Hooked on Phonics

Ella Reese is "hooked on phonics".  I had snagged a huge bag of alphabet magnets at a garage sale and last week the kids had them all scattered on the floor playing with them.  Ella Reese was putting the letters in one long made up word and pretending to make words.  So I asked her,
" Ella, can you make the word CAT?".  She sat for a moment then started to sound it out.  I sat watching her.


" Cat, cat. CUH.  CUH.  C! ".  Then she searched for the letter C and set it to the side. She went through the word CAT until she found the A and T and put them after the C.  My jaw dropped.  I know she is my first child, and anything new your first child does you think they are a genius.  But it was a pretty unexpected surprise...

" How about HAT Ella?".   I asked her.  She did it again.  Then she did DOG.  Then she wanted to do LILLIAN, and that did not go so well.

I was so proud of her!  We all celebrated and cheered as I told her she was reading and spelling!
Then Dean, who is sitting there watching all of this starts making his own pretend words and phonics. 

Tonight after dinner, the same letters were on the table and Ryan was helping her read some harder words.  Then Dean picks up a letter and asks me what it is. I tell him, then he says, "Good job mom!".  It was too  cute...