CBA's and 321's

Ever since Samedh was introduced to the Leap Frog learning DVD's such as The Letter Factory and Talking Words Factory, he can't stop talking about letters, vowels, phonics...you name it. I can't tell you how many times he and I have discussed the difference between a "soft G" and "hard G" or "soft C" and "hard C" at the dinner table or while driving in the car. He even asked me to make him a letter G in the snow this year. Never mind making a snowman, he wanted a letter! It took me about 20 minutes to shovel out a giant letter G in more than a foot of snow, and then he asked for a letter H. I was so exhausted by creating the G, I told him if he wanted any other letters he'd have to make his own.

The one thing that surprised us most recently is that Samedh can recite the alphabet backwards from Z to A. He caught me off guard the other day when he asked if we could say "our Z to A's". I agreed, and let him lead the way. He breezed right through them in reverse order, and I couldn't keep from smiling the entire time. Nowhere in sight was posted the traditional A to Z order; it was all in his head. Then the next day he recited them for Pankaj, who was equally amazed.

Last weekend, we were having lunch at the Indian buffet and Samedh shocked us again. He had been drawing in a little notebook when suddenly he wrote out the word C-A-T. I knew he could write an H, O, C, and letter I, but writing the word CAT just seemed to come out of nowhere. I was so happy and amazed that I just about started crying right there in the restaurant! Now I have to admit that for quite some time now, Samedh has been spelling words like CAT and DOG and his own name with the large red "shiny letters" we bought in the school supply section at Staples. He just sounds out the words he wants and arranges the letters on the living room floor. Playing "shiny letters" has been one of his favorite daily activities for the past few months. We also have "shiny numbers" from 0-9 that we've been using to help Samedh learn his address and phone number. But actually wanting to write the letters and putting them together in small words is something very new and exciting.

I've had mixed reactions to Samedh's new love of learning letters and words. Most people (including a former 1st grade teacher) are positive and encourage me to continue working with him as long as he expresses an interest. However, I was warned by a Kindergarten teacher that if he learns too much now, he will be bored by the time he starts Kindergarten. In my opinion, if Samedh is interested in learning something now, I'm going to do what I can to teach him. Besides, it is very likely that by the time he starts Kindergarten in 2010, he will be going all day, every day. I'm sure there will be plenty of new things for him to learn in all day Kindergarten.

Finally, we purchased the Leap Frog Math Circus movie recently to help focus on numbers and basic math as well. Now occasionally I hear Samedh reciting, "One plus one equals two. Two plus two equals four. Four plus four equals eight. Five plus five equals ten. And ten plus ten equals twenty." I know he just memorized those facts, and really don't know if he truly understands what it all means yet. But just being aware of the numbers and basic concepts of addition and subtraction is not going to hurt a 3-year-old. However, Samedh got me thinking a little the other day when he blurted out, "A + B = C". At first I told him that you can't add letters, but then I remembered good old Algebra. I'm not about ready to introduce him to that yet, but we'll see...maybe when he's 5:)

I highly recommend all of these learning DVD's because they have cute stories, catchy songs, and make learning lots of fun for preschoolers.