer began and we got started.
The set comes with 5 readers, a comprehension workbook, and a CD. At first I thought listening to the books on CD while looking at them was going to be weird and unnecessary(I mean, after all, can’t she listen to ME reading them?) but she LOVED listening to the book being read on CD while she looked at it. And then, loved reading along with the CD. After that, we progressed to where I’d read a page, then she’d read the next page. Soon she was reading on her own. We went through all five books like that and then the workbook, which she ADORED. Sophie loves a good workbook! There was a good variety of comprehension activities in the workbook and she really had fun with it. I had to stop her from doing the whole thing in one sitting like she wanted to do.
We went on vacation July 2, and we were done with the series by then. Since then, we have not picked up any of those books to read, so last night, I got out Sophie’s favorite from the series, Get Lost, Becka and bribed her with a piece of candy to read it on video. So, again, she hasn’t read this book for 6 or 7 weeks – I think she did great! What do you think? (Oh, and um, sorry about all the snot wiping, she had been crying a few minutes before over something I was denying her because I am SUCH A MEAN MOM, I can’t even remember what. Oh, and then sorry also about Joshua’s BANSHEE yelling in the background, he was entertaining Jonah while Sophie and I made the video!)
What do you think? I think she did a great job! We’ve since moved on to an Usborne Books phonics set and she is doing great with those as well. I am proud of my little reader!
Thanks, School Zone, for letting us try the books!
When Joshua was little, there were a few words and phrases he said that were incorrect, but sooo cute, that we wanted to perpetuate them for as long as possible. So, um, he possibly thought that the word huge was pronounced fuge until he was 5. And Bobby and I *might* just still say it that way. (It’s so funny! I swear!)
Since Sophie was speech delayed, we were more focused on her using words correctly for a long time, and are just now to the place where we can get giggly about some of her funny phrases. Since she also has a not-at-all-delayed flair for the dramatic (wonder where she got that), one of her favorite phrases is “Very so”. As in, “I’m very so sad, I’m very so scared, I’m very so pretty, I very so want to play ‘Pretty Pretty Princess.'”
So now it’s not at all uncommon for you to hear me say, “I’m very so tired” or for Bobby to say, “I very so don’t want the weekend to be over” or even for Joshua to say “I very so want to play Wii”.
Because when our Sophie says it, it’s very so cute.
And we all very so love to hear her say it!
What cute things did your kiddos say that you wished they’d never stop saying?
