Once my son was able to identify the first letter in his name, he then conquered the task, unbeknownst to me, of writing the first letter in his name. I was in the kitchen cooking something or other and he said, “Look mom, I made a “C” because “C” is for me!” Even though his “C” was backwards, it was clearly a “C”! I was impressed and very pleased that he took the task upon himself. I started to think that he might be ready to learn the alphabet.
We have all kinds of toys and books that are all about the alphabet. Wooden blocks with letters and correlating pictures, the fridge phonics, flashcards, the monster alphabet (a kickstarter project that we helped fund), dr. seuss’s alphabet, etc and the newest alphabet blocks made from natural woods (and completely chemical free). These particular wooden blocks were made by a local family that hand crafts all kinds of wooden toys. I had these alphabet block set made to include extra letters so that we could spell out both of my children’s names. My son that this was the neatest thing. Upon opening them on Christmas morning, he quickly searched for a “C,” and then he begged me to spell his name with the blocks.
He was making progress with learning the alphabet and I could not be happier. In the course of our days of playing, dancing, singing, and reading, he started asking about the first letter in my name (my son frequently calls me by my first name when he is around other people who call me by my first name). Once I showed it to him, he started pointed out “S’s” everywhere. He would point and say, “Hey look mom, that’s an “S” and “S” is for you! He was so excited!
(To be continued…)