Spell E-I-O

This week, James entered the realm of spelling tests. It's almost fascinating watching the concentration he devotes to spelling words like fat, hat, cat or ran, man, tan. I keep telling James that once he spells hat, the word cat just needs a different first letter. But no. James, for quality control reasons, erases hat from his brain and restarts the entire slow, painful process of sounding out each letter for cat. Yet, he can spell the word up immediately, followed by a few seconds of giggling (up = you pee). Ah, potty humor...if I could work it into everything I teach the kids, they would be doing long division in a month.

James's Wide-Eyed Surprise and Semi-Toothy Grin

Ali has also taken up spelling. When she is trying to explain something, she will spell words for clarity or emphasis—I'm unsure which. Today, she was talking about a tie, and I kept asking, "What tie?" After growling in exasperation, she said, "Tie! E-I-O! Tie!" A few days ago, when I wasn't sure what an "aypod" was, she solved the riddle with "E-I-O," which still left me puzzled until she said my music was on it (Oh, an iPod. E-I-O. iPod). Ali is a busy girl. With most of her hours devoted to her art (a.k.a. scribbling on everything in the house), she doesn't have to time to navigate dense people like me through the muddy rivers of her words. However, language is ever evolving, and one day, after years of misunderstandings and understandings, we'll both meet somewhere in the middle of E-I-O and finally comprehend 80% of what the other person is saying.

Alison Busy with a Masterpiece and Taking a Break to Chew on the Communal Doodle Pro

Phil has not been spelling, but he has been working on animal sounds. Because he is my third child, I never taught him animal noises. It was an oversight on my part. I neglected a necessary portion of his baby education (I also never had his baby pictures taken professionally). However, his sister has been volunteering a little of her own time to teaching him animal sounds. He hasn't picked up on any of the barnyard animal sounds yet, but he can scream just as loudly and angrily as Ali. And I consider this a triumph because isn't Ali, as a homo sapien, part of the animal kingdom? Well done, little Cookie-Cakes; your tutelage is greatly appreciated.

Phil-a-Buster Chewing on the Communal Doodle Pro