Today's Breakthrough
Today, for the first time EVER, Trooper recognized a letter. At four and a third years old, I might have expected that he'd be sounding out simple words by now, but long ago he taught us that he'll get to his development stages when he jolly well feels like it, and not a moment sooner. And he DOES get to them, just not on my schedule. So I've been doing my best to present information without pressure and let him 'get it' when he's ready. Well, we're still a long, long way from sounding out words, but today was a huge breakthrough.
We were reviewing the alphabet as usual when he interrupted me excitedly. "Look, Mom, it's an 'M'!" he said as he pointed to the first letter in 'Monday' on the days-of-the-week bears. I tell you, I wouldn't have been more thrilled if he had started randomly reciting the multiplication table (still working on number recognition, too). As we continued our review of the alphabet, he later pointed out the 'S' in 'Saturday' and the 'T' in Thursday. Then the phone rang and we were done with letters for today.
In general I haven't been worried about his reading development since he loves books and can listen to stories for an indefinite length of time, but I admit there are times when I wonder if his seeming inability to make connections between sounds and symbols and see the distinction between those symbols is sign of a disability (a 30% chance with his syndrome) or sheer stubbornness (100% chance with a four-year-old). This really doesn't answer that question, but it does reassure me that it likely won't be a lifelong issue, whatever it is.
In most ways, Trooper is a very obviously smart child. He's curious, creatively mischievous, understands stories, and easily learns facts about things when he wants to. He has a surprising vocabulary despite his speech delay, and never forgets where he hid things. But trying to get him to learn 'academic' topics like letters, numbers, colors, and shapes has been a real challenge. I actually had to make a commitment to myself that I would stop trying to force outcomes (him learning) and instead I would just teach in every learning style I can. Since then, our house has been much more peaceful, he's been enjoying school, and he's also been getting a firmer grasp on things.
Why am I sharing all this? I don't know. It's on my mind, and as a writer it's especially important to me that my son be able to truly dive into the world of reading. Plus there's college and career and all that, which is generally easier when a guy is a good reader and knows his colors.
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We were reviewing the alphabet as usual when he interrupted me excitedly. "Look, Mom, it's an 'M'!" he said as he pointed to the first letter in 'Monday' on the days-of-the-week bears. I tell you, I wouldn't have been more thrilled if he had started randomly reciting the multiplication table (still working on number recognition, too). As we continued our review of the alphabet, he later pointed out the 'S' in 'Saturday' and the 'T' in Thursday. Then the phone rang and we were done with letters for today.
In general I haven't been worried about his reading development since he loves books and can listen to stories for an indefinite length of time, but I admit there are times when I wonder if his seeming inability to make connections between sounds and symbols and see the distinction between those symbols is sign of a disability (a 30% chance with his syndrome) or sheer stubbornness (100% chance with a four-year-old). This really doesn't answer that question, but it does reassure me that it likely won't be a lifelong issue, whatever it is.
In most ways, Trooper is a very obviously smart child. He's curious, creatively mischievous, understands stories, and easily learns facts about things when he wants to. He has a surprising vocabulary despite his speech delay, and never forgets where he hid things. But trying to get him to learn 'academic' topics like letters, numbers, colors, and shapes has been a real challenge. I actually had to make a commitment to myself that I would stop trying to force outcomes (him learning) and instead I would just teach in every learning style I can. Since then, our house has been much more peaceful, he's been enjoying school, and he's also been getting a firmer grasp on things.
Why am I sharing all this? I don't know. It's on my mind, and as a writer it's especially important to me that my son be able to truly dive into the world of reading. Plus there's college and career and all that, which is generally easier when a guy is a good reader and knows his colors.
Subscribe here.
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