So, we've pretty much decided on a name, and I think, a middle name, too.
Both of which I like VERY much. Angelique is not one of those names. No, I
was just thinking about all the suggestions I've been given to use the
random words on the bottom of the blog comment pages as names and it
reminded me of something. One of my absolutely most favorite little kids
ever is named Angelique. She was in kindergarten this past year--probably
will be next year, too, love her heart. We worked hard trying to learn how
to write her name this year. If she could copy it off a sheet of paper,
she'd do okay. She might get a little lost and scramble the letters around
some, but at least she got the right letters. But when I'd tell her to
write it without looking, it was almost always spelled
"A-n-g-tsbvcclttbeaQ", or something like that. At least she knew enough to
throw the "Q" in somewhere. So, I think its a good idea that kids have
either shorter names, or nicknames, or they start learing to write when
they're two. This way they stand a chance of getting it right. Word
confirmations just won't cut it, unless you have a genius baby like C.J. or
Bryan, when he was a baby. (Well, I bet my brother was probably able to
spell 'Henry Kissinger' by the time he was 3, too. But genius babies don't
just pop up everywhere.)
Friday, June 16, 2006
Angeligue and word confirmations
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8 comments:
I didn't even try to teach Jamie how to spell his "real" first name until he was in first grade. I knew kindergarten was waaaay too soon. So now that he has completely mastered "Jamethan" we're working on his middle name, "Lowell", which is a lot easier than learning "Jamethan" was!
Mr. Everett didn't learn to read or write before kindergarten. He taught himself to read one day down at the Hynek's house. Stephanie was sitting there reading a comic book, and he thought it looked easy, so he gave it a try--that was the extent of learning to read for Everett. He was self-taught, when he was ready.
Mom says I learned to read at 2 1/2..she knew I was reading because I pronounced Chevrolet as "chev-ro-let". Must have been the Dr. Seuss she read me.
Tom and I debated a bit when we decided on Christopher, as we were concerned about the difficulty factor when he gets older. I think he'll handle just fine.
Birth order can have a lot to do with when you start reading. I'm told my sister struggled with it (she was the eldest) at first, then by the middle of first grade was doing just dandy and was a voracious reader.
I know my brother read earlier than that, because my sister and mom both read to him and played school.
Then I learned to read when I was about 3 - but only because I had Mom, Jodi AND Joel all reading to me and playing school with me.
Reading is always easier when you have older siblings to help you out!
I remember panicking the day before Kindergarten started because I didn't know how to read. I went and got a big book and asked Everett if he would teach me. That's all I remember. I'm guessing he realized the enormity of my request and hit me over the head with the book and knocked me out.
Ha ha! You so funny, Lydia. Now get that little girl to bed! You both need your rest so you can be nice and strong!
Bryan was reading at 3. He asked me to read a book to him, and when I told him to wait just a minute, he said "I do it myself", and he did. I thought he had memorized the book as we read it every day, so I got another out for him to try. Amazingly, he read that one too! He is still reading away, and I love it. It's really cool to be able to have a book review with your 10 year old. He amazes me more and more every day. Baby girl will too.
Back to Angelique. I had a precious little freckle-faced redheaded girl named Samara last year. The day Samara came into my class, we wrote a thank-you note to a friend who had brought her miniature horse to school for the kids to pet. I wrote what the kids told me on chart paper, and then I had them sign their names. Most of them knew how to write their names. One little fellow usually got hung up after the Rob in Robert, but he had the presence of mind to get his name card and copy the rest of it. Samara, however, didn't think of that. She marched up to the chart, took the marker, and wrote something like srxbwt--a bunch of letters that had no connection to her name except for the s, and she may not have even had that in the right place. I don't remember now, and since we mailed the letter, I can't look to see. One of the other little sweet girls said, "Oh, Samara! Is that how you spell your name?" I said, "That's how she spells it today." And with that, Samara gave us a great big smile and went back to her seat in the circle. Three months later, when I walked out, she could pretty much write the whole thing.
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