Reading

I have long been opposed to teaching reading at young ages. I think I have previously expounded the virtues of waiting to teach that skill, and my goal was to have Calvin reading around the age of six. I should know by now, however, that my son has his own ideas about learning (I still remember carefully researching all the important theories on potty training only to have him wake up one day completely potty trained all by himself). So I guess I can't say I'm surprised that at the library last week Calvin asked to check out a collection of phonics books, then at home proceeded to work his way through them methodically and voraciously, with little help from me. In the short span of a weekend he mastered all the words in the first set of Bob phonics books we brought home and is proudly asking for more.  Homeschooling is nothing if not exciting, being full of misdirections, u-turns, and somtimes complete transportations. I may have intended to save reading for another couple of years, but Calvin had other ideas.

The Water Horse, by Dick King-Smith

No we didn't watch the movie (I'm sure you know us better than that) but our youth librarian recommended the book for after Charlotte's Web. The book is no longer than Charlotte's Web and has some of the same vocabulary stretching tendencies, and we had a great time imagining up a water horse. We flew through this one as quickly as we flew through Charlotte, broken up by some side activities again. This time we did a lot of map perusing, getting a handle on Scotland and its many lochs. We also talked about Scottish culture and about the time period in which the book was written. Overall I didn't love this one as much as Charlotte, but they can't all be favorites and Calvin enjoyed it immensely.

Calvin gives the book two thumbs up, and my only real disappointment with it is the edition—I'd rather have found one without full page color ensembles of pictures from the movie. Here is Calvin's own summary, and a picture of the water horse rising up out of the water. It is a cute story.

Stick figures

For Christmas last year we got Calvin an easel, a present that has seen plenty of use and love the whole year through (as attested to by the multitude of paint splatters and occasionally misplaced stickers).  Calvin's favorite medium has been paint, which he uses in an abstract style that brings a vibrant touch of color to the play room, where I have several of his pieces hanging for daily enjoyment. I like the abstract feel.

Lately, though, Calvin has branched out into the wide world of crayons. After spending some time at the easel by himself one evening last week he was upstairs reading books with Jon before bed while I straightened up a bit downstairs. That's when I stumbled across the stick figures. I was so excited to find something, that even remotely resembled something other than tumble weed, that I ran upstairs, new art in hand, to ask Calvin what he's drawn. He told me all about the eyes, ears. mouths, and bodies he had drawn.

"They're garbage men" he told me.