Somehow when I wasn't looking....

(Be sure and enter the boy/girl contest below! Today (Monday, Aug 31st) is the last day!!)

For quite some time now I have spontaneously and randomly showed Alan various alphabet letters and the sounds they make.

Sometimes it is a letter magnet on the refrigerator. Sometimes an odd puzzle piece, or page in a book. Sometimes it is written while we color and doodle.

There has never been a formal sit-down lesson. No workbook pages. No curriculum.

Sometimes he has seemed to listen and care and take it in, sometimes I have wondered if he even heard what I said. Never had he seemed to grasp the idea.

Sometimes these letter-sound conversations came up daily, sometimes weeks would pass without even a mention of them.

But then.... one day.... without warning....

It clicked.

Alan and the letter 'M' have bonded. Everywhere he looks he sees them, and points them out with excitement.

"Mama! Mama! Look! Look! I found one!"

"mmmm... Mimi! mmmmm.... mmmmilk! mmmm.....Mama!"

"Mama! Look! I found another one!"

Who knew? 'M's are everywhere!

Just for fun we made this little 'M' project from No Time for Flashcards. Alan loved it! For a while, every marshmallow he glued on had a "mmmmmarshmallow!" to go with it.

And from there, he's begun to ask what other letters say. I tell him all he wants to know, but for now, we're mostly sticking with 'M'.

And that my friends... is pre-reading! My only concern is... can we get him potty trained before he really IS reading on the potty??