Potato, Potahto

We’re a bit obsessed with reading around here.

You may not have noticed.

But it’s true.

So it’s only natural that Ellie would want to learn to read, just like the rest of the family.

We bought a set of Bob Books (side note: until I searched for the site so I could link to it, I had no idea that these books originated in Portland.  How cool is that?) when Vicki was about three and we were gung-ho my-kid-will-be-reading-War and Peace-by-kindergarten parents. They’re cute, simple, and fun. She and Lexi both loved learning to read with them, and Chris got them back out a few weeks ago when Ellie came to him with a chapter book and announced, “Daddy, today you’re going to teach me how to read!” He figured it was better to start small. Smart man.

Ellie knows all the letters and the majority of their sounds. So putting the sounds together is the logical next step, and she’s quite proud of her newfound abilities.

She’s also incredibly stubborn and just overly self-confident enough to believe that one reading lesson is enough. She’s convinced she should now be moving on to the Harry Potter books like everyone else in the family.

The other day she sat down beside me with a Bob Book and said, “Sit back, Mommy.  I’m gonna to read to you!”

She opened to the first page. “See, Mom, the letters are M-A-T. They say Mmmmm...Aaaaaa...Tuh! Mmm-aaaa-tt....mm-aaa-t...Bob!”

When I told  Chris this story, he informed me that the first night they read them, Ellie kept trying to pronounce the "o" sound in the word "Bob" as "oo".  So she kept saying "Buh-oo-buh...B-oo-b...Boob!" and poor Daddy almost cracked a rib holding in the laughter.

Clearly, we have our work cut out for us.