Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Girls' Night In

Tonight, MLH and I received a call from Brooke's parents asking us to come spend some time with Brooke so they could get out of the house alone for a bit and grab a bite. You might remember that Brooke’s sibling is due to be born any day and Brooke’s mom has been staying pretty close to the homefront.

MLH wasn’t feeling well, so I went to Brooke’s house alone. It was already 8:30pm, and Brooke has school tomorrow, so we didn't really have a plan. Brooke finished her supper, took her bath, and we watched television until one of her favorite programs ended. Then, pajamas and all, we loaded up into my truck and sped off to Starbucks for vanilla steamers and Madeleine cookies. Brooke thought that was quite the treat!

We were back at the house within 15 minutes. We curled up on the couch, covered up with a quilt, and Brooke and I traded out reading pages of her favorite book. At barely 6 years of age, this munchkin is an amazing reader. We were reading about the different states, and came to the California page. She read the entire page, and only hesitated a bit sounding out “Sacramento”. She had a little more trouble with “Yosemite”, but who wouldn’t?

I was taught to read phonetically, and all these years later, I still think it’s the way to go. And Brooke is proof that phonics work – she is a child that reads well at an early age, and loves to read. May her love of reading continue.

I'm really enjoying the time I'm spending with this little one, and thankful to our friends for sharing their precious daughter with us!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

aaaaw. This sounds like a really lovely way to spend and evening.

I learned to read phonetically as well; and also studied linguistics and phonetics in college. It is indeed the way all children should be learning to read. Sight words are okay once the chjild has established reading skills, however, I do not agree with the use of them alone for establishing good reading skills.

Anonymous said...

ooops, I meant to say "an" evening; but you knew this :)

Karen Townsend said...

I learned with phonetics, too. It was the way to go with our age group! Fortunately my son was in a Montessori pre-school program and learned the same way at the age of 3! I am so thankful for that teacher. He has been a voracious reader since and that produced an incredible vocabulary, too.

Rae said...

She sounds like a smart cookie! Almost got my nails done thanks to your post the other day hehe.

That Janie Girl said...

Trace, Karen, Rachel - phonetics is the way to go, and yup, the Brooker is a smart little chica.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Rachel - come back, I'll take you to get your nails done!